Oh, the Places We'll Go

Oh Chile, where do we begin? You were an expensive place to hang out but you were totally worth it. We’ll be back again someday, that we do know. Here is a quick wrap-up of the loving, loathing and eating that went on in Chile (in no particular order).

Loving

1. 

   Ferry Ride at Torres del Paine

   Friends far away – Getting to hang with Drew and Francisco in Puerto Natales was definitely the highlight of this great land. We knew we were headed all the way down to see them before we even left the US, and there are not many places we can say that about in regards to our trip planning.

2. Torres del Paine ferry ride – The day we had was unfair to the many before us who have endured rain, snow and wind in this park without seeing a damn thing. The views from the boat and the water color we traveled through were just unreal.
3. Navimag Party Night – The night started with the adventurous backpackers posing for pictures in just their bathing suits in front of the glacier, and ended with Sarah salsa dancing with a local Chilean named Mauricio. In between, we bonded with our British roommates, met some Dartmouth lacrosse players and were entertained by a Dutch airline pilot that is surely too young to fly passenger planes.
4. First view of Cochamo Valley – Arriving by horseback to a wide open clearing and being surrounded by gigantic granite walls that climbers dream about was indeed memorable.
5. 

   Vicente Perez Rosales National Park

   Ted’s birthday celebration – A great seafood dinner, and some drinks with new friends.

6. Staying at Francisco’s house – This man has good taste. His house is great, his view is from a postcard, his puppy is adorable and he is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. We made ourselves at home.
7. Walking along the shore of Vicente Perez Rosales National Park with our shoes off and feet in the water – Not your typical beach but a gorgeous shoreline along a fjord nonetheless.
8. Rafting – Thanks to Gerardo and Adventures Within Reach, Ted and I got to kick off Ted’s birthday was a ½ day white-water rafting trip. We had a raft to ourselves (with a guide, of course) and had a hilariously wet time.
9. Meeting inspiring people – Kurt and Armin have a pretty awesome thing going at Campo Aventura. A tourist operation in a foreign country may not be for everyone, but the point is that they had BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) and they went for it.
10. Endless daylight – Okay, it doesn’t stay light all night like it does in Alaska and Northern Scandinavia but it stays light until after 10pm and brightens up again by 5am. We kept getting messed up with the time because the lighting outside did not reflect the time it said on our watches.

Loathing

1. Food on the Navimag – We have been spoiled with some amazing food on our trip but the food on the Navimag left something to be desired. Think cafeteria food.
2. 

   Rough Seas on the Navimag

   Big Wave night on the Navimag – I hate to be picking on the Navimag as we did thoroughly enjoy ourselves, however, the rolling waves on our second night at sea were intense and many people were miserable. We weren’t miserable, per se, but it wasn’t fun.

3. First dorm bed experience – I thought being 30 and being married would somehow prevent us from sharing a dorm room on our travels however, I was wrong. The cost of stuff in Chile is not cheap and we opted for a dorm room at one of our hostels to save a little money (it would not be the last).
4. Constant wind and cold – Particularly in the way southern part of Chile. We were there on the front end of their summer but you wouldn’t know it. I was walking around with my down jacket and my rain coat on top of it (as a wind-breaker) at all times.
5. An unplanned long walk – We arrived in Chile by bus and having no Chilean pesos handy, we had to schlep our bags and our stuff for several miles from the highway to our hostel. At least Ted has an amazing sense of direction.

Eating

1. 

   Thanksgiving, Chilean-style

   Thanksgiving – We didn’t have turkey, but we did roast a bird (chicken). Drew whipped up an amazing gravy and some yams. We topped it off with mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. Mmmm.

2. Pisco Sours – Pisco Sours are a delicious cocktail served down here that we quite love. Peru thinks they invented Pisco Sours and Chile thinks they did. After drinking many in both countries, we’ve got to say that Chile has got our vote hands down.
3. Amazing seafood dinner with Gerardo – Gerardo is the local Chilean that we met with several times and who owns the rafting company in town. We let him pick the restaurant and do the ordering and he hit the ball out of the park.
4. 

   Chino workin the dough

   Francisco’s Meal – Francisco was a busy man when we were down visiting him in Puerto Natales, but on one of the nights we were all around, he spoiled us with some delicious chile, fresh homemade bread and some of the best guacamole I’ve ever tasted.

5. Homemade bread in Cochamo Valley – After our 5+ hour horseback ride into the Cochamo Valley, we were welcomed with fresh homemade bread for a snack. It was amazing. Our hostess proceeded to make more batches of fresh bread which we continued to eat for dinner and again for breakfast the next morning.

To see more of the great time we had here, check out our Best of Chile photos.

We’re talking about Torres del Paine National Park, just outside of Puerto Natales, Chile. Ted and I don’t have the gear for backpacking or even camping with us on our trip, but as we were staying and visiting friends before going to the park, Drew and Francisco hooked us up with everything we needed (thanks fellas!).

Beyond its stunning and rugged beauty, the most common thing we heard about the park was its unpredictable and rather horrendous weather. It is a very windy place always, but combine that with blowing rain and snow and throw in some super muddy trails and you are in for a long day of hiking.

Our friend Francisco is a guide in the park so he outlined what he called the best way to do it. Most people do the ‘W’ route, which is a reference to the shape of your walking path that allows you to see the park’s highlights. The path Francisco recommended was an abbreviated ‘W’ which allowed us to see nearly the same highlights without have to carry our packs long distances. Also, with the unpredictable weather, his plan allowed us to stay multiple nights in one place which would avoid setting up or putting down a tent in the rain. I liked the sound of his plan.

View from (near) our first campsite

So after all the negative weather build-up, on the morning we arrived at the park the weather was gorgeous. Blue skies, very little wind and no sign of it changing. We quickly selected our camping site and headed up to see the Park’s nomiker – the Towers of Paine. Though we were sweating when we arrived at the top, the cold biting wind quickly cooled us down. It was a beautiful view and we were thankful to have seen them at all because the clouds often hide the view.

The hike up to the Torres

The Torres del Paine

Amazing towers

The second day involved taking a ferry boat over to another camping area. We once again had an amazing weather day and we couldn’t believe our luck. The view from the ferry of Torres del Paine’s mountains and glaciers against the surreal blue color of the glacial lake was absolutely phenomenal.

View from the boat

The second day was a relaxed one and we did some exploring around the area and took bunches of pictures because the weather and views were just too good.

The VIEWS!!!

Glacial Lakes

Wicked peaks

The third was a 30 km (~18 mile) hike up into the French Valley and back. The weather this day was not the best but we got a bit of sunshine along with clouds, rain, wind as well. You spend half of the day hiking next to an enormous glacier that would thunder and calve every few minutes. The view from the top was a little cloudy but nonetheless a wide open bowl with 365 degree views. Needless to say we were EXHAUSTED at the end of this day because neither one of us hiked so much in a day in a very long time, if ever!

Big glaciers in the French Valley

Looking back down the French Valley

But no rest for the weary! The last day also involved another 30 km hike to a glacier. I just couldn’t do it. I could have hiked for 4-6 hours but I did not have another 8+ hour day in me so Ted set out alone. I had a relaxing morning reading and napping and cleaning up camp while Ted was on his feet for another long day. I was very impressed.

Glacier shots

Glacier Shots

When we got back to Puerto Natales that night we were pooped! A couple beers at Drew’s brewery with some friends we met from the Navimag ferry and then we were really ready for bed.

The park is incredible and worth every day you can spend in it. We were spoiled by two days of phenomenal weather but even those who get rained on love it and that includes us too!

It was such a great feeling to get off the Navimag Ferry in Puerto Natales, Chile, and have friends to call. Puerto Natales is at the tip of Chile – Extremo Sur (south) as it is called – and Ted and I have not one, but two great friends living down south.

Drew is a Boulder connection who moved down here over a year ago and just fell in love with the place. He is now managing the one and only microbrewery in town and dabbling with many other smaller projects. He’d spent the previous cold, dark winter studying Spanish, and it showed – impressively. Chilean Spanish is particularly difficult to speak and understand not only because of the speed and pronunciation but due to the ridiculous amount of slang used between Chileans. Drew was speaking like a local by the time we caught up with him.

Drew, whipping up Thanksgiving dinner

Our other friend Francisco is Chilean, born and raised in Puerto Natales. He lived in Boulder for several years and now splits his time between the US for our summer months and Chile for their summer months. He does a lot of guiding in Patagonia both in Chile and Argentina which keeps him super busy during the tourist season.

Francisco, whipping up some fresh bread

Both Drew and Francisco were amazing and generous hosts, and we are so grateful for the time we got to spend down there. Ted and I stayed at Francisco’s house for nearly a week, but he was only there for a couple days of it (due to his guiding schedule). He has an amazing place just outside of town with a wicked view and the most adorable puppy, Poco, that we got to watch. We loved cooking food at his place, taking life easy and staying in one place for more than a couple days.

View from Francisco's back yard

Sarah and Poco

Drew also works entirely too much, but Ted and I visited his bar every night to say hello and enjoy some American-inspired food and delicious micro-brewed beer. We covertly planned our visit to coincide with Thanksgiving as Drew is an amazing cook and we knew our meal would only benefit from his culinary skills and company.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Chilean-Style

Drew and Francisco have a very good thing going on in Extremo Sur, and it was a treat to see such great friends on our trip, and to see them so happy was icing on the cake.

The Boulder Crew in Natales

Except it’s not a cruise and it’s not just for backpackers. The Navimag Ferry is a converted cargo ship that takes passengers (and cargo) from Puerto Montt, Chile (in the Lake District) all the way down to “Extremo Sur” – Puerto Natales, Chile. The journey takes 3 days and 3 nights and is quite a unique way to travel the long distance between the two places – with the alternative being a 36+ hour bus ride. Rooms range from ‘dorm’ beds in a public hallway to private rooms with private bathrooms. However, the Navimag Ferry is far from economical so the private rooms are not an option for most.

The Navimag Ferry

Ted and I shared a window-less four bed bunk room with a lovely couple from the U.K. Our only criteria was that our roommates were normal and trustworthy and preferably non-snorers. We lucked out on all accounts.

Oli and Jo, our roomies

The boat travels all day and all night with only one stop on the whole trip. During the day there would be various presentations about the flora and fauna of Patagonia but mostly you entertained yourself by reading, talking with people or taking in the views from the outdoor decks.

Though we had good weather every day, we also had rain every day and lots of wind. One minute it would be lovely (though cold!) and everyone would be outside and the next you knew, it was a torrential down pour. But regardless, the views from the ship as you wove in and out of the islands, channels, and fjords heading south was pretty unbeatable.

Cruisin the Fjords

Cruisin the Fjords

Passing the time onboard

There was one night on the boat that we were not protected from any nearby land and we were exposed to the Pacific Ocean and its waves. We were all advised to take sea sickness medication and avoid drinking alcohol that night. Neither Ted nor I get seasick normally, but we thought we’d take the pills on this occasion – and I’m glad we did. The giant boat was dipping and diving in the 6m waves. You could barely walk straight without holding onto anything and in fact, Ted and I were eating dinner and through no fault of our own, the whole table with our trays of food (and us) just tipped over from one of the swells! It was quite hilarious though slightly embarrassing at the same time. We looked around, and other tables lost trays of food, but we were the only ones that managed to tip all the way over!

Rough Seas!

One of our favorite sights from the boat was a little detour we did to see a gigantic glacier coming into the sea. It’s called the Perito XI Glacier and it measures 6 km across and 80 meters tall. You can only access it by boat and it was breath-taking.

Perito XI Glacier

Another great thing about the ship was that passengers were allowed to visit the captain’s bridge which is the ship’s control room. It was a great view and very interesting to be in there when they were steering through narrow passages.

The Bridge

The last night on the boat is one big party. We met and talked with more people on the last night than we had on the rest of the voyage. We continued to run into our new friends for the next week around Puerto Natales as we all disembarked into the small town together.

Overall, the ferry was quite an experience and we’re happy we did it. It didn’t do great things for our budget but we were learning that Chile and Argentina were gonna to make that difficult for us all around.

Want to hear a cool story? Ted and I got to stay at this great little spot just a couple hours down the road from Puerto Varas, Chile, that is run by an amazing couple named Kurt and Armin. Kurt is from California’s Bay Area and Armin is originally from India (though she’s spent a big chunk of her life in the US).  Together they moved to South Africa where they lived and worked for nearly 10 years – Kurt for the Boston Globe as their South African correspondent and Armin in the NGO world. They also have two sons that were born in South Africa.

One day they decided they wanted to do something completely different.  Like COMPLETELY different. They started researching places that they could buy and operate as a B&B or some kind of tourist operation. After a bit of searching and one site visit each, they found themselves with an amazingly beautiful plot of land along the Cochamo River AND another fabulous spot up in the Cochamo Valley. They are now the owners and operators of Campo Aventura which provides accommodation, meals, and horseback riding trips between their two properties and beyond.

View from the lower property

They have been in Chile for 3 years now and have never looked back. Though neither of them were ‘horse’ people or had experience in the tourism industry, you’d never know it. Every family member does a bit everything, including the little guys (who are 11 and 13, I believe) who help with the horses and assist the gauchos (Chilean cowboys) as needed. Though no one spoke Spanish when they arrived, Armin and Kurt have now mastered it enough to engage the local community and mend some broken bridges left from the previous owners. Their boys are fluent in Chilean cowboy slang.

Gringos on horses

Ted and I had the amazing opportunity to stay with Kurt and Armin in the Cochamo Valley and highly recommend that others do the same (Adventures Within Reach sends trips here)! We spent our first night on the property near the river and loved everything from exploring the area to eating a delicious home-cooked meal with other travelers.

The next day we headed up into the valley with Kurt leading the way on horseback. The trail was intense – lots of mud, rock, narrow passages, low branches and stream crossings. The horses were incredible. We rode for over 5 hours to a clearing surrounded by the most immense and impressive granite walls. In fact, the area is known as the Yosemite of Chile. Their other property is nestled against the big walls, and is a pretty idyllic place to spend time.

Riding up the Cochamo Valley

Cochamo Valley

Big Granite Walls

I could go on and on about how much we loved this place and our time here. We are so happy to have met Kurt and Armin and we can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and generosity. It is inspirational to know people who had a wild and crazy dream and just went for it. We told them that if they ever need someone to run the place for bit, to be sure to give us a call!

From Bariloche, Argentina we headed west to Puerto Varas, Chile. The Chilean border crossing was quite intense and not recommended for drug smugglers. Checking out of Argentina was pretty routine, but getting into Chile is a pain. Everyone had to get off the bus and everyone’s luggage had to be sniffed by dogs AND put through an X-ray machine. They are very strict about all the normal stuff, but ridiculously strict about any food or beverage item. Ted and I had made some sandwiches for lunch to be cost-conscious but there was no way those sandwiches were going to be allowed over the border so we had to eat them on the spot at 10:30 a.m.!

Puerto Varas was luckily worth the hassle. As Bariloche is part of the Argentine Lake District, Puerto Varas is in Chile’s Lake District. However, while Bariloche is surrounded by mountain ranges, Puerto Varas is surrounded by volcanoes. Big ones.

Osorno Volcano

For a day trip we headed out to the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park for some walking around. We met a large group of Americans on the bus ride out there who were living in the area and volunteering at schools by helping the local English teachers with their classes. They invited us to hike with them and we happily accepted. While hiking you could look to your left at a beautiful, cone-shaped, snow-covered volcano or to your right at the fjords and the lake. It’s nice to have options!

Hiking in the Park

Hiking in the Park

Hiking in the Park

On the ride back to town we stopped to see some incredibly powerful waterfalls just down the road from the National Park – the Saltos de Petrohue. Though not impressive in height, the quantity and strength of them certainly was.

Saltos de Petrohue

Saltos de Petrohue

Thanks to our good friends at Adventures Within Reach (AWR), we were able to sit down and have drinks with a local and learn a bit about both Chile and tourism in the region. We met with a wonderfully great guy named Gerardo who owns a sea kayaking and rafting company called AlSur Expeditions. AWR uses AlSur for their trips in the Lake District, so naturally we had to test them out!

Rafting the Petrohue

Rafting the Petrohue

We celebrated Ted’s birthday in Puerto Varas, starting the day on one of Gerardo’s half-day rafting trips which was a blast. The weather didn’t invite too much more outdoor activity that day, but we managed to entertain ourselves with wine and a delicious seafood dinner. We later met Gerardo out for another round of drinks and then onto another bar where we met up with the Americans that we hiked with earlier that week. Considering we didn’t know anyone in the area when we arrived a couple days earlier, Ted was properly celebrated as he rang in the big 3-1.

Our favorite activity in the Bariloche area was a hike and overnight stay in the Frey Refugio. The trip was recommended to us by our friend Steph from Boulder who was down living in Bariloche when we were there. We were able to get together for drinks and we can’t thank her enough for the tip!

A refugio is a backcountry hut that you can only access by hiking. It offers ‘refuge’ to any hiker, climber, or skier in the area that needs a place to lay their head at night. You don’t have to have a reservation to stay, you can just show up. The refugios will also provide hot food, sleeping bags, tents, gas for cooking, and other things you might need up there (for a cost). Some people bring a tent and all their own food and only have to pay if they wish to use the refugio’s stoves for cooking. Some people bring nothing and pay for meals and supplies when the arrive.

Our hike up to the hut was fantastic. It was a cruisy 10km (6 mile) hike overlooking a lake and up through a beautiful old forest. When we got high enough, we got to walk through a bit of snow up to a mountain pass to get to our final destination. The air was quite warm but the snow still remained from the previous winter and just made the beautiful mountains look more beautiful.

Hike to Frey

Hike to Frey

Crazy Bridge

The view from Frey is pretty ridiculous. It is surrounded by a (snow-covered) lake and lots of pointy, jagged peaks. A lot of rock climbers set-up camp at this refugio because of all the amazing routes in the nearby vicinity. No rock climbing for us, just exploring the area by foot and taking in the views is quite entertaining. We also met travelers from all over, read our books, wrote postcards, enjoyed a refugio-made pizza and just relaxed.

Frey Hut

Hot Pizza at a Hut?!?!

Sunset at Frey

There are several other huts in the area and even a trail that connects 3 or 4 of them. However, the trails were closed because they were still too snow-covered to be safe. I guess we’ll have to add Bariloche’s refugio circuit to our list to do next time!

View from Frey

Bariloche, Argentina is ridiculously beautiful. Think snow-capped mountains surrounding big, blue lakes and lots of trees. Ted was so blown away by the place that he described it as Interlochen, Switzerland, Queenstown, New Zealand, and Lake Tahoe’s Spanish-speaking love child. And I think that about wraps it up.

Beautiful Bariloche

Lake Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche

The city itself is a ski town in the winter and a resort town in the summer. We were on the front end of the high season but there were still plenty of tourists around eating ice cream and buying post cards (us included!). Bariloche brags about the quality of both their ice cream and their chocolate which, for anyone who knows me well, are about my two favorite things. Ted also indulged and I believe we had ice cream everyday that we were there. It was that good.

In addition to sweets, Bariloche is known for it’s ridiculous outdoor activities. We rented mountain bikes one day and biked a famous loop known as the Circuito Chico. The views are insane and we loved just stopping wherever we liked to take a picture or just to appreciate the view.

Circuito Chico

Circuito Chico

Circuito Chico

We also did some day hikes in the area including to a nearby ski area, Cathedral, that Ted has vowed to return to some day.

A highlight of our visit was a hike and overnight stay in a backcountry hut, but I’m going to wait to tell you about that one because it was so cool that it deserves its own post.

Overall, Bariloche is one of Argentina’s many gems. It is technically the way north tip of Patagonia (the Lake District) and was a wonderful little tease for what we had in store for us heading south.

Bariloche

And…we’re back!  Been a little quiet on the blog recently – having too much fun hosting parents in South Africa during the month of January.  Now that they are back home, we’re back to the updates now:

One 19-hour bus ride later, we arrived in Mendoza. Though 19 hours sounds incredibly horrible, the luxuriousness of the Argentine buses makes for a surprisingly unoffensive journey. A couple movies, a good book, some not-so restful sleeping and you’re there!

So, remember our friends Courtney and Jed that we stayed with on the coast of Ecuador just after our computer got stolen? Well, they have since moved from Montanita, Ecuador to Mendoza, Argentina, and we had the pleasure to see and stay with them again. Their apartment was ideally situated on a main plaza in the heart of the city. Between the gorgeous tree-lined streets and the pedestrian mall full of outdoor cafes, we knew we were going to like this place.

Our Gracious Hosts

We did some wonderfully typical Argentine things on our visit, including a winery tour in a nearby suburb. We intended to visit more than one winery, however, the walking directions we were given were not-so-good and after a good hour of wandering, further mis-directions, and conflicting opinions, we ran out of time and the winery closed on us. Oh well, we chose to drown our sorrows in an inexpensive bottle of wine at an outdoor cafe instead. Who needs a tour anyway – it’s all about the tasting!

The biggest barrel in Mendoza

We also went to a soccer game between two regional teams in the area. After getting slightly lost again thanks to a lazy cab driver, we made our way to the tailgating pre-party. Once in the stadium, we discovered that there is essentially a crazy section for rowdy fans with noisemakers, painted faces, firecrackers and banners who don’t like to sit down, and there is a place for the rest of us. Beyond the soccer, which sadly ended in a scoreless tie, I was thoroughly entertained by the people-watching and more specifically the mens’ hairdos. Mullets? Yep. Rat tails? Lots of them! One random dredlock combined with a mullet and/or rat tail? Definitely. It was disturbing to say the least. This problem was not unique to Mendoza but rather is a nationwide epidemic.

Rowdy Fans

Wicked Mullets

A huge thank you to Courtney and Jed for their hospitality TWICE, and we look forward to returning the favor somehow back in Colorado.

To be honest, the only reason we stopped in Salta was to break up the long journey from the Bolivian border to our next stop in Mendoza. However, Salta and the surrounding area proved to be one of our favorite spots so far.

The downtown plaza area is just beautiful and extremely reminiscent of Europe – sidewalk cafes, museums, theaters, fountains – it has it all. Not only is the architecture of European influence, so is the gene pool. We were now in a country with other people with blond hair and fair skin where it was not immediately obvious who was a local and who was an international visitor. Definitely a difference from the Northern Andean countries that we had visited so far where our height and hair color gave us away.

Through Ted’s tourism connections, we met up with a lovely local Argentine woman who gave us a great overview of the country, from the current governmental and political situation, to the state of the nation’s tourism industry, as well as some great recommendations for what to do around the area. Not only did we learn that you say ‘Argentine’ (as opposed to Argentinian) when talking about people or things, we were told that we should rent a car to cruise a popular driving loop and over night in a nearby wine region.

So, that’s what we did. It was our first time driving on our trip and we had a blast getting to move at our own pace. We stopped when we wanted to – to take pictures, to have lunch, or just because. We had our first of many steaks, which Argentina is famous for, and we were blown away by the ever-changing scenery and historic villages out our window.

The nearby wine region, Cafayate, is the most famous in Argentina (after Menoza) and we drove ourselves to a couple of the recommended wineries in and just outside of town as well as to a creamery where they do goat cheese tastings. Mmm!

The drive back to the city was on a section called Quebrada de Cafayate. The red rocks, the rock formations and the vistas for the first 50km of the return are said to be some of Argentina’s most beautiful landscapes – which is saying quite a bit.

We are happy we gave this area the time it deserved and we got ourselves back to Salta in plenty of time for our overnight bus trip to Mendoza where the wine drinking and delicious eating would continue!