South America » Roaming Ryan

Tatio Geyser

May 102011

Shortly after arrival at Tatio. It is 6:20am and -15C.

We had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get picked up for our tour of the Tatio Geysers, the third largest geyser field in the world. It was dark and cold and we drove for an hour and a half to get the to geyser field. Our guide and driver prepared breakfast while took photos and waited for the sun to rise. The geyers sit at 4,321m (14,176.5 ft) so we were both a little winded due to the thin air. The main reason all the tours visit the geyseys for sunrise is because you can see the steam the best.

After the sun had come up we departed for our second stop, a hot stream fed by water from the geysers. I was too cold to get in the water. Instead, Amy and I dipped our frozen tootsies in the water. It was hot! Our guide said it was about 35 degrees Celsius.

One of the warm rivers near the geyser field where swimming is possible.

We drove some more and got out to walk along the Río Putana. There we saw several types of birds. We also had a great view of Volcano Licancabur.

Our final stop was a hillside covered in cacti. We learned that due to the extreme climate in the Atacama, they only grow about 1cm per year. That puts the 5m high cacti that we saw at 500 years old! We hiked into a canyon to see plenty more cacti and a small waterfall.

Our tour ended at 2pm and we were dead tired. We went back to our guesthouse to rest up for another tour we had that night. A French astronomer has setup a small observatory just outside of San Pedro (in Solor) and he hosts star tours. The only picture we have from that night was one that Amy took of Saturn through one of the telescopes. Due to the high altitude and thin dry air, the view of the stars was stunning.

The only picture we have from our star tour. Saturn!

Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama
Just after takeoff from Santiago. Sunrise over the Andes	Sandy cliffs on final into Antofagasta	The humorously short A320 variant…the A318	Predeparture snack. Pancho con ketchup, mustaza y palta (avocado)	Quite a nice bus terminal in Antofagasta	Those are some big tires! Mining is big in this area.
Desolation	The ruins of some town.	The last stretch of road into San Pedro de Atacama.	Courtyard at Hostal Sonchek	Courtyard at Hostal Sonchek	Documenting San Pedro de Atacama
		Enjoying a delicious mote in San Pedro

Heading North: San Pedro de Atacama

Chile Comments Off

May 082011

Just after takeoff from Santiago. Sunrise over the Andes

On April 23 we finally squeezed the last segment out of our LAN award ticket that carried us all over Chile. The final flight was from Santiago to Antofagasta in the north. It was a pleasant early morning flight on a cute little Airbus A318 (first time on that aircraft for me). Service was the usual drink and snackbox affair and arrival into Antofagasta was a little ahead of schedule.

Desolation

We bought tickets for a shared taxivan to the center and were dropped off at Antofagasta’s bus terminal a short while later. We had tickets to take us from Antofagasta to San Pedro de Atacama high in the Chilean Altiplano. The drive took us across some spectacularly desolate landscape.

The last stretch of road into San Pedro de Atacama.

San Pedro de Atacama is a nice little desert town that thrives off tourism. We stayed at Hostal Sonchek, run by a Slovenia/Chilean couple. Like most of the buildings in San Pedro, our hostal was built of adobe and had a great open air courtyard in the middle. We stayed a total of five nights and saw some amazing things out in the desert. Stay tuned!

Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama
Just after takeoff from Santiago. Sunrise over the Andes	Sandy cliffs on final into Antofagasta	The humorously short A320 variant…the A318	Predeparture snack. Pancho con ketchup, mustaza y palta (avocado)	Quite a nice bus terminal in Antofagasta	Those are some big tires! Mining is big in this area.
Desolation	The ruins of some town.	The last stretch of road into San Pedro de Atacama.	Courtyard at Hostal Sonchek	Courtyard at Hostal Sonchek	Documenting San Pedro de Atacama
		Enjoying a delicious mote in San Pedro

Santiago, Chile

Chile Comments Off

May 062011

Santiago and its smog

To be honest, Santiago was a bit of a let-down for me. It is mostly my fault as I had a preconcieved notion that it would be a mountainous version of Buenos Aires! Though it is a lively and clean city, it just doesn’t have the same flair as BsAs. Nevertheless, we still had some great food and fun adventures there.

Santiago has plenty of shoe shiners

On our first full day in Santiago we got up at a decent hour and headed over to Plaza de Armas, the main square in Santiago. We wanted to take one of the “free english tours” that we saw advertised at the hostel. There are actually a couple organizations running these tours and they are indeed free though you are expected to tip the guide.

A few minutes in to our “free english tour,” a group of Spanish speaking ladies walked up and pretty much demanded that our guide give the tour both in Spanish and in English. Surprisingly, he complied. Now I don’t mind listening to both languages (it is good practice, after all) but the way in which this ladies approached the situation was amazingly tactless. There were a few occasions when we were making small talk with the guide and the ladies marched up and demanded a translation. Awesome. I sure hope they tipped well at the end of the day.

The tour lasted about 4-5 hours and took us past the main sights in the centro, Santa Lucia and Bella Vista. There was a short 20-minute stop for lunch at some cafe (in cahoots with the tour guide, no doubt) but we escaped that trap and got some cheat eats at a kiosko nearby. The tour provided a nice overview of the city but if I had to do it again I would seek out the organization that runs the shorter 1-hour version.

Mote vendor

Amy and I went to see a Chilean movie called “La Vida de Los Peces” that won the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar last year. Thanks to the Chilean Spanish I barely understood what was going on and even Amy said she only understood about half of what was said. Chilean Spanish is a good bit faster than Argentine Spanish as they are very fond of slang and shortening words.

Mote con huesillo: the street drink of choice in Santiago. Peach juice, some peach pieces and wheatberries

Food-wise, Santiago treated us well. My favorite (and cheapest) meal was at a stall at the Mercado de Flores where many of the pushcart vendors seemed to be eating. I had cazuela de vacuna, a soup with beef and a mix of veggies. Amy managed to find herself some vegan empanadas at one on of the city’s vegan/vegetarian cafes. Another culinary highlight of Santiago is a drink (or snack?) called mote con huesillo. It is served on the street and is something in between a drink and a food. When ordering mote you get a cup filled with cooked wheatberries, a few pieces of peach and then topped with lots of peach juice. It is a sweet and filling cheap snack that you can find just about everywhere in Santiago. Perfect for hot afternoons!

Cazuela de vacuna: a soup with chunks of beef and all the fixins

The blog is starting to run quite a way behind our travel progress. We reached Bolivia yesterday and will be leaving on a 4-day circuit tour to the Salar de Uyuni starting on Saturday. We will be way out in the boonies for this tour but I am going to do my best to get some posts scheduled today. That is, if this Bolivian internet connection cooperates!

Santiago, Chile
Climbing Cerro Santa Lucia			Santiago and its smog	La Moneda – the government palace
	Amy and the rest of our tour group		Santiago has plenty of shoe shiners	Mote con huesillo: the street drink of choice in Santiago. Peach juice, some peach pieces and wheatberries
Mote vendor	Cazuela de vacuna: a soup with chunks of beef and all the fixins	Parque Forestal

Valparaíso

Chile Comments Off

May 042011

The view from the top of Ascensor Polanco

After the trip to Easter Island we had a five day stopover in Santiago worked into our award ticket. We had hoped to spend about half that time in Santiago and the other half in Valparaíso. Unfortunately, the Easter holiday spoiled those plans. The man at our guesthouse in Santiago warned us of the difficulties associated with getting there and back again. He said it wasn’t uncommon for the bus ride to take upwards of 5 hours when it is normally under two. We took his advice and made a day trip out there on the Tuesday before Easter. Getting from Santiago to Valpo was a quick and easy process. A short trip on the Santiago metro followed by a 1 hour and 45 minute ride. Weather was cloudy and gloomy when we arrived around 10AM but that slowly burned off during the day.

Valparaíso is a stunning city. The surrounding hills drop steeply to the water’s edge where there is a busy shipping port and a naval base. The hillsides are covered in houses of all colors that are seemingly stacked one on top of another. Many of the slopes are steep enough that funiculars, many of which date from the 1900′s, are needed to hoist tourists and locals up and down the hills.

Ascensor Artillería

We passed most of the day by wandering around the city, riding the funiculars, and enjoying the spectacular views of the harbour. The neighborhood of Cerro Concepción, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was particularly beautiful. We also found a huge variety of street art in Valpo. Even more than we found back in Buenos Aires. A few people responded positively to my Buenos Aires graffiti post so we made it a point to snap lots of photos to capture Valpo’s street art scene. Hope you enjoy! Next up, Santiago.

Valparaíso, Chile
Exploring a market in Valparaíso	He needs to find a bigger box to sleep in.		The view from the top of Ascensor Polanco
		Ascensor Artillería

Easter Island on the Cheap

Chile 3 Responses »

May 012011

Apina Tupuna Guesthouse

Easter Island has a reputation for being a very expensive travel destination and in some ways this is well-deserved. With round-trip ticket prices from the mainland reaching towards $1000, getting there is certainly expensive. If you can get past the transportation costs (book with miles!) then, with a little effort, the island can be surprisingly affordable. About the same as mainland Chile.

Guesthouse kitchen

Accommodation options on Rapa Nui range from high-end resorts all the way down to camping. Though guesthouse prices are much higher than they were a few years back (when a friend of mine visited) we were still able to find a double room with shared bath at a conveniently located guesthouse for 22,000 CLP per night (about 44 USD). This included breakfast and access to a shared kitchen.

Peanut butter sandwiches, green apples and crackers. Our first meal on Easter Island.

Prepared food is perhaps the biggest budget killer. At the cheap take-away places in Hanga Roa you are looking at $10 or more for a meal and at the proper restaurants upwards of $20 or more. A far more economical option is to prepare your own food. The grocery store prices are certainly higher than the mainland but it is still much cheaper than eating out.

Locals shop for their produce early at the market and the truck vendors

Before we left the mainland we stocked up on some staples (rice, lentils, split peas). During our first afternoon on the island we scoured the minimarkets and found nothing but extremely expensive and bad-looking produce. We learned later that the produce sold in the minimarkets all comes from the mainland on Wednesday’s LAN flight and we were shopping on a Tuesday. Week-old vegetables aren’t that appetizing! A far better option was found the next morning at the town feria were locally-grown produce is sold. Lower prices and higher quality but you have to get there early to get the best veggies.

Rice with mango-avocado salsa served with a lentil and green bean salad. Made with local produce.

Using what was at hand, Amy came up with some delicious meals for us to enjoy and I did my best as sous chef and dishwasher. We had everything from pasta salad to mango-avocado salsa served over rice to curried split peas and rice with chard. We cooked once a day and stretched each dish into two meals. Our total spend on food for our six-night stay for two people was under $45!

Empanada dog. Always in front of the empada shop next to the harbour. He enjoys the shade of the nearby moai.

The other costs that visitors face on the island are entry fees and transportation. The good news is that most of the ahu scattered around the island are completely free to visit. There is a rather steep entry fee to the island’s two park sites (Orongo and Rano Raraku) but you only pay the 30,000 CLP (60 USD) fee once to enter both sites. On arrival at the airport we were happy to find that the park rangers were pre-selling tickets for 25,000 CLP. If visiting Easter, keep an eye out for the desk just before the baggage claim area.

The main drag in Hanga Roa

As for transportation, there are a number of options. Of course you can walk to many of the sights that surround Hanga Roa without much problem. The farther flung sights at the east end of the island are best reached by guided tour or vehicle rental. With two people, renting a car for the day was a much better deal and we could dodge the tour groups. Hitching might also be an option (numerous locals offered us rides) to drive down costs even further.

Easter Island is a destination that can be made affordable with a little effort. Getting to the island can be accomplished with a strategic credit card sign-up bonus or two. Sightseeing on foot and cooking helps the traveler realize even more savings. Of course food shopping, cooking, and walking around take some time so I would highly recommend a 5+ day visit. It is an island paradise, so what’s the rush?

Hanga Roa seen from Puna Pau

Budget Summary:

Accommodations: $273.68 (six nights)
Entrance Fees: $105.26
Food: $44.74
Car Rental (with fuel): $58.95
Internet access: $5.05
Total spent for six days on Easter Island: $487.69 ($40.64 per person, per day)

Another travel blogger has posted his budget for a recent trip to Rapa Nui. Check it out here.

Easter Island – Island Life
Apina Tupuna Guesthouse	Our room at Apina Tupuna Guesthouse	Guesthouse kitchen	Guesthouse common room	Front lawn of our guest house. A large visitor offshore that day!	Locals shop for their produce early at the market and the truck vendors
Breakfast was included	Peanut butter sandwiches, green apples and crackers. Our first meal on Easter Island.	Tomato and avocado sandwiches ad guava juice.	Curried split peas and green beans with rice and wine from the mainland (alcohol is expensive)	Rice with mango-avocado salsa served with a lentil and green bean salad. Made with local produce.	Pasta salad at the beach along with Amy’s favorite snack: Cabritas (caramel corn)
Two important forms of transportation on Rapa Nui			Strange flowers!	The daily flight from Santiago	The weekly cargo ship from Chile
	Occasionally cruise ships visit the island. This is Royal Princess headed for Australia.				Empanada dog. Always in front of the empada shop next to the harbour. He enjoys the shade of the nearby moai.
Local game of fútbal		Hanga Roa seen from Puna Pau	The bay at Hanga Roa	The main drag in Hanga Roa
					Setting of the full moon.

Life on Easter Island

Chile Comments Off

Apr 302011

The bay at Hanga Roa

Relaxed. From what I saw, that sums up life in Rapa Nui. Almost all of the people on Rapa Nui live in or around Hanga Roa. The town has a couple of major streets, a small shallow-water harbour, two banks, a post office and plenty of stray dogs. The stray dogs enjoy chasing cars and sleeping in front of their favorite restaurant or moai. The island lacks “chain” stores and restaurants because there is a law that allows only people of Rapa Nui descent to own businesses and property. The only notable exceptions I noticed were the airline, the gas station and the phone company. This quality of Rapa Nui sets it apart from any other place that I have visited.

The daily flight from Santiago

One aspect of Rapa Nui that I found very interesting was how they are connected to the rest of the world. The island has few resources and most necessities must be imported. LAN Chile flies into Rapa Nui daily in the high-season and brings perishable foods, the mail, and lots of tourists. Larger cargo comes by way of a once-weekly ship from Chile. Since the island lacks a deepwater port, the entire contents of this ship have to be offloaded to smaller boats for landing. A local told me that this is a one to two day process provided the sea is calm.

The weekly cargo ship from Chile

Fuels (gas, diesel and Jet-A) all arrive by tanker ship which anchors near the Vinapu terminal east of Hanga Roa. They use a big hose to pump the fuels from the ship to shore. As for communciations, the island is way too far off the beaten track to make an undersea cable financially viable. Instead, they rely on satellite communications. Upload and download speeds were impressive (comparable to a cable modem back at home though which much higher delay) and I suspect that the government must subsidize this normally very expensive commodity. Most internet cafes on the island cost about $2/hour though our guesthouse offered free access (after I fixed it, that is!).

Another strange aspect of being on the island is that fact that new visitors to our guesthouse could only arrive once a day. I don’t think I have been to any other place where people aren’t free to arrive and depart as they please. Actually, there was one exception to this. On our first day we met a small group of writers and scientists who were waiting on a ship to come and pick them up. They were setting off on a science expedition to study plastic accumulation in the South Pacific Gyre. They had a multi-week sail to Tahiti ahead of them and they were certainly piling on the fresh fruit and veggies at breakfast time. Someday I would love to give that a try. A picture of their boat is below.

All in all, Rapa Nui is a quiet and sleepy place and is a perfect place to unwind. It has a great mix of history, culture and, most importantly, the chilled-out island vibe. Tomorrow’s post will be my last on Easter Island. I will share our tips on how to see Rapa Nui on the cheap.

Two important forms of transportation on Rapa Nui

Easter Island: Ahu Tongariki & Rano Raraku

Chile 2 Responses »

Apr 242011

On the third day we decided that we had had enough walking and decided to rent a car. In all honesty, we had seen most of the sights that are within walking distance of Hanga Roa. The island’s other treasures are most easily seen by car. After a quick car shopping trip along Hanga Roa’s main drag we scored ourselves a hansome 1976 Suzuki Samurai for a mere 20,000 pesos (approx. $40 US). We actually picked up the car at 6PM on the second day, just in time to head out to some moai for sunset. Ahu Akivi, our walking destination on day 1, was reached in a mere 20 minutes by car.

Sunset at Ahu Akivi

At 7am the next morning we woke up and loaded in the Samurai to catch the sun rising behind Ahu Tongariki, Rapa Nui’s largest restored ahu with 15 moais. The drive from Hanga Roa was quite easy and we were able to find our way in the dark without any problem.

Sunrise over Ahu Tongariki

Morning twilight at Ahu Tongariki

After sunrise we drove over to the nearby Rano Raraku which is the quarry where most of the moai were carved. We rolled up at 9AM and found a locked gate. After waiting for 15-20 minutes, one of the park rangers sauntered up in his truck. The park opened at exactly 9AM, island time.

Amy with some pukao (moai hats), in the background Rano Raraku

Being the first ones to arrive we had the added responsibility of dealing with all the cows that gravitate towards the lush grass at the visitor center. One or two cows is not something that usually bothers me but dealing with an entire herd (complete with calves and their mommies) is a bit unnerving. Amy was doubly-cautious as she selected her neon orange t-shirt for the day. Cows love neon orange, I’m sure.

Once we navigated the bovine circus, we could enjoy the spectacle that is Rano Raraku. A lush green mountainside absolutely littered with moai of all sizes. Some upright, some face flat on the ground, others half-buried and many still attached to the rock face from which they were carved. Add some soft amber lighting thanks to the rising sun and it was absolutely incredible.

Pasta salad at the beach along with Amy’s favorite snack: Cabritas (caramel corn)

Towards midday we headed over to Anakena beach at the east end of the island. It is the only large sandy beach on Rapa Nui and is absolutely stunning. It is flanked on one side by an ahu with a few moai and at the other side with some coconut palms. We grabbed a picnic table and dug into some tasty pasta salad with island-grown avocado and tomato. Delicious!

Anakena Beach

An hour of lounging on the beach and swimming followed our late lunch and then we started to head towards Hanga Roa. We dropped by Ahu Tongariki (where we watched the sunrise that morning) and snapped a few pictures in the afternoon light. The remaining couple of hours of our rental car time were spent driving up the coast and enjoying the vistas. All in all, a great 24 hours on Rapa Nui!

Our wheels. 1976 Suzuki Samurai

Easter Island – Day 3 (Ahu Tongariki, Rano Raraku)
Sunset at Ahu Akivi
Morning twilight at Ahu Tongariki	Sunrise over Ahu Tongariki		Wild horses are all over the island
Amy with some pukao (moai hats), in the background Rano Raraku	Rano Raraku, also known as “the nursery”	A large unfinished moai still attached to the mountain			It is hard to make him out but I am standing in front of a huge 60+ ft moai that is partially complete.


	Anakena Beach	Pasta salad at the beach along with Amy’s favorite snack: Cabritas (caramel corn)			Pink sand at Anakena
	Lots of wild horses means that there are also lots of wild horse skulls	Horse attack!			Sooty tern
	One more (daytime) visit to Ahu Tongariki		All lined up	Our wheels. 1976 Suzuki Samurai
Taking a break	Precise stone fitting at Vinapu

Easter Island: Rano Kau

Chile 1 Response »

Apr 212011

The edge of the dormant volcano – our destination of the day.

The day after our lengthy walk around Rapa Nui we decided to take an “easy day” and visit one of the closest attractions to Hanga Roa: the ceremonial village of Orongo. The village is located on the rim of Rano Kau, the dormant volcano at the far western end of Rapa Nui. The surf was quite rough that morning so we had some good fun watching the waves crash into the rocky coastline on our way over to the volcano.

To get to the rim of the volcano’s crater you can either drive a winding road, or you can take a trail that takes a steeper and more direct route. At sea level the trail weaves its way through some small farms that enjoy the wind protection afforded by the mountain before breaking out into a clearing covered mostly by guava bushes (they are all over the island). Slightly further on is a small band of eucalyptus trees and, from there, it is grass all the way to the top.

The crater or Rano Kau

Once we reached the rim of the crater we had a spectacular view of the freshwater marsh inside of the volcano. Though we couldn’t see it up close, the vegetation inside of the crater was noticeably different. Some signs along the way indicated that the cone of the volcano creates a completely different ecosystem by sheltering its contents from wind and by trapping rainwater.

At the far west end of the crater rim is the ceremonial village of Orongo. The village, which was the center of the birdman cult, was inhabited until the mid 19th century. The stone buildings as they stand today were restored in the mid 1970′s but much of the stone is original. The roofs of the houses are stone but they are covered in a thick layer of grass. It is not known whether these houses we occupied permanently or only during ceremonial times.

Awesome petroglyphs at Orongo

Speaking of ceremonies, one of the birdman cult’s more interesting annual competitions was to retrieve the first sooty tern egg laid on the nearby islet of Motu Nui. The competitors had to depart the village, survive the 250m descent to the ocean, swim a few kilometers, fight off some seriously angry birds and then go all the way back to the village while carrying an egg. I’m am sure that the village’s stunning location perched the cliff above the ocean made this competition quite fun to watch!

In addition to the stone houses and spectacular views of the volcano and the ocean, one can also find numerous stone petroglyphs at Orongo. Some of them are pretty hard to discern (and to photograph!) but they are very interesting nonetheless.

The descent to Hanga Roa was much faster than the climb. Part of this was due to the downhill slope and the other part was due to the fact that we had a rainstorm bearing down on us. All in all, this little excursion ate up about half a day and was certainly worthwhile. Given more time I think it would be fun to hike all the way around the rim of the crater, I read somewhere that this is doable in a day. Maybe next time!

Easter Island – Day 2 (Rano Kau and Orongo)
Strong surf in the morning	The edge of the dormant volcano – our destination of the day.	Some locals out having fun	Amy’s favorite part of the day: a nice seasaw complete with turtle seats. We rode it.	Half way up the volcano we happened upon a rest station. Much-needed as we are wimps.	Made it to the top of Rano Kao
The crater or Rano Kau		Looking back towards Hanga Roa		The restored ceremonial village of Orongo which is on the rim of the volcano.	The nearby islets of Moto Nui, Moto Iti and Motu Kau Kau
Awesome petroglyphs at Orongo	Another view of Orongo

Easter Island: A Long Walk

Chile, Transportation 1 Response »

Apr 192011

My apologies for the delay in posting. Getting access to the Internet while on Rapa Nui was a bit harder than expected…at least until I repaired our guesthouse’s connection towards the end of our stay. Our flight from the mainland with LAN Chile was uneventful and we had a great view of the Juan Fernandez archipelago along the way.

Arrival at Rapa Nui’s Mataveri International Airport is a fun experience in and of itself. Of course the airport doesn’t have a large terminal building with jetways and the like. All passengers take the stairs and stroll across the tarmac into the open air terminal where a local band is playing and girls are handing out flowers. Before we knew it we were packed into a late 90′s Nissan being whisked away to our guesthouse in Hanga Roa, the island’s only village. I will post more about our accomodations, the village and our budget in later posts. But first, some moai!

Ahu Tahai, just outside of Hanga Roa

Before we flew to Rapa Nui we had read that while many tourists rent cars for their entire stay, it is possible to see many of the sights on foot. On our first full day we decided to walk part of the northwestern coast check out the moais, lava tubes, and rolling green countryside. The tourist office told us that the loop would take 4-5 hours and to bring lots of water as there is no safe drinking water outside of Hanga Roa.

Much of the island’s coastline is like this.

Just outside of Hanga Roa is Tahai which is a restored ceremonial site where one can find three ahu (stone platforms) with six moais (stone heads). Further up the coast, there are some nice lava tubes at Ana Kakenga which you can explore if you have a flashlight. Two of them are frequently visited by tourists and lead out to the sea where there is a nice view of the ocean. Heading into the caves was a nice repreive from sun.

Amy explores the cave with a headlamp

After Ana Kakenga the road turns inland and climbs gradually to Ahu Akivi. Ahu Akivi is a complex of seven moais that are unique in that they face the ocean. All of the other ahu on Easter Island are located along the coast and their moais face inland. Ahu Akivi was gorgeous and arriving on foot meant allowed us to wait until a tour group departed. After that, we had the place to ourselves.

Ahu Akivi and its seven moais

The walk back to Hanga Roa from Ahu Akivi was arduous. When it was all said and done, our four-to-five hour walk had turned into a seven hour adventure. Nevertheless, it was well worth it and best of all it was completely free.

Sunset at Hanga Roa

Easter Island – Day 1 (Ahu Akivi)
Juan Fernández Islands	On final into IPC.		Ahu Tahai, just outside of Hanga Roa	Much of the island’s coastline is like this.
Amy climbing into a lava tube	Looking out to sea from the lava tube	Amy explores the cave with a headlamp	Inside the lava tube
The banana cave			Ahu Akivi and its seven moais
The rolling green hills of Rapa Nui				Two important forms of transportation on Rapa Nui
	Sunset at Hanga Roa

Torres del Paine National Park

Chile 5 Responses »

Apr 172011

One of the biggest attractions in southern Chile is Torres del Paine National Park. Most visitors to the park complete multi-day treks such as “the W” and “the circuit” but, being short on time and perhaps toughness, we opted for a simple day tour ($40 per person) of the park’s highlights. After a hearty breakfast at the Yaganhouse hostel in Puerto Natales a bus picked us up at the dark hour of 7:30am. We were the first ones to board and, consequently, were able to snag the two front seats.

The huge mouth of the cavern. Amy pictured at center.

On the drive north to the park, we made a very short stop at Milodón Cave. The milodón is an extinct giant ground sloth and apparently the remains of quite a few of them were found in this cave. We believe it is Puerto Natales’ claim to fame as its silhouette is depicted on all the town’s street signs. Oh, and there is also a giant metal statue along the road into town. The cave was nice enough (it is impressively large) but perhaps not worth the 6 USD entry fee since we were only there for 30 minutes.

Laguna Amarga (Bitter Lagoon) has extremely high mineral and salt content.

Before we reached the park we started to see large herds of guanaco, a few ñandu and we managed to catch our first glimpses of the spectacular mountains. Before reaching the guardhouse we stopped at Laguna Amarga (Bitter Lagoon) a stunning turquoise-colored lake tinted by the heavy mineral content. Unlike most of the other lakes in the park, this one is “closed” meaning it has no outflows of water. The continuous evaporation makes the water six times saltier than sea water and the banks are crusted with white salt.

We paid our entrance fee (30 USD for non-residents) and drove onward to Lago Nordenskjold. Before unloading at the mirador, our guide warned us numerous times about the strong winds. Sure enough, we jumped off the bus and before I knew it Amy was chasing her glasses which had been ripped from her face. The winds that day were in excess of 100kph and we heard later that some climbers had been blown off one of the peaks.

Hosteria Pehoé

A couple of stops later we checked out the very scenic location for Hosteria Pehoé in the middle of Lago Pehoé. We took a lunch break at a small tourist village outside the park. Some of the people on the tour had their meals included, however, we budget-sensitive travelers had packed our own food. They still let us eat in the restaurant and enjoy the spectacular views.

Lago Grey

Our final scheduled stop was at Lago Grey on the western end of the park. Lago Grey has a wide stony beach and, on a clear day, a view of the Gray Glacier some 10+ km away. Unfortunately, the high winds that day were kicking up so much mist from the water that we could scarcely make out the glacier. We were able to spot some electric blue icebergs. One upside to the mist was that it produced a very nice rainbow over the beach.

A rainbow over Lago Grey. Made possible by the mist being kicked up by the ferocious winds.

On the way home, as a final treat, we managed to spot an Andean Condor. These birds have the largest wingspan of any land bird at 10.5 ft. They aren’t all that rare, however, it is pretty uncommon to see one up close and I was very happy that we had those front bus seats so that I could hop out and snap a photo.

Andean Condor

Torres del Paine National Park
The sloth (milodón) cavern	The huge mouth of the cavern. Amy pictured at center.		A to-scale milodón		Many farms surround Torres del Paine
We had the best seats on the bus.		The torres (towers) from afar.	Guanacos
		Laguna Amarga (Bitter Lagoon) has extremely high mineral and salt content.			Amy enjoying the wind-free comfort of the inside of our bus.
Amy trying not to be blown away by the 100+ kph gusts			Salto Grande	Hosteria Pehoé	Short gnarly trees are everwhere in the park
A rainbow over Lago Grey. Made possible by the mist being kicked up by the ferocious winds.	Lago Grey			Andean Condor	Andean Condor
Andean Condor	Andean Condor