Patagonia!

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I am currently flying back to Santiago after the best week I have spent in South America. When people claim that southern Chile is amazing they are not lying. I set out for my adventure eleven days ago. Although it seems like so long ago that I left the pollution of Santiago behind me it saddens me to know that in a few short hours I will be returning to la ciudad grande. I enjoy all of my time in Chile, but it was not until this past week that I began to get a full appreciation of the country.

So much has happened to me in the last week that I scarcely know where to begin. I will start with a rough outline of the past eleven days…


March 10 Classes in Santiago, flight to Punta Arenas, hostel
March 11 Explore Punta Arenas, not much happened
March 12 Flight to Puerto Williams (Tierra del Fuego), failed backpacking trip in mountains (rain, snow, wind), hostel
March 13 Scenic hike, bike ride with local, BBQ with locals, very late night, job offer
March 14 Puerto Williams  Punta Arenas Puerto Natales
March 15 Backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park
March 16 “ “
March 17 “ “
March 18 “ “
March 19 Finish backpacking in Torres del Paine, return to Puerto Natales
March 20 Puerto Natales  Punta Arenas
March 21 Isla de Magallanes to visit penguins, Punta Arenas  Santiago

It is difficult for me to pick out my favorite part of the trip. However, Puerto Williams stands out a highlight. Torres del Paine was also amazing as it was without a doubt the most spectacular place I have ever backpacked in before. The thing I think I appreciated the most was not only constantly being on the move, but was meeting people from all over the globe doing similar things as myself. Now that I have gotten a taste for the backpacker way of life I cannot wait until after school when I can tour the rest of the continent with nothing but a bag on my back.

PUERTO WILLIAMS

Puerto Williams is a town of 2262 people located on a very southern island called Isla Navarino. It is part of Tierra del Fuego, an area named by Ferdinand Magellan during his global navigation in 1520. Isla Navarino is located just south of Argentinean Tierra del Fuego. It is separated only by the canal Beagle, named for Charles Darwin and his travels in the S.S. Beagle.

Although I have yet to enter Argentina this was the second time in three weeks that I have seen it from land. From the airport in Puerto Williams we sat a mere few hundred meters from Argentina. If there were a bridge I could have run there in under a minute.

Ever since I learned about Tierra del Fuego during my senior year of high school the “land of fire” has been on my list of destinations. I had no idea at the time that within three short years I would be in one of the most isolated parts of the world. When most people heard that I was going to Puerto Williams for “spring” break they asked what there was to do on the island. At the time I was not sure, but I assumed that it was be a good experience. Wrong. It was a great experience.

Sofie, Julia, and I were all excited the minute we stepped off the plane. This airport was unlike any I had ever visited. It should be noted that I live in Chico, where we have an airport that flies a single small American Airline plane to San Francisco. The airport in Puerto Williams made Chico look like Heathrow. When I was thirteen I flew into Raratonga . At least Raratonga’s airport had a small shop and more than one room. The flight and procedures were so unorganized to and from Puerto Williams that I not only could have got on the plane for free on the return, but I could have high jacked the plane if I was so inclined.

Moving on to the arrival…we exited the plane the old fashioned way, down from the set of stairs. We were met by stunning views. We did not realize it at the time, but we were facing “Los Dientes de Navarino,” a famed mountain range which is part of a five day backpacking circuit which attracts the majority of the few tourists that Puerto Williams plays host to each year.

After eating in one of the only open restaurants on the island we changed into wet weather gear and set out for Los Dientes. The plan was to hike for five hours to the first camp site, and camp for the night and return. We made it to the top of the first mountain within three hours. After emerging from the forest we were met by snow, strong winds, and plummeting temperatures. Essentially it was the beginning of a blizzard.

Within a few minutes the trail disappeared. We wandered off path for forty five minutes. Aside from talking to another tourist who we met in town we had not told anyone where we were going. This was beginning to sound a lot like how people get lost and die. It would take over a week before anyone knew we were missing. At that point we would be long dead. I vocalized my concerns several times, but to little effect. Sofie was determined to push on. I usually give her credit for being an intelligent individual, but I also knew that she had next to zero experience in the wild. Out of the three of us I was the only experienced backpacker, and I do not consider myself a survival expert by any means. I know my limits.

I let Sofie talk me into continuing for another half an hour, but I had the sense to switch on my GPS watch to track our route in case we got hopelessly lost. The winds picked up, blowing my spirits away with them. The gloves I had were useless against the weather. I could barely move my fingers. The combination of wind and snow made it impossible to look up. For fifteen minutes we trudged forward with our heads down, glancing up only to get a peak at where we were going. After traveling only 0.7 miles in 35 minutes we threw in the towel. Sofie was disappointed; I was relieved. Even after returning to town, and checking into a hostel it took several hours for me to regain the ability to use my hands.

The next day we had no plans. After search for local fisherman to give us a ride in his boat we went on a scenic hike around part of the island. Although none of us have ever been to Alaska, the surroundings reminded all of us of the Last Frontier. At 4:00pm our hostel owner, Gustavo, had asked us if we would be interested in taking a bike tour. We assumed that he meant renting us bikes and having us set off on our own to explore. But Gustavo came with us to give us a personal tour. There was one other couple staying at the hostel, but Gustavo had not offered them the opportunity. Perhaps it was because we were young, and to Gustavo this meant fun.

During the ride we got to know Gustavo much better. He is from Argentina, and only works the tourist season in Puerto Williams. He takes four months off a year to travel to places like Brazil. He speaks both English and Spanish, but we mostly spoke Spanish with him. This re-confirmed my belief that Chileans are terrible Spanish speakers. They are the Scottish speakers of Spanish . I understood almost everything Gustavo said.

After the ride he asked us if we would like to join him at a barbeque at his friend’s house. I have no idea why, but my first thought was no. Fortunately Sofie and Julia wanted to go. This turned out to be one of the most fun, relaxing, and confidence-boosting nights I have had in Chile. It involved a Chilean family of four, an uncle visiting from out of town, a local originally from Argentina, Gustavo, Julia and myself as the norteamericanos, and Sofie as the European.

As far as I could tell it was a typical Chilean barbeque: lots of meat, lots of wine, and not much else. We jumped back and forth between Spanish and English. The children who were just two years old and two months old stayed up until midnight. Again, I believe this is normative in Chile. At quarter past midnight Gustavo asked us if we wanted to go to the disco. This in itself did not surprise me. Chileans are known for waiting until midnight or one in the morning to go out to the clubs. However, Puerto Williams is a desolate town of 2262 people. In our time there we probably on saw a hundred of those people at most. I was amazed that they even had a disco, never mind that it would be open on midnight on a Sunday during non-peak tourist season. As it turns out we did not go to the club. Instead we stayed at the house until two in the morning.

Martin, the local from Argentina, drove us all back to the hostel which is next door to his house. This was my first experience with a drunk driver. As I write this I cannot help but think of my parents reading this and feeling their hearts skip a few beats. To put their minds at ease I will say that Puerto Williams is by far one of the smallest towns in Chile. With the exception of a single road in town the airstrip is the only paved area on the island. Our hostel was perhaps five blocks from the house. Nobody was on the streets, and were we probably traveling at 15 mph—if that. If we did crash, it would not be into any other cars or people, and it would not hurt. We were going way too slow.

Once back at the hostel Gustavo joined us in the common room of the separate building which we shared with the other couple. Although they were sleeping in the back room Gustavo turned on the radio. We finished off the wine and talked fairly loudly until three in the morning. It was somewhere around this time that Gustavo told me I could come and work for him at his hostel. I had the brilliant idea of returning to Puerto Williams during my five week winter break the following year. Thinking about it now I have realized that I would have to spend anywhere up to $2000 to get there and make as little as a few hundred dollars in my time there.

The incentive to return and the quiet country life which I love doing for short periods of time is tempting, and has kept the thought alive in my mind. Also, I should consider that five weeks of working at a hostel in South America would be fantastic Spanish practice. This is something that I will probably miss after returning to the U.S. for my final year of school.

TORRES DE PAINE

Our trip to Torres del Paine national park directly followed Puerto Williams. We flew back to Punta Arenas, bused to Puerto Natales, spend the night at a hostel, and set out for the park the following day. There is so much I could say about the park, but since this entry is already running long as it is I will try to keep this section short.

First off, I should say that Torres del Paine is the most stunning national park I have ever visited. Keep in mind that I am from California. Yosemite National Park is essentially in my backyard. However, Torres del Paine ousted Yosemite in my opinion. The park and trail limits covered a fairly large area, but even more impressive was the fact that as far as you could see was amazing landscapes. The whole two hours to Puerto Natales, and three and a half hours to Punta Arenas was also covered by undeveloped countryside. Torres del Paine is amazing because it is a beautiful place with varying landscapes, and it is in the middle of nowhere.

I usually try to include photos of my travels with people in them because I feel it makes it more personalized. But I think to include a photo of myself in the park almost takes away from the focus. Therefore the image displayed above does not include any people in it for that reason.

The usual route that people take in the park is called the ‘W’ simply because it resembles the shape of the letter w. We chose to go from west to east, which as we later learned was a good decision. We started by taking a half an hour catamaran ride across a crystal clear lake. It was a beautiful day. The hike to the first campsite was incredible. Early on we caught site of the enormous Glacier Grey. After maybe five or six hours we reached the glacier and set up camp perhaps a quarter mile away in the forest.

We did not have a lot of time before darkness fell. A light rain started as we set up the tent and made our dinner. Then I got to experience what would be the beginning of four terrible nights. I was so cold every night. Another tip for those about to embark on a trip to the park: do not cheap out on getting a good sleeping bag. Also, it is smart to bring at least two sets of warm clothes. One for sleeping, and one for hiking. This way you can ensure dryness at night, and you will not stink in the morning. I wore four layers for four nights in a row, and the same shirt for five days straight. I stunk after that trip.

We managed to get to a new campsite every night, and stayed on course to complete the W in five days. The highlights included seeing giant pieces of the glacier falling off into the lake , hiking the Valle de Frances, having mice get into our food even though we hung it up in a tree, seeing the sun rise on the Torres, and meeting many people from all of the world, including a guy who went to Chico State that I had coincidently met three weeks prior in Pucón.

I did not find the five day, 80 kilometer hike all too challenging. But then again I had been preparing for the Santiago half marathon. The park offered an incredible range of landscapes and weather patterns.

ISLA DE MAGALLANES

After returning back to Punta Arenas at the end of our trip we did one last tour before heading back to the pollution of Santiago. We paid way too much money, but got to go see a penguin colony. It was a forty five minute boat ride to visit two islands. The first island was said to be home to over 100,000 penguins.
Penguins are aggressive little animals. They would attack you if you got too close. I was a little nervous about getting within a few feet of one to pose for the camera . Surprisingly there was no snow at this island. Obviously I did not expect there to be snow where we were, but I was surprised to find penguins there.

The trip to the islands only lasted a few hours. Before we knew it the eleven days had past. Now we are on the plane back to Santiago. It is sad to know that the trip is over, but it has also gotten me excited for future travels. I am going to Easter Island in just over five weeks. After that I will probably head east to Argentina, north to Uruguay, Bolivia, and Peru. So far I have been to two of the four places that I had on my South American buck list: Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. The remaining two: Easter Island and Machu Pichu. I am set to go to both this May. I also want to see as much as I can in between, and recently Iguassu Falls has caught my attention. For now back to Santiago, where I will go to school, and spend way too many hours on the internet researching future travel plans. Isn’t life fun?

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Photos

Puerto Williams
That's Argentina in the background