Our travels began with a trip to Tierra del Fuego, where we visited the beautiful Argentinean city of Ushuaia. It is the self-proclaimed city at the End of the World (and it is the southernmost city in the world). It sits in a bay on the Beagle Channel, rimmed by spectacular snow-covered mountains.
From there, we had an unforgettable experience traveling through the fjords (called the “canals” here) and islands of Chile on a ferry, The NaviMag, going from the southern port of Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, arriving there on New Year’s Eve. Since the NaviMag is a “working” ferry, the accomodations were not (to be kind) quite up to cruise ship standards, but, the beauty of the area makes the trip worth a couple of days of mediocre food and sleeping in a room that is smaller than most of the bathrooms in our American homes. Unfortunately, we did not have the best
weather, but the interplay of clouds, sun, water, islands, glaciers, forests and mountains made this an unforgettable part of our trip. There is no other way to see this area of the country since Chile lacks a road that connects its southern region (called the Magallanes) with the rest of the county. It may sound incredible that a modern country lacks a road to the southern third of its area, but, if you could see the Andes Mountains, you would understand why building such a road would require one of the most amazing (and expensive) engineering feats of all time. You can actually reach southern Chile by road, but you have to travel through Argentina to do so.
From Puerto Montt, we went a few miles east to one of our favorite areas in Chile, the city of Puerto Varas, located on the hills on the southern shore of Lago (“lake) Llanquihue. Puerto Montt/Puerto Varas is the entrance to the Chilean “Lake Country” and, perhaps, because it is so green as compared to the rest of the country, it is considered the most beautiful section of Chile. The breathtakingly beautiful, perfect snow-capped cone of the volcano Osorno dominates the views from everywhere around this lake. Over a hundred and twenty years ago, this region had a large influx of German immigrants and their influence is still obvious today (from the Lutheran churches, to the kuchen, to being home of the best beer in Chile).
When we arrived in Puerto Varas, our first priority was to rent a car so that we could travel part way around the lake to have a late afternoon lunch at one of our favorite
restaurants of all time. The Espantapajaros (the “Scarecrow”) is a German owned and influenced “tenedor libre” (“free fork;” that is to say, an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord) sitting in a realtively isolated meadow on the northwestern shore of Lago Llanquihue. The male owner barbecues meat (beef, chicken, lamb, and a delicious javelina) on the largest spit I have ever seen, while his wife prepares all of the numerous side dishes and desserts. The meal comes with whatever beverage you want (and as much as you can drink), including beer and wine, all at a cost of about $16.00 per person. The place is so popular, reservations are often necessary – when is the last time you saw a buffet at which reservations were required? After you finish your meal, you can walk in the surrounding meadows and enjoy the pastoral scenery (including the llamas, alpacas, javelina, burros, horses, ducks, goats, and sheep) and, in the distance, the beauty of Lago Llanquihue.Between Puerto Varas and the Espantapájaros is the delightfully tranquil village of Frutillar which very strongly shows the area’s German influences. There is an “alto” Frutillar and a “bajo” Frutillar, and as you are coming in to the village you come first to “alto” Frutillar and wonder why anyone would recommend visiting this place. But, when you get to “bajo” Frutillar, you find this charming village sitting on the shores of Lake Llanquihue looking directly across at the volcano Osorno (I keep saying the “volcano” Osorno because there is also an unrelated city named Osorno some miles away). Frutillar is home to more flowers than anywhere else we saw in Chile and is known for the concerts held on its shore – it is a perfect place to enjoy a late afternoon tea, chocolate, or coffee, and, of course, some kuchen.
After our late afternoon lunch, followed by our later afternoon coffee/kuchen desert, what more was there to do but to return to Puerto Varas for New Year’s Eve dinner (Chileans like to eat, so we had no problem “fitting” right in – into the culture, that is; our clothes were somewhat more difficult). Despite it being the holiday, we were able to get reservations at one of the local fish restaurants (which was appropriate since we were packed into the place like sardines in a can) for our dinner at 10:00 p.m. Afterwards, we decided to follow the many people walking towards the lake just to see what was going on; we were glad that we did, because, at midnight, the crowd was treated to a splendid fireworks show out over the lake that was coordinated with music. Seeing the fireworks reflected in the lake made the show even more special.
The fireworks pictures themselves did not turn out, but this picture shows the city from the vantage point where we watched them and shows the lovely hillsides of this lake town.
After Puerto Varas, we started our road trip through central Chile in earnest. We stopped for one night each in Valdivia, Chillan, and Santa Cruz before arriving at Viña del Mar, back on the coast. Along the way, we visited the most renowned brewery of Chile, the Kuntsmann in Valdivia, stayed at a famous ski resort in Chillan, and at a fancy hotel in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is in the famous wine producing Colchagua Valley. The Hotel Santa Cruz there may be the most artistically and tastefully decorated hotel that I have ever seen. Next door, the hotel’s owner also has largest private museum in South America. It houses a fascinating collection of Incan
jewelry, a reconstructed Mapuche Indian residence, old wine making equipment, a collection of old cars, and other historical, anthropological and paleontology displays. The Mapuches were (and still are) the largest and fiercest Native American tribe in what is now in Chile and resisted the Spanish takeover the longest. Even today, they are pressing their demands for more autonomy and have even gone to Europe seeking support. They are probably the poorest, least educated group in Chile, so it is understandable that they are seeking changes.
Then, just to disprove the old adage that “all play and no work makes Darlene a dull person,” I spent the next week in Santiago presenting workshops at a conference (called English Summertown). This is an annual conference jointly hosted by the Chilean Education Department and the Fulbright Commission to help improve the quality of English education in this country.
From Santiago, we flew to Cuzco to spend 12 days in Peru. Machu Picchu is magical, mystical, spiritual, and historical. It is easily the most interesting place I have ever visited. We also enjoyed exploring Incan ruins in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, as well as in the outlying communities of Chincheros and Ollantaytambo. We could not help but contemplate how the Incans built a large and far-reaching empire, but only maintained power for a relatively short period of about one hundred years, before the Spanish destroyed it all.
Peru is the poorest of the three countries that we visited. It is heart rendering to see five year old kids approach you on the street trying to sell you finger puppets or asking you to pay them a peso to take their picture. There was very little outright begging, just incessant requests to buy their wares. A common sales pitch for the ten to twelve year olds was to ask where you were from, and when you answered California, the United States, the child would reply, “ah, the Terminator is your leader and your country’s president is Bush, the son, and before that it was Clinton, Bush the father, and, then, Reagan.” Some of them could go even further back in their listing of our presidents.
Two other quick points about Peru: it was home to the best artisans we have seen down here and it is home to “choclo.” If you like corn on the cob, you haven’t lived until you have had choclo – it is a cob on which the kernels are so big that only eight rows of them fit on the cob (compare that to the number of rows on a typical American cob next time you have corn on the cob). It is served by street vendors and was easily the high point of Peruvian cusine
After a quick trip to Puno, Peru, to see Lake Titicaca, we took an all-night bus ride back to northern Chile. We loved the charming northern seaport of Iquique. Then, we moved on to visit San Pedro de Atacama and
the famed Valley of the Moon in the heart of the driest desert of the world. It is also home of some of the cleanest atmosphere and amazing night skies in the world (which is why a number of international astronomical observatories have been built in this region).
From San Pedro de Atacama, it was back to Viña del Mar for a couple of days of “R&R” (it is a rough life when you need a “rest” from your vacation). Along the way we went through La Serena, which probably has now supplanted Viña as the country’s number one beach resort town. After a couple of days, we got antsy again
and decided to take a quick jaunt through western Argentina. This meant crossing the Andes by bus; little did we know that our driver must have attended the Dale Earnhardt school of driving – as far as we could tell, he never saw a vehicle that he didn’t think could be passed. Details such as hairpin curves and lack of lanes were not an obstacle to him, he knew (and luckily for us, he was right), everyone else would move over for him. It is an interesting concept – taking your share of a two lane road out of the “middle” leaving half a lane and a shoulder for the other cars going in both directions.
We arrived in Mendoza to sip some wine (“guzzle” would have been more appropriate, at least when we first got off the bus). Mendoza is hot and dry in the summer, but that must change in the winter because the rain gutters in the streets are as much as three feet deep. Since they are uncovered and hard to see in the dark, it is easy to understand why the locals refer to them as “mata turistas” (“deathtraps for tourists”). From Mendoza, we took our third overnight bus ride (out of four) of our journey south to the city of Bariloche, which is the heart of Argentina’s lakes region. Jim has trouble sleeping on buses (unlike me -- I can, and did, sleep anywhere), so it is not unusual in the middle of the night for him to be the only person awake on the bus except (we are pretty sure) for the driver. On one of the trips, he reported that he got to see the same Chuck Norris movie three times in a row, but that was alright because it was dubbed into Spanish, without any subtitles, so he didn’t understand it anyway (not that there is much to “understand” about a typical Chuck Norris movie).
Mendoza is not as pretty as our Napa wine country, although you can see the Andes rising to the East; the city itself is nice and well worth visiting. In contrast, Bariloche is in a spectacular setting; it is the South American version of Lake Tahoe. The community of Bariloche faces an enormous lake named Nahuel Huapi, which means “white tiger.” We think that the name may come from the islands in the lake which resemble the body of a tiger and the surrounding mountains are snow capped and jagged, perhaps reminding one of a mouthful of tiger´s teeth. Of course, during the winter the islands which would be the tiger´s body are going to be snow covered as well. This is a much enjoyed summer playground, but, in the winter, it is one of the most famous ski areas of South America. And, as I can attest from first hand knowledge, it is a great place to get your pocket (or more accurately in my case, your purse) picked. Luckily for us, Jim was carrying all of my ID and credit cards, so all I lost was the wallet itself, plus the $3.00 per day allowance that he gives me.
I would be remiss, if I did not mention that Argentina is home to the best pasta that we have ever had, whether here in South America or back home in the States. It is all “home made” right in the restaurant, and as delicious as pasta can be. Because of its strong Italian influence, Argentina also has the best pizza and ice cream that we have enjoyed in South America.
After gaining a few pounds in Bariloche, we decided for the sake of our waistlines that we should return to Chile. Another long bus ride and we found ourselves in Castro, on the island of Chiloe, across the channel from Puerto Montt. It has a reputation for having one of the most distinctive subcultures in Chile, but we really didn’t see that except for its cusine. We were lucky enough (since it was not planned) to be there on the weekend of its annual crafts fair – the crafts mainly consisted of making things by crocheting or knitting (that is, there wasn’t the variety of goods that we saw in Peru), but the quality of what was there was first-rate and the food at the fair was truly memorable. We had come back to Chile to save our waistlines, but being able to buy two huge grilled salmon dinners and a bottle of very good (all be it, bottom shelf) wine for less than $11.00 (American) does not lend itself to restraint. .
In fact, we had to go back to the fair two days just to make sure that we had not been wrong in our evaluation of it the first day. Jim stuck with the salmon, but I tried “curanto” which is a collection of mussels, clams, a potato cake (much like hash browns), a boiled potato, lamb, beef, and chicken, all cooked in a mesh bag on a bed of coals in a covered, leaf-lined hole in the ground.
We also saw the famed “palofitos” (houses and buildings) built on stilts out over the water. Frankly, the pictures of them are prettier than the reality. It was interesting that, in Castro, many of the houses looked good from the front, but when viewed from the side, you could see that it was all in the facade; when you saw the sides or back of the houses, they would be in drastic need of paint and repairs.
From Castro, we took our final overnight bus ride back to Viña, ending our summer travels except for the plane flight back to Punta Arenas. While there, we did two things of interest – we found the fish restaurants in the Con Con area north of Viña (we have a hard time staying away from food) and we visited the home of Pablo Neruda in the community of Isla Negra, an hour bus ride south of Viña.
Neruda is one of two Chilean authors (both poets) to win the Noble Prize for Literature (the other one being Gabriela Mistral). It may sound boring to visit an author’s home, but it was fascinating – the man’s personality and his passion for life certainly comes through in the design of his house, his collection of ship’s mastheads, old bottles, bells, and artwork and collectibles. Also, the house itself is in an absolutely gorgeous spot on a rocky shore of the ocean. It takes no imagination at all to understand how he might have been inspired to write while living there.
As our travels have wound down, it is interesting to think about and compare the different countries we visited. For example, we love the food and people of Argentina. They seem lighthearted and fun loving and their pasta is the best I have ever had. Most of the Argentine people have very little Indian blood and are overwhelmingly of European heritage (particularly Italy). The Peruvian people that we saw are of predominantly Indian blood, while the Chilean people are a mixture of both, with the European blood being dominant. We feel sorry for the impoverished people and country of Peru. It holds the prettiest part of the Andes and its people are optimistic for the future, so we are in hopes that things will “turn around” for them. After our travels through Peru and Argentina, we were happy to return to the cleanliness and beauty of Chile, not to mention the sensational seafood and the friendships we have established here. It is indeed a land of contrasts and great geographical beauty.
We are now back in Punta Arenas and I am preparing for the start of the school year. The 2008 school year starts on February 29th with teacher meetings and students will return on March 5, with the first semester ending in mid-July. As much I love Chile and my experiences here in South America, I plan on returning to Vista as soon as this first semester ends (besides I have to get ready for the new VUSD school year). I imagine that Francia is as anxious as I am to get back to her own home.
I miss my home, my family, friends, colleagues, community, and my country, and cannot wait to see them all (the inside of a Rancho classroom will look good). This exchange has been the opportunity of a lifetime, a wonderful gift from the Fulbright Commission and the Vista Unified School District – an opportunity to understand and to appreciate another country, another culture, and another school system for an entire year. But “home” is “home,” and I can’t wait to see it.
This entry is long enough, but it is only the “tip of the iceberg.” I am anxious to share the details underlying these highlights and share my other experiences with all of you when I return. I love to talk, so I want to give you “fair warning.” When you see me , if you ask me “how did things go in South America?” you do so at your own risk!
