Yesterday I went Fjording through the ocean inlets that connect Puerto Natales to the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers. Absolutely beautiful is my response. As we ventured by boat towards the land of ice the water slowly turned a lighter blueish green due to the sediments from runoff of the glaciers. We passed a huge cormorant colony which looked like penguins, but can fly. We were accompanied by seals and giant condors in this magical land of water and mountain. The trip was incredible as you will see by the pictures above. At the Serrano glacier we hike for a half an hour on land to reach the end where it meets water. Apparently one of the Chilean ladies in the photo with me had been on this same tour twenty years ago and told me that back then you didn´t have to hike in to meet the glacier, but that it was already touching the water. That was also a time when they allowed tourists to hike on top of the glacier…until they lost too many souls deep within the crevasses. She said that they were allowed to go on a skiff up close to touch the edge of the glacier where it meets the water, but a few years ago a tourist group doing the same risky think a bit north of here was caught right under a sudden breakoff of ice and the wave created from the impact with water was so enormous that it flipped the boat and killed a bunch of vacationers.
For lunch we stopped in at a lonely restaurant on the side of the sea and ate the largest portions of lamb on a bone I have ever seen, and drank a Pisco Solo, which is alcohol made from grapes in two fermentaion processes, the first making the lower grade aguardiente. During lunch is also where I met another wonderful young Chilean couple, also in the picture above. They told me, among many other things, that the average professional income in Chile is about $1,000 per month, they pay 10% income taxes and the equivalent of 19% sales tax on EVERY type of service or product bought within Chile. Luckily for tourists this fee is waived.
From here I will let the pictures do the talking, but I would recommend to anyone thinking of traveling down here to make half of your trip among the mountains, seas and glaciers of Patagonia…if not in Chile then in Argentina (it´s much cheaper).

I bit the bullet and did something I have never done before on a trip…I bought a packaged tour. Normally I would go about buying my bus ticket, having a vague idea of where to stay, ariving in the next city and asking around until finding a good place to stay, then scoping out local things to do. However, this time I had it all pre-arranged for me, including being picked up at the airport by a driver that cruises in a Mercedes mid-size (happens to be a duty free zone here in Punta Arenas where you can buy almost anything including cars without import fees and taxes = very cheap). I must say that there sure isn´t anything more convenient than having a local tour company pick you up at the airport, choose your hotel for you, arrange all of your transportaion and some meals, and book your tours for you. So far it has been well worth the bit extra that you must pay for the service. As I mentioned earlier I signed up for a full day tour in Torres Del Paine International Biosphere Reserve. The park is the same idea as a national park in the U.S., this one being the most popular in Chile. The locals complain about how crowded it is, even guidebooks tell of how many people flock to the sight. The thing is, the park is not nearly like anything you may have experienced in a National Park in the summertime in the U.S. The fact is, there was hardly anyone there, sure at each stop there may have been a small crowd, but no more than 20 people in any one place. Driving through the park you might pass a tourist van on the road not more than every five minutes. The park itself was absolutely, incredibly beautiful. The only thing to compare it to is the Grand Teton National Park in the U.S., but you have to multiply the area by about 100. Giant spires with remanants of glaciers still on top were the main focal point of the park. Everywhere there were enormous glacier fed turquoise lakes (the park claims the largest holding of freshwater in the world). In the background the mountains were caked with snow and straddled by endless glaciers. The park is the southern tip of the Andean chain of continuous ice. And they are melting fast, at about three meters per year, but considering the vastness of them- they will probably be around for at least a few hundred more years (so don´t let CNN freak you out too much). The park has a few very interesting animals that were sighted on our trip, all of which could care less if you came within ten feet of them to take their picture. We saw a bunch of Guanecos, which are the South American equivalent of Camels without humps. Some sort of ostrich variant that was only slightly smaller than its Australian relative. Condors with a six foot wingspan. Miniature foxes the size and demeanor of a housecat. And Flamingoes…yes…flamingos. To which I had to rub my eyes twice and pound my head on the glass to make sure that they were real. Apparently there is a Chilean type of flamingo that exists on the cold and rainy southern extent of South America. At first I couldn´t believe it, and I concluded that it must have been some skeeming tourist trap determined to sway the flow of traffic to their local restaurant by placing very well made plastic replicas of flamingoes in various positions, all across a small lake. Later on I saw them mentioned in a photo guide to the Patagonia region.
I would highly recommend traveling to Patagonia and taking a few tours of the region, it is truly a majestic place (not so much the towns as the scenery). But you had better hurry, as I hear the hole in the ozone is still expanding. The ozone, which deters most of the harmful, cancer causing, sunburning UV rays from the sun, has been deteriorated to a large extent, reaching up Southern Chile. We can all thank a guy named Thomas Midgley Jr., who invented CFCs that were used in the U.S. as a refrigerant -later to be banned, but still in use throughout the world. CFCs have a direct effect on tearing up the Ozone, which I have been told is only a few inches thick when healthy. From personal experience on the tour through the park I must say that you can definitely and immediately feel the effect. If you have ever been burned at the beach and are on the drive home, but don´t quite feel the burn yet – however you feel that you may have been burnt…thats about what it feels like. It´s very strong and will start burning you at about 10 times the normal rate (for red-heads this can be deadly). Above I will post a buch of pictures of the park, within the next day or two.

I found myself walking down a half lit street in a 3rd world country (as politically incorrect as that phrase may be) at 4:45 am with 40 pounds of gear on my back and all of my valuables. Dogs prowled in packs of eight, sniffing out the fear of passersby. And yet the most dangerous part of trekking the half mile to the bus stop at this forbidden hour was stepping into a pothole and twisting your ankle. Valdivia, while not providing the best in appearance, is actually quite safe. In the words of the locals “aquí…no pasa nada”. This brings up the imminent desire to list the charming things of the 3rd world (The list may continue to expand, stay tuned):
-The car that drives around the city with speakers attached at the top, all the while blasting at maximum volume the dreams of a local candidate
-The guy that ceases to stop calling out “Heladooooo” while steadily criss-crossing the beach selling popsicles and icecream.
-The pre-mixed vendor stand coffee that makes you jokingly ask the vendor if you can possibly have some more coffee with your sugar.
-The tendancy for a local to ignore the decomposition rate of a plastic bottle as he nonchalantly tosses it off a cliff and into the ocean.
-The roaming packs of purebred dogs that roam the streets, which americans regularly pay hundreds of dollars for in the U.S.
-The fact that if you are from a latin american country, you are most likely expected to take your ENTIRE family with you whenever you go on a vacation. Including parents and grandparents…everywhere.
-Nescafe, just can´t seem to get away from it.

Dinner on the run.

Object: Land in a small ring of tires in the middle of the river…and don´t drown in the process.

On wednesday I decided to take a tour. For those of you who are wondering what I am doing in between tours and meals…not very much at all. And it´s kind of nice! I wake up late, go to the beach for an hour, go home and rest, hike out to the internet cafe, check out the lookout point on top of a huge cliff, hike down to the “costumbrista” or food stands near the water for a snack, hike back up to the cabaña, decide if I should take a trip into Valdivia for some food or to walk by the river, then go back to Niebla for dinner and maybe a beer at the concert at night. So…after about two weeks of this I am about ready to get on to something a bit more exciting. I took a river boat tour upstream for three hours to see a wildlife sanctuary. It was without a doubt, beautiful, but without any wildlife, except a cow or two (but I am pretty sure most have been domesticated). I did meet two very wonderful and interesting characters from Europe, in the words of the British “Truly Lovely”. And we had a great time exchanging information. For example, did you know that there is the equivalent of the “Euro Railpass” for the US? Basically you can ride a train around the ENTIRE U.S., sleep on it at night as a hotel, or catch it to the next city whenever you want. I also learned that my thoughts on Chile are also shared by other people. Such as how this country is not a very warm and welcoming place to strangers, and that you pay a lot and don´t get too much. They had traveled through Argentina for the previous month and said that, compared to Chile, Argentina is in fact more developed, very cheap, and the people are all very accepting and talkative and want to know all about you and your trip. This made me realize that I may be traveling in the wrong countryafter all – for I believe it is the people you encounter on your travels that can really make a trip that much more fun.
Tomorrow night is La Noche Valdiviana, where over 10,000 boats are supposed to float by on the river with fireworks and music and all around celebration. This is the reason why I stayed here for two weeks, Please don´t let me down Valdivia.

Here is a little insight on Chilean culture. If you are waiting in line at a store to buy something and you stand more than 3 millimeters behind the person next in line…you are bound to get cut in front of. I found this to be a very peculiar aspect of Chilean culture. It would be fairly obvious that I was standing in line with some goods ready to be bought and yet, without hesitation, someone would butt right in front of me as if there wasn´t any concern at all for them. At first I was a little bit confused and did not say anything, and then I realized that this is in fact an “everyone for themselves” culture (sort of). I was talking to the landlord of my cabaña, and he mentioned that chile is in fact a fast paced society where people are intent on getting ahead. He also told me that, like many other Latin American countries, Chileans will take you for every dollar that you are worth. At any opportunity they will nickel and dime you if you let them. In fact, they don´t separate the tourists from the locals, anyone they can shave an extra peso off of, they will. A good example of this happened to me yesterday whilst paying for my time at an internet cafe. The charge was 800 pesos (about $1.75), I paid with a 5,000 pesos bill and got back 1,000 pesos short of what I was owed. It was my poor practice of trust that really screwed me, for I did not bother to check the amount until later on. Of course it could have been an honest mistake, but either way I will now be more careful with my pesos and choose a different cafe.
An interesting detail about pricing down here: if you want a smaller house in a nicer neighborhood and good quality construction …$40,000 to buy. A two acre plot of land on the cliffs overlooking a nice beach (in a well traveled area where pricing is inflated)…$200,000. If you want to rent a pretty nice and small house in a nice neighborhood…$400 or less per month. Whereas a poorly cooked plate of scrambled eggs with a cup of the steaming instant coffee Nescafe…$8.00

I think I just made that quote up or maybe I had, at some point in time, subconsciously committed it to memory. What I mean is that the more I see and experience here in Valdivia and Niebla, the more charming and incredible this place seems to become. When I first entered Valdivia I was driven through the outskirts of town and saw a dirtier and more rural/run down part of town. A section that had bars over the windows and graffiti. However I realized that if you picked me up and dropped me into certain parts of Los Angeles, I may also feel as if I had descended into a third world oblivion (far worse than what I have seen here). The same could be experienced in San Diego, New York, San Francisco, or Denver. The point being that everywhere has bad parts and good parts and after exploring Valdivia a bit further I have come to know the better parts of the city. As I have said previously I think my main problem was comming down here with so many expectations. Don´t do as I have, but travel to a place more in wonder of what you will find and accept it for what it is to you and the people who live there. Valdivia and Niebla are basically pretty safe places. You can walk the streets at night and not have to look over your shoulder. There aren´t groups of people hanging out on corners or in yards eyeing every move that you make. It is unlike other third worlds I have traveled to – mainly just Ecuador and Venezuela where you might not want to walk down certain streets even in the day, or where you have to keep a constant watch on your backpack. Chile is like the third world that has developed into a first world without the time for renovation of its appearance.
Last night I came out of my shell and went out in Niebla to find where the constant blare of music was coming from. Since I have not traveled alone before I have found it harder to get out of my comfort zone. But last night I discovered two things, the first being a mere 600 yards from my cabaña. Another festival square that contained more artesans, food stands and a huge lit and amped stage where live performances have been going on, apparently, for the last 52 days without interruption. Its like a miniature Woodstock right here in my backyard! Local and regional musicians travel from all over the country to play at the shows here in town. Mainly classical guitarists and a mix of Mapuche fluitists and some pretty incredible singers. They all involve the crowd and get people to sing parts of the songs and participate in competitions on stage. It was a blast! The only thing missing of course was Kirsten. As I had predicted everyone in the audience was a couple except for about three people (I know because at one point the announcer asked those that were single to raise their hands). Last night I also discovered that, as my father had suggested, the Chilean people are just more shy than in other countries. I found that if I offered an hola or buenas to people passing by – instead of just an awkward smile- they would respond back the same and smile too. Apparently they seem delighted that some strange alien would offer to greet them in their language instead of acting mute.
This can also be a problem here in communicating with the locals. I have found that if you go out of your way to talk to someone that, in fact they are delighted to speak to you, and in such case will talk with an extreme rapidity that you will be lucky if you can pick out even two discernable words. Usually I will then respond with a ´¿como?´ or what? And I have found that the older women are more responsive to this question than are the men. Men will just repeat what they said at sometimes an even more incredible speed than before, as I assume a blank expression on my face. Women however, seem to realize that I may not fully understand what is being said and so will offer the delivery of words in a much slower way. At this point I realize that it´s not so much the speed that is impairing my ability to understand, but it´s the language itself. Chileans do not speak spanish. They speak Chilean. Which is of course a derrivitive of spanish but intertwined with a vast amount of cultural expressions, pronunciations, and abbreviations. Good lord, I thought eventually I would be able to perfect my spanish, but down here it represents a whole new set of challenges. (My appologies for all of the misspelled words, as constantly taking in the spanish language seems to be altering my sense of spell.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7167639.stm

One peculiar trait I have noticed whilst down here traveling in Chile is the way in which people will acknowledge me on the street. Or rather not acknowledge me at all. When in Ecuador I experienced people with curious eyes that would stare for a while and then look away, satisfied that they had positively identified a red-headed alien albino. In Venezuela, the people would stare, stare some more, keep on looking and absolutely focus on your soul until you were cursed unto the depths of hell where all satan worshiping devils should reside. Here in Chile it is the opposite problem. People will not even take the chance to glance in your direction. If you pass someone on the sidewalk they will stare straight ahead as if you couldn´t possibly exist and they should not bother to waist their energy in focusing their eyes. Now this is not too different then what one may experience in the U.S. these days, where walking in your own neighborhood and passing a stranger- not even a hello will be traded. But usually if you make eye contact with the person for long enough (in the U.S.), they will acknowledge you or smile back in some form or another. Down here this is not so. Couples will not look at you, guys alone will not give a look, and girls will not even fancy a glance. This got me to thinking about possible explanations for this unusual trait. Is it that I am very pale skinned with red hair and freckles? Probably not as the skin color here varies from a solid tan to even whiter than myself – and even redheads all the same. Then could it be my smell or appearance? Not that I can think of as I shower every day, plus I am clean shaven with clean clothes – not even those strange traveler khakis and shirts, as I brought a bunch of normal clothes. So then I thought that maybe, just possibly everyone can easily identify me as an american, and Chileans might not be too fond of us because of, among many other things, our participation in the military coup of 1973 in which President Allende was thrown from office and Pinochet ( the Military commander) took his place. What happened next became just another one of the disasters our country has created by inciting military revolts in foreign countries. About 30,000 people were jailed without trial, most tortured. ´Death Squads´were sent to each city in Chile by helicopter and arriving late at night they would break into Leftist supporters homes and kill them on the spot or take them for a ride over the ocean – from which they would never return. Here´s a link to our connection to the coup http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._intervention_in_Chile

And here´s a link to the disaster that it created:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinochet

Anyways the point being that the Americans screwed up, I am an American, and so forever I will be looked upon with slightly less comforting eyes in foreign lands.
Other than that I have booked the rest of my trip and in a week and a half I leave for the southernmost area in South America, Punta Arenas. – I splurged and signed up for a trip that goes into a national park to see glaciers, Guanacos (a form of wild llamas) caves, big mountains, a boat trip through fjords with more glaciers, penguin colony visiting, whale watching, and even a stop on a small farm for lunch with a huaso – or local cowboy. Now knowing my history with ´what you see isn´t necessarily what you get´ I am a little concerned, but nonetheless excited to see the mystical land of the south!

I noticed an incredible thing yesterday in a Chilean supermarket, a bottle of wine is cheaper than a bottle of water. Chile has at least four main wine producing valleys creating a great variety. I bought a bottle for about $2.50 and it actually was quite good. It made me wonder why domestic wine in the US still sells for much more comparatively. I decided that if I had come to the point of starvation and dehydration whilst in Chile, all I had to do was go to the corner, beg for a few pesos (actually thousands) then venture on over to the local market and get a bottle of wine. Possibly the most economical way to travel here!
After I posted the blog yesterday I took a bus out to Niebla. This is a small and fairly beautiful town out on a point where the river meets the sea. There´s a huge fortress out there from colonial times, and big beach – which I have not seen yet. My luck turned for the better out in Niebla…I found a cabaña. A cabaña if I haven´t mentioned before is like a small cabin with bathroom, a counter , sink, refrigerador, stove and bed. The reason I keep looking for these is that you can cook yourself breakfast and avoid the $10 or so at a restaurant for mediochre eggs with one small slice of toast and water. Also – there is more room in a cabaña so you dont feel as claustrophobic. I rented one at Cabañas del Rey, which is about a few hundred yards from the beach access. There is a much better feeling out there than Valdivia. It´s quiet, clean and the people I met seem friendly.
On a final note: you know that feeling you get when you are at a restaurant and you think you know what you ordered, but then out comes a plate of raw oysters and mussels doused in vinegar and lemon juice, and the waiter stands a few tables away trying to act occupied, but he keeps looking over to see if you have taken a bite?

Si señor. If you would like the best airline sandwich you have ever had in your life- fly down to chile, then reserve a domestic flight on Sky Airlines wait 30 minutes after takeoff, and there it will appear in front of you – a triple decker chicken sandwich with avocado, bacon, hardboiled egg and tomato, end of story. –American Airlines could learn a lesson from this – a discount airline that serves great food, a little candy while waiting to board, and two drink servings, and a tea serving all within the 1 hour and 15 minute flight.
Yesterday I had the fortunate experience of flying down to Valdivia (1 hour 15 minutes) versus by bus (11 hours) and only paying about 50% more than the bus fare. Typically I would not do something like this, but only a few days earlier I had traveled for 20 + hours to get to chile and so sitting on a bus for another 11 without any sleep did not seem too appealing.
I also had an unfortunate experience…my arrival in Valdivia. Picture this, I had been researching this town and looking at pictures for months before my trip. I was very, very excited to get here, but upon arrival into the town I started to notice some discrepencies between the photos I had seen and reality. Apparently there is a trick used in photography, or video that depends on the angle you shoot your subject. Say for instance, just for an example, hypothetically speaking, there is graffitti and trash everywhere you look. Now, you don´t necessarily want that to be portrayed in your photo so you would then proceed to choose an angle that would not show the trash. But then, as you look for more places to take pictures you notice that most of the area has trash and graffitti, so you then decide to only go to certain areas of town that are more pleasant and photograph them over and over from different angles. – This is basically what happened. Valdivia is not the place I had hoped it to be. However it is a nice little town next to two rivers, but it´s noisy, busy, a bit dirty, and very touristy. Not to sound too petty about these things, but I have done a bit of traveling in the third world and have experienced much worse- the problem is that I was expecting sooooo much more. This combined with the fact that it is the high season for chilean tourism, so all of the nicer spots are booked to the max for the next month. So…I am left with the cheaper ($32 a night) dorm style hostel with shared bathroom.
This is the other thing I have noticed. Chile seems to be a country of modern conveniences, but with third world appearance and at a considerably expensive price.

My plan for now is to stay here for two weeks until the “Noche Valdiviana” – a gigantic festival, the biggest of the year, held in the center of town and out on the rivers. Then I will find myself a glacier. Good news will be on the way, it can only get better from here.

1. No matter what, you cant put a value on talking to a person face to face, it is truly priceless. It is hard enough speaking english to a native english speaker and having them understand exactly what you mean, but a foreign language, over the phone, while trying to explain that you signed up your cell phone for the PLAN RAIMUNDO, but you cant make any calls unless you press zero three times, a plus sign, then go to a secret menu?

2. The hardest thing to do in Chile, I have noticed very early on, is not speaking their local version of spanish…or simply trying to make a local call…or blending in when you are a redhead amongst a sea of brunettes……its flagging down your waiter to pay the bill at a restaurant. Heres some great advice NEVER ask for an extra minute to look at the menu for your server will avoid eye-contact with you until you wither away from dehydration.

Ready now to embark on my journey, I have yet to find a place to stay in Valdivia, a small community in the South of Chile where I plan to stay for the majority of the trip. I will be in Santiago very soon, and am very excited to walk the streets and explore the culture.