Unlike the rainforest, whose encompassing darkness tends to turn the human spirit inward, vast stretches of open desert stretching out to distant volcanic mountains open us up…..
And sometimes a dribble of water surfaces, turning the landscape into colorful striations….
The Atacama Desert is “at altitude”, as they say – almost 8,000 feet, stretching through northern Chile to Bolivia. The closest city of large size is Antofagasta, on the Pacific Coast about 4 hours’ drive west.
Everybody who visits seems to follow the same series of outdoor activities….. which was actually great and not too crowded. We climbed up one side of a ”moonscape” to a very windy summit….. and some of us jogged down.
A hike through a gorge to see the cactus plants provided some fun challenges.
Henry takes a mighty leap, but not quite as gazelle-like as our guide, Caro.
Almost lost the phone! Caro saved it….. and caught me later from a fall into the rocks!
Another day brought a visit to a deep salt-water lagoon for a refreshing and buoyant dip.
On our last day in the desert – maximally adapted to the altitude (for us) – we ventured toward the Bolivian border to see the geysers at an elevation of over 14,000 feet.
Henry got a little dehydrated…..
Finally got to see wildlife. Vicunas are a type of camel, related to the llama, who are rarely seen at altitudes below 11,000 feet.
Can you see the vicuna?
How about now?
Back at the Alto Atacama resort, a few of the vicuna’s cousins are kept to entertain the guests…… a llama parade!
And a feeding…..
The desert – so stark and clean and honest. A specific and often brutal form of beauty, where sometimes the heat, salt content, and lack of moisture are such that life itself is not possible. How amazing.
Now to work our way south along the length of Chile…..
Sorry, Robert Frost – Something there is that DOES love a wall.
Or at least if we don’t love them, we love decorating them. Witness the vibrant art works that are common in some areas of Santiago, Chile’s capital city.
Our hotel was partially hidden behind a wall festooned with ivy and flowers….
Even in sleepy St. Pedro de Atacama in the north, people have expressed themselves by adorning the structures that define their living spaces…..
Yes, those are old television screens and monitors imbedded in the town wall……
High on St Cristobal Hill overlooking Santiago is a big statue of Jesus’ mother Mary, who is especially revered within the Catholic religion. Believers have covered an adjacent wall with tributes to Mary for loved ones who recovered from Covid-19, presumably in response to prayers for her divine intervention.
Each mask denotes belief in a miraculous recovery from Covid 19…….
Perhaps you noticed the fabulous cloud formations over Santiago….. Henry got some really good perspectives with them.
And a couple of last notes from Santiago…… Not surprisingly, it has a lively street scene, including this fellow who practices a performance art that is embedded in the local culture.
He had trouble collecting tips from patrons of a nearby cafe….. who probably would have preferred to have been left in peace.
Another happy circumstance was meeting an interesting couple from New York, both university professors, who had spontaneously decided to escape the city for a couple of months in Santiago. We had a great time visiting with them over drinks.
Next we continue further south for a few days in the Lake District near Puerto Montt.
The southern part of South America is a huge region that Chile and Argentina share, called Patagonia.
From Santiago, we flew to Puerto Montt, in the more disciplined northern part of the region called the Lake District.
We were marooned in Puerto Varas on Lake Llanquihue for most of a day due to an administrative issue with our Chilean mobility passes. (The mobility pass is the individual record of Covid vaccination that is required of every resident and visitor who wants to do things outside the home – such as shop, eat in a restaurant, fly on an airplane, etc. The Chileans take their public safety measures very seriously.)
Issue resolved, another delay presented itself when the rental car battery went dead….
And yes, in Chile you wear your mask at virtually all times, even outdoors while trying to jump-start a car battery! (And nobody seems to complain about it.)
Finally fixed, there was time only for a trip around the lake and to the ski area near the top of the Osorno volcano. (No skiing yet – it’s just the early stages of fall in the Southern Hemisphere.)
From the lake to the Pacific coast was another 2 to 3 hour drive; Henry made sure we had adequate human fuel for the journey.
The coastline is spectacular. A satellite location message was sent from this lookout point.
A short horseback ride along the beach…..
And a visit to the farm dedicated to providing much of the food consumed at the lodge. Lots of lovely chickens, and a perfect sunflower!
Farm produce provided the basis for this surprisingly delicious arugula martini!
The lodge has bragging rights to the only ”player piano” of its type in South America…. a pristine Steinway that exactly reproduces actual performances by renowned artists.
Ain’t technology amazing?
From here, we will fly further south to Puerto Natales, gateway to wilder Patagonia and the stunning Torres del Paine national park.
Flying south from Puerto Montt, Henry captured an extraordinary photo – once again from an airplane window! – of ice fields and glaciers among mountains and volcanoes on Chile’s Pacific coast. Wow!
Wind also defines this part of the world. In Puerto Natales, the ferry to the estancia (ranch) where we were to have spent a day was shut down due to the gale-force winds. So there we stayed, visiting the Mylodon statue, a tribute to a prehistoric creature reputed to have made these parts his home….
The hotel – in a former sheep-processing plant – faced the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Sound, layers of blues and greens emerging during a rare moment of sunlight.
And from there to Torres del Paine, and a breath-taking vista from the lodge…..
A breezy hike along a nearby ridge…. with a little shelter from the wind behind a convenient rock.
Henry has been thoroughly taken by the cloud formations, a result of rapidly changing climactic conditions and quite striking due to the big-sky nature of the place.
Not a lot in the way of viewable wildlife – here’s a handsome caracara (a member of the falcon family), and an ostrich-like rhea.
The most prevalent endemic wild mammal is the guanaco, a relative of the camel (and the llama and the vicuna). They mingle in herds, and have winsome faces, with Mona Lisa smiles and thick eyelashes.
Sadly, they sometimes run afoul of the fences that keep the domesticated sheep and cattle contained. Hopefully, this one was quickly dispatched by a puma after getting caught in the barbed wire……
(Pumas, a type of cougar that can weigh up to 200 pounds, are very hard to spot. We didn’t see any, but certainly tried.)
Did I mention the wind?
Easily 50 miles per hour, and fully capable of knocking you off your feet if you’re not careful…..
Another view of the main mountain range of the Torres…..
Henry’s grand-niece Amy sent a note that she and a friend would be in Torres del Paine to hike the famous W trek, 45 miles or so around the base of the mountains shown above. We just missed each other by a day or two, but it’s a very cool coincidence to be in the same remote part of the world at the same time. We envy the youth and strength and determination that will enable them to endure the cold, wind and probable rain to get through a rugged challenge like this. They will see incredible sights and have great stories to tell…… looking forward to hearing all about it!
Turquoise rivers and waterfalls come from the mountain snowmelt.
Almost certainly unlike Amy and her friend, we were very well taken care of during our time in the park……
With an al fresco meal….
And a wood-fired hot tub at the end of the day….
After our first night, Henry complained that the water in the tub was a little icky…. so they emptied, scrubbed and refilled it, adding a nice tray of drinks and goodies for our next soak!
It’s been invigorating visiting a couple of our neighbors to the south over the last month, especially after a lengthy hiatus. Ecuador is rich in natural wonders…… but the diversity and grandeur of Chile has really bowled us over. The people, too, have been welcoming….. patient with our American ways….. but without being excessively solicitous of seniors like us.
Henry got a warm response when he flashed people a glimpse of his Boot Barn boots, emblazoned with a representation of the Texas flag…..
…… which looks very much like the Chilean flag (here flapping in a mild wind)……. so they create an instant if fleeting bond with Chilean folks of all ages.
Through a series of circumstances related to Covid protocols and weather-related limitations, we had to fly half the length of Chile back to Santiago for PCR tests….. and will fly this afternoon south once again for our ongoing voyage.
We will board the Silversea Explorer in Puerto Williams, Chile. The ship normally accommodates up to 144 passengers, but apparently there will be only 40 to 50 on this cruise! Still plenty of new friends to make!
Puerto Williams is on the Chilean side of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, at the southern tip of the continent. It’s a little further south from Ushuaia in Argentina, a popular jumping-off point for cruises to Antarctica. Here is our planned route:
Originally, we were to have stopped a day or two in the Malvinas, aka Falkland Islands, but for Covid and/or weather reasons, they are closed to visitors. Instead, the next 3 weeks we’ll be sailing to Cape Town, South Africa.… along the way visiting the British territory of South Georgia for wildlife viewing, and several islands in Tristan de Cunha, another British territory that is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world. It’s 1,732 miles from the African continent, and is home to about 250 hardy souls.
In Cape Town, we will join up with our friend Tertius* who has planned a nice long sojourn for us in southern Africa…… all of which will be a subject for another series of blog posts. With limited internet on the ship, we won’t be posting again until we reach dry land around the first of April.
In the meantime, we wish you all happy trails! Thanks for watching!
Tertius operates a wonderful boutique travel firm called Eye See Africa. He put together our first trip to Africa in 2018 and it was fabulous…… You must contact him if you are pondering a safari….. http://www.eyeseeafrica.net.
At last we have arrived in Cape Town! A future post will describe our experience on the long cruise from Puerto Williams, Chile. For now, however, we will just look at some of the interesting creatures we saw during our stops in South Georgia along the way. If you don’t like penguins and seals, however, you can easily skip this entry. You will also need good internet service, as there are lots of video clips.
What is it about these animals that is so appealing to us? Part of it may be that they do not fear us, but instead are quite interested in our visit to their habitat. Witness Henry with a little fur seal…..
Also some clownish moments….
You don’t want to get too close, as their bite is reputed to be quite painful. Fortunately, however, most of the larger ones are pretty darned busy catching up on some zzzzzs.
King penguins are gregarious and numerous, to say the least. Something like 400,000 breeding pairs live in South Georgia, more than 10,000 in this colony alone.
Friendly characters….. when Zodiacs full of people land on the beach, they waddle there to see what’s going on…..
They are absolutely gorgeous individually…..
…. but somehow in groups, you expect them to break into song or ask a penetrating question about the nature of existence. Or just do a goofy comedy routine.
Elephant seals are huge – females weigh up to a ton, and males up to 4 tons! During their molting season, they tend to flop around together in rafts, only occasionally breaking into ungainly activity.
Especially near land, albatrosses soar around the ship. They are magnificent birds.
These animals can only exist in their current circumstances in the extremely remote, cold and pristine environment of the subantarctic. It’s not an area that everyone wants to visit, and that’s good. Hopefully they will continue to thrive.
We did not get a chance to spend much time on land due to weather (to be explained further later.) A couple of shots from one of the rare excursions……
First, a brief update on travel in the time of Covid. As noted previously, Chile takes pandemic precautions very seriously. Here are red-vested guards closely inspecting i.d. cards and vaccination records before admitting people to the food court at a Santiago mall…..
For unspecified public health reasons, your ice cream will not actually be placed in the cone, but delivered in a cup….. cone served separately.
To discourage people from congregating in common areas, park benches are wrapped up so they cannot be used at all.
This pandemic madness cannot end soon enough….. Hopefully more rational safeguards will be implemented going forward.
(To be fair, the early stages of Covid hit South America very hard… over-reacting would be a natural response for a while.)
Now on to the cruise….. I would like to refer to it as ill-fated, but that applies more accurately to the Titanic, or even perhaps the SS Minnow (of Gilligan’s Island fame). Our cruise from Puerto Williams, Chile to Cape Town was instead plagued by nothing more than very bad weather.
Instead of going from Santiago to the port for embarkation, the pre-cruise flight was forced to put down about an hour short of its goal at Punta Arenas, Chile, where all passengers were put up for the night at a hotel.
Rather than celebrating the embarkation on board the ship, thirsty would-be passengers were a challenge for the hotel barman, who nonetheless managed a pretty impressive negroni presentation…..
The next day, skies cleared sufficiently to allow us to proceed to Puerto Williams to board the ship.
Bad weather is typically expected in the area of the Drake Passage just south of the continent’s tip, and for a couple of days with turbulent seas, most passengers maintained a low profile…..
Once things settled down, we were able to make several landings on the island of South Georgia, where all the wildlife pictured in the last post were encountered. That part of the visit, however, was cut short and we left the area a day early when a storm produced high winds and heavy swell.
With that, we did not return to anything resembling a pleasant ocean voyage for about 10 days. Instead, winds of 60 miles per hour buffeted the ship, which was tossed about on waves up to 20 feet.
The crew did its best to get the passengers some exposure to the St. Helena islands that were on the itinerary, but to little avail. Rough seas prevented landings, so they tried some short Zodiac “cruises” that ended uncomfortably for many……
Even Zodiac landings were abandoned at some point….. Here is Henry, all dressed up and nowhere to go……
The isolated community on Tristan da Cunha was not open for visitation, so we just drove by and waved…..
So what did the passengers do? Well, what cruise passengers do whenever there are no off-ship activities…….. eat and drink! Here is Henry trying a little red wine, a little white wine, a shot of vodka and a healthy pour of dessert wine!
A very few were productively employed….. me knitting a scarf for our friend Tertius in South Africa……
With plenty of time to finish before we landed in Cape Town!
In fitting fashion, the cruise was delayed half a day from anchoring in Cape Town due to fog…… see the shore? Neither could the captain or pilot!
At long last, we landed in Cape Town.
The cruise line sponsored a shore activity later that day – we chose a 4-mile hike on top of Table Mountain…..
We spied a bush with a lovely display of South Africa’s national flower, the protea, in bloom….
And in spite of the continued high winds that seem to follow us everywhere, the clouds and fog cleared briefly to provide a gorgeous view of the city of Cape Town.
So, we’re in Africa at last – happy to be here and excited about experiences to come.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to….”
J.R.R. Tolkien
After a very long dry spell, and the cancellation of several adventures, we are setting out again on the road.
The spring and summer have been spent more or less quietly at home base, Henry building and tinkering, and me reading and tending garden, both of us getting vaccinated and dreaming about the end of the pandemic quagmire.
Henry replaced the roof on the house (with only a little help from a local crew)….
Raider got to go shopping for building supplies at Lowe’s.
We also laid out an ambitious vegetable garden.
The harvest was pretty good, especially early on…… favorite crops were tomatoes (nothing better than home-grown), eggplant (a small but perfect size), gorgeous watermelon radishes (most delicious pickled) and zucchini (easily grown to outrageous size).
We escaped the worst of our sticky summer heat with a trip to southern California for some spa time and a visit with dear friend Deborah…..
Wildlife in the piney woods is always with us….. here is a water moccasin (something we don’t see often) that Henry found near the woodshed after a rare heavy rainfall.
A shimmering spider web – seeming to hang without support in mid-air – that Raider the dog and I found on a late night ramble.
And hornworms plagued the tomato crop…
The round-the-world happy trip we were scheduled to take in October was cancelled, so we have decided to venture out for further exploration of our very own continent.
The target is Lake Superior….. called Gitche Gumee in some native American languages, also known as the shining Big Sea Water in Longfellow’s poem “Song of Hiawatha”. The ostensible purpose is to explore the lake’s north shore and do some rock-hounding – seeking out agates, a stone for which Henry has a great fondness.
Our last road trip was in 2019, so many preparations were required. Travel bedding had to be aired out (when was the last time you used a clothesline?)
Equipment, including the canoe, ATV, trailer and powered parachute, had to be tuned up.
Customized arrangements had to be made for Raider. Here he is enjoying his new sleeping compartment in the trailer, and aboard the wonderful side car that Henry built so he can join us on ATV rides.
Quite a fortunate canine!
We finally got everything together for a September 22 departure, a magnificent first day of fall…….. celebrated with a firecracker sendoff!
We headed north, stopping in Longview, TX, for lunch with Henry’s daughter Holly, who was lucky enough to receive a generous supply of okra and one of the outsized zucchini gourds, just in time for her autumn decor.
Henry also made a special platform for Raider so he can ride comfortably in the truck, with a fine view of the passing countryside.
Weary from the last few days’ preparations, we did not make it too far….. pressing into Arkansas and stopping for the night in Arkadelphia.
It is always astonishing what you can see and experience in some of the most apparently unlikely places as you travel across the country. Afraid that we were too late to find a suitable dining establishment, we stumbled across Harvey’s fairy-light-festooned food trailer next to the freeway exit. We enjoyed excellent fried catfish along with a spirited conversation with Harvey himself.
Arkadelphia was hosting participants in the venerable Cannonball antique motorcycle rally that night, and we had an interesting visit with one of the participants. (Strangely, the next overnight stop on their route is our own Nacogdoches!)
Will press on north, invigorated at the prospect of adventures to come. Please stay tuned!
We trudged across Arkansas….. stopping one night at the Ozark National Forest to camp and sample the nearby ATV area. A very challenging trail really gave Raider a workout!
Raider came through unscathed…. but one of the 4-wheeler tires was damaged and would have to be replaced down the road. (One fact that is reinforced time and again on these trips is that the more cool stuff you have, the more repairs and maintenance are necessary. Thank goodness that Henry is a master fixer!)
Missouri was almost a blur. Chillicothe is a nifty little town that boasts a number of murals by local artists. It is also the birthplace of…… drum roll…….. sliced bread!
They are justifiably proud – since sliced bread is the baseline standard for all things that are great!
The other connection with this town is that my mom went to Chillicothe Business School in the late 1930s, early 1940s to learn secretarial skills.
The sad story is that her most fervent wish had been to go to a 4-year college. Alas, her family’s resources and the limitations of the Great Depression meant that only the male sibling in her family got that opportunity. Fortunately, she married well and managed to do a lot of fantastic things, without the burden of too much formal education!
We raced from there to the small town of Allison, Iowa, which became our home for the next four days. Why Allison? Well, they have a lovely little grass airstrip, smack dab in the middle of corn fields that stretch away in all directions.
We pulled up the trailer near the few tiny and largely unused hangers on the field.
Here is the view from the door of the trailer…..
Speaking of the trailer, I know that some of you may not be familiar with the sanitary arrangements…… Small as the space is, we do have a shower stall and a composting toilet.
(Obviously, the toilet is moved out when showers are taken.)
It’s also possible to help fertilize the nearby field by digging a hole in the soil for direct deposit of waste material (in a peaceful setting among graceful green corn stalks.)
We had perfect conditions one day to fly over the town and surrounding area for a couple of hours, then Henry practiced take-offs and landings. Here’s Allison from the air:
The town of Allison has about 900 residents, some of whom dropped by to visit with us. One of them, a retiree who raises and trains bird dogs, uses the field and his handy John Deere buggy to exercise his charges.
We spent a day going to nearby Waterloo to get new tires for the 4-wheeler, and also to visit the home and museum of John Deere tractors. (Two classic Deere “Poppin’ Johnnies” are in Henry’s garage at home.)
Never thought about tractors being sexy, but apparently they have their appeal, witness this ad from the 50s….
We reluctantly bid farewell to Allison to head further north through Wisconsin to Duluth, Minnesota, the western-most point of Lake Superior! From there, we will head east along the north shore……
From Iowa and into Minnesota, we bid farewell to the Corn Belt, appropriately enough in Rochester, where a giant water tower in the shape of an ear of this versatile vegetable dominates the skyline.
(Rochester is also home to the famous Mayo Clinic, although it is doubtful there is a connection.)
We skirted the westernmost point of Lake Superior in Duluth and headed up the North Shore. Henry was so excited about starting to find agates that we had to turn out at the first lakefront access point we came to…..
Sadly, no agates to be found.
On to Beaver Bay and a rock shop of good repute.
Henry had brought along some Franklinite, a fluorescent mineral that is mostly found in New Jersey, of all places. He and the Beaver Bay Agate shop proprietor danced a little pas de deux and negotiated a trade – Franklinite for some raw agates. (Which is not at all the same thing as finding them oneself on a beach or riverbank.)
We thought we were being clever, planning our trip to arrive well after Labor Day to avoid crowds. We were sadly mistaken. Lots of people were still out on the road, so we had to take absolutely the last camping spot available at Gooseberry Falls. It was quite pleasant and almost eerily quiet nonetheless.
At this point, it’s the weekend…. and we were lucky to secure a pet-friendly motel room (the last one!) in Grand Marais for a couple of nights so we could get the lay of the land. Grand Marais is situated at roughly the half-way point of the Minnesota North Shore, so a good home base.
Speaking of pet-friendly….. you probably noticed that Henry built a number of accommodations for Raider for this trip, including the elevated back-seat perch in the truck that allows him (Raider) to see out of all the windows. It is, unfortunately, a bit of a challenge to load…….
It might take some time, but we hope to streamline this routine…..
Emerald Isle to the Norse Lands 