A Spring in Chile

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As the weather has been getting nicer down here in Chile, we have been taking advantage of our beautiful surroundings and cultural events. A while back we took the train with some friends to the small town of Olmué and peaked the bell shaped mountain in Parque Nacional La Compana. The hike is about 7 miles one way and you climb over 1200 meters up. There is an amazing view of the Andes from the top but it’s grueling hike. The trail fades away near the top, where the hiking ends and the rock climbing begins. As you are halfway between the coast and the mountains, and Chile is a very thin country, the ocean is visible in the distance and the stunning backdrop of the snow-capped Andes stretching north and south as far as the eye can see.
A few weeks later Tracy’s brother Chris came down to visit, and he couldn’t have chose a better time. Chile’ s independence day is September 18th and we so happen to be here for their bicentennial. It was a massive celebration that lasted a week, complete with fireworks, carnivals, and free concerts all over the country. The Cueca, the national dance, was performed just about everywhere, including couples no older than 8 years old.
Then there was the Carnaval de Mil Tambores(Festival of a Thousand Drums) which took place high in the cerros of Valparaíso. The event began with hundreds of people wearing nothing but colorful paints on their bodies and dance through the streets. This was followed by troop after troop of drummers some with over a hundred drummers each. Many times the entire festival would be playing to the same beat, with incredible sychronization. We joined thousands of people and followed the parade through the winding roads of the hills, which ended in the plaza. Riots broke out and the parade stopped traffic, requiring tear-gas to disperse the crowd. Quite a day!
Once Tracy and I finally acquired all of our camping gear necessary for our Patagonian adventures, we decided to go try it out. With our usual partners in crime Colin and Liz, we went an hour south of Valpo to Laguna Verde. There is a small village there and a large beach with stunning scenery strangely similar to the Big Sur coastline of California. We had heard of a secret beach somewhere in the area, but had no idea where it was. After asking countless locals where this mythical spot was located, we finally stumbled upon the deserted Playa Chica after 4 hours of hiking with our packs. The trail lead down steep hills covered with cactus and pine to a white sand beach with light blue water. We spent the night, had a little campfire, and hung out on the beach the whole next day without ever seeing another person. However we were visited by a penguin who was fishing in the shallow waters on the beach, often getting stuck on the sand and having to waddle back out to sea. Tracy said it was her new favorite spot on Earth. Our own little beach to enjoy, hence the name, Playa Chica.
Last weekend we went to the Clásico Porteño, the “civil war of soccer” of this region. The Valparaíso Wanderers, representing the lower/middle class working port city, versus Everton of the chic upper class town of Viña del Mar. As you can imagine, tensions were high and there were hundreds of police with riot gear from head to toe, others with German shepards or riding horses. The stadium literally erupted with smoke and fire the moment the teams took the field. Neither team stopped singing the chants that everyone seemed to know but us. A popular chant throughout the game was “concha tu madre!” which means…well, take a guess. People take their soccer very seriously. The Valpo fans were much more wild lighting full scale fireworks off in the crowd and exploding over the field. During half time the was a rock fight between the teams and the police could barely hold the people back with pepper spray and batons. Like all matches here, they let the losing team out first and make the winners wait a half hour or so before exiting. As Everton lost on their own turf, the fans were very angry and tried to wait for the Valpo fans to pick a fight. The riot police came with a high-pressured water truck and blasted the crowd until they dispersed. Needless to say it was quite a scene, and tons of fun.

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