Chile - Patagonia

We spent the next two and a half days exploring Patagonia. This part of trip was full of adventure. Some due to the wilderness, some due to the Chileans. The first day there we realized we didn't have enough gas to get to the trail head for our hike because our driver didn't fill the tank when he left Puerto Natales. So we made the drive back to the city and filled the car with gas and turned right around and went back to the park. The hike we had scheduled was supposed to take 9 hours. But in true Colorado spirit, we climbed those mountains in under 5.

At the top there were the peaks we could see from our cabins, with a glacier below, and a lake of pure water. The entire way up you can drink the stream water that runs off from this glacier. It was a really pretty hike with all the waterfalls and trees. But it was unfortunate that we had to do it in such a rush. HOWEVER, since we finished the hike so late (11pmish and still somewhat light out) it was dusk and on our way out we saw a mountain lion! Most of us have lived in CO for a majority of our lives and only 1 of us had seen one before. There weren't any pictures since it was night, but it was pretty cool.

The next day we went kayaking. Most of us had never been kayaking before and it was pretty intimidating at first. You start at the end of lake that flows into a river. In the picture below you can see the glacier that feeds the lake and an iceberg that has broken off. At launching point it was very wind and there were huge (never been before) waves. I think we were all a little nervous, especially Ian who was the only one in a single person kayak. But after we got out the lake it was smooth sailing and beautiful, except for Ian who enjoyed a dip in very chilly water. It was fun to cruise down the river on what was the nicest day of summer, according to the guides.
Here are the girls at the end with a cup of tea and the full mountain range in view.

Finally, it was time to leave and head to our next destination. But not without drama. Remember how I told you we had to go get gas? Well, the gas attendant put unleaded fuel in our diesel car. Somehow the car ran for another two days and we made it to the shop. Luckily for us, some nice Chilean mechanic came to our rescue and fixed the car so we could make our flight on time. On our way to the airport we stopped and checked out a penguin colony for a whole three minutes. It was disappointing to have to rush this part of the trip, but I still got to see the penguins and have a funny story to tell on top of it.

Chile - Patagonia

After Easter Island, Dani and I met up with the rest of the group (there were 7 of us total) and headed to Chilean Patagonia. Patagonia is a massive park that spans a huge area in South America across Chile and Argentina. To give you an idea of how far south it is, check out the second destination on the arrivals board in the Punta Arenas airport. From Punta Arenas we made the two hour drive north to Puerto Natales.
The next day we left Puerto Natales on a boat (right) up the fjord. I think everyone except Ian and I suffered from sea sickness. For most of the trip Dani compared the boat ride to the Deadliest Catch. While it was rough in spots, the guys spent most of the time on deck taking pictures and getting drenched. Lots of fun.

One of the coolest things was all the water. There are glaciers and packed snow everywhere which in the summer turns into runoff. Everywhere you looked you could see huge waterfalls and crystal clear water. Very cold water as we would find out later.








The boat makes it way up the fjord to a huge glacier. It's amazing to see how these sheets of ice have carved the mountains and left nothing behind. The ice is also pure blue.
The boat then docks and you hike about a mile to another glacier that runs into a lake. This is the end of the boat ride and the beginning of the raft trip up the river.
At this point we were only about half way to our cabins. To make it the rest of the way we got in rafts and went up the river for about another hour and half to our final destination. Apparently, this ride was a lot more smooth because half of the raft was caught sleeping during various points of the trip. We also got to wear these really cool coats to stay warm and dry. Dani is in there somewhere under all that stuff.

We were dropped off at our cabins just outside Torres del Paine. The peaks on the right that are very rigid are Los Torres.

Chile - Easter Island

Dani and I spent the last two weeks traveling Chile. It was a hectic and wonderful experience that we won't soon forget. We made quite a few stops and each one was very unique. We'll try and make a couple posts over the next few days to share what we did.

Dani and I left on Dec 21 with our first destination being Easter Island. The island is a world heritage site and famous for the Moai statues. It took us about 15hours of flights to get there, but it was worth it. This was my favorite part of the entire vacation. The first day there we took a tour with a native Rapanui woman. She was able to describe the culture and history of the people and island really well and was very informative. The statues were surprisingly huge and I still do not understand how the people put the hats on the statues once they were stood.

The next day we decided to hike one of the volcanoes on the island. The weather was nice and I figured there would be tons of people doing the same thing, but turns out we were the only ones on the trail. It was a steep uphill climb, but lots of fun. We were able to see the village and the different statues and beautiful ocean. The best view came when we reached the top of the volcano. The cone was huge and the entire thing was filled with a deep, fresh water lake. The vegetation on the lake is so dense in parts, that you can walk across it. Both Dani and I were amazed at the beauty of the place and were glad we made the trek. At the top there were a bunch of ruins of an old ceremonial site for the Birdman Cult. This was the religion that replaced the Moais. Of course, it started raining when we got to the top and for the beginning of our trek down.

The last day we went to the only Moai statue that has its eyes. The eyes are white coral and blue stone and were the last piece of the statue put in after it was stood. Easter Island was truly a magical and beautiful place and I would tell people to go there if they have the opportunity.


We left Easter Island on Christmas Day and head back to Santiago. We'll post about the second leg tomorrow or next week.