After a brief stay in Puerto Natales, we headed to Torres del Paine (“Pie-Knee”) National Park. The park is seen as one of the premier destination in Patagonia and offers a variety of options from day hikes, guided tours, or overnight treks with options to stay in Refugios (like a cabin) or camp on your own. (We promise we didn’t take that straight from the brochure!). Since time is on our side, we chose to camp on the Paine Circuit (100 – 120K and 7 – 10 days), instead of the W circuit (3 – 5 days).

Preparing for the Paine Circuit: Over the past few summers we have got some experience backpacking with our longest overnight trek at 4 days, 3 nights. We weren’t quite sure how to prepare for 7 – 8 days on the trail, but knew that we had to go as minimal as possible to keep our packs some-what “light” weight. Also, we knew that the weather in Patagonia can change by the hour and so we had to be prepared for wind, rain, or even snow. Arlen took this to the extreme and forgot to prepare for the 6 days of sunshine that we did get (he did not bring a single t-shirt! – Lesson Learned #1). But somehow he still managed to get a sunburn under all those long-sleeves!

For food, our plan was to pack breakfast and lunch, and then buy pre-packaged freezer-dried dinners (like the ones you can buy at REI). We started searching around the town of Puerto Natales for “freezer dried” food and soon found out that they don’t exist in Chile – so we had to get creative and put together our own dinners, with precedent given to any kind of noodle that can boil in under 10 minutes. Lesson Learned #2: Read directions carefully. For all 7 lunches we brought what appeared to be bread, PB, and J. Only to find out on day 2 that our PB was actually “Manjar” which more closing resembles caramel. We also bought what appeared to be salt – which was actually “Bicarbonate” or sodium powder. Don’t worry, these mistakes helped Arlen lose 10 pounds in 7 days.

The Trek: On the hike you must camp in designated camping areas, therefore, for most of our days we were trekking with the same group of people. This made the trip much more enjoyable as we had friends to share conversations and vino at the campsites and essential items like blister remedies (much needed for Karen!). Special shout out to Nick & Emily, and Seth & Kara! On a 7 day trek we found that you face a lot of adversity as you are faced with tired legs, sore feet, and terrible allergies. All that aside, we were happy to finish what we set out to accomplish and enjoyed some pretty spectacular scenery along the way.

Without getting too in-depth on the day to day of the trails, we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. We think they really highlight the 17 ecosystems of Torres del Paine National Park.

Sorry no finishing photo. Day 7 consisted of a long walk in the rain and 2 bowls of top ramen before our bus picked us up to head back to Puerto Natales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the key destinations in our trip was Southern Chile and Argentina, also known as Patagonia. There is no direct or easy way into Patagonia, so when looking into travel options, we either had to creatively link flights, take multi-day bus rides, or travel by boat. Wanting a trip with new experiences, we booked a cabin on the Navimag. To give you some background on the Navimag, it is a 4 day, 3 night, boat ride which leaves from Puerto Montt, Chile and weaves through the fiords of Patagonia and ends in Puerto Natales. The Navimag is nowhere near a cruise ship, it is cargo boat, moonlighting as a passenger ferry. Despite mixed reviews and warnings of bad food, we were excited. Before embarking on the Navimag we enjoyed a fresh lunch of salmon empanadas ($0.75 each and YUM!) and fresh ceviche at the local fish market in Puerto Montt. We hopped on the boat and settled into our small cabin. Over the next 4 days at sea we enjoyed some much needed relaxation and some of our first conversations with other English speaking travelers. The beds were comfortable, the food edible, and the final night’s B-I-N-G-O party entertaining. But definitely the highlight of our trip was the 3 full days of sunshine (from 5:00am – 10:45pm); we heard from the crew that the last 6 weeks were cloudy and raining so I think luck was on our side.

One of the best things about being stuck on a boat for 4 days straight is the people that you meet. Whether it’s sipping on your morning cappuccino, playing a card game, having a cervesa, or watching the sunset together, we definitely made some memories with a few other Navimag travelers. One of Arlen’s favorite experiences was our first night on board. We ventured out to the top deck for the sunset and met a family of UK ex-pats who were living in Australia the last 20 years, we talked about how unique our opportunity was to see such a remote beautiful place and openly questioned what the next 10-20 years may look like as more and more tourists(such as ourselves) come to visit. The distant view of Cerro Corcovado, sunsetting, and the conversation helped transition us from our busy city days in Santiago to a more relaxed place.

 

Coming soon: Torres del Paine,7 days and 6 nights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We chose to visit Mendoza, Argentina because we heard it was the home of Malbec wine region. For the past few months, Arlen has been tasting different kinds of Malbecs to refine his pallet and prepare for this moment. Back home he found the Malbec as a strong “spicy” wine and was excited to taste the wine straight from the source in Mendoza.

 Day 1: For our first day wine tasting in Mendoza we decided to do a self-guided bike tour of Maipu, wine region. We had two options for our tour: 1) Lonely Planet recommended we bus to Mendoza and rent bikes there, or 2) the local wine tour company recommended rent bikes in Mendoza and take the train to Maipu. Trusting the locals we went with the latter – leaving out one crucial part, we didn’t rent bikes before we got to Maipu because the store was closed. No biggie right? After getting off the train a stop early, we were in Maipu with our helpful map in hand and set off to find the bike rental shop which appeared to be only a few blocks away. However, after about an hour of walking in the 100 degree heat, we still see no signs of a bike store. We start asking a few groups of locals in Espanol where to find the bike store, only to find out we are about  2K (1.5 miles) or “cuarento minutos mas” (40 min more) away. Turns out the map was not to scale. We start venturing down the dirt road and try to settle into our fate.  At this point we are half joking and half wondering what we are doing. Lucky for me,  Arlen saved the day and waved down a bus getting us a ride to the door of the bike shop. After a short bike ride we visited two beautiful wineries, enjoyed a nice lunch, wine tasting, and even some good tunes (Citizen Cope soundtrack on repeat). On the bus back we met a nice couple, Paul and Leanne (sp?) from the UK, and later that night got to celebrate their recent engagement with dinner and drinks. Congrats to them!

Here are the pictures from the bike ride!

Day 2: Since we came here for the wine, we decided we couldn’t leave Mendoza without a first class wine experience and therefore signed up for Trout and Wine’s tour of the Uco Valley Wine Region in Mendoza.  We were picked up from our hostel in the morning and met our tour guide, Pamela, a local of Mendoza who spoke great English.  Throughout the day she shared interesting bits of the Mendoza culture and taught us all about the wines in the region.

The wine stops:

- 1) First stop was a family owned winery, Pulenta Estate, where we learned how to tune our sense of smell with a blind smell test using fresh fruits and other spices commonly found in wine. We toured the winery and learned how the process of fermenting, aging, and bottling wine.

9:30 am and we are greeted with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

- Second stop was a small boutique winery, La Azul, out in the middle of a large farm. We were greeted by Jimmy, the cook, the wine maker, and everything else. His love of wine has allowed him to work all over the world including: Napa, Sonoma, New Zealand and finally Mendoza. Since it is a boutique winery, they only make four wines and need to rent a bottling truck (looks like a large food truck) to bottle their wine a few times a year. (They were doing this on our visit!) The wine was fun to taste because it felt like being in your own backyard; the best part was tasting the Grand Reserve right out of the barrel!

- The final stop was a large commercial winery, Salentein, that produces 19 million litres a year, one of the 10 largest in Argentina. It looks nice from the outside, but after you walk through the doors you realize how grandous it really is.  The winery has the beautiful barrel rooms and cellars you would find in a large winery, but without the crowds and gift shops. This may be because people in Mendoza don’t go wine tasting (according to our guide: Mendocines think wine tasting is boring and would rather just drink table wine at home) so the wineries only cater to tourists. You also must have reservations to visit the winery and when you get there you are greeted by a wine guide and provided a 30 minute tour of the winery. Our wine stop finished with a four course lunch and wine pairing – including a flavorful, juicy, medium-cooked Argentine steak. It all was fantastic!  Even though my bag is bursting at the seems, I had to buy a bottle of Pinot Noir Reserve (~$15 dollars) and a map of the Mendoza wine region I hope to eventually ship back and frame some day.

Overall we felt this was a first class experience. After much thought, and even more drinking, Arlen came to a very important conclusion. Malbec wine is not spicy! Apparently in Mendoza, since the climate is so ideal for growing grapes, “they only have great years and good years”,  the wines are made to highlight the flavor of the grapes. Therefore, the true Malbec is fruity and bursting with flavor, a great wine for a hot summer day!

Some things we learned about Argentine culture: 1) do not plan on doing anything on Sunday, including: eating, drinking (water included), or getting your own money out of the bank. Sunday is a “family day”. . . Not ideal for travelers who didn’t plan ahead : ) 2) Argentina has 19 federal holidays, reportedly the most in the world.

Karen and Arlen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon after we decided to take this trip, Arlen gave me Rosetta Stone- Spanish Chapters 1 – 3 for my birthday (April 27th). In the next 8 months we completed only a few Spanish lessons as busy work schedules and travel planning always seemed to take presendence. After landing in Santiago, Chile and realizing we were in a city with a population of 6 million and were the only people who speak English, we realized this may not have been the best decision. Needless to say, we sucessfully made it from the Santiago airport to our apartment via bus and 2 subways. After taking a much needed nap we ventured out to explore the city.

Best part of the day: While venturing through the city we found a huge park with a big “hill” and walkways and bike paths to the top. We made the 45 minute hike to the top and were able to see how vast and expansive Santiago really is, and even catch a sunset view on the way down.

Other random thoughts: 1) there are stray dogs everywhere – most are roaming the street or napping, but upon closer look I saw one that was dead  2) Chileans show all their emotions, including PDA, couples are making out all over parks and public street corners and 3) no one speaks English.

Our next day we caught the AndesMar bus which took us over the Andes Mountains and into Mendoza, Argentina (about a 7.5 hour bus ride). This bus ride is famous for the winding curves (29 to be exact) which get you over the Andes Mountains and into Argentina. At the top of the mountain the bus breaks for a quick trip through Argentina border customs (2 hours) before heading down the other side of the mountains. Well, after our stop we realized that there was something wrong with the bus. Since all instructions are spoken in Spanish, we hear a translation from another passanger that something may be wrong with the brakes. Not comforting. Either way, after a short wait, we are herded back onto the bus with the assurance that the bus’s suspension may be out instead and the brakes are okay. Apparantly we don’t need suspension to get down the other side, it will just be bumpy. With not many other options we hop on and after watching the movie “Hall Pass” on the bus (in English!) pull into Mendoza. We made it!

Chilean Flag at the top of the Andes

 

Next up: Mendoza wine country!

Karen

PS: Thanks to Arlen for all the great shots (he made me write that )