Our last hurrah - massive roadtrip to Chile
Trip Start
Jan 14, 2008
1
141
Trip End
Jan 13, 2009
Santiago, Chile
Friday, January 23, 2009
After loading up on a vegetarian lunch, we charged off into the countryside with Natalia's much-appreciated car. We were assured by a huge guy lounging in the shade at a gas station that the proper way to the border crossing to Chile was not far and the road signs were very clear. The only problem was that there was a 11000 foot mountain in the way. The drive was spectacular with beautiful snow capped mountains and huge lonely plains that spread out in every direction. As gorgeous as the drive was, it took 3 hours longer than anticipated.
We arrived in the first town on our way to the border early enough to surprise our friends Lucia and Kese at their guest house. They had no idea we were coming so it was fun to surprise them. They were delighted to see us as their trip there had been long, arduous and lonely! It was still daylight enough for Jeff and Lucia to take a nice horse ride in the outskirts of town with a beautiful eerie sky and ocher-colored hills. That night our hosts proved the guidebook right and served us an excellent meal with good local wine and great service. A class act at those Argentinian prices to which we have become accustomed.
The next day's drive involved an even bigger mountain in our way - a whopping 4799 meters. We were granted amazing views of the fabled high Andes as we trudged up and down the dirt road which clung to the side of the gigantic mountain range. It took us twelve hours to complete this part of the road trip.
In fact it was quite late when we finally arrived at Punta Choros to start our search for food and accommodation. It was high season in this quaint town frequented almost exclusively by Chileans, so it took us awhile to find available accommodations. But we finally found a cute little beach shack that looked like Cape Cod on the outside and Shasta on the inside. We also found the last open restaurant which delivered on Nathalia's promise that Chilean seafood would knock our socks off. Not only was it plentiful and exotic (strange red clams called mangas and a much more edible form of abalone called "locos"), but it was super cheap - like half the price of a similar meal at home! The food was so good and we were thrilled to have finally be settled at our destination. We celebrated WAY too much and drank the national cocktail, Pisco, far into the night.
The next morning we marveled at the similarities between Chile and California. The area reminded us of Southern and Baja California but with bigger mountains and far less people. This similarity included a very familiar meteorological phenomenon -- fog -- which blanketed the coast in an all too familiar way. This might have been a benefit as the intense Chilean sun was held at bay and did not affect our ability to appreciate the beauty of the area. We went for a nice walk out to the lighthouse where we were entertained by a myriad of tiny creatures and plants that reemphasized that beauty is often in the details - it was like walking through a covert Japanese garden.
After a return visit to the seafood house and yet more Pisco that night we spent a few hours trying to arrange for a boat ride out to the island reserves. It should have taken a few minutes but a group of malicious locals had directed us to the wrong place trying to get us to pay for their friend's services rather than the official operation - although Chile is quite advanced, we were still in the developing world. No matter, we finally got a ride out to a beautiful set of islands with high rock cliff faces, blue lagoons, and hidden beaches: a bit like the channel islands off of Santa Barbara complete with seal colonies, tons of birds, and even penguins. The highlight of the day was seeing a pod of dolphins which thrilled the boatloads of tourists until the dolphins were scared off. The reserve had been billed as a must see for the area and we agreed. A great outing!
Our road trip continued with a five hour or so drive to Santiago. We broke up the drive by stopping at a very Chilean beachside town where Natalia's family had a long history. Natalia's insider knowledge paid off with the best seafood we had yet! Delicious. That night we were hosted by Natalia's lovely and welcoming parents at their Santiago house for our very brief (one night) visit to the Chilean capital. This concluded an epic road trip with two great friends. What better way to live a grand finale for our trip with beautiful scenery, interesting places, and best of all -- great company. While we may have spent hours and hours in the car - we never had a dull moment. Thank you Ben and Natalia!!!
Well it wasn't quite the end. The next morning we started the long and slightly sad trip back home. Six hours in a mini-bus up and over the mighty Andes again to Mendoza. Then 12 hours of a first class overnight bus to Buenos Aires (which thankfully allowed us a decent night's sleep!). There we had a great break for the day in Buenos Aires where we hung out and said goodbye to good friends Elvira, Emily, Martin, and Lucia and Kese who hosted us to showers, luggage storage, and finally a celebratory bottle of champagne at a famous Argentinian café minutes before we jumped in a taxi to the airport. What a sendoff!
The final final conclusion was a 11 hour flight (in United's business class thanks to Jen) followed by a five hour flight to LAX. Wow. The time change made it tough to calculate but it was over 48 hours just to get back to California where Jen's grandparents and aunt and uncle made us feel at home. Thankfully too, we had great visits to cushion the shock of returning to this strange but familiar land where depression about the economy lay thicker than the Chilean fog. A few days later we were both back in San Francisco, sitting in our apartment, staring at each other and wondering what to do now!
And normal life began to set in.
