From Patagonia to Tierra del Fuego

¡Buenos dias!

For someone who only dabbled in hiking, I’ve now trekked my way through Patagonia and hit some great national parks in both Argentina and Chile.  I also made it all the way to the southernmost city in South America, in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego (for progress, click here).

Ancud & Castro in Chiloé Island (Chile)

Chiloé is a pastoral island off the coast of Chile.  The main sources of income include fishing, wood, wool and the top tourist sites are the wooden churches, penguins, and palafitos.  I first discovered the palafitos (wooden houses built partially on the land, but mostly on stilts above the water as a workaround to avoid taxes; owners were only taxed for the part on land) in Castro with Lezlie from South Africa (now living in London).  We explored the town, hopped the local buses to visit three other towns and each of their wooden churches, ate paila marina (a local dishes of countless species of mussels and clams), and walked through the island’s national park.  

Water, water, everywhere...
After Lezlie left for Easter Island, I then met up with the group of six that I hung out with in Valdivia and Puerto Varas.  When arriving to Ancud, I had been in such a hurry that I bought fizzy water instead of regular water.  It took a while to find the hostel and I was really thirsty, so when approaching the reception to inquire about availability, I found that my friends had reserved a space for me, and then opened my water to take a drink.  It went everywhere...all over the computer, the printer, the floor, the new suggestions book, and the receptionist.  I apologized, but he just said, we’ve been through worse...at least it wasn’t wine.

Penguins and killing time
The next day, the receptionist took a group of us to see Magellan and Humboldt penguins and a remote beach.  A few days later and because I was killing time before I caught a flight to Puerto Natales to go to Torres del Paine National Park, we returned to Castro, rented a cabaña and wasted some time, cooking, eating and exploring the town.

Puerto Natales (Chile) - Torres del Paine

All six of us parted ways, except for Eva and me.  Eva is from Switzerland and had been traveling for seven months.  She has two more left.  We both wanted to go to Torres del Paine (a 18-28 km trek through a beautiful national park) and had inadvertently booked the same flight.  This hike began many more for me.  We chose to do a one-day hike because no one had camping gear.  We left for the park at 7:30 a.m. and returned home at 9:30 p.m. after trekking 18 km/12 miles.  The view was beautiful, even though it rained at the beginning.  We were able to see all three towers.  I was dead after this, but when we returned, everyone was ready for pizza and then a few drinks.  Needless to say, we didn’t get as much sleep as I anticipated.

Hike to Torres del Paine

A few new faces
In Puerto Natales, I met a few new faces, one who convinced me to change my route and another from outside of Seattle - small world!  Laura from Switzerland was going north toward El Calafate and El Chaltén and I was going south; however, based on her description, I decided that I would tweak my schedule and travel with her for a while, going north.  The guy from Seattle (or Kirkland for you Seattle folk), Pablo, is an engineer who happens to work at a firm that allows him one month off per year.  How do I get such a gig?  Laura and Pablo, among others, both went for pizza and drinks after Torres del Paine.

El Calafate (Argentina) - Perito Moreno

The entire reason for this city was the glacier, Perito Moreno.  Perito Moreno is an enormous glacier

Perito Moreno, giant glacier in Argentina

in the middle of southern Argentina’s Patagonia.  Besides being able to view it from a nearby peninsula, the most incredible thing was hearing the constant moving and falling of pieces of the glacier.  I was also able to see pieces of the glacier fall off into the nearby water of the Lake Argentina.  What an experience.


El Chaltén (Argentina) - Two Treks, One by Sunrise

The first day in El Chaltén, three of us (Laura, Eva and I) made a 11 km trek (7 mi) to Cerro Torre, a beautiful walk to a tower and lake.  On the way, we met Megan
from San Francisco, and Stephanie from Austria.  After losing and re-finding Laura, all five of us trekked back.  On the way back, Stephanie and Eva decided it would be a great idea to go camping

Posing on way to Cerro Torre

the next day so that we could see Fitz Roy, a beautiful mountain peak with lake, at sunrise.  Supposedly, the location had an incredible orange glow at sunrise.  At first, I protested, but eventually gave in when I discovered the price of camping and the potential view. 


At sunrise
This was the first time I had ever carried my camping gear on my back and to the campsite, without a car.  It was MUCH easier than I anticipated, especially since we changed who carried the tent every hour.  The trek was easy at first, but straight up for about 1.25 hours (total 12.5 km, 8 mi).  We set up camp right before the 1.25 hour climb.  Stephanie and I actually made the hard climb twice, while Eva joined us for sunrise.  

For the sunrise climb, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. and made our way via flashlight.  I was in the lead and Stephanie heading up the rear because Eva didn’t have a flashlight.  It was a brutal climb, but eventually all three of us made it up and in time to see sunrise at 7:45 a.m.!

First full-on camping experience

I am not a hiker, but through these three treks, I found myself satisfyingly exhausted and accomplished.

On top of Fitz Roy

Ushuaia (Argentina) - At the End of the World

Tierra del Fuego
After 20 hours in the bus, I made it to the end of the world.  Ushuaia reminds me of what I envision when I think of Alaska (although I’ve never been) - snow capped mountains, ice cold water, a port town, and beautiful landscape and coastlines.  In Ushuaia, I dashed to another national park, Tierra del Fuego, and viewed beautiful coastlines while talking to an Argentinian guy who is studying filmography for animation in Israel.  I also sampled maté while talking to the park bus chauffeurs about their experiences in Peru.  One of them told me of an herbal remedy for asthma that he wanted to distribute and commercialize.  I think he asks mosts tourists for their advice and I was no exception.

Navigating the Beagle Channel
That afternoon because the weather was just right, Diana from Madrid (we met at the hostel), and I caught a boat which navigated the Beagle Channel and brought us to various islands filled with sea lions, birds, Magellan and Papua penguins and a lighthouse.  It also brought us past Puerto Williams in Chile, the southernmost settlement in South America.  It only has two thousand inhabitants right now, so can’t quite be counted as a city, but you can bet they’re trying to beat Argentina.  

I flew out after two days and landed in Buenos Aires, a stopping point on my way north.

Penguins in the wild (Beagle Channel)

Drying out and moving onward
Yesterday, I arrived in Salta, Argentina via Buenos Aires...only took 24 hours including switching buses during the middle of the night (broken down bus), a 4-hour delay, and a soaked backpack.  My backpack and its contents were drenched either by the rain or by a leaky air conditioner while it was stored in the bus luggage compartment.  I filed a complaint about the backpack (it made me feel better) and am now drying it on a clothesline at my hostel.  I've also acquired a trash bag for future trips.  

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Just wanted to say thanks to anyone who has sent me email or commented on my blog - I really appreciate it - keep it coming and thanks for reading!

Also, if you haven’t gotten a chance, please check out an article that I wrote for the Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Blog.  It was published in February, but I didn’t have a chance to get it out to you until now!

Abrazos,
Ashley

More About Chile

¡Buenos días desde el sur de Chile!

I’ve begun to make my way down to the south of Chile and the scenery has changed.  Instead of hot, dry climate and cool beaches, I’m now surrounded by lush, green vegetation and rolling hills.  It reminds me of a cross between the southwest of Ireland and the northwest US, complete with tree-covered mountains, lakes, sheep and cattle, and bright green grass.  

Since my last post, I’ve visited a few cities, the beach and a few national parks:  Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, the coast and its beaches, Pucón, Huerquehue National Park, Pozones hot springs (outdoor thermal baths), Valdivia, Kunstmann German brewery, Puerto Varas, Vicente Perez Rosales National Park by Osorno volcano with Petrohué Falls.  I´m now exploring Chiloé, an island off of the coast of Chile.

You can see my journey on a map by clicking here.

Snapshots from each city:

Viña & Valparaíso:
I landed in a deserted hostel by the beach.  Unfortunately, the wind was blowing so hard that it wasn’t that pleasant, but I did have the opportunity to find an Arabic cafe about five minutes from my hostel.  It was a quirky little joint with a bohemian, yet family atmosphere.  I had the most incredible vegetarian empanada (baked bread stuffed with goodness) and fresh atun juice (fruit from the prickly pear cactus), the best I had in South America.

Ashley, Juana and Juan Francisco

I also met family members (Juan Francisco and Juana) of one of my friends in Washington, Marian.  The couple picked me up from the hostel and whisked me around the coast, their home.  We started in Valparaíso and explored the entire downtown area, including ascending in the funicular to old German tour where we saw local artisans, curious European architecture made with corrugated iron siding, and Chilean traditional dancing.  We then sped down a highway which followed the coastline and provided views of aquamarine water and charcoal rock.  We stopped at a local restaurant for incredible empanadas filled with seafood (oysters, shrimp, and loco, a local sea creature), fresh local fish, white wine, and a mint liquor for dessert.  We also talked of traveling to Easter Island and of a few Chilean cities in the South.






Pucón

Josie, Ginny and Ashley

I arrived at a quirky, swiss-owned hostel and was met with the first rain of my trip, so it was suggested that I venture to the hot springs, outside thermal baths.  I took a 45-minute local bus and arrived in the middle of the forest to find other tourist and Chileans on holiday.  We all got in our swim suits and soaked in the 80 degree (25-30 C) water and just let the cold and refreshing rain sprinkle on our faces.  

I was determined to climb the volcano, but the weather was horrible so I never got the chance.  Additionally, I learned that two people died a few days earlier while trekking up the volcano, so was all right with sticking to the hot springs and national parks.  The next day, I went to Huerquehue National Park on a 10-mile (17 km) hike.  The whole trip took 6.5 hours and would have taken much longer, but I was traveling with two girls from Tasmania.  They kicked my ass.  We ascended to about 8,000 feet (2,500 meters) and they never needed to stop!  But, it was completely worth it.  The hike was gorgeous and had beautiful views of multiple lakes and a rare Araucaria tree.  We celebrated that night with fish, pisco sour (a local drink) and wine.  

Valdivia

Outside of Valdivia, on the river

Here, I recovered from my journey and met a group I would travel with for a few days:  Emma (from New Zealand), Eva (from Switzerland), Ernie (from Latvia), Saulo (from Brazil) and Leandre (from Brazil).  We ventured out to a smaller city, lazed on the beach, and went to the famous Kuntsmann brewery.  This area of Chile is heavily influenced by German immigrants.  The next day, we walked around the square, the river, the fish market and watched the fat sea lions lazily devour fish scraps from the market place.  Everyone decided to take the bus to Puerto Varas.   

Puerto Varas
We stayed at another German-run hostel and journeyed to Vicente Perez Rosales National Park where we swam in an aquamarine lake surrounded by views of three volcanoes and then went to Petrohué Falls and walked through an incredible park of cascades.  That evening, we bought and made a delicious dinner of homemade sauce, pasta, and a fresh salad.  

Eva, Ashley and Emma; Volcano Osorno

Some observations:

Light-packing - I did well (see below).

My one bag (left), my friend's two bags (right)

Americans - Where are we?  This must be a low season for American travelers because I’ve met only a few on my trip.  I’ve seen many Israelis, Germans, and Australians.
Conversions - Can we just convert?  I enjoy calculating to Celsius and the metric system in my head, but it would be easier if our systems were the same...
Plastic and Recycling - Bags inside of bags are not necessary.  How many times does my apple need to be wrapped up?  On the flip side, there are signs of recycling and composting in some hostels.

Next:  Puerto Natales, Glacier National Park, Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaria (to the ends of the earth, or at least South America)

Hope everyone is doing well and let me know if you’re enjoying my blog!

Luego,
Ashley