Santiago

The last stop for us on this trip is Santiago, capital of Chile. We travelled here last Sunday arriving late after a long trip which began with a 4am start heading out by bus to the geyser field at Tatio (the geysers are at their best in the -8 degree temperatures before dawn), passing through some interesting villages and ruins on the way to Calama airport, where we heard the news of two quite large earthquakes in southern Chile (7.1 and 6.5 on the Richter Scale).

Fortunately after the huge earthquake last February in nearby Concepcion, this time there was no serious damage. However the relatively small percentage of old buildings in Santiago is testimony to the many earthquakes that have hit this part of the world.

Santiago is a very civilised place with everything you could need and it feels a good deal safer than Rio. It is also clearly growing and more prosperous than Buenos Aires as the many cranes on the skyline suggest.  For sure, like the other South American states, Chile has inequality and poorer areas but it hides it well and seems a bit more at peace with itself than Brazil or Argentina and more organised. On the other hand, despite the greater prosperity, stability and the incredible diversity of fantastic scenery it has a lower profile than some of its larger and more famous neighbours.

In the city centre

We have six days here and our great friend (and Spanish teacher) Yvette has given us a fantastic guided tour around the city and the outlying coastal city of Valparaiso.

It has been really nice to spend some time with Yvette and Jay sampling the restaurants and bars, meeting friends and doing some sightseeing.  Our superb tour guide has shown us  the historic centre of town, we've eaten lunch at the legendary Donde Augusto (Yvette was greeted by the man himself) and drank a number of Pisco Sours.  We've looked down on the world heritage site of Valparaiso from the Brighton, our museum-piece of a hotel, and been round the newer up-market beach resort of Vina del Mar by horse-drawn carriage.  On the way back to Santiago we sampled the wines at a vineyard in the beautiful Casablanca valley.


The view from the apartment


The feeling of being more at home has been added to by renting a serviced apartment rather than staying in a hotel. After five weeks of buffet breakfasts and eating out twice a day it was a treat to have a night in cooking pasta.  We ate it while watching the sun set from our balcony over-looking the river and hills while sipping some local wine. Thanks to Ana, our other Chilean friend who is also here, for helping us with the apartment.

So we have reached our last night here before the long journey home begins via Madrid and London.

Lost in Translation

Being in Argentina and now Chile has been a great improvement after the language problems we had in Brazil. However, the more significant misunderstandings have generally been either when speaking English or when (as frequently happens) people assume I am Brazilian and launch into Portuguese. The woman from the car hire company assumed I was Brazilian until I showed her my UK driving licence at which point she said: "you are from Ukraine?". I assume she hasn't met too many Ukranians if she thinks I might resemble one.

As happens in Spain some of the translations into English on menus can be misleading so if you want to be sure what you get it's best to stick to Spanish.  The same is true of the safety demonstration on the Chilean airline, LAN, where the stewardesses read out the English version such that it sounds like it has been put through the verbal equivalent of a food processor.  I'm sure we frequently get our own back when speaking Spanish.

More confusion came on a walk in Argentina when our guide stopped to show us a plant with yellow flowers which he said was used as an ingredient in "Beak Bappa Roop". We all looked blank until someone worked out he meant Vick Vapor Rub to everyone's amusement. When in Chile a few days later we saw the same plant I asked the guide if it was used in Beak Bappa Roop he said yes without hesitation.

Our favourite "lost in translation" was in a lakeside restaurant in Puerto Varas that sold the local freshwater fish. They had decided to continue the theme on the bathroom doors such that the Gents are "Salmon" and the Ladies, rather unfortunately, are "Trout"!

Our most difficult conversation in terms of language came at lunchtime on our New Year's Eve day trip. We sat down to lunch with four people from Catalunya and were having a good chat to them in Spanish when a Brazilian couple came to sit next to us on the long table at which we were seated. For the next half hour we struggled to hold a conversation because they spoke some Spanish but with very heavy Portuguese accents. It was a shame because they seemed such nice people.

It turned out that the Brazilian couple were having dinner in the same place as us that night and they came over to wish us a happy new year. We were with a German couple speaking English at which time we found out that the Brazilians spoke English too!  For some reason earlier in the day it never occurred to any of us to try English.

Communication gets easier on New Year's Eve

On New Year's Day we went out to lunch with Sandra and Rolf, the Brazilian couple, and chatted for three hours with no problem at all.  The only odd moment was when a local came and told me slightly aggressively that Chile was a better country than Brazil. When I told him I was from England he wouldn't believe me. When Rolf our (white) Brazilian friend told him he couldn't sit with us the local left saying to Rolf: "you English are cold people"!

The Driest Place on Earth

We arrived at Calama Airport in northern Chile on a beautiful evening and were driven across the Atacama Desert to San Pedro, a small village which is growing thanks to the influx of tourists since it was connected by a tarred road for the first time a few years ago.

The desert is apparently the driest place on earth with around an inch of rain a year and some areas often record zero humidity.  It is mining country with the world's largest open-cast copper mine near to Calama and of course the now famous site of this years mining rescue a few hundred kms to the south.


Moon Valley just before sunset

The geology is extraordinary.  The desert has been created in a basin formed between the surrounding  mountain ranges and volcanos which have been pushed up as a result of the fault that runs all along Chile's coast. The mountains take what little rain and snow there is and the water has evaporated from the basin leaving the world's third largest salt flat. San Pedro sits in an Oasis in the middle as a result of underground water draining from the mountains so it has water and vegetation. For a dry town it has its fair share of bars too!
So far we have been on a tour of the salt flats and seen the flamingos that live in the protected area and visited the lakes that have been created by volcanic activity at over 4200m above sea level - the highest we have ever been. We have also visited Death Valley and Moon Valley which lie within a mountain range created entirely from salt. We explored a cave, learned about the rock formations and watched the sun set over the Arizona style landscape.

Flamingos on the Atacama salt flats

The human history of the area is also fascinating and the local museum charts human development here over 11,000 years through the archaeological finds that have been made in the area. The dryness preserves things superbly (including human bodies, which alas are no longer on show).  We went to two of the main local ruins and heard about the development of the Andean culture, the peaceful conquest by the Incas in the 15th century and the rather more bloody arrival of the Spanish a century later.

It is here in San Pedro that we are seeing out the old year. 2010 has been good to us - especially for the chance we have had to see some more of the world. In the last four weeks of 2010 we have seen Rio, Buenos Aires, the huge falls at Iguazu, glaciers, volcanos, lakes, forests and had the unforgettable experience of Torres del Paine.

We hope for an even better 2011 and wish everyone reading this a happy and prosperous new year.

Volcanic Activity

Leaving the Baobab Hotel behind we drove the truck northwards along bumpy dirt roads and through dense forests with occasional views of lakes shimmering in the sunshine. In the course of the first hour we saw just one other motor vehicle and a couple of ox-drawn carts.  Most of the locals in the only village we saw waved to us - we don't think they get much passing trade.

Leaving the developing world behind, a few kms up the road the scenery becomes more like England's green and pleasant land.  Our next stop was the thermal springs at Huife, one of a number of places in the Lakes where the volcanic activity results in hot springs. We spent a very nice 24 hours at a spa hotel there soaking up the heat of the 41 degree outdoor pools and having some hydromassage.

The highlight of our week in the Lakes was saved till last as we climbed to the summit of Villarrica, the active volcano that towers over the town of Pucon. It's a picture-book volcano, 2850m high and shaped like an upside down cone with the top half covered in snow. Best of all it actually smokes!

Volcan Villarrica - with smoke

Starting halfway up we climbed the remaining 1400m in five hours, trudging slowly but steadily upwards following our guide's snowy footprints. We were lucky as it is often too cloudy to climb or the wind blows the noxious fumes in the wrong direction. We were able to see inside the crater and enjoy the panoramic views of lakes and several other volcanos until the wind did change briefly and we got a couple of lungfuls of water vapour laced with sulphuric and phosphoric acids - time to descend.

The group pauses on the way up

The fuming crater

The descent is quicker. At the crater we donned waterproofs and helmets and tobogganed down the mountain on what looked like green plastic toilet seat covers. Hilarious!

Having grown up in a colder climate than me, Su mastered the toboggan technique more quickly but once I had put it the right way round I managed high speed - mainly because I kept forgetting to use the ice axe as a brake. The other problem was trying to stay feet-first and usually after a few meters I would be hurtling downhill on my back head first.

On one occasion Su had the presence of mind to shout "rocks!" as I rocketed past her which meant I managed to stop myself crashing just in time. It is difficult to see where you are going head first on your back and the briefing didn't cover how to stop yourself in that situation! We got to the bottom in one piece, Su rather more gracefully than me, and my sense of self-preservation has returned.

In Search of the Baobab

Our arrival at the airport in Puerto Montt was our reintroduction to the real world after being thoroughly spoilt at Explora.  However the short ride to neighbouring Puerto Varas with its view of two beautiful snow-covered volcanos across the lake seemed promising.

Feeling rather tired after a five hour drive and two hour flight, we didn't take a photo of the volcanos and it proved to be the last we saw of them in our two night stay.  It seems the Chilean Lake District has a similar reputation for wet weather as its English counterpart.

The low cloud and rain persisted as we headed north on Christmas Eve in the rather unglamourous white pickup truck we have been given by the hire company.  On the way we spotted that our travel itinerary had no address or phone number for our hotel other than the name of a village, Panguipulli.  We arrived in that village five minutes after the tourist office had shut for Xmas but there was a phone number for all the hotels so we headed off in the general direction of where we thought it to be.

The Baobab Hotel

As we headed further inland we lost mobile phone coverage and had to turn back to be able to call.  There was no answer at the hotel or travel agencies in Santiago and London as of course by then on Christmas Eve everyone had, understandably, left.  However by piecing together the information we could get from a roadside map, internet research by Suzanne's sister Carron, our map and a guide book we took an educated guess at where the hotel might be and headed further into the mobile phone black hole that exists on the Argentina-Chile border.Over an hour later, more than 60km from Panguipulli on a dirt road deep in the forest and still unsure of where the hotel was, we pulled up outside the Baobab - the most surreal place either of us have stayed at.  It is seven stories high, built around a tree and hidden in a remote forest between the lakes.  Adjoining it is the equally surreal Magic Mountain lodge and a micro-brewery/pub.  It is, as Su neatly summed it up, bonkers. They are nevertheless sufficiently confident of their business model that there is no address on the website and absolutely no signs on the road.

The Truck (and driver)

In any event we were so pleased that we had found the hotel that would be our home for Christmas Day that we forgot to turn the car lights off and awoke next morning to the flattest of flat batteries.  So Christmas Day started with all three of us (truck included) feeling rather run down but after a kind and very resourceful staff member had revived our truck by starting it using his battery, the sun came out and we felt better again. We gave the truck a run out and visited some remote lakes with beautiful scenery, called home using skype, went for a stroll in the forest down to the lakeside beach in the next town and called in at the neighbouring micro-brewery to sample their excellent produce.

Bizarre though the place is, it is genuinely beautiful with views of the local snow-covered volcano from the roof and a range of lovely lakes surrounded by forested hills nearby. The lakes are almost untouched as the area is so remote and it feels more like Africa with local villages built from wood and corrugated iron. All in all, spending Christmas under the Baobab tree is very nice, always assuming that you can find it in the first place. 

Turning Back

It is a five hour drive from Torres del Paine south to the airport at Punta Arenas, the last town at the tip of the South American continent beyond which there is only the island of Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn and Antartica.

Patagonia is a beautiful but desolate place with less than one human being per square kilometre (compared to more than 1700/sq km in London and more than 4000 in New York). Here the air is so clear that trees are covered in lichen which only grows where there is no pollution, the sun is strong because of the hole in the ozone layer and the wind whips of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, one of the remaining relics of the ice age.

It is strange to think that here - 53 degrees of latitude south - we are more or less the same distance from the equator as London yet the climate and land is so different.  It has been a real privilege to be here in both Argentina and Chile.

In some ways today is a turning point for us, the end of one long journey and the beginning of another.  For today, after five flights totalling over 22 hours of flying time and two five hour road trips, we complete the journey south from London to Punta Arenas. Now at the halfway point of our South American trip we turn back north starting with a flight to Puerto Montt in the Chilean lake district.

Explora, Torres del Paine

We have had a wonderful four days based at the Explora hotel in the heart of the Torres del Paine national park. The scenery is beautiful and we covered over 40 miles on foot during the various guided hikes.

The hotel has a winning formula.  It has incredible views of the Paine Massif across the lake and is all- inclusive: food, drinks, guided hikes and horse riding (we had a lot of the first three but left the horses alone). But the clever bit is that you can only book four night stays and therefore all the guests arrived on saturday and left the following wednesday which creates a really good atmosphere.

Predictably we ended up in the fastest of the walking groups with four other couples from various parts of the world: Peter (Brit living in New England who builds luxury yachts) & Rosemary (New Zealand), Gillian & David (Irish living in London), Sasha & Esther (Swiss and Korean living in New York) and Amanda and  Camp (Boston).

The best and longest walk was on the longest day of the year here, 21 December.  We covered 26kms, climbing from the lake shore just above sea level to 700 metres among the mountains of the Paine Massif, passing glaciers, rivers, lakes and waterfalls.  We began in rain and thick cloud but, as we climbed through the forest, the rain turned to snow before the sun emerged to give us close-up views of the mountains and a panorama of the park.

The walks are well-organised (i.e. they provide essentials such as beer at the end) and after a hard day trekking we relaxed with a (very) quick dip in the lake, whose water is glacial and therefore less than 5 degrees, and a soak in the outdoor hot-tub drinking champagne with our new friends Betsy and Katie, two sisters from Chicago who are great fun.  It was their idea to get in the freezing lake but it was great for tired legs and amazing how many people followed us in once we had set the example.

All too quickly it was time to move on from Explora which really is in a world of its own.  We shall miss the facilities and the landscape but especially the people.

Over the Border

Despite the relatively small distance between El Calafate in Argentina and Torres del Paine in Chile, our next destination, the journey proved to be a long one. The six and a half hour trip was partly down to geography (the road has to get around some large Andean mountains to find a crossing point) and partly caused by the political relationship between the two countries.  It turns out that sharing such a long border gives almost endless opportunities to argue about where the frontier is and who owns the valuable sources of fresh water that lie in the Southern Patagonia Ice Field.

The first three hours was by road in Argentina through the semi-desert where only small bushes grow in the constant and freezing wind. It was 7 degrees and felt colder due to the wind despite this being summer.  We stopped for a coffee at a roadhouse at Esperanza, which means "hope" in Spanish. Whoever decided to call it hope was either an optimist or having a laugh!

We continued along a well surfaced main road, seeing only a handful of other vehicles, running parallel with the border until suddenly our driver turned onto a gravel track signed only to a local estancia.  This turned out to be the road to Chile which the Argentinians clearly don't want you to find. We then spent nearly an hour queueing to get in to a small bleak building in the company of a few other tourists and under the watchful eyes of a flock of sheep who seemed even more bored than the tourists and the customs officials.  What they did with the travel documents that took so long will have to remain a mystery.

Finally we were off on the 8km journey across no-sheep's land to a similar building on the Chilean side.  The Chileans have a reputation for greater efficiency than the Argentians so, rather than simply waste time by being slow, they adopted a more complex process.  This time the luggage got to come out of the car too.  We joined an orderly queue to have our documents inspected having declared that we were not carrying any apples, cheese or other banned substances.  Then we went back to the luggage and put it through the x-ray machine.  This was all very odd.  Nobody checked the car to see if we had any other bags.  Neither did anyone watch to see if all the bags went through nor put a sticker on them to say that they have been checked.  They didn't open any bags while we were there perhaps because the 7 year old boy who was entrusted with watching the scanner screen (really - I'm not making this up) had not yet been fully trained.

Once this charade was over we returned to the car and sat at the barrier for more than ten minutes until a bored looking man walked slowly over and unlocked the padlock to open the gate.  Our driver was then able to drive us about 100 metres to a cafe on the Chilean side where he passed us and our luggage over to representatives from our next hotel.  As we moved on to the last leg of our journey we wished him luck as he left us to drive the 100 metres back to the border to get back to his own country and presumably negotiate another two sets of unnecessary bureaucracy.  I wonder what time he got home!