Patagonia - Glacial Waters in "La Tierra del Fuego"

It can be tough getting your head around the fact that once you cross the southern hemisphere, down is cold, and up is hot. I’ve forgotten a couple times, like asking if, to escape the Chilean summer, people head up north to the cold. I usually get a response of, “what, to the desert you mean?”. The point is, Chile has four very distinct directions. To the east are the Andes, always, and eventually Argentina (Bolivia in the North). To the north are the deserts, the beaches, in general pretty dry. To the west is the Pacific. And then there is the south.

Before I came to Chile I knew the name Patagonia, but didn’t really know where or what it was. I signed up for the Rotary trip because I knew I wanted to see this part of Chile, even though I didn’t really have any idea what it was. I packed a backpack according to a packing list that was sent to me, and I boarded a plane with all the other exchange students with little idea of where I was going. Apparently my well packed bag didn’t either because it preferred to stay in Santiago while I went to the end of the world with only a carry-on bag.

It’s impossible to notice anything else first other than the mountains. Arriving at the first “refuge” you look up at a mountain that you can trek for 5 days without ever leaving its shadow. The first night was incredible, we met many amazing people also trekking through Patagonia (sooooo many Germans), and got to see a sky full of stars only rivaled by those of Lake Temagami.

The next day we trekked to the Torres (Towers in English). After borrowing sufficient clothes for the day, and praying that it wouldn’t rain, we began walking into the hills and the base of the mountain. The hills turned to forest, the forest turned to dusty path that began climbing, and eventually it was boulders, and a view down that would make Martha Taylors head spin. And then you climbed over a ledge and saw something I can only describe with a picture. (below)

The next day we hiked to the next refuge (luckily my bag arrived that morning), and saw an avalanche on the way. Everyone slept soundly in their tents as the rain beat down outside, except for Johan, Max and I who had to share a 2 person tent, without mats to sleep on, with the rain beating down on a rain fly that worked more to inconvenience the rain from getting to us, but soaking us all the same.

Since the rain didn’t let up that night, we decided to stay at the refuge the next day. 40 Exchange students trapped in tents and a small dining room for a whole day of coarse has repercussions. First we swam in a glacial lake that according to my feet couldn’t have been more than 5 degrees. And then everyone stampeded to the 2 showers, one of which was broken, and then paid for.

The next day we hiked to the final refuge, one much bigger to accommodate our group. Although the rain came back the next day, and made it impossible for us to see the glacier, we spent an amazing day inside preparing presentations and playing cards. The presentations, that could be about just about anything, were amazing. Not to brag but our Disney themed song and dance routine preformed by 5 16-18 year old guys was Harvest Night worthy. The next day we took a boat, then a bus to the city of Punta Arenas, considered the southernmost “city” in the world. Punta Arenas is a city of incredible history, with settlers from Germany, Spain, England and many other places. We got a tour at the beginning, seeing all the sights of Punta Arenas, then given the afternoon free. We were walking down the coast of the city when we looked on a broken down peer and saw a whole bunch of birds. Some of them were seagulls, but the others were penguins. Not typical ones you see in zoos, but small ones, and tons of them. I now say that I have seen wild penguins, and I only had to go to the end of the world to see them.

That night we went to the airport of Punta Arenas, that pretty much only flies to Santiago. We boarded our ridiculously late flight, arrived in Santiago at 3am, and I was back in my house in Rancagua at 5am.

That’s what you find when you “head south for the summer” in Chile