After landing in La Paz, Bolivia, my plan was to head straight to Inti Wara Yassi, an organisation that we had heard about through other travellers that look after wild animals that have been taken and sold on the black market. In many cases they try to rehabilitate the animals and re-release them into the wild, however with many of the large cats it is very difficult so the focus is turned to simply giving the animals the most normal and enjoyable life possible while in captivity.
Parque Ambue Ari, where I planned to volunteer, is located in the lowlands of the Bolivian jungle, about 6 hrs drive from Santa Cruz, so after landing in La Paz, I headed straight to the bus station (after a couple of quick photos of the city from El Alto) and got immediately on an overnight bus to Santa Cruz. I spent 1 night in Santa Cruz and jumped on a bus to Ascencion de Guarayos, about 45mins from the park and then took a taxi from there.
One thing I noted in Bolivia, unlike many other countries, is that almost the entire population is made up of indigenous people. There are very few Spanish looking people. In fact the only other ¨white¨ people I saw were Mennonites at the Santa Cruz bus station. The Mennonites are a religious group originally from Germany (I think) and were very conspicuous in that the men apparently have a choice of clothing that consists of a large cowboy style hat, a shirt and either green or blue overalls and the women look wear very old fashioned clothing. Some of the men reminded me of some stereotypical Southern hick farmer from the USA. Apparently they are somewhat similar to the Amish in the US, generally shunning technology and living and farming the land in small communities.
Anyway, I reached the park to find that they were fairly low on volunteers. This was lucky for me as people who only stay 2 weeks generally don´t get to work with the big cats, but I was charged with looking after the quarantine area in the morning and the 3 pumas that are the namesakes of the park, Inti, Wara and Yassi, in the afternoon with 2 other guys.
The first week was tougher than I expected. When I first arrived it was stiflingly hot and the mosquitoes were worse than anything I could ever have imagined. Then towards the end of the week it rained solidly for about 3 days. This meant there were less mosquitoes, but I was constantly wet and often cold. The low point was a few days into my time when I caught a fever, but luckily it cleared up the next day and considering another guy had scored himself some serious puncture wounds from being jumped by one of the pumas, I counted myself lucky.
Despite the difficulties, I was loving working with the animals. Working in quarantine involved taking care of some parrots, tortoises, a small cat (a Geoffrey´s cat I think) named Mariano and a Cappucin monkey named Martina. Martina in particular was a lot of fun once she had begun to trust me and she would happily sit on my shoulder or lap and groom me or catch the mosquitoes that were always hanging around.
The highlight of my days was definitely looking after ¨Las Chicas,¨ Inti, Wara and Yassi in the afternoon. Most days we´d take 1 cat each and take them for a walk through the jungle. I had a few surreal moment when I realised that I was wading through waste deep brown water in the middle of the Bolivian jungle and tethered to a Puma with no other person in sight or within earshot (we would call to each other regularly to check were the others were)... certainly an experience I´ll never forget.
Las Chicas themselves were very affectionate as far as wild cats go. Yassi in particular would constantly be rubbing her head against yours and demanding love & attention. Wara was more stand-offish while in the cage, but was very affectionate when out on her walks. She was also the best looking of the cats as far as I was concerned with amazing blue eyes and a lovely orange coloured coat. Inti was definitely the most independant of the 3 and socialised less with both the other 2 cats and with us, but was still lovely to work with. Despite all of this there were still several times when 1 of them would get in a bad mood and scare the crap out of you with a nasty hiss in your direction... it was good to be reminded every now and again that these are wild cats and not your household tabby.
The second week at the park the conditions seemed to be a lot milder and the mosquitoes not quite as bad (or maybe I just got more used to them) and I really enjoyed my time there. Despite that, I was ready to leave after the 2 weeks. It was a fantastic experience, but not something I feel that I could do for a long time. You have to have SO much love and respect for these animals to work here as so often they can be really difficult to work with and you just have to be so patient with them. I have a great respect for those that volunteer at the park for a long time. I certainly don´t have it in me to do that.
I met some fantastic people and some amazing animals at Ambue Ari and had some great times. It´s definitely an experience I will not forget in a hurry!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Farewell Sarsie! and on to Lima
After returning to Santiago, we rode once more to Valparaiso. This time with the sad task of packing up Doug for his trip home. So we cleaned, and packed and with the help of Martina and Enzo (who arranged the shipping and owned the hostel at which we stayed) we sent Doug on his way back home. The only really standout moment was when 3 youths tried to steal the pouch containing our passports that Sara had hung around her neck... this was the first time anything like this had happened to us here, so it took a few seconds for what was happening to sink in, but we weren´t going to take it lying down, and after I tackled one of the guys and Sara punched another on the nose, they gave up and ran for it... I don´t think they were expecting any resistance.
We then returned to Santiago and I farewelled Sara as she had to return to Aus and to work... from then on I was on my own... so far tavelling solo is a different experience, but I honestly still wish you were here with me Sars!
So, after a few days contemplating what I was going to do with my last 2 months, I decided, after LAN released some incredibly cheap flights, that I would fly to Bolivia and Colombia. The available dates of the cheap flights meant that I would start my solo adventure with a week in Lima, the capital of Peru though.
Lima was an interesting city. Not quite what I had expected. The cliffs and ocean below were quite beautiful, especially when covered in a thick mist that had been kicked up by the ocean. And there were many surfers in the water below. I contemplated a few times hiring a board and joining them, but never got round to it.
The hostel that I stayed in was new and didn´t even have signage yet, which was good as it was clean and tidy, but bad because there were very few people staying there. As a result I spent much of my time eploring the city solo. I visited some of the most amazing museums I have been to, with some incredible displays of Incan and pre-Incan artwork. The gold masks and headdresses were particularly amazing, but perhaps the most bizzare and interesting was the collection of ¨errotic artwork¨ at the Museo Larco (see pics of Lima). There were porcelin figurines and vases with people, gods, and the dead in practically every position you can think of... seriously wierd.
I also visited some pre-Incan ruins that are located right in the centre of town and spent much time just wandering the streets and watching the people. There was an interesting shopping centre actually built into the cliffs overlooking the Ocean and I spent a couple of nights working on my dance moves in a Colombian Salsa club with some local friends.
I certainly enjoyed my time in Lima much more than I had expected and found it to be a more multicultural andexciting city than I had originally envisioned.
We then returned to Santiago and I farewelled Sara as she had to return to Aus and to work... from then on I was on my own... so far tavelling solo is a different experience, but I honestly still wish you were here with me Sars!
So, after a few days contemplating what I was going to do with my last 2 months, I decided, after LAN released some incredibly cheap flights, that I would fly to Bolivia and Colombia. The available dates of the cheap flights meant that I would start my solo adventure with a week in Lima, the capital of Peru though.
Lima was an interesting city. Not quite what I had expected. The cliffs and ocean below were quite beautiful, especially when covered in a thick mist that had been kicked up by the ocean. And there were many surfers in the water below. I contemplated a few times hiring a board and joining them, but never got round to it.
The hostel that I stayed in was new and didn´t even have signage yet, which was good as it was clean and tidy, but bad because there were very few people staying there. As a result I spent much of my time eploring the city solo. I visited some of the most amazing museums I have been to, with some incredible displays of Incan and pre-Incan artwork. The gold masks and headdresses were particularly amazing, but perhaps the most bizzare and interesting was the collection of ¨errotic artwork¨ at the Museo Larco (see pics of Lima). There were porcelin figurines and vases with people, gods, and the dead in practically every position you can think of... seriously wierd.
I also visited some pre-Incan ruins that are located right in the centre of town and spent much time just wandering the streets and watching the people. There was an interesting shopping centre actually built into the cliffs overlooking the Ocean and I spent a couple of nights working on my dance moves in a Colombian Salsa club with some local friends.
I certainly enjoyed my time in Lima much more than I had expected and found it to be a more multicultural andexciting city than I had originally envisioned.
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires... what a place. We had a total of 4 days to explore the city, but we could have spent much longer!
One of the highlights of our stay was a walking tour in which the guide explained to us much of the incredibly turmultuous (is that a word) political history of the city and of Argentina and took us to many relevant sites including the presidential palace, Eva Peron´s office (now a museum) and a site of an old police station where many people were tortured to death as recently as 15 yrs ago. One of the most incredible things was the constant protests that, as was explained to us, are practically a daily occurence in Buenos Aires. Indeed, on the day we did the tour, the police were setting up the fencing around the main square (the fencing stays there to be set up & pulled down whenever there is a protest) and we passed a group of protesters with several men whereing scarves over their faces and carrying battons... still none of the locals seemed to even batt an eyelid as the protesters passed... it was just another day for them.
We also went to an obligatory Tango Show. We chose a very intimate one as opposed to the big theatre based productions that many people go to. Ours was in a small bar that had about 12 tables and the smallest area for the dancers. It was really quite impressive with all the high kicks and everything that no tables were sent flying. It was a fantastic night, with several professional couples dancing as well as traditional singing and a couple of 3 or 4 piece bands playing traditional music. Sara and I even got up and attempted a some dancing with the professionals... not a chance!! haha. What did strike me was that the tango is actually a very beautiful and sensuous dance when done well. The difference between the professionals here and those that dance in the many plazas and streets for money was very obvious.
No visit to South America would be complete without a trip to a soccer match, and no team is more famous than Marradona´s old club in Argentina, the Boca Juniors. So we joined a group and off we went to the match. We got to see a little of La Boca, the famous area near the soccer stadium where the brightly coloured houses that you see in most BA related articles are. We then had to wait as our path was blocked by riot police while all of the opposing team´s supporters entered the stadium (they also kept us inside for 40 mins after the match until all of the opposing team´s supporters had left).
Inside the stadium was quite incredible. We stood in the heat, shoulder to shoulder with thousand of other supporters. On the other side of the stadium were the real Boca supporters and it was amazing to hear them play music and chant non-stop for the ENTIRE match. Ultimately the game itself was not particularly good and Boca lost 2-0, but it was quite the experience.
Our final days in BA were spent wandering the local parks, rowing on the lakes and wondering the miles and miles and miles of markets that were tucked into the narrow streets with European style buildings lining them. The best part of the markets were the constant sting of musicians playing for a few coins... just as one was fading into the background as you walked you could start to hear the next one up ahead. We even recognised some of the musicians from the Tango show we had been to.
So, all in all we had a fantastic time in BA and we would both have been happy to spend more time exploring the city.
One of the highlights of our stay was a walking tour in which the guide explained to us much of the incredibly turmultuous (is that a word) political history of the city and of Argentina and took us to many relevant sites including the presidential palace, Eva Peron´s office (now a museum) and a site of an old police station where many people were tortured to death as recently as 15 yrs ago. One of the most incredible things was the constant protests that, as was explained to us, are practically a daily occurence in Buenos Aires. Indeed, on the day we did the tour, the police were setting up the fencing around the main square (the fencing stays there to be set up & pulled down whenever there is a protest) and we passed a group of protesters with several men whereing scarves over their faces and carrying battons... still none of the locals seemed to even batt an eyelid as the protesters passed... it was just another day for them.
We also went to an obligatory Tango Show. We chose a very intimate one as opposed to the big theatre based productions that many people go to. Ours was in a small bar that had about 12 tables and the smallest area for the dancers. It was really quite impressive with all the high kicks and everything that no tables were sent flying. It was a fantastic night, with several professional couples dancing as well as traditional singing and a couple of 3 or 4 piece bands playing traditional music. Sara and I even got up and attempted a some dancing with the professionals... not a chance!! haha. What did strike me was that the tango is actually a very beautiful and sensuous dance when done well. The difference between the professionals here and those that dance in the many plazas and streets for money was very obvious.
No visit to South America would be complete without a trip to a soccer match, and no team is more famous than Marradona´s old club in Argentina, the Boca Juniors. So we joined a group and off we went to the match. We got to see a little of La Boca, the famous area near the soccer stadium where the brightly coloured houses that you see in most BA related articles are. We then had to wait as our path was blocked by riot police while all of the opposing team´s supporters entered the stadium (they also kept us inside for 40 mins after the match until all of the opposing team´s supporters had left).
Inside the stadium was quite incredible. We stood in the heat, shoulder to shoulder with thousand of other supporters. On the other side of the stadium were the real Boca supporters and it was amazing to hear them play music and chant non-stop for the ENTIRE match. Ultimately the game itself was not particularly good and Boca lost 2-0, but it was quite the experience.
Our final days in BA were spent wandering the local parks, rowing on the lakes and wondering the miles and miles and miles of markets that were tucked into the narrow streets with European style buildings lining them. The best part of the markets were the constant sting of musicians playing for a few coins... just as one was fading into the background as you walked you could start to hear the next one up ahead. We even recognised some of the musicians from the Tango show we had been to.
So, all in all we had a fantastic time in BA and we would both have been happy to spend more time exploring the city.
Iguazu Falls
Iguazu falls had been high on our list of places to visit, but unfortunately for us Sara´s time in Sth America was quickly coming to an end. There was no way we could ride there and get back to Santiago for her flight, so we bit the bullet and decided to leave the bikes in Santiago and fly to Iguazu falls and then Buenos Aires.
When we arrived at Iguazu, it was nothing like we had experienced for the last 3-4 months... Suddenly we had gone from the dry desert like landscapes of Western Argentina and Patagonia and stepped out of the plane into a tropical rainforest. The houses in Puerto Iguazu, the small town that acts as a tourist service town to the falls, were all made from the red mud that coated the ground everywhere and made a stark contrast to the dark green of the rainforest.
We stayed 1 night, then headed to the falls early the next day... WOW!!! WOW!!! and WOW!!! There´s not much more that I can say to describe these falls, except that you should look at the pics I´ve already posted. People that have been to Niagara and here say that Niagara is not nearly as beautiful. The falls themselves are 2 km long and consist of several sections, some with multiple small falls and then the ¨Gargantua del Diablo¨ the most amazing single waterfall I have ever seen, which sometimes creates a plume of mist that can be seen from more than 2 km away.
It was grey and rainy the day we were there, so we missed out on the thousands of butterflies that usually inhabit the area as well as the rainbows created by the mist from the falls. But the rain could not dampen our spirits and although it did dampen us a little, we had enough spray from the waterfalls and particularly when we took a jet boat ride which ran right up underneath one of the falls that we had excepted being absolutely drenched and the fact that it wasn´t cold just made it part of the experience. We even went for a swim off a small island that sits in the middle of the falls.
All in all it was an incredible day and we were both very happy we had forked out the money to make it there.
When we arrived at Iguazu, it was nothing like we had experienced for the last 3-4 months... Suddenly we had gone from the dry desert like landscapes of Western Argentina and Patagonia and stepped out of the plane into a tropical rainforest. The houses in Puerto Iguazu, the small town that acts as a tourist service town to the falls, were all made from the red mud that coated the ground everywhere and made a stark contrast to the dark green of the rainforest.
We stayed 1 night, then headed to the falls early the next day... WOW!!! WOW!!! and WOW!!! There´s not much more that I can say to describe these falls, except that you should look at the pics I´ve already posted. People that have been to Niagara and here say that Niagara is not nearly as beautiful. The falls themselves are 2 km long and consist of several sections, some with multiple small falls and then the ¨Gargantua del Diablo¨ the most amazing single waterfall I have ever seen, which sometimes creates a plume of mist that can be seen from more than 2 km away.
It was grey and rainy the day we were there, so we missed out on the thousands of butterflies that usually inhabit the area as well as the rainbows created by the mist from the falls. But the rain could not dampen our spirits and although it did dampen us a little, we had enough spray from the waterfalls and particularly when we took a jet boat ride which ran right up underneath one of the falls that we had excepted being absolutely drenched and the fact that it wasn´t cold just made it part of the experience. We even went for a swim off a small island that sits in the middle of the falls.
All in all it was an incredible day and we were both very happy we had forked out the money to make it there.
Mendoza
From Bariloche we spent a couple of uneventful days riding North to Mendoza. After the few days, Sara was also getting her confidence back in riding after the continuous string of problems we had had with he bike in the recent past. Her strength and determination to keep riding despite what she had been through impressed me more than I could have ever expressed to her. I think many people would have given in, particularly after her first crash outside of Perito Moreno.
We reached Mendoza and (after considerable effort) found ourselves a decent hostel with a small pool and some hammocks for chilling out and doing some reading. They were also kind enough to let us wheel our bikes through the reception and into the courtyard to keep them safe.
Our first night there, we joined those in the hostel for a traditional Argentinean Asado (BBQ). Wow! They really know how to cook there meat over there. Ínstead of the normal Australian style of using an incredibly hot bbq and cooking the meat for a short time, they cook slowly over ashes. The actual cooking took around 3 hours and I think they used about a 1:1 weight ratio of salt to meat... still it made for some incredibly tasty meat.
While in Mendoza, we did the typical tourist thing and did a ¨bikes and wines¨ tour. Basically, you rent a push bike and they give you a map of the local wineries and off you go. We visited a couple of wineries and tasted a lot of Malbec, which is a red that is typical of this region and is only grown in Argentina. Unfortunately it wasn´t my favourite variety, but we bought a couple of bottles of nice blends that we had tried. We also visited a small place that made handmade chocolates and liquors and purchased a green pepper liquor which was very spicy as well as a pomello liquor (the chocolates weren´t much to rave about).
Otherwise, Mendoza offered us the opportunity to enjoy some good food and do some relaxing. It was then back over the border to Santiago to catch our flights to Iguazu falls and BA.
We reached Mendoza and (after considerable effort) found ourselves a decent hostel with a small pool and some hammocks for chilling out and doing some reading. They were also kind enough to let us wheel our bikes through the reception and into the courtyard to keep them safe.
Our first night there, we joined those in the hostel for a traditional Argentinean Asado (BBQ). Wow! They really know how to cook there meat over there. Ínstead of the normal Australian style of using an incredibly hot bbq and cooking the meat for a short time, they cook slowly over ashes. The actual cooking took around 3 hours and I think they used about a 1:1 weight ratio of salt to meat... still it made for some incredibly tasty meat.
While in Mendoza, we did the typical tourist thing and did a ¨bikes and wines¨ tour. Basically, you rent a push bike and they give you a map of the local wineries and off you go. We visited a couple of wineries and tasted a lot of Malbec, which is a red that is typical of this region and is only grown in Argentina. Unfortunately it wasn´t my favourite variety, but we bought a couple of bottles of nice blends that we had tried. We also visited a small place that made handmade chocolates and liquors and purchased a green pepper liquor which was very spicy as well as a pomello liquor (the chocolates weren´t much to rave about).
Otherwise, Mendoza offered us the opportunity to enjoy some good food and do some relaxing. It was then back over the border to Santiago to catch our flights to Iguazu falls and BA.
San Carlos de Bariloche
After our great time at Futaleufu, we pumped up Sara´s flat tyre again, crossed our fingers and headed over the border and on toward the Tourist mecca and one of the largest towns of the region, San Carlos de Bariloche (also just known as Bariloche). What struck me originally on this ride was the difference between the Chilean side of the Andes and the Argentinean... It was almost immediate as we crossed the border that the scenery turned from wet rainforest type terrain to much dryer, open plains there was even a hawk or eagle circling overhead just as we reached this first plain... as if to add to the stereotype.
We were very happy to reach Bariloche on that same day without incident. Bariloche shocked me a little as we arrived and rode though miles and miles of slums that reminded me of those in countries like Peru. I hadn´t expected this from all the banter from other tourists about how beautiful the town was. It wasn´t until we reached the central tourist areas that I realised that most tourists obviously only get a small glimpse of this (much larger than I expected) town.
We found ourselves a hostel and settled in for a few days. We knew we had to be there a couple of days as I had a package that was supposed to be delivered there, but was now stuck in Buenos Aires.
While there we tried our had at Canyoning. Something Sara and I had talked about doing for a long time. It wasn´t exactly what I expected. More like following a small creek down a mountain, but we did have a great time jumping into rock pools, sliding down rocks and abseiling down beside beautiful waterfalls with a view of the lake in the background.
We also rode round a popular tourist circuit and spent a fair bit of time just relaxing and wandering around the town and sampling some of the locally made chocolate. It was a little too touristy for our liking, but a comfortable place to stop nonetheless. There also may have been a small cheese & salami related incident which has still to this day soured my taste for those foods and also delayed our departure from the town by a day.
We were very happy to reach Bariloche on that same day without incident. Bariloche shocked me a little as we arrived and rode though miles and miles of slums that reminded me of those in countries like Peru. I hadn´t expected this from all the banter from other tourists about how beautiful the town was. It wasn´t until we reached the central tourist areas that I realised that most tourists obviously only get a small glimpse of this (much larger than I expected) town.
We found ourselves a hostel and settled in for a few days. We knew we had to be there a couple of days as I had a package that was supposed to be delivered there, but was now stuck in Buenos Aires.
While there we tried our had at Canyoning. Something Sara and I had talked about doing for a long time. It wasn´t exactly what I expected. More like following a small creek down a mountain, but we did have a great time jumping into rock pools, sliding down rocks and abseiling down beside beautiful waterfalls with a view of the lake in the background.
We also rode round a popular tourist circuit and spent a fair bit of time just relaxing and wandering around the town and sampling some of the locally made chocolate. It was a little too touristy for our liking, but a comfortable place to stop nonetheless. There also may have been a small cheese & salami related incident which has still to this day soured my taste for those foods and also delayed our departure from the town by a day.
Futaleufu
ok... digging a long way back here, but hopefully I´ll get the blog up to date soon. After Chaiten, we limped our way to Futaleufu (see previous blogs for details) where we happened upon a fantastic and cheap hostel. We had decided to stay a couple of days since the Futaleufu river is classed as one of the top 3 in the world for white water rafting and Kayaking.
After our first night, we rocked up to a tour agency the next day and got straight on board for a kayaking trip. It was on the Rio Espolon rather than the Futaleufu, but given our practically non-existant kayaking experience, the class 2 & 3 rapids of the Espolon were the perfect level for us.
We had an absolutely fantastic day paddling around on the stunning blue/green river. It was even hot enough that we jumped into the icy water a couple of times... we probably needn´t have though as both of us managed to tip over in the (relatively) tame rapids we were negotiating. All in all, it was fantastic to forget our recent bike problems and have some serious fun!
That night we had been informed that there was a free concert by a famous Chilean Folkloric band Las Jaivas (The Crabs) at the soccer field. So along we went and were greeted by an intro more bizzare than I have ever seen... strange horns coupled with synthesiser and bizarre images of the Spanish Conquistadors abusing and attacking the indigenous people... That lasted for about 10 mins until the sound crackled and died... They tried a second time, but the same thing happened and they announced that they needed time to fix the ¨technical difficulties¨. After about 20 mins we left as we were exhausted from our big day. It was only on the way home that we noticed that they had blacked out half the town in order to supply enough power for the concert.... lol!
The next day we hit the real rapids of the Futaleufu for some white water rafting... again it was absolutely fantastic fun and on such a beautiful river! We were also very proud of the fact that we made it through the class 4 & 5 rapids without loosing a single person from the boat, despite having a couple of young children in our crew. We had watched while the 2 rafts after us both flipped on the 1 particularly difficult rapid of the course!
So that was Futaleufu, after which we crossed the border back to Argentina and headed up to San Carlos de Bariloche.
After our first night, we rocked up to a tour agency the next day and got straight on board for a kayaking trip. It was on the Rio Espolon rather than the Futaleufu, but given our practically non-existant kayaking experience, the class 2 & 3 rapids of the Espolon were the perfect level for us.
We had an absolutely fantastic day paddling around on the stunning blue/green river. It was even hot enough that we jumped into the icy water a couple of times... we probably needn´t have though as both of us managed to tip over in the (relatively) tame rapids we were negotiating. All in all, it was fantastic to forget our recent bike problems and have some serious fun!
That night we had been informed that there was a free concert by a famous Chilean Folkloric band Las Jaivas (The Crabs) at the soccer field. So along we went and were greeted by an intro more bizzare than I have ever seen... strange horns coupled with synthesiser and bizarre images of the Spanish Conquistadors abusing and attacking the indigenous people... That lasted for about 10 mins until the sound crackled and died... They tried a second time, but the same thing happened and they announced that they needed time to fix the ¨technical difficulties¨. After about 20 mins we left as we were exhausted from our big day. It was only on the way home that we noticed that they had blacked out half the town in order to supply enough power for the concert.... lol!
The next day we hit the real rapids of the Futaleufu for some white water rafting... again it was absolutely fantastic fun and on such a beautiful river! We were also very proud of the fact that we made it through the class 4 & 5 rapids without loosing a single person from the boat, despite having a couple of young children in our crew. We had watched while the 2 rafts after us both flipped on the 1 particularly difficult rapid of the course!
So that was Futaleufu, after which we crossed the border back to Argentina and headed up to San Carlos de Bariloche.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Chaiten
The History
May 2, 2008 - Chaiten Volcano, Chile, erupts for the first time in over 2000 years
May 3, 2008 – State of Emergency declared in the nearby town of Chaiten.
May 5, 2008 - Complete evacuation of Chaiten ordered.
May 12, 2008 – Accumulation of rain and ash cause the Blanco River to overflow its banks and deposit tonnes of volcanic matter into the Chaiten valley, destroying the town and its immediate surroundings. *
February 19, 2009 - Chaiten Volcano erupts again – the biggest eruption in modern Chilean history.
February to Present – Continual and substantial ash emissions.
The Details *
A lahar is a type of mudflow composed of volcanic material and water that flows down from a volcano. Lahars typically cause catastrophic destruction because of their energy and speed and because they have the consistency of concrete: fluid when moving, solid when stopped. A lahar was the cause of the majority of the destruction in Chaiten.
Our Visit
In January 2009, seven months after the first eruption, Nick and I visited Chaiten. The scene that greeted us was surreal. The destruction caused by the lahar was extensive. So extensive. Homes covered halfway to the roof with ash. Bus stops, street signs and stores suspended in time on the main thoroughfare, buried. The riverbanks, meters high walls of ash and dead plants. The town’s port and beach, desolate stretches of grey, unnaturally dotted with the occasional uprooted house. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Nothing.
The town itself was quiet - a light wind, a few tourists toting cameras, some army personnel and a small cleanup crew the only activity on an overcast day. Oh, that, and Volcan Chaiten, in the background, still incredibly active, still ominously and patiently spewing plumes of thick ash kilometers into the sky.
The Present
Whilst Chilean officials insist they cannot guarantee residents’ safety in Chaiten, a recent Supreme Court ruling decreed that the Government did not have the power to prevent residents from returning to their homes. And, even after February 19, 2009, when Volcan Chaiten produced its most spectacular eruption to date, destroying even more of the town - people still refuse to leave. And, even after an official government press release announcing that Chaiten will not be rebuilt and that residents will be compensated for new homes purchased - people still refuse to leave.
A Short Comment
My first response to people being allowed to return to live in Chaiten is one of utter dismay. I’m sure it is a response I share with many, especially those who have visited the town, seen the destruction, and witnessed the quiet menace of the unrelenting volcanic activity.
Ultimately though, I very strongly believe that the power and freedom to follow your heart is by far the greatest tool of happiness a person can have.
May 2, 2008 - Chaiten Volcano, Chile, erupts for the first time in over 2000 years
May 3, 2008 – State of Emergency declared in the nearby town of Chaiten.
May 5, 2008 - Complete evacuation of Chaiten ordered.
May 12, 2008 – Accumulation of rain and ash cause the Blanco River to overflow its banks and deposit tonnes of volcanic matter into the Chaiten valley, destroying the town and its immediate surroundings. *
February 19, 2009 - Chaiten Volcano erupts again – the biggest eruption in modern Chilean history.
February to Present – Continual and substantial ash emissions.
The Details *
A lahar is a type of mudflow composed of volcanic material and water that flows down from a volcano. Lahars typically cause catastrophic destruction because of their energy and speed and because they have the consistency of concrete: fluid when moving, solid when stopped. A lahar was the cause of the majority of the destruction in Chaiten.
Our Visit
In January 2009, seven months after the first eruption, Nick and I visited Chaiten. The scene that greeted us was surreal. The destruction caused by the lahar was extensive. So extensive. Homes covered halfway to the roof with ash. Bus stops, street signs and stores suspended in time on the main thoroughfare, buried. The riverbanks, meters high walls of ash and dead plants. The town’s port and beach, desolate stretches of grey, unnaturally dotted with the occasional uprooted house. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Nothing.
The town itself was quiet - a light wind, a few tourists toting cameras, some army personnel and a small cleanup crew the only activity on an overcast day. Oh, that, and Volcan Chaiten, in the background, still incredibly active, still ominously and patiently spewing plumes of thick ash kilometers into the sky.
The Present
Whilst Chilean officials insist they cannot guarantee residents’ safety in Chaiten, a recent Supreme Court ruling decreed that the Government did not have the power to prevent residents from returning to their homes. And, even after February 19, 2009, when Volcan Chaiten produced its most spectacular eruption to date, destroying even more of the town - people still refuse to leave. And, even after an official government press release announcing that Chaiten will not be rebuilt and that residents will be compensated for new homes purchased - people still refuse to leave.
A Short Comment
My first response to people being allowed to return to live in Chaiten is one of utter dismay. I’m sure it is a response I share with many, especially those who have visited the town, seen the destruction, and witnessed the quiet menace of the unrelenting volcanic activity.
Ultimately though, I very strongly believe that the power and freedom to follow your heart is by far the greatest tool of happiness a person can have.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Choose Your Own Adventure
Mt Fitz Roy, Los Glaciares National Park, “ is Argentina’s gem of Patagonian trekking”; “a region of exceptional natural beauty”; “one of the most extraordinary places in the world”.
Whilst I had read all this and more, as I rode Doug toward El Chalten, I was still captivated and impressed by my first view of the jagged silhouette of Mt. Fitz Roy rising up from the horizon. I never would have guessed though, that trekking Mt. Fitz Roy would end up being one of the most magical experiences of my entire holiday.
Each night we got to set up our home in the most pristine natural surroundings, under tall trees and beside lagoons and rivers of crystal clear water. Each day we trekked along gorgeous trails, drank fresh water from clear streams and lunched at magical lake and glacier lookouts. The surroundings were perfectly enchanting, the weather was wonderful, and when I think back to the time we spent in Mount Fitz Roy, I just remember feeling beautifully happy: happy, relaxed and peaceful.
The Basics
Day One – Park Doug and Dot, pack backpacks, trek to Laguna Capri (7km), setup home, explore campsite, relax by the lagoon at sunset, eat dinner, sleep.
Day Two – Nick collects cooker, I pack up home, trek to Camp Poincenot (9.5km), setup home, climb to Laguna de los Tres viewpoint (1.5km), return to camp, explore campsite, relax by river at sunset, eat dinner, sleep.
Day Three –Trek to Piedras Blancas (12km), return trek to Camp Poincenot, packup home, trek to Camp De Agostini (10km), setup home, eat dinner, sleep
Day Four, Attempt trek to Mirador Maestri but turn back due to strong winds, packup home, trek back to Doug and Dot.
Best Walk
The path to Piedras Blancas Glacier: A hugely entertaining choose-your-own-adventure style morning following a trail marked roughly by small piles of rocks! We clambered over, under, along and between rocks, boulders and rubble until we ended up at the waters edge of a pristine glacier lake directly beneath the eastern face of Mt Fitz Roy. We ate an apple sitting on a rock under a perfect blue sky. And we did not see one person, did not have to share it with any other human, not until we stood up to head back to camp...
Biggest Doh
Realizing at dinner time on the first night that neither of us had packed the camp cooker! Dohhhhhhhh! Nick definitely gets awarded the **SUPERSTAR** of the trek trophy though – for walking all the way to the bikes and back before breakfast the next morning to get it!
Yummiest Camp Food Ever
Peanut butter and sesame crackers! Yummmmmmy!
Whilst I had read all this and more, as I rode Doug toward El Chalten, I was still captivated and impressed by my first view of the jagged silhouette of Mt. Fitz Roy rising up from the horizon. I never would have guessed though, that trekking Mt. Fitz Roy would end up being one of the most magical experiences of my entire holiday.
Each night we got to set up our home in the most pristine natural surroundings, under tall trees and beside lagoons and rivers of crystal clear water. Each day we trekked along gorgeous trails, drank fresh water from clear streams and lunched at magical lake and glacier lookouts. The surroundings were perfectly enchanting, the weather was wonderful, and when I think back to the time we spent in Mount Fitz Roy, I just remember feeling beautifully happy: happy, relaxed and peaceful.
The Basics
Day One – Park Doug and Dot, pack backpacks, trek to Laguna Capri (7km), setup home, explore campsite, relax by the lagoon at sunset, eat dinner, sleep.
Day Two – Nick collects cooker, I pack up home, trek to Camp Poincenot (9.5km), setup home, climb to Laguna de los Tres viewpoint (1.5km), return to camp, explore campsite, relax by river at sunset, eat dinner, sleep.
Day Three –Trek to Piedras Blancas (12km), return trek to Camp Poincenot, packup home, trek to Camp De Agostini (10km), setup home, eat dinner, sleep
Day Four, Attempt trek to Mirador Maestri but turn back due to strong winds, packup home, trek back to Doug and Dot.
Best Walk
The path to Piedras Blancas Glacier: A hugely entertaining choose-your-own-adventure style morning following a trail marked roughly by small piles of rocks! We clambered over, under, along and between rocks, boulders and rubble until we ended up at the waters edge of a pristine glacier lake directly beneath the eastern face of Mt Fitz Roy. We ate an apple sitting on a rock under a perfect blue sky. And we did not see one person, did not have to share it with any other human, not until we stood up to head back to camp...
Biggest Doh
Realizing at dinner time on the first night that neither of us had packed the camp cooker! Dohhhhhhhh! Nick definitely gets awarded the **SUPERSTAR** of the trek trophy though – for walking all the way to the bikes and back before breakfast the next morning to get it!
Yummiest Camp Food Ever
Peanut butter and sesame crackers! Yummmmmmy!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
It All Started With A Wheelie
It’s with a giggle now that I think back to my first few months of riding and how horribly nervous I was. Nervous. Nervous. Nervous. In fact, nervous is probably an understatement. To be honest, I was so regularly completely consumed with fear about riding and my impending motorbike trip that I gave myself nightmares. <>
10,000km and one overseas motorcycle adventure later, I love my bike and I love being able to ride. I have experienced riding in more conditions than some others experience in a lifetime. I have ridden in heat, rain, wind, and even in a little bit of snow. I have ridden paved and unpaved roads, on dirt, mud and even loose gravel. I have dropped, fallen and crashed. I have loved and laughed. I have hated and cried. I have learnt so much in such a short time – about motorbikes and traveling and about motorbike travel – and I am so very, very proud of myself.
Riding in South America was the biggest challenge I have ever given myself.
It has been the most amazing experience of my life.
And For My Man…. This Next Bit Is For You…..
For checking over my bike before each ride and for fixing my bike each time it broke; For mapping our route and for always riding lead; For patiently teaching me to ride and for building my confidence; For constantly checking on me in your rear vision mirror and for being there every time I needed you; For encouraging me when I was scared and for cuddling me when I cried; For making me smile when I was exhausted and for making me laugh when I was bored; For sharing each and every moment of my first motorcycle adventure - THANKYOU. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You made this possible for me.
10,000km and one overseas motorcycle adventure later, I love my bike and I love being able to ride. I have experienced riding in more conditions than some others experience in a lifetime. I have ridden in heat, rain, wind, and even in a little bit of snow. I have ridden paved and unpaved roads, on dirt, mud and even loose gravel. I have dropped, fallen and crashed. I have loved and laughed. I have hated and cried. I have learnt so much in such a short time – about motorbikes and traveling and about motorbike travel – and I am so very, very proud of myself.
Riding in South America was the biggest challenge I have ever given myself.
It has been the most amazing experience of my life.
And For My Man…. This Next Bit Is For You…..
For checking over my bike before each ride and for fixing my bike each time it broke; For mapping our route and for always riding lead; For patiently teaching me to ride and for building my confidence; For constantly checking on me in your rear vision mirror and for being there every time I needed you; For encouraging me when I was scared and for cuddling me when I cried; For making me smile when I was exhausted and for making me laugh when I was bored; For sharing each and every moment of my first motorcycle adventure - THANKYOU. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You made this possible for me.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
You've gotta take the rough with the smooth!
ok ok... it's been a long time since I last blogged, but this little ditty is a tale I don't want to forget, so before it gets too far from my memory I will try to recount it.
The trip North from El Chalten (where we trekked round Monte Fitzroy) along Argentina's ruta 40 was a long, dusty and incredibly windy one. Our road was paved until a little nothing town called Tres Lagos where we filled up on petrol and from there we headed onto the worst gravel road we'd been on the whole trip and to make matters worse there was a howling, gusty crosswind. We had about a truck tyre's width to ride on and a pile of loose gravel on either side of that just waiting to steal any traction we had if we should be blown slightly off course.
We stayed a night in a little centre called Gobernador Gregores where we stayed in an apartment style room and enjoyed some local mate. Then the next day was on Northward in similar conditions. After about 1 hr's riding we had possibly one of the funniest incidents of our trip when Sara accidently ran into the back of me (at slow speed) when I had stopped to talk to her. Her brake lever had come loose and rotated around the handle to a point where she couldn't reach it. lol! So, we rectified the issue with the brake handle and went back to riding.
A little while late I decided that I wanted to stop and get some picutres of Sara riding on this dead straight dirt road in the middle of nowhere, so I went ahead and got some pics as she approached me. I was however struggling to keep my bike from falling over due to the wind whilst taking them and so, as Sara passed, I was muttering to myself, "please don't stop, don't stop, just keep on going"... then she stopped, and inevitably the bike fell over. The only damage was that the brake level had broken off and we had a spare, so after setting the bikes up so they wouldn't fall we set about changing her lever.
We then continued on to a servo which marked a fork in the road named Bajo Caracoles. It was early in the afternoon so we decided to head further on and make the town of Perito Moreno. We were about 4kms from Perito Moreno travelling about 80km/hr down the now paved road into town when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a sight that litteraly made my heart stop. Sara fell at speed, the bike flipping from 1 side to the other. Thankfully she got back up almost immediately and was trying to move the bike by the time I had gotten back to her. She was ok, her biking gear did an excellent job of protecting her, except that she was seriously shaken! The bike had a flat back tyre. It appears that she had got a punture and the innertube had turned, ripping the valve out of the tube and causing it to deflate quickly which meant that Sara lost control of the bike. Other than that, the brake handle was broken (again) and the handlebars slightly bent.
We managed to hoble into the town, Sara riding Dot and be on Doug riding in 1st gear the whole way. It was while we were in town looking for a place to stay and assess the bike when we ran into Miriam, a biker that we had previously met in Ushuaia. She was having bike problems and was staying at the Municipal campgrounds, so we joined her there.
The following day we changed Sara's rear inner tube with our spare and Sara, with Miriams help, managed to get the 2 pieces of her brake handle welded back together. It wasn't perfect, but it'd do for now.
I could not have been more proud of Sara, when the next day, she got back on Doug again to continue our journey. I think so many people might have packed it in after a scare like that. We headed over the border back into Chile. Heading towards the Carreterra Austral. We had heard that the scenery along there is amazing and also that the road is in better condition than the ruta 40 and with much less wind.
We reached the town of Chile Chico where we tried to extract some cash, but the only atm in town had none... no worries, we thought. We still had about 60 000 Chilean Pesos (about $120 Aus) and it was only a day or 2's ride to Coyhaique or Cochrane where we could get more. So we set off along possibly the most amazing road of our ride, a dirt road winding round the cliffs on the side of a magnificently blue lake. The scenery was spectacular! and I was greatly enjoying the ride... until Sara stopped. I returned to her to see what the problem was... the rear tyre which we had changed was flat again. I figured we must have pinched the tube when we put it in. Not long after stopping (about 2pm) some travellers stopped to help us. They tried to pump up the tyre with their compresor, but to no avail. We said that we needed a truck to put the bike on and just then a police truck (ute) passed by. We flagged them down and the travellers told them what we needed. Apparently they had some urgent stuff to do in Chile Chico, so they said they'd come back and help us in about 2 - 3 hrs.
...so we sat... and we waited... in the cold wind.... we watched the horses... and the cows... and waited... until about 8pm when a truck passed us by. They stopped and we asked if we could put Sara's bike in the back. Unfortunately they were going in the opposite direction to Chile Chico, but the said they would take us to the next town on their route. It turned out "Pablo" and "Edwardo" were delivering fruit, so after some interesting manouvering we got Doug into the back of their truck, Sara jumped in the front and we headed on.
Soon we came to a tiny little town (the name escapes me), just as it was getting dark (must have been about 10 or 11pm). Our rescuers said they could drop us here or take us on to Puerta Guadal, a larger town another hour or 2 on. It was evident we weren't going to get any help in this town so we decided to continue on. It was while Edwardo and Pablo were delivering there fruit that I noticed that my headlight was dimming and going out, then back on again and after stopping my bike, I couldn't get the power to come back on again... SHIT!!
So, I quickly ripped off my panniers and seat to get to the electrics and found a wire that was loose. I reconnected it and taped it and the bike seemed to come on ok now... seat and panniers back on and I was ready to follow them to Puerto Guadal... I thought. As soon as I started riding my headlight started flashing on and off. I was riding in the dark behind a truck kicking up mountains of dust on an unfamiliar dirt road. I didn't want to stop. What if I lost the truck? I don't know these guys and they've got Sara with them... What if there's a fork in the road up ahead, I'd have no idea where to go without the truck to follow. So I pushed on. I spent a long time just following one of the truck's tail lights to try to keep in it's wheel line, but after a while I was struggling to keep up.... I took a corner too fast and went off the side of the road. Luckily it was into a soft landing in some bushes.
The trick then was to get the bike started again. The electrics obviously had a loose wire and were coming on and off. I found I was able to get enough power if I jumped up and down on the bike for a while with my finger on the starter. Eventually the wire would connect long enough for the bike to start. After after 3 attempts to ride it out of the bushes (after finally realising it was still in 2nd gear) I got it back on the road and took a look at the damage.
Unfortunately the frame for one of my panniers had completely snapped off. They had been cracking around the welds previously. The truck now gone, I had no choice but to limp on, holding one of the panniers to the side of the bike. I had only gone a couple of hundred meters when I saw a figure running back down the road towards me. It was Sara of course. After not being able to see my headlight for a while, Sara had asked the guys to stop and was coming back to look for me. We headed to the truck and I put my panniers in the back and we set off again. This time I gave the truck much more distance in order to not be directly in the dust and this helped a lot.
Eventually we reached Puerto Guadal and the guys pointed us to a patch of grass where we could set up our tent and they were going to sleep in the truck. We'd get the bike out in the morning. We were too tired to argue or think, so we crashed there from about 2am to 6:30am.
We got up the next day, unloaded Sara's bike and thankes Pablo and Edwardo for all their help. Next we moved to the local campsite, an incredibly exposed rocky beach on the side of the lake and set up camp there and set the bikes up to work on them. Next I rode back to my crash site of the previous night to try to find the missing section of my pannier frame, but to no avail.
We then found the location of the only mechanic in town and took the broken parts of my pannier frame to him. He did possibly the worst welding job I have ever seen to put them back together (I had to bite my tongue when he started welding without even a mask on) and bent them roughly back to the shape they should be. Despite the missing part, I had enough to at least secure each box at 2 or 3 points to the bike.
We didn't have another inner tube, but we pulled Sara old one out. The hole wasn't too big, so we put a patch on it, but by that time it was getting late and we stopped for the night.
The next daythen set about putting the patch innertube back in... this time I KNEW I pinched it... insert absolute frustration and tyre irons being thrown!! I don't actually remember the previous time I've lost it like that... it usually takes a lot to get me riled. After calming down I took the innertube to the mechanic (it was a Sunday, so I wasn't sure if I could get any help). I was of the opinion that the tube was beyond repair, but he just wacked a couple more patches on and it seemed to be holding air. This time I got him to put it back in the tyre for me. He didn't even charge us anything. We were so excited that we were going to get out of this town! We packed up in record time and hit the road again.
We had decided that we'd stop in Puerto Tranquilo, about 150kms down the road. It was only when we just got there that I looked at Sara's back tyre to see that it had gone flat AGAIN! It was to be expected that maybe one of the patches wouldn't hold though. We decided that we couldn't handle this one today. We got ourselves set up at a nice campsite and decided we'd head into a town for a beer and there'd be no talk of plans or anything until we had done so.
That was when we saw the 2 bikes loaded with gear at the little cafe at the petrol station!! A closer look revealed that they had the same size back tyre as us. We headed straight in and met 2 lovely Brazillian guys. They happily gave us their spare inner tube and refused to take any sort of payment, despite our best efforts!! Once again our luck was see-sawing, bad 1 minute, good the next.
The next day I wasn't taking any chances. I found a tyre guy in the town and took Sara's tyre their for him to change. All done... Hurray! At this point we decided that we were tired of playing mechanic and being stresed all the time, so we took the afternoon off anf took a boat ride to the Marble Chaple, a very interesting rock formation on the edge of the amazingly turquoise lake. The boat even went into one of the larger caves in the rock.
The next day we were up and excited to get moving. That's when we saw the dark rain clouds across the lake. We had previously be warned by Miriam not to ride here when the road was wet as it gets very slippery and in some parts the water just runs over the top of the road. The rain seemed to clear a little though and we were too excited about moving on, so we headed off.
We hit a few patches of drissle and the road was a little damp in a few areas, but not too bad. That was when we hit a newly graded section of road. We were forced to ride right on the edge of the road. I hit the wet mud patch first and my back tyre skidded sideways. I managed to recover, but I new immediately that Sara wouldn't. As I predicted, down she came.
This time, unfortunately, the bike landed on some hard rocks. Sara was fine, but the coolant overflow tank was split and pouring out coolant. There was also a punture in one of the coolant hoses. We had some epoxy on us, so we patch up the coolant tank and we put a tyre patch and some tape around the hose. Luckily we had crashed right next to a beutifully clear stream, so we had drinking water and water to refill the radiator. The only thing was that the epoxy takes 3 hours to dry, so we sat on the side of the road again waiting for it to dry.
Eventually we got back on the road. We knew we didn't have too far to go and we'd be back on the pavement for about a 100km stretch to Coyhaique, where we could hopefully get some mechanical help. It was about 10km before the pavement that one of my pannier frames broke and my pannier near fell off.... AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!! I tied it on with some cable ties and we decided to limp on.... if we could just make the pavement, it should be a smooth ride.
We made the pavement... for about 15km, until Sara was no longer in my rear view mirror... I rode back to find her beside her bike... the back tyre was flat AGAIN!!!!! We were absolutely at our wits end here, but we decided not to waste any time and just see if we could flag down a truck. About 15mins later a truck stopped not far from us and Sara ran up to meet Juan (I think that's how you spell it). Juan had an empty kayak truck, spoke English, was going to Coyhaique and was more than happy to help... there's that luck again! So we loaded Sara's bike in the back as well as my panniers and we set off. Me following the truck for the 90km or so to Coyhaique, the largest town in this region.
It has to be said at this point that the scenery around the lakes etc on this trip were some of the most amazing we've seen anywhere. It was just a shame that we spent much of the time too stressed / tired to really appreciate it.
SO... Coyhaique, and we found a mechanic reccommended on the horizons unlimited website. He spoke very little English, but was more than happy to help. We had decided that there MUST be something wrong with Sara's actual tyre or the rim, so we bought a 2nd hand tyre that was in better condition than hers and the Mechanic helped patch my pannier frames back together again and even made new parts to replace the missing sections. The welding wasn't superb, but a lot better than the last job. We also managed to piece together a new coolant hose for Sara's bike by joining 2 old ones. And after 2 days work the bikes were ready once again... new tyre... repaired frames... we were confident and ready to try them out.
Coyhaique also presented us with the opportunity to access more cash, so our diet could once again consist of foods other than tomato, avocado and bread and we were able to stay in a hostel.
>insert here, us meeting up with Sunny and Cecilia, who were other bikers we'd met in Ushuaia, and hitting the piss in a big way... it's possible that my hangover may have delayed us leaving by a day.... possible.
So off we went, slowly but surely, along the dirt road through the drissly rainforest beside an amazing green river, past waterfalls cascading over rocks and down the mountains everywhere. The scenery was beautiful, but we were soaked to the bone and cold by the time we reach the town of Puyuhuapi. Thankfully we found a lovely little Hospedaje with a lovely owner who immediately lit the wood fire stove for us so we could hang our wet clothes over it and pointed us to the steamy hot showers... oh yeah!! We were most excited to celebrate our first incident free day of riding in a LONG time... perhaps our problems were over?!?
The next day saw another beautiful, but slow ride North. We had heard that the town of Chaiten had recently been reopened to the public. It had been all but destroyed in a volcano erruption in March last year, so we decided to ride that way and have a look. It was getting a little late by the time we got close though and we had seem that there were some thermal baths where you could came about 5km off the road, so we headed up to the Termas Amarillo and enjoyed a dip in the hot baths to celebrate our 2nd incident free day of riding.
In the morning we had another quick dip, then headed for Chaiten. I think neither of us were prepared for the state of the town. As we rode in there was a white "sand" on the side of the road which was the volcanic ash. It just seemed like we must be riding on some tropical island until we reached the town. The major damage had been done when several waterways were blocked by the ash and the river through Chaiten flooded and took with it hundreds of homes. SOme can be seen half way out into the bay now. Other places that we still standing were burried under meters and meters of ash. The military were there with dozers and diggers trying to clean up some of the mess. The volcano was still sending out lots of ash and was quite a site in itself. We felt a little like we were intuding there, but we took a few photos then headed back towards Futaleufu near the Argentine border.
Lunch time that day we stopped at a tiny town on the side of the road to have some lunch. It was after the lunch that I looked over at Sara's bike, and... you guessed it... FLAT BACK TYRE!!!NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We had been so hopeful that that issue was resolved. I decided immediately that there must be a problem with the rim, but where were we going to get a replacement out here?!? We'd have to patch it until we could get to Bariloche or somewhere.
So, we went into town and found ourselves a place to stay and dump our gear for the night. Then it was back to the bike and taking off the wheel. It was then that we discovered the 2 inch long nail sticking out of the tyre!! We couldn't believe it. It had just been pure bad luck! Sara began to haul the tyre into town, while I went to find out if there was a mechanic around that could help... no such luck. So we set about taking the tyre off, patched the hole, then tried to get the tyre back on. It turned out that this tyre was even harder to get on than the previous one and, exhausted, I was ready to give up, when we heard the sound of motorbikes. Sara ran round and asked them to help. So with the power of 4 guys, we managed to finally get the tyre back on. We weren't keen on staying there the night, so we grabbed our gear and headed on once again and made it all the way to Futaleufu.
Now, the Futaleufu river is one of the top 3 rivers in the world for white water rafting and the best in South America, so we thought we'd better give it a try. First, though, we had a go at kayaking down the Rio Espolon. It was a beautiful blue/green river and the day was so warm that we were actually happy to get wet. Despite it only being class 2 and 3 rapids, both Sara and I managed to tip our kayaks, but we had a wonderful day!
That night the whole town gathered at the football stadium to see the Chilean Folklore back Las Jaivas (The Crabs). After a seriously wierd intro with images of Spanish conquistadors suppressing the local South Americans and some bizzare music, the power dropped out. After 15 mins or so of no power, tiredness overcame me and we walked home... it occured to us on the way home that they had killed the power to all of the streetlights to power the concert as well... amusing.
The next day we white water rafted down the Rio Futaleufu, down class 4 and 5 rapids and WOW!! What a day! It was fantastic! We didn't even fall out of the raft, despite the 2 rafts behind us flipping on the most dangerous rapid of the run. We had had the most fantastic 2 days in Futaleufu.
The next day we set off again, crossed the border back in Argentina and made our way up to the tourist mecca (and surprising large city) of Bariloche. In Bariloche we were able to get Sara's inner tube changed, get new tyres for her front and my rear wheel and replace her brake pads finally!!
So, anyway, that was our trip up the Ruta 40 and Carreterra Austral. It certainly had it's highs and it's lows. I guess as Belleruche say, you've gotta take the rough with the smooth.
ciao for now.
This is going to be a little out of order because we haven't done a blog about our trek round Mt Fitzroy yet, but it shall come soon and I want to get this down now
I'll delve back here a little to when we went to Punta Arenas to try to get Sara new brake pads. I was a little concerned about the condition of Sara's back tyre, so I talked to the mechanic about it and he seemed confident it's be fine until we got further North to Bariloche or even Santiago....The trip North from El Chalten (where we trekked round Monte Fitzroy) along Argentina's ruta 40 was a long, dusty and incredibly windy one. Our road was paved until a little nothing town called Tres Lagos where we filled up on petrol and from there we headed onto the worst gravel road we'd been on the whole trip and to make matters worse there was a howling, gusty crosswind. We had about a truck tyre's width to ride on and a pile of loose gravel on either side of that just waiting to steal any traction we had if we should be blown slightly off course.
We stayed a night in a little centre called Gobernador Gregores where we stayed in an apartment style room and enjoyed some local mate. Then the next day was on Northward in similar conditions. After about 1 hr's riding we had possibly one of the funniest incidents of our trip when Sara accidently ran into the back of me (at slow speed) when I had stopped to talk to her. Her brake lever had come loose and rotated around the handle to a point where she couldn't reach it. lol! So, we rectified the issue with the brake handle and went back to riding.
A little while late I decided that I wanted to stop and get some picutres of Sara riding on this dead straight dirt road in the middle of nowhere, so I went ahead and got some pics as she approached me. I was however struggling to keep my bike from falling over due to the wind whilst taking them and so, as Sara passed, I was muttering to myself, "please don't stop, don't stop, just keep on going"... then she stopped, and inevitably the bike fell over. The only damage was that the brake level had broken off and we had a spare, so after setting the bikes up so they wouldn't fall we set about changing her lever.
We then continued on to a servo which marked a fork in the road named Bajo Caracoles. It was early in the afternoon so we decided to head further on and make the town of Perito Moreno. We were about 4kms from Perito Moreno travelling about 80km/hr down the now paved road into town when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a sight that litteraly made my heart stop. Sara fell at speed, the bike flipping from 1 side to the other. Thankfully she got back up almost immediately and was trying to move the bike by the time I had gotten back to her. She was ok, her biking gear did an excellent job of protecting her, except that she was seriously shaken! The bike had a flat back tyre. It appears that she had got a punture and the innertube had turned, ripping the valve out of the tube and causing it to deflate quickly which meant that Sara lost control of the bike. Other than that, the brake handle was broken (again) and the handlebars slightly bent.
We managed to hoble into the town, Sara riding Dot and be on Doug riding in 1st gear the whole way. It was while we were in town looking for a place to stay and assess the bike when we ran into Miriam, a biker that we had previously met in Ushuaia. She was having bike problems and was staying at the Municipal campgrounds, so we joined her there.
The following day we changed Sara's rear inner tube with our spare and Sara, with Miriams help, managed to get the 2 pieces of her brake handle welded back together. It wasn't perfect, but it'd do for now.
I could not have been more proud of Sara, when the next day, she got back on Doug again to continue our journey. I think so many people might have packed it in after a scare like that. We headed over the border back into Chile. Heading towards the Carreterra Austral. We had heard that the scenery along there is amazing and also that the road is in better condition than the ruta 40 and with much less wind.
We reached the town of Chile Chico where we tried to extract some cash, but the only atm in town had none... no worries, we thought. We still had about 60 000 Chilean Pesos (about $120 Aus) and it was only a day or 2's ride to Coyhaique or Cochrane where we could get more. So we set off along possibly the most amazing road of our ride, a dirt road winding round the cliffs on the side of a magnificently blue lake. The scenery was spectacular! and I was greatly enjoying the ride... until Sara stopped. I returned to her to see what the problem was... the rear tyre which we had changed was flat again. I figured we must have pinched the tube when we put it in. Not long after stopping (about 2pm) some travellers stopped to help us. They tried to pump up the tyre with their compresor, but to no avail. We said that we needed a truck to put the bike on and just then a police truck (ute) passed by. We flagged them down and the travellers told them what we needed. Apparently they had some urgent stuff to do in Chile Chico, so they said they'd come back and help us in about 2 - 3 hrs.
...so we sat... and we waited... in the cold wind.... we watched the horses... and the cows... and waited... until about 8pm when a truck passed us by. They stopped and we asked if we could put Sara's bike in the back. Unfortunately they were going in the opposite direction to Chile Chico, but the said they would take us to the next town on their route. It turned out "Pablo" and "Edwardo" were delivering fruit, so after some interesting manouvering we got Doug into the back of their truck, Sara jumped in the front and we headed on.
Soon we came to a tiny little town (the name escapes me), just as it was getting dark (must have been about 10 or 11pm). Our rescuers said they could drop us here or take us on to Puerta Guadal, a larger town another hour or 2 on. It was evident we weren't going to get any help in this town so we decided to continue on. It was while Edwardo and Pablo were delivering there fruit that I noticed that my headlight was dimming and going out, then back on again and after stopping my bike, I couldn't get the power to come back on again... SHIT!!
So, I quickly ripped off my panniers and seat to get to the electrics and found a wire that was loose. I reconnected it and taped it and the bike seemed to come on ok now... seat and panniers back on and I was ready to follow them to Puerto Guadal... I thought. As soon as I started riding my headlight started flashing on and off. I was riding in the dark behind a truck kicking up mountains of dust on an unfamiliar dirt road. I didn't want to stop. What if I lost the truck? I don't know these guys and they've got Sara with them... What if there's a fork in the road up ahead, I'd have no idea where to go without the truck to follow. So I pushed on. I spent a long time just following one of the truck's tail lights to try to keep in it's wheel line, but after a while I was struggling to keep up.... I took a corner too fast and went off the side of the road. Luckily it was into a soft landing in some bushes.
The trick then was to get the bike started again. The electrics obviously had a loose wire and were coming on and off. I found I was able to get enough power if I jumped up and down on the bike for a while with my finger on the starter. Eventually the wire would connect long enough for the bike to start. After after 3 attempts to ride it out of the bushes (after finally realising it was still in 2nd gear) I got it back on the road and took a look at the damage.
Unfortunately the frame for one of my panniers had completely snapped off. They had been cracking around the welds previously. The truck now gone, I had no choice but to limp on, holding one of the panniers to the side of the bike. I had only gone a couple of hundred meters when I saw a figure running back down the road towards me. It was Sara of course. After not being able to see my headlight for a while, Sara had asked the guys to stop and was coming back to look for me. We headed to the truck and I put my panniers in the back and we set off again. This time I gave the truck much more distance in order to not be directly in the dust and this helped a lot.
Eventually we reached Puerto Guadal and the guys pointed us to a patch of grass where we could set up our tent and they were going to sleep in the truck. We'd get the bike out in the morning. We were too tired to argue or think, so we crashed there from about 2am to 6:30am.
We got up the next day, unloaded Sara's bike and thankes Pablo and Edwardo for all their help. Next we moved to the local campsite, an incredibly exposed rocky beach on the side of the lake and set up camp there and set the bikes up to work on them. Next I rode back to my crash site of the previous night to try to find the missing section of my pannier frame, but to no avail.
We then found the location of the only mechanic in town and took the broken parts of my pannier frame to him. He did possibly the worst welding job I have ever seen to put them back together (I had to bite my tongue when he started welding without even a mask on) and bent them roughly back to the shape they should be. Despite the missing part, I had enough to at least secure each box at 2 or 3 points to the bike.
We didn't have another inner tube, but we pulled Sara old one out. The hole wasn't too big, so we put a patch on it, but by that time it was getting late and we stopped for the night.
The next daythen set about putting the patch innertube back in... this time I KNEW I pinched it... insert absolute frustration and tyre irons being thrown!! I don't actually remember the previous time I've lost it like that... it usually takes a lot to get me riled. After calming down I took the innertube to the mechanic (it was a Sunday, so I wasn't sure if I could get any help). I was of the opinion that the tube was beyond repair, but he just wacked a couple more patches on and it seemed to be holding air. This time I got him to put it back in the tyre for me. He didn't even charge us anything. We were so excited that we were going to get out of this town! We packed up in record time and hit the road again.
We had decided that we'd stop in Puerto Tranquilo, about 150kms down the road. It was only when we just got there that I looked at Sara's back tyre to see that it had gone flat AGAIN! It was to be expected that maybe one of the patches wouldn't hold though. We decided that we couldn't handle this one today. We got ourselves set up at a nice campsite and decided we'd head into a town for a beer and there'd be no talk of plans or anything until we had done so.
That was when we saw the 2 bikes loaded with gear at the little cafe at the petrol station!! A closer look revealed that they had the same size back tyre as us. We headed straight in and met 2 lovely Brazillian guys. They happily gave us their spare inner tube and refused to take any sort of payment, despite our best efforts!! Once again our luck was see-sawing, bad 1 minute, good the next.
The next day I wasn't taking any chances. I found a tyre guy in the town and took Sara's tyre their for him to change. All done... Hurray! At this point we decided that we were tired of playing mechanic and being stresed all the time, so we took the afternoon off anf took a boat ride to the Marble Chaple, a very interesting rock formation on the edge of the amazingly turquoise lake. The boat even went into one of the larger caves in the rock.
The next day we were up and excited to get moving. That's when we saw the dark rain clouds across the lake. We had previously be warned by Miriam not to ride here when the road was wet as it gets very slippery and in some parts the water just runs over the top of the road. The rain seemed to clear a little though and we were too excited about moving on, so we headed off.
We hit a few patches of drissle and the road was a little damp in a few areas, but not too bad. That was when we hit a newly graded section of road. We were forced to ride right on the edge of the road. I hit the wet mud patch first and my back tyre skidded sideways. I managed to recover, but I new immediately that Sara wouldn't. As I predicted, down she came.
This time, unfortunately, the bike landed on some hard rocks. Sara was fine, but the coolant overflow tank was split and pouring out coolant. There was also a punture in one of the coolant hoses. We had some epoxy on us, so we patch up the coolant tank and we put a tyre patch and some tape around the hose. Luckily we had crashed right next to a beutifully clear stream, so we had drinking water and water to refill the radiator. The only thing was that the epoxy takes 3 hours to dry, so we sat on the side of the road again waiting for it to dry.
Eventually we got back on the road. We knew we didn't have too far to go and we'd be back on the pavement for about a 100km stretch to Coyhaique, where we could hopefully get some mechanical help. It was about 10km before the pavement that one of my pannier frames broke and my pannier near fell off.... AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!! I tied it on with some cable ties and we decided to limp on.... if we could just make the pavement, it should be a smooth ride.
We made the pavement... for about 15km, until Sara was no longer in my rear view mirror... I rode back to find her beside her bike... the back tyre was flat AGAIN!!!!! We were absolutely at our wits end here, but we decided not to waste any time and just see if we could flag down a truck. About 15mins later a truck stopped not far from us and Sara ran up to meet Juan (I think that's how you spell it). Juan had an empty kayak truck, spoke English, was going to Coyhaique and was more than happy to help... there's that luck again! So we loaded Sara's bike in the back as well as my panniers and we set off. Me following the truck for the 90km or so to Coyhaique, the largest town in this region.
It has to be said at this point that the scenery around the lakes etc on this trip were some of the most amazing we've seen anywhere. It was just a shame that we spent much of the time too stressed / tired to really appreciate it.
SO... Coyhaique, and we found a mechanic reccommended on the horizons unlimited website. He spoke very little English, but was more than happy to help. We had decided that there MUST be something wrong with Sara's actual tyre or the rim, so we bought a 2nd hand tyre that was in better condition than hers and the Mechanic helped patch my pannier frames back together again and even made new parts to replace the missing sections. The welding wasn't superb, but a lot better than the last job. We also managed to piece together a new coolant hose for Sara's bike by joining 2 old ones. And after 2 days work the bikes were ready once again... new tyre... repaired frames... we were confident and ready to try them out.
Coyhaique also presented us with the opportunity to access more cash, so our diet could once again consist of foods other than tomato, avocado and bread and we were able to stay in a hostel.
>insert here, us meeting up with Sunny and Cecilia, who were other bikers we'd met in Ushuaia, and hitting the piss in a big way... it's possible that my hangover may have delayed us leaving by a day.... possible.
So off we went, slowly but surely, along the dirt road through the drissly rainforest beside an amazing green river, past waterfalls cascading over rocks and down the mountains everywhere. The scenery was beautiful, but we were soaked to the bone and cold by the time we reach the town of Puyuhuapi. Thankfully we found a lovely little Hospedaje with a lovely owner who immediately lit the wood fire stove for us so we could hang our wet clothes over it and pointed us to the steamy hot showers... oh yeah!! We were most excited to celebrate our first incident free day of riding in a LONG time... perhaps our problems were over?!?
The next day saw another beautiful, but slow ride North. We had heard that the town of Chaiten had recently been reopened to the public. It had been all but destroyed in a volcano erruption in March last year, so we decided to ride that way and have a look. It was getting a little late by the time we got close though and we had seem that there were some thermal baths where you could came about 5km off the road, so we headed up to the Termas Amarillo and enjoyed a dip in the hot baths to celebrate our 2nd incident free day of riding.
In the morning we had another quick dip, then headed for Chaiten. I think neither of us were prepared for the state of the town. As we rode in there was a white "sand" on the side of the road which was the volcanic ash. It just seemed like we must be riding on some tropical island until we reached the town. The major damage had been done when several waterways were blocked by the ash and the river through Chaiten flooded and took with it hundreds of homes. SOme can be seen half way out into the bay now. Other places that we still standing were burried under meters and meters of ash. The military were there with dozers and diggers trying to clean up some of the mess. The volcano was still sending out lots of ash and was quite a site in itself. We felt a little like we were intuding there, but we took a few photos then headed back towards Futaleufu near the Argentine border.
Lunch time that day we stopped at a tiny town on the side of the road to have some lunch. It was after the lunch that I looked over at Sara's bike, and... you guessed it... FLAT BACK TYRE!!!NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We had been so hopeful that that issue was resolved. I decided immediately that there must be a problem with the rim, but where were we going to get a replacement out here?!? We'd have to patch it until we could get to Bariloche or somewhere.
So, we went into town and found ourselves a place to stay and dump our gear for the night. Then it was back to the bike and taking off the wheel. It was then that we discovered the 2 inch long nail sticking out of the tyre!! We couldn't believe it. It had just been pure bad luck! Sara began to haul the tyre into town, while I went to find out if there was a mechanic around that could help... no such luck. So we set about taking the tyre off, patched the hole, then tried to get the tyre back on. It turned out that this tyre was even harder to get on than the previous one and, exhausted, I was ready to give up, when we heard the sound of motorbikes. Sara ran round and asked them to help. So with the power of 4 guys, we managed to finally get the tyre back on. We weren't keen on staying there the night, so we grabbed our gear and headed on once again and made it all the way to Futaleufu.
Now, the Futaleufu river is one of the top 3 rivers in the world for white water rafting and the best in South America, so we thought we'd better give it a try. First, though, we had a go at kayaking down the Rio Espolon. It was a beautiful blue/green river and the day was so warm that we were actually happy to get wet. Despite it only being class 2 and 3 rapids, both Sara and I managed to tip our kayaks, but we had a wonderful day!
That night the whole town gathered at the football stadium to see the Chilean Folklore back Las Jaivas (The Crabs). After a seriously wierd intro with images of Spanish conquistadors suppressing the local South Americans and some bizzare music, the power dropped out. After 15 mins or so of no power, tiredness overcame me and we walked home... it occured to us on the way home that they had killed the power to all of the streetlights to power the concert as well... amusing.
The next day we white water rafted down the Rio Futaleufu, down class 4 and 5 rapids and WOW!! What a day! It was fantastic! We didn't even fall out of the raft, despite the 2 rafts behind us flipping on the most dangerous rapid of the run. We had had the most fantastic 2 days in Futaleufu.
The next day we set off again, crossed the border back in Argentina and made our way up to the tourist mecca (and surprising large city) of Bariloche. In Bariloche we were able to get Sara's inner tube changed, get new tyres for her front and my rear wheel and replace her brake pads finally!!
So, anyway, that was our trip up the Ruta 40 and Carreterra Austral. It certainly had it's highs and it's lows. I guess as Belleruche say, you've gotta take the rough with the smooth.
ciao for now.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Brake Pad Mission: Unsuccessful
After our Torres Del Paine trek we made the difficult decision to back-track south to Punta Arenas in search of new front brake pads for my Dougy. Our mission ended unsuccessfully after a week of attempts that were alike only in their failure....and if you had been standing near us when we rode off you would of sworn you heard a mildly anxious voice whispering ´back brake, back brake, only use your back brake!, back brake, back brake, only use your back brake!´ (!EEK!)
Our plans to head further north to Bariloche in our quest for new brake pads, took us via El Calafate where we spent a day visiting Glaciar Perito Moreno - one of the most popular tourist attractions in Patagonian Argentina! It is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is not currently retreating and, excitingly, it is one of the most active glaciars in the world! Quite ridiculously spoilt for glaciars at this point in our travel though, we stayed just long enough to visit each lookout, have lunch, and to offer a big tourist cheer when we witnessed a large clean blue piece of the 60m high glaciar facade crash to the water! (!YAY!)
I will, at this point, be horrifically and horribly honest, and say that for me El Calafate offered two highlights (and neither of them were the glaciar). The first, was drinking a big-mouth style bottle of icy cold Quilmes beer after a very long day of riding. The second, was getting free hair conditioner in our hostel! Ahhhh and yes, tourist-attraction spoilt I am, arent I!?!?!??!?! :-D
(xxx !!!!!!hhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiii mum and dad!!!!! i love you!!!!!!!!! xxx)
Our plans to head further north to Bariloche in our quest for new brake pads, took us via El Calafate where we spent a day visiting Glaciar Perito Moreno - one of the most popular tourist attractions in Patagonian Argentina! It is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is not currently retreating and, excitingly, it is one of the most active glaciars in the world! Quite ridiculously spoilt for glaciars at this point in our travel though, we stayed just long enough to visit each lookout, have lunch, and to offer a big tourist cheer when we witnessed a large clean blue piece of the 60m high glaciar facade crash to the water! (!YAY!)
I will, at this point, be horrifically and horribly honest, and say that for me El Calafate offered two highlights (and neither of them were the glaciar). The first, was drinking a big-mouth style bottle of icy cold Quilmes beer after a very long day of riding. The second, was getting free hair conditioner in our hostel! Ahhhh and yes, tourist-attraction spoilt I am, arent I!?!?!??!?! :-D
(xxx !!!!!!hhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiii mum and dad!!!!! i love you!!!!!!!!! xxx)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Trekking Torres Del Paine
The Park
Rising 2800m above the Patagonian steppe, the Torres Del Paine (Towers of Paine) are spectacular granite pillars that dominate the landscape of what is considered by many to be South America´s finest national park, Parque National Torres Del Paine (181,000 hectares). These towers are the are the famous Patagonian mountains that you see on book covers all the world over. For hikers and trekkers, TDP is an unequaled destination because the park is not just mountains.... Trails meander through emerald forests, alongside roaring rivers, past radiant blue glaciers, azure lakes, and wind up and up to jaw dropping lookouts. You can hike the steppe across muddy swamp and jump to your campsite over fast flowing streams. It offers not one, but five completely different landscapes in one trek and it is spectacular for that alone.
Our Trek - Day One
Depart: Hosteria Los Torres 4pm
Arrive: Cmpamento Torres 7:30pm
Distance: 10.5km
Difficulty: Moderate
Max Temp: 12
Description: The trek began by rising along the treeless tarn of the small canyon forged by Rio Ascencio and finished by weaving and meandering through deep green forests of lenga. We camped in a gorgeous crook of a crystal clear rock river.
Feelings: We were excited. Oh lord, so very very excited. Unpacking Doug and Dot and getting out our backpacks for the first time since Peru, you could just feel the buzz. Snap snap snap went the camera. And off we went! And boy did we go! 10.5km in just over 3 hours - with completely full backpacks. !Wowsers!
Our Trek - Day Two
Depart: Campamento Torres 5am
Arrive: Torres Del Paine Lookout 5:45am (for sunrise)
Distance: 1km
Difficulty: Ouch!
Description: A muscle burning scramble in the wee hours of the morning over huge bolders and glacier rubble following a trail marked only by orange dots.
Feelings: The lookout is the closest view of the famous towers you can get! And at sunrise....its certainly once-in-a-lifetime amazing if a lil on brisk side (bbbbrrrrrrrrr)!
Depart: Campamento Torres 8am
Arrive: Campamento Italiano 7pm
Distance: 27km
Difficulty: Seriously difficult
Max Temp: 14
Wind: 50km/hr
Description: We began by returning 7km along the trail from whence we came until a sharp veer southwest brought us onto the steppe trail running alongside a gorgeous lake of blue, Lago Nordenskjold. Behind us Mount Almirante Niete loomed and in front of us Valley Frances awaited. We camped beside a raging white river (Rio del France) amongst green valley forest and fell into bed absolutely completely exhausted at 9pm. And neither of us cared an ounce that it was New Years Eve.
Feelings: We walked and walked and walked. And then we walked some more! My most vivid memory of the day is counting my steps up hills in an effort to block out the effort. My best memory of the day is resting on a wooden bench eating salty nuts in a 45 minute break we took. For beginner trekkers, perhaps we were a wee bit over adventurous, si!?!??!
Our Trek - Day Three
Depart: Campamento Italiano 10am
Arrive: Valley Frances Lookout 1pm
Distance: 12km return
Description: Trekking further into Valley Frances, alongside the power of Rio Frances, the dramatic glacier scenery loomed on the right above us as we walked. After forests and white water, the final steep climb to the rocky Frances lookout provided an equally spectacular scene - a massive stadium of glaciers and mountains.
Feelings: The first hour was the hardest of the whole trek for me. I could have cried from exhaustion. But after reaching the lookout, it was as though the trekking gods turned and smiled...and we chatted happily on the slow return trek from the lookout and we were captivated trying to spot bits falling of the glacier at lunch. Ahhhhhh and my trekking yay returned!
Depart: Campamento Italiano 3pm
Arrive: Refugio Lago Pehoe 6:30pm
Distance: 9km
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Max Temp: 14
Wind: 50km/hr
Description: A rolling track between grassed over moraine mounds of dry notro bushes and wild flowers. Beginning south along the edge Lago Skottsberg the trek turns west around a headland and ends with at a campsite right next to the pristine blue waters of the windy Lago Pehoe.
Feelings: Just a truly nice, enjoyable walk. Best bit: scouting out and successfully crossing a deep and fast flowing river using only jumping rocks!
Our Trek - Day Four
Depart: Refugio Lago Pehoe 10am
Arrive: Glacier Grey Lookout 1pm
Distance: 22km
Difficulty: Medium
Max Temp: 15
Wind: 70km/hr
Feelings: The best most wonderful day of trekking! Perhaps because it was the last. Perhaps because our bodies and brains had finally got used to the trekking. Whatever it was...the walk along the windy cliff edge of Lago Grey was ever changing and always pleasing. Dry grass, colourful wild flowers, scrubby bush, and wet forest. Lake dotted with ice to the left. Vertical craggy mountain peaks to the right. We lunched alone no more than a couple of hundred metres from Glacier Grey. Can you ask for more from one park in one day!?!??!
Our Trek
TDP truly is spectacular. The landscape variations alone are something to marvel over. Every trek something is new, every lookout something to treasure. The most wonderful part of the trek was being able to drink the crystal clear stream water. The most suprising part of the trek was the lack of wildlife.
We completed the ´W´trek of TDP in 3 days and 3 hours, all the while carrying our home, our beds, our food and our clothes. Most people do it in 5 or 6 days. And whilst, I can not remember a time previous that I have ever felt so completely and continuously physically exhausted, I am super proud of my achievement!
Rising 2800m above the Patagonian steppe, the Torres Del Paine (Towers of Paine) are spectacular granite pillars that dominate the landscape of what is considered by many to be South America´s finest national park, Parque National Torres Del Paine (181,000 hectares). These towers are the are the famous Patagonian mountains that you see on book covers all the world over. For hikers and trekkers, TDP is an unequaled destination because the park is not just mountains.... Trails meander through emerald forests, alongside roaring rivers, past radiant blue glaciers, azure lakes, and wind up and up to jaw dropping lookouts. You can hike the steppe across muddy swamp and jump to your campsite over fast flowing streams. It offers not one, but five completely different landscapes in one trek and it is spectacular for that alone.
Our Trek - Day One
Depart: Hosteria Los Torres 4pm
Arrive: Cmpamento Torres 7:30pm
Distance: 10.5km
Difficulty: Moderate
Max Temp: 12
Description: The trek began by rising along the treeless tarn of the small canyon forged by Rio Ascencio and finished by weaving and meandering through deep green forests of lenga. We camped in a gorgeous crook of a crystal clear rock river.
Feelings: We were excited. Oh lord, so very very excited. Unpacking Doug and Dot and getting out our backpacks for the first time since Peru, you could just feel the buzz. Snap snap snap went the camera. And off we went! And boy did we go! 10.5km in just over 3 hours - with completely full backpacks. !Wowsers!
Our Trek - Day Two
Depart: Campamento Torres 5am
Arrive: Torres Del Paine Lookout 5:45am (for sunrise)
Distance: 1km
Difficulty: Ouch!
Description: A muscle burning scramble in the wee hours of the morning over huge bolders and glacier rubble following a trail marked only by orange dots.
Feelings: The lookout is the closest view of the famous towers you can get! And at sunrise....its certainly once-in-a-lifetime amazing if a lil on brisk side (bbbbrrrrrrrrr)!
Depart: Campamento Torres 8am
Arrive: Campamento Italiano 7pm
Distance: 27km
Difficulty: Seriously difficult
Max Temp: 14
Wind: 50km/hr
Description: We began by returning 7km along the trail from whence we came until a sharp veer southwest brought us onto the steppe trail running alongside a gorgeous lake of blue, Lago Nordenskjold. Behind us Mount Almirante Niete loomed and in front of us Valley Frances awaited. We camped beside a raging white river (Rio del France) amongst green valley forest and fell into bed absolutely completely exhausted at 9pm. And neither of us cared an ounce that it was New Years Eve.
Feelings: We walked and walked and walked. And then we walked some more! My most vivid memory of the day is counting my steps up hills in an effort to block out the effort. My best memory of the day is resting on a wooden bench eating salty nuts in a 45 minute break we took. For beginner trekkers, perhaps we were a wee bit over adventurous, si!?!??!
Our Trek - Day Three
Depart: Campamento Italiano 10am
Arrive: Valley Frances Lookout 1pm
Distance: 12km return
Description: Trekking further into Valley Frances, alongside the power of Rio Frances, the dramatic glacier scenery loomed on the right above us as we walked. After forests and white water, the final steep climb to the rocky Frances lookout provided an equally spectacular scene - a massive stadium of glaciers and mountains.
Feelings: The first hour was the hardest of the whole trek for me. I could have cried from exhaustion. But after reaching the lookout, it was as though the trekking gods turned and smiled...and we chatted happily on the slow return trek from the lookout and we were captivated trying to spot bits falling of the glacier at lunch. Ahhhhhh and my trekking yay returned!
Depart: Campamento Italiano 3pm
Arrive: Refugio Lago Pehoe 6:30pm
Distance: 9km
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Max Temp: 14
Wind: 50km/hr
Description: A rolling track between grassed over moraine mounds of dry notro bushes and wild flowers. Beginning south along the edge Lago Skottsberg the trek turns west around a headland and ends with at a campsite right next to the pristine blue waters of the windy Lago Pehoe.
Feelings: Just a truly nice, enjoyable walk. Best bit: scouting out and successfully crossing a deep and fast flowing river using only jumping rocks!
Our Trek - Day Four
Depart: Refugio Lago Pehoe 10am
Arrive: Glacier Grey Lookout 1pm
Distance: 22km
Difficulty: Medium
Max Temp: 15
Wind: 70km/hr
Feelings: The best most wonderful day of trekking! Perhaps because it was the last. Perhaps because our bodies and brains had finally got used to the trekking. Whatever it was...the walk along the windy cliff edge of Lago Grey was ever changing and always pleasing. Dry grass, colourful wild flowers, scrubby bush, and wet forest. Lake dotted with ice to the left. Vertical craggy mountain peaks to the right. We lunched alone no more than a couple of hundred metres from Glacier Grey. Can you ask for more from one park in one day!?!??!
Our Trek
TDP truly is spectacular. The landscape variations alone are something to marvel over. Every trek something is new, every lookout something to treasure. The most wonderful part of the trek was being able to drink the crystal clear stream water. The most suprising part of the trek was the lack of wildlife.
We completed the ´W´trek of TDP in 3 days and 3 hours, all the while carrying our home, our beds, our food and our clothes. Most people do it in 5 or 6 days. And whilst, I can not remember a time previous that I have ever felt so completely and continuously physically exhausted, I am super proud of my achievement!
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