At about 1:00 in the afternoon, the power went out in the Panama City International Airport. There wasn’t much of a reaction from the staff in the Copa Club lounge though so Megan and I continued as usual. I had been about to take a nap with Megan on bag watch after our layover showers, business class travel is rough. We we’re half way to our destination, Santiago, Chile, and a trip we had been talking about for well over a year. An hour or so later, with power restored, headed to the gate for the next half of the flight South.
Our plan was to fly into Santiago and head to the coast for 4-5 days, staying in Valpariso where Megan studied aborad 10 years before, and then Pichilemu, a surf town we had been scouting online. After this we would fly to Puerto Montt and Northern Patagoina in order to visit the new Chilean park, Pumalin Park, and spend time in nearby Puerto Varas. Then make the final leg to Southern Patagoina and visit Torres del Paine, and the adventure hub of Puerto Natales. We decided on this two and a half week iteniary after years of wanting to move abroad to live for a year. Originally we thought to simply quit our jobs and move, first to Pichilemu, then it was Puerto Varas since streetview in Pichelemu looked a bit rough. In retrospec, this may have been, if not a mistake, a bit more than we bargined for. While it would be nice to have a much extended break from our busy lives, we both ended up having a fantastic time despite the abreviated scope of the trip, and are already looking forward to our next trip aborad.
The Beach
Almost immediately upon stepping out of the customs checkpoint in Santiago, Megan was spotted by a taxi cab peddler. After some intense negotiations and a few car changes we went for the most expensive 5 minute taxi ride of the trip to our hotel. A small spanish shouting match ensued between Megan and the driver but all ended well and we made it to bed. In the morning we would pick up the rental car and then head out to Valparaiso without visiting Santiago.
A few comments come to mind after driving in Chile. First, coastal central Chile is very similar to California. We saw rolling hills and vineyards everywhere along with roadside produce and berry stands. Second, drivers are also similar, aggressive, with seemingly little regard for passenger safety or deference to busses.
Valpariso seemed to exude culture, was very friendly and super busy. Even in our short time there I we both were able to notice big differences between the lively Valpo and the neighboring more weathly and the relatively more tired feeling Vina del Mar. Upon arriving in town we went to Vina for some time on the beach and then to Megan’s past favorite empanada shop for some queso y mariscos frita (fried cheese and shrimp). Our first anticipated lodging choice, at the Yellow House B&B turned out great. For dinner we met with Megan’s friend Nestor, who took us on a short walking tour around a neigboring hill and then to a great dinner spot with a balcony overlooking the city and bay. We also had our first experiance with collectivos, which are super cheap shared taxis for up to 4 people that operate on fixed routes. As we would see, our first ride involving a full car and a few close calls on the road, seemed typical of collectivos throughout the country.
Collectivos are actually a great way to get around, much faster than a bus, and I’m excited to see that Uber is making steps toward a similar service in SF here in the United States.
The following day we had a 3 hour drive south to Pichilemu. The drive was a nice way to see some countryside. Once in town, though, we were suprised to find what appeared to be a bit of a run down ghost town. This first impression would end up not being quite acurate, its largely a toursit town and I think, is pretty typical of any highly seasonal toursit dependent area. We checked into our first nights lodging and generally relaxed nearby, still a bit weary from the plane trips.
We had 3 more days in town, and on two of them, we rented boards and wetsuits and surfed at Punta de Lobos, a left famous for getting huge, long waves much of the year. The water was very cold at about 50 degrees F, but it was awesome being so far from home and getting out surfing. The waves were a bit overhead the two days we went our, and it felt about twice as fast as a typical day in Santa Cruz.
Punta de Lobos is famous for the quality and consistency of the waves, but also the area makes for great photos thanks to a beach broken up by craggy rocks on shore and in the water. Punta de Lobos proper involves a somewhat sketchy paddle out between sharp rocks and mindful surfing as all but the biggest of days have waves breaking closer to shore and thus, interupted by rocks. We surfed a bit of the point and had fewer rocks to maneuver around but they were still around which made it an exciting time!
On the third evening, we went to a brew pub for dinner and having snacked most of the day, we decided to split a meal. Megan decided on something that sounded like nachos with ‘lean beef’ which eneded up being about half a pound of raw meat and some condiments. Suprise! Megan wasn’t happy and didn’t eat more than three or four little morsels, but I came to like it and finished most of it on my own. That night we stayed in a private dome cabin, built by a French expat who lived on site with his family. This place was very nice and a great value, and we both were wishing we had stayed in these domes for all three nights.
While surfing, our equipment came from a guy who apparently lives full time with his wife and children in a ramshackle two story stand right on the beach. The lower half is an overgrown stash of boards and wetsuits, with the upper half serving as his house and rooftop lookout. There appeared to be a few local surf clubs idling away the summer hanging around on the deck and occassionally going out for an hour or so at a time. Our last day in town there was actually a national juniors competition going on and the beach was crawling with groms and their surfing families which was cool to see.
Northern Patagonia
After returning to Santiago’s airport for our flight South, we found ourselves in Puerto Montt, a large, seemingly industrial town in the lakes region. After getting in late and a stay at a cheap hotel, we got up early, intending to take the 7 am bus to Caleta Gonzalo, a 9 hour trip, in order to visit Pumalin Park and stay at their very nice looking Cabanas.
We ended up lucking out here quite a bit. There is one bus a day from Puerto Montt to Caleta Gonzalo, and our pricy Cabana reservations were non refundable, so it was important to be on the bus. Unfortunatly, the night before, we arrived late and the ticket counter was closed. In the morning, we showed up to learn that the sales desk showed the bus as full! We walked over to speak with the driver and had an anxious time waiting as the bus was loaded before leaving. Some confusion ensued and the drivers radioed and called around before we learned that there were two seats left just a few minutes before departure.
The bus ride itself was quite the experiance. It was a six segment ordeal involving a brief bit of one lay highway, a whole lot more very rough dirt road, and 3 seperate ferries, the longest of which was about 5 hours, sailing through sceanic fijords surrounded by salmon fisheries and waterfalls on every mountain side. It was an awesome trip.
Pumalin Park was an awesome place to visit and despite the current small number of trails and established areas, I imagine it will gain much popularity in the future. The facilities were very nice and the sceanery second to none. We had our favorite meal in the comunal lodge our first night, fresh made lasagna and soup, and really enjoyed the relaxed pace of the place. We both had mild head colds during this time and our one partially rainy day of the trip lined up great with the opportunity to relax in the cabana read our books, and watch a movie on the iPad.
During our second day, still low on energy due to the colds, we slept in and then found ourselves on a spectacular hike which kept us going futher down the trail despite not feeling so great. The trail throguh the thick woods, had been built out of log ladders, and raised walkways covering more than half of the distance. It must have been a huge undertaking to build, and was all completed in a quality and asthetic manner.
After two nights staying in the park, we returned North, catching a ride with a fellow American traveling by van for the driving portions. He dropped us in Puerto Varas, where we stayed two nights on the shore of Lake Llanquihue. At this point in the trip I think we were both a bit weary from traveling and still recovering from colds. We did laundry and milled around town, renting bikes one afternoon and riding out to a brewery where we ate some very tasty salmon ceviche.
It was getting closer to Christmas and it was funny to us to see the town gearing up for summer with 80 degree days while string up Christmas lights as well. Puerto Varas was another one of the towns Megan and I had read about and discussed as a possiable place to live aborad for a year, and it was very nice as we had expected. While eating some pan y palta (bread and avacado, a national staple) at a cafe though, we both agreed it would have been rash to move without ever having visited the country together first.
Southern Patagonia
From Puerto Montt we flew South again to Punta Arenas, the southern hub used to reach Southern Patagoina’s many parks and adventure destinations. How told we spent about 28 hours just flying south since leaving California and it was funny to look at the map on my phone and see where we were in the world. Flying into the area was great and we got to see a bunch of mountains and glaciers interspersed with deep fijords which cut through the area. Eventually reached Puerto Natales (by bus) which was a cool tourist town situated along the shore of the waterways stretching deep into the mountains.
We arrived without definite plans for our time aside from hiking Los Torres del Paine and spending one night within the park at Los Torres hotel. With a free day ahead, we signed up for boat tour up the waterways to see some glaciers and do a short hike. This ended up being an awesome trip, with great views, a cool hike to a glacier, and a fabulous meal of lamb shank and potatos at a ranch along the way. We also met some fellow Bay Area residents and had a good time talking with them and some Austrailan girls on board the boat.
The following day we traveled (by bus, again) to Torres del Paine National Park. The weather was great and we arrived early so we completed the hike to the towers on that day. The hike was great with good views and weather. Looking back, its suprising how great the weather was during our entire trip and this day was not exception. It is fairly common for the summits of the towers to be shrouded by clouds, but we had blue skies and great views all day. Doing the hike the first day ended up being the best sequence since upon returning sore and sweaty we were able to shower and relax at the hotel, as opposed to getting on a bus for the two hour trip back to town.
The morning of the second day we did a short hike in the valley, not meeting another party the whole time, which contrasted to the croweds on the towers hike was a nice reprive. We then traveled back to Puerto Natales for our last night in Patagonia.
Santiago
As a final hurrah for the trip, I had booked us into The Singular Hotel, a fancy botique hotel near Bellavista in Santiago. Poor planning had us arriving at the hotel around midnight from Punta Arrenas so we changed flights and got to the place around 4 pm. It was a good decision to change. We had a great afternoon, with a drink at the roof top bar, followed by music right outside our hotel room balcony. We ate dinner nearby and then retired to the hotel where Megan was able to enjoy the only real bathtub we had on the entire trip.
Our flight didn’t leave until 2 am the following day, so we slept in, and enjoyed the hotel until checkout time. We then explored Santiago, going to a furniture and shopping district, as well as the main Plaza de Armas. That afternoon we got to meet with another of Megan’s friends, Daniella, who lives in the city. We had lunch followed by ice cream and more city sightseeing.
We ended the evening back at the hotel bar. We had coffee and relaxed before heading to the hotel and had a nice conversation with an older couple traveling from Scotland. Around 10 pm, the time had come and we left for the airport. Our flights back were comfortable, but mostly uneventful.
It had been a great trip and an excellent first, of hopefully many, international trips together as a couple. I returned feeling like I had learned quite a bit of spanish, and we both came back with many great memories of our trip.