The 5th was our last day of class for the month and I left that evening to catch my flight out of Quito toward Chile. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. Stacey and I had a 7 hour layover in Guayaquil (which means we hadn't even left Ecuador). We slept in the airport which was a first for me. We then caught our flight to Lima which then connected straight away to Santiago. We arrived in the afternoon the following day and because there is only a 2-hour time difference we were able to make use of the day without fatigue. Santiago is a beautiful city! The public works is very clearly in great form and well budgeted as they have a smoothly run and very clean subway metro system. There are various different areas and neighborhoods of the city all with their own unique style which makes for a great variance of restaurants, shops, and atmosphere. We spent an afternoon on a wine tour just outside Santiago. I knew nothing about wine other than that the process begins with a few grapes but Stacey and I decided that to be in Chile is the time for tasting wine. We visited one of the World's most famous and largest producing wineries: Concha y Toro. We spent part of the tour in the cellar which is called Casillero del Diablo which translates to "The Devil's Cellar". It is called this because hundreds of years ago the winery was robbed and lost a large stock of wine. In order to keep thieves out, a story was created that the cellar housed the devil himself. After that, no one dared to risk stealing from the cellar. Around the world, this wine is noticeable for it's unique temperature at which it is stored and for the length of storage, and also for the devil's head which is embossed on every bottle stored in that cellar.
It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Chile and it's diversity of climate but it was the switch to colder weather that made Chile seem familiar. I loved Southern Chile, Patagonia, and the Antarctic region. I am quite certain I will need to travel to the Argentinian area of Patagonia to explore it more. I can easily say I am hooked on the land there. While on the Chilean side we took a ferry one morning about 2 hours out into the ocean from Punta Arenas to an island inhabited by Magelanic penguins. The ferry stopped at the pebble beach and there were penguins everywhere roaming freely around the island. The only thing separating person from animal was a rope strung along a path so that the penguins can cross the path and travel about their island as they should. We walked around coming so close o the penguins ho were hardly phased by the presence of people. I strongly appreciated the humane and free way of allowing the penguins to continue to act normally as if no people were around. Many have even dug their nest so close to the walkway as if there were no people ever visiting the island to disturb them.
We also took a day tour through Parque Nacional Torres del Paine which is an incredibly large national park. We easily could have spent a week camping and exploring the park but with limited time we decided on a da tour to see 'the highlights'. We stopped at lagunes, lakes, mountain backdrops, to see Guanacos (an animal much like a mix between a deer and a llama) as well as Nandus (very similar to an ostrich). The day was fairly cloudy so we weren't able to see a lot of the lovely mountains that are in the background of nearly every picture taken. It also rained for nearly the entirety of our tour. Along with rain, and because it's the Chilean Antarctic, it was incredibly windy! I wish I could express the strength of the wind through my words and my pictures but there is nothing that could make it real. Needless to say, I have never had to bend down and struggle to make a simple step forward the way I did in Torres del Paine. At one point we stopped to see a large and beautiful waterfall called Salto Grande which was a 10 minute hike from the road. The rain was pelting incredibly hard because the wind was blowing so fast but the prospect of seeing this waterfall drove us to push forward... literally. The closer we got, the stronger the wind was, and when we reached the waterfall we had to hold the railing of the deck to avoid the very plausible possibility of being blown over. After the waterfall the tour bus stopped next to rope bride over a fast running river. We crossed the bridge and walked through a forest and as we did we caught the sight of something very blue out of the corner of our eyes, slightly obstructed by the trees. We walked further ad out onto a very expansive stone beach where we realized the blue we saw was an iceberg. We hadn't realized icebergs were on the agenda of the tour and the surprise was incredible. Big, bright icy blue, and once again we fought the wind and the rain. It was difficult to take pictures as it was a struggle to hold the camera straight in the wind and keep the lens dry... but we managed.
The next day we took a boat tour to see the glaciers on the fjord where Puerto Natales is located. We had originally wanted to see the Moreno Glacier in El Calafate on the Argentinian side of Patagonia in Glacieras Park but with our time constraints and planning schedule we chose two smaller glaciers closer by. Along the ride to the glaciers we stopped to see a cormorant colony (a local type of bird that resembles a penguin), a condor (a large bird which I had seen in Ecuador) and a couple sea-lions resting in the caves of the cliffs. We also passed by a series of waterfalls dropping off the rock cliffs along the fjord. When we got to the first glacier the mountains were once again obscured by fog and the rain was strong which made it difficult to see. We passed slowly by and as we did I noticed immediately how receded the ice was from the water. We then learned that the ice is deteriorating quickly and over the past year has receded from the water more than 100m up the mountain. We then moved on to the second glacier where we got off the boat and took an hour hike to it. As we walked along the rocky patch next to the bay, I noticed large pieces of ice floating around and then came across smaller pieces of ice all blended together along the shore of the bay in one section. At first I was amazed by all the ice in all different forms but I soon shook my had and realized the devastation in it. The temperature is by no means cold as I would consider cold as a Canadian and the excessive rain are contributing to the ice breaking away from the glacier. Many tour companies had advertised the glaciers by noting the possibility of seeing and hearing ice break off the glacier. I was troubled at this as to me environmental travesty should not be marketed as a tourist attraction. The glacier in itself was beautiful and the ice at this one took up most of the mountain from waterline up to the point of fog which I could not see past. It was incredible to say the least. Leaving Chile was the hard part of the trip. Not knowing when I would return and knowing I only saw a very miniscule portion of the country. However, it is easy for me to say that I know I will return... likely during summer though to take advantage of the Chilean winter for snowboarding.
After Chile I returned to Quito where the next day I left for a couple weeks of travel through Ecuador with my friend Amy. Our first stop was Banos. The town is known for its varying array of adventure activities. The first thing Amy and I did was canyoning which I think is a made-up word. Nevertheless, it entailed us to dress in wetsuits, helmets, and climbing shoes and climb up along waterfalls. Once at the top we put on harnesses and belayed ourselves down the waterfalls, we did this on 4 separate waterfalls. The next day we 'puented' which again sounds like a made-up word. This is basically bungee jumping off a bridge but a bit different. The bridge was incredibly high and the railing about 5 Ft tall and I had to club onto a small platform off the railing while attached to a harness. Instead of jumping you sort of just fall or slightly jump straight out of the ledge and as you do the guide flips your feet so you front flip and then bounce back up and swing underneath the bridge. All in all, great fun! We also went rafting on a river about an hour outside Banos. Having been white water rafting in Canada, the trip was more of a leisurely paddle. The water wasn't very strong and there were no rapids, not to mention the water was a murky brown color. We also swung on the 'end of the world swing' which swings over the edge of what looks like a cliff but really is just a steep hill. Overall, it was a nice town with plenty to do and many ways to expand ones comfort levels. After that we ventured on to Cuenca where we spent Christmas. Cuenca is a beautiful city with many retired ex-pats living there. Amy and spent our days relaxing and enjoying the city and one day traveled to the nearby town of Ingapirca. The town houses old Incan ruins which we toured. We hadn't much for plans for Christmas but we came across two people in Cuenca who we had first met at our hostel in Banos. Kiki is a German woman who quit her job to travel the world for the year and Greig is a Scottish 2-time Cancer survivor travelling the world for 2 years as part of his initiative "101 Things To Do When You Survive" (www.101thingstodowhenyousurvive.com) where he is helping and inspiring other people with cancer to dream of the things they can do when they survive the disease. Anyway, our two new friends invited us for Christmas dinner with them and some other travelers. Our group consisted of 2 other Canadians who have been living in Peru who created a business to profile students from round the world online so that anyone can loan them money to help them attend post-secondary education with low interest rates, we also had a girl from New Zealand, a guy from India, a guy from South Korea, and a guy from London. It was great to have such global company at Christmas time when away from home. After Cuenca we went to Puerto Lopez on the coast. The first day we went to a beach within the national park Machalilla called Playa Los Frailes. The next day we took a tour of Isa de la Plata (otherwise referred to as The Poor Man's Galapagos). We took an hour and a half boat ride to the island and from there we hiked around and saw birds called blue-footed boobies and even saw sea turtles while in the boat but I was too amazed that I forgot to take pictures of them. From Puerto Lopez we finished out our trip in Montanita, also on the coast, for New Years. We did little else than relax on the beach. And that is my Christmas vacation. I am so lucky to be in South America where there is a large diversity of beauty that I can explore. I am also very thankful for the family that has helped me financially through the RRSP they have consistently contributed to since my birth and also for encouraging me to be a good person, to learn and encourage my adventurous sprit. From here, I venture on to my placement at the end of the week for the next 2.5 months. It's hard to believe I have surpassed the halfway point of my program and will be home in a short couple months! Certainly bittersweet. But I have plenty to do and learn between now and then and must remained positioned in the mentality of Ecuador and my passion for food and agriculture in order to observe and take away from this an experience which I doubt I will ever encounter again.
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