This will be a short post, definitely not up to the depth it deserves, but due to circumstances of shitty internet and bus schedules I can´t be on too long.
Well, it is safe to say that I will never start out a new year as well as I did this one. I said goodbye to 2010 standing on the balcony of Marina´s host aunt´s apartment that had a spectacular view of the entire bay of Valparaíso, drinking champagne with Allyson and her pololo, Marina and taking in the 40 minute fireworks display that spayed from Laguna Verde all the way down to Con-Con. As Marina´s host mom would say "impresionante". The night proceeded with us partying on the streets of Valpo with the 1 million extra people who had migrated there for the night. Pretty spectacular.
January 2nd I said goodbye to my host family and Valpo and left for Punta Arenas, at the very southern tip of Chile. It was really hard to say goodbye to them, but the chaos of packing and barely making my bus to Santiago sort of prolonged all of that settling in.
Allyson and I arrived in Punta Arenas around 10pm, and the sun was still shining. It sets around 11pm down there, pretty wild. Her friend, Mauri, kindly picked us up at the airport and let us crash at his house, where he lives with his parents (love Chile). His mom and dad were so ecstatic to meet us, it was great. My friend Pablo says that people from the South show their affection with food (similar to the states) and I have first hand evidence that this is true. Mauri´s mom cooked us salmon for dinner, with rice and vegetables and tiramisu for desert. Then upon finding out we had never had centolla, King Crab more or less, she made us that for lunch the next day, as an appetizer...Just the nicest.
We spent January 3rd exploring Punta Arenas with Mauri and went to see penguins at Otoway!! It was the more economic and viable option since we had to get to Puerto Natales that night. These penguins are Magallenic penguins and are just the cutest thing ever. There were so many of them waddling around returning to their burrows from a long, 8 hr day of fishing. There were adolescent penguins that were still furry, so that was pretty great. I must say though that the creators of Happy Feet definitely never heard a penguin squak before they made that movie about their beautiful penguin songs. While totally adorable their call sounds like a dying cow. The park was really cool because not only did we see penguins, but also flamingos, ostrich like creatures, coyotes and sheep (!!!). I was over the moon.
January 4th we spent getting ready fo trek the W circuit in Torres del Paine, the national park that people come from all over the world to see. I had done so much research and talked to so many people about the best way to do it, but ultimately we did our own thing. I went and heard the "3pm talk" at the Base Camp which works with the hostel Erratic Rock, and that cleared up a lot of my doubts about the trek. As in, your raincover will NOT work because the winds get up to 180km/hr in the park. Nobody had told me that before, go figure. We used a lot of trash bags. We stayed at a different hostel called Kewskar "the backpackers shall inherit the earth" run by this ultra hippie Omar, who was just the sassiest, but greatest. I highly recommend this hostel. We were also fortunate to meet really wonderful people at the hostel, most of whom were starting the W at the same time as us. Our two favorite were Marc and Asaf. Marc is from Andora and has been traveling for 15 months. He spent 13 in Africa and started his South American adventure 2 months ago. He was really kind and funny and told me something that really stuck with me. After I said something at breakfast like " Oh man, I dont want to go back to real life" He said " I hate when people say that. This is real life, this is my life. If you are not living your real life right now, what are you doing? Living a fake life?" I think that is really true. Asaf is from Israel and just got done with his 3 year army service and is taking a year to travel before going back ot University in Telaviv. The two of them together were a dynamic duo like none other and I am so glad we got to spend time with them.
January 5th we started our trek and ended up doing it the opposite way most people do. We started at Administration, the west side of the park, intending to end with the Torres, the east side of the park. The 3pm talk guy had suggested this because you get a great view of the park as you come in, as opposed to leaving that way, desperate for a shower and only looking out at flat plains. I am SO GLAD we chose to go this way. It was a sunny, clear day so we could see everything, including the Torres, which made the extremely windy, long hike in a lot more enjoyable since we got a glimpse of what was to come in the next five days. As it turns out CONAF, environmental agency here more or less, are devious little planners and put all of the free camping sites really far apart. It is possible to get to all of them, but not worth the pain you will put yourself through. As such Allyson and I stayed at a refugio next to Lago Pehoé our first night, not too expensive, but not free either. As we start setting up our tent we realize we have no stakes to keep the tent from flying off into the distance (thanks for that Padre). So as we put on what I´m sure was a very entertaining show for all of our neighbors trying to hold down the tent and tie it to twigs and shrubs, we begin to realize we are totally screwed. Allyson finally goes and asks if they have stakes we can use, and all of the workers are sitting around lauging at us and tell us yes, they have stakes but we need to move the tent closer to the mountain so it is less windy. Gringa point number one.
January 6th we realize we are terrible at waking up in the morning and start hiking at 11am, needless to say the campsite was completely empty. We headed up towards Glacier Grey, which may have been my favorite part of the park. It was so incredible to see bits of ice floating in the lake and then look up and see this vast expanse of ice. We had another sunny and clear day, so the view was incredible. We spent the night at Refugio Grey, since we were sure we would die trying to get to Los Guardas, and contented ourselves with hiking around the mirador, which was not settling by any means. I have never felt more at peace in my life than I did during this trip, but especially looking out at this glacier. For some reason it was really awe inspiring for me.
January 7th we head to Campamento Italiano, which was a pretty long hike, but by no means unreasonable. We were graced with another sunny day (just so you know this happened every day) and during our stop at the refugio to go to the bathroom we met Gregorio and Shane. Both of them are from Valpo/Viña del Mar even though Shane is American, he went to high school there. He just recently moved ot Concepción with his family, from Texas, and is working for an NGO called "Compassion ....." and they work rebuilding homes and cities that have suffered natural disasters, obviously Concepción was a candidate. He used to work in oil, so it was kind of nice to see such a shift in activities and priorities.
January 8th we went up Valle Francés, which was really beautiful and it was nice ot have a day without our backpacks. We even got to see some of the glacier falling down, which was pretty damn cool. That night we met three Chileans who were siblings and hiking together, made me miss my family, and a couple from Philidelphia that came prepared with a bottle of Jack Daniels...
January 9th was an EXTREMELY long day, 11 hrs to be precise, to arrive at Campamento Torres, even with the short cut. For those thinking about doing the W this way I highly recommend not spending two nights at Campamento Italiano, but rather moving on the second night to refugio los cuernos, cutting off about two hours the next day. Although we were struggling it was a beautiful hike. The whole trek I kept having ot stop and catch my breath, not due to being out of shape, but just to appreciate the beauty of this place, the tranquility, the power. The color of the lakes was turquiose, I mean how many places do you see that? The short cut took us through the part of the park that had been burnt down a few years ago by some idiot who lit an open fire in the park. About 1/15th of the park was destroyed. Another challenge of this day was the wind, it was so freaking strong. The girl behind us faceplanted, with her backpack on, and I was having a hard time staying on the trail with the wind pushing me this way and that. But we made it! (We also stopped and bought much needed beers at Refugio Chileno to celebrate with at the top)
January 10th we once again prove we are terrible at getting up in the morning and did not get up to see the sunrise over the Torres, which is supposedly a life changing experience. Luckily, we had our own. At 8am we scrammbled up the 45 min walk to the mirador, and the clouds peeled back revealing the Torres in all their glory. It was just the best way to end the trip. Then to continue with the nickname the secretary at my mom´s office gave me of "naked girl" Allyson and I decided to take pictures completely naked behind a Chilean and Patagonia flag. Mind you, it was damn cold, and windy of course. We were the only people so we had planned on using the timer to take the picture. I went down to change and then I hear Allyson say "Anna, there are people coming!" So she comes running down to join me behind this huge rock and we are dying of laughter, and hypothermia. These people come up and have NO idea they are not alone, and I so hated to ruin their moment with the Torres right then. So we wait a minute or two and then I man up and come out from behind the rock and ask if they will take a picture of us. I wish I could have captured their faces, priceless. They took one with our camera, and then one with theirs. Made me think of my adventure to Laguna Curauma with my mom "If you´re going to get naked in public, you have to accept that other people will take pictures". Thanks mom.
That night we stayed at Erratic Rock and I am more and more convinced of my need to be in the woods. This guy from Oregon just moved down here and started this gear rental and hostel, and the first recycling program in Puerto Natales. They recycle the gas cans everyone uses while trekking, it was just so great to hear his story.
Other highlights include: Izac, a Spanish guy who sold everything is travelling indefinitely. Meeting someone who works in Shanghai, but is originally from NYC, and I went to high school with his cousin. Last lunch with Mauri´s family.
To come: Pictures, story about the strike in Punta Arenas and their identity crisis, our arrival in Peru.
Off to Cusco tonight! Here´s hoping I don´t get altitude sickness.
