Patagonia: 3 Day Slow-trek on the Antonio Varas Peninsula

Let the Adventure Begin!

Hola amigos! So this week was a big one! On Monday, Will, Will's dad and uncle, and I headed south to spend the week in Patagonia. Sadly George had to stay in Santiago to physically hand in some financial paperwork for Start-up Chile. Definitely a bummer because he would have loved the cool weather!

On Monday we took the 8 am flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas and then caught a bus to Puerto Natales. Punta Arenas is actually the second southernmost city in the world, and it is the largest city south of the 46th parallel south. We finally arrived in Puerto Natales around 6:30 pm (long travel day!) and met with the crew from AoniTem for a brief orientation. With an idea about what to expect, we made our way to Mesita Grande for some amazing pizza and beer, picked up some rental gear, and then settled in to sort and repack gear. With a 5:30 am wake up time that morning, a long day of travel, and a 5:30 wake up time the next morning, you'd think I would have crashed early, but being too excited to sleep kept me up until after 11!

Day 1: Hike along the coast to the base of Cerro Ballena 

Let the day begin!

Tuesday morning we met at Hostal Coloane and then walked to the ferry. As we crossed the Última Esperanza Sound (Last Hope Sound) the sky cleared and the sun started to rise. By the time we landed on the other side, we were greeted with the view above on one side, and a rainbow in the other direction. Hard to think of a better way to start the day's hike! The hike was along the coast through private estancias (ranches). It rained on and off in the morning, but the temperature was perfect for a day of hiking.
 

Here and there we had to clamber over fences. I'd like to think I was graceful about it, but we know that's not true!

Will hiking along. A very nice sense of the serenity.

We hiked for a few hours and then stopped for a snack around 9:30. Even though it was only 9:30, it was very tempting to eat lunch! I managed to snap the first picture below while we were stopped. It's a calafate plant that has been killed by the greenish lichen that you can see in the background. Our guide told me the lichen is called barba de abuelo (grandfather's beard) or barba de viejo (old man's beard). Calafate, or Magellan Barberry, is a plant that produces edible blue-black berries. Legend says that if you eat a calafate berry, you are sure to return to Patagonia. Luckily they were everywhere, and I was able to try some! I definitely hope to go back one day!

Dead, but still lovely!

We stopped at some point around noon for lunch and then continued our walk along the coast. Below you can see the trail that we followed on and off during the day. Now that is a road for a 4x4!

Hiking along the coast after lunch.

By late afternoon or early evening we made it to the campsite at the base of Cerro Ballena. I was happy to put my bag down, and enjoy the views! We were very spoiled at this campsite; not only was there a dome (second photo) that we hung out and ate dinner in, but there was also a bathroom! A real toilet and sink was definitely a luxury for us the first night!

Campamento!

Snacks in the dome! So the pickles and onions were just pickled in plain vinegar for at least 3 months. Very sour with a kick and way better than sweet pickles in my book!

After some snacks (or maybe before?), we went in search of owls! There are 3-4 owls that live around the copse of trees in which we camped. Sure enough, after just a few minutes we found one! We ended up seeing four of them during our time in that camp. They were neat to watch. Aside from owl-watching, we were happy to sit on the hillside and enjoy the views! The sun was out and the weather was perfect!

Owls! Specifically the Magellanic Horned Owl. Lovely!

Resting on a hill near the campsite, taking in views and watching the sheep.

I may have mentioned it before, but Chileans tend to eat dinner later than we do in the US. We gathered in the dome for some seafood soup, spaghetti, pisco sours, and some fruit for dessert. When I was handed my portion of spaghetti, I thought there was no way I'd be able to eat it all, but I had surprisingly little trouble after the activity of the day! The guys went to bed around 10 or 11, but I stayed up with the rest of the group. Again, you would have thought exhaustion would win, but just hanging out listening to the mix of spanish and english was very pleasant! Eventually though, I turned in!

Day 2: Cerro Ballena

When we discussed the trek at orientation, the original plan for day two was to get up and watch the sunrise. Well.... I'm certain it was lovely! I did wake up for 8 am breakfast! Both mornings we were treated to egg, ham, and cheese sandwiches, and they completely hit the spot! After food, we had a bit of time to enjoy the area before packing up and getting ready to head up Cerro Ballena. We were originally supposed to leave around 10:30, but I think it was 11:30 before we actually started to climb up the hill.

A picture from the hike up Cerro Ballena

Even though it was a day of heading up, up, up, then back down, down, down, the views are always better the higher up you get! It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! One awesome thing about this trek is that we did not encounter any other people, besides one or two of the estancia owners (dueños) on horseback. And the only trails we followed were from the horses, cattle, or other animals. Very cool, though admittedly tough at times! After 2 or so hours, we were at the top of Cerro Ballena, and we were very happy to eat some lunch!

At the top of Cerro Ballena (Whale Hill)

Our guide, Leo, looking for Condors

¡Cara a cara con los cóndores! Face to face with Condors! They can have a wingspan up to 3 m (yes as in nearly 10 feet)!

We saw many condors and eagles on the climb up Cerro Ballena and at the top! A funny thing, we hiked up 800 m to get to the top of Cerro Ballena. For reference, the hike to the top of Mount Sentinel is about 600 m. So, while Cerro Ballena may just be considered a hill (cerro), not a mountain (montaña), it sure felt like one! I suppose it's all about perspective, and with Torres Del Paine in the distance, Cerro Ballena is just a hill! After our lunch and pictures break, we began the hike back down the other side to our second camp by the laguna.

From the top of Cerro Ballena

Pretty. Fun fact, that thing in the distance? Also a hill, LOL. It is the Moore Monument Hill and has a height of 1580 meters (5180 ft).

Pretty steep down at times... rolling down seemed like it might be fun, but I avoided doing so!

The hike down the mountain went well, but as soon as we hit the flat land, I think we were all craning our necks for a view of the campsite; however, the fun was just beginning! We actually still had about an hour and a half of hiking to do once we were at the bottom of Cerro Ballena, and it felt like a good portion of it was mud! I was lent some trekking poles for the trip, and until that point, I hadn't relied on them much, but man oh man was I glad to have them! I don't know if the area is always muddy, or if it was just that the two days before we arrived had been rainier than usual, but if you weren't very careful (and even if you were), you could end up knee high in very sticky mud! I managed to avoid it on the way to the campsite, but I was not so lucky the next day when we had to trek back! No shoes were lost though, and I had a good laugh about it!

After getting past the mud, we made our way into a beautiful old growth forest. It was tranquil and cool after a day spent in the sun. By the time I made it to camp, Jamie, who went around Cerro Ballena to set up camp, had the fire going and tents all set. I got my sleeping area set up, then settled onto a log near the fire for some hot tea. The rest of the group filtered into camp and we all sat around the fire and watched dinner being prepared. Dinner was choripan, avocado/veggie burritos, chicken, and some wine. Easily the best meal I can recall eating while camping! We stayed around the fire late, enjoying conversation, viewing the stars, and just relaxing! No light pollution made for some beautiful sky views! It reminded me how badly I need a tripod!

Chicken and chorizo!

Perfection.

Day 3: Hike back around Cerro Ballena and towards the ferry

On Thursday I was up and moving earlier than I had managed on day two. We had breakfast, packed up camp, and returned in the direction that we had arrived from the day before. As I mentioned, I wasn't quite so lucky with the mud on day three, but since it was the last day, it wasn't trouble at all! It was another sunny, beautiful day, and the trip back around Cerro Ballena was lovely! When we arrived back at the base camp from the first night, we were treated to a brief tour of the estancia by Ricardo, the owner (dueño). This was very special because we were the first of AoniTem's tour groups to have this opportunity! Ricardo showed us where they shear the sheep and talked about some of the details of the estancia. The estancia can support up to 4000 sheep, but because there are currently so many rabbits, there are only about 1000 sheep (they compete for food!). However, nature is wonderfully self correcting sometimes; Ricardo mentioned that the large number of rabbits is leading to an increase in the eagles in the area!

At the estancia

After the tour, as many of the group piled into Juan's jeep as would fit, but Leo, Jamie, Steffi and I opted to continue walking towards the ferry. I was pretty beat, but the day was beautiful, it was only 2 or so in the afternoon, and the walk sounded more pleasant that trying to put four people in a space for three! Not to mention, if you remember the "road", it was not going to be a smooth ride! We got to send our packs with the jeep, so it was the first time in a few days that I could walk unburdened and just enjoy the views! There is nothing quite like beautiful views to keep a person going! We saw eagles (aguilas), caracara (caranchos), condors (cóndores), woodpeckers (carpinteritos), ducks (patos), parakeets (cachaña), flamingos (flamencos) and others that I'm sure I've forgotten!

These beauties played "ghost" with us. When we turned our backs, they snuck closer! I really wanted to go greet them, but caution won out.

A Carancho!

I believe these guys are Austral Parakeets. They reminded me of my grandma's bird Georgie!

Leo and Jamie leading the way! Leo was our guide, Jaime hauled the tents and extra gear (his pack was almost bigger than me), and they both cooked meals. They were both awesome and really made the trip the great experience that it was!

Chilean Flamingo

In the jeep on the ferry heading back. After Juan dropped the first group at the ferry, he came back for the rest of us. It was a few extra hours of walking, but well worth it!

Juan dropped me at my hostel around 6:30 pm and I had time to shower (best EVER), get some groceries for the next day (more on that later), and sort out my stuff before returning to Hostal Coloane for an asado (bbq) to close out the trek. Good beer, great food, and great people! We all exchanged pictures, discussed our favorite parts of the trek, and at midnight (I'm not kidding about Chileans eating and staying up late!) I received a real surprise! Steffi came in with a pound cake with a candle and everyone sang me happy birthday! It was so very thoughtful, and it definitely made for the start of a birthday I will never forget! I made it back to my hostel sometime thereafter, and got a few things together for the morning.

I want to take a minute to say how amazing the AoniTem team was! Leo, Jaime, Betsy, Steffi, and Juan all helped to create a truly awesome trip. The whole thing was fun, fascinating, and really just perfect in my book! It was so cool getting to spend time with such a great group of people in such an unbelievable place. I really am so grateful! I feel like this trip re-invigorated the travel bug in me and really gave me much more confidence about the spanish I am learning! Some days I feel that I haven't made any progress, but I really have learned more than I realize! I'm also glad that Will, Will's dad and uncle invited me along on the trip! I can't imagine having missed it! And to Missy and George, don't you worry, we'll do our best to head back down there some day!

So, the next adventure? I spent my birthday (Friday the 13th!) doing a day long bus tour in Torres del Paine National Park. But that will have to wait for the next post! Chao!