The Lake District

After checking back into the Holiday Inn Express in Puerto Montt we decided to get some much needed laundry done and contacted some guy our cab driver gave us in order to book a rental car for the next three days. It was a Saturday night in Puerto Montt, but all we could handle was room service and some R&R after a long week of exhilarating riding.

The next day we picked up our rental car, which I like to call “piece of shit car” after the Adam Sandler song (Jeff you know which one I mean). No joke, this thing was falling apart. The stereo was stuck on an FM channel and the volume was stuck too. The car itself made some funky noises and I’m pretty sure if we pushed it the wheels might have fallen off.

Anyway, Tovah navigated us out of Puerto Montt and we headed for a couple of Volcanoes we could see in the distance. Winding through lakes and beautiful scenery, we took some pretty crazy dirt roads and constantly worried about our “piece of shit car”. We drove through a number of small German- influenced towns and finally decided to stop in Valdivia, which was a very pretty town with a couple of rivers. We found a pretty cool Hotel across from the river. We parked ourselves in the hotel bar and drank wine and ate cheese for dinner as we wrote the last few blog posts for Futaluefu. Pretty fun night really drinking wine overlooking the river and watching couples stroll along the bank.

The next day we headed northeast to another set of lakes and volcanoes. We stopped for lunch in Villarrica and then headed for the resort town of Pucon, which sits a few kilometers from an active Volcano. We watched a beautiful sunset before walking into town to sample a middle eastern restaurant we’d heard of (a nice change from traditional Chilean food). Found another dog that was in need of my Shish Kabob.

The next morning we chilled out in the hotel spa before heading back to Puerto Montt which was a good 5 hour drive back. Checked into “The Holiday Inn” as snoop dog would say and frantically booked our next segments of our trip to Torres Del Paine and a cruise through southern Patagonia down to Cape Horn.

6 days and 5 nights of horseback riding and estancias (Part 2 of 2)

Day 3: We woke up at Irvin’s a bit sore from sharing the tiny bed that sinks in the middle, and certainly in part from 2 long days of horseback riding. Seeing the location by daylight, however, was illuminating.  Though the small house was similar to how it looked by candlelight, the scenery around it was a pleasant surprise, as it was on hill overlooking the lake.  Once Fabian returned from a ride to the neighbors to buy some bread, the four us had breakfast, I helped Fabian remove a big splinter from his hand (thank you big tree from night before) we packed a lunch of sandwiches, and set off on a hike. Irvin led us through his enormous property and beyond. We saw a waterfall, enormous trees (including one that was hollow at the base and likely housed a wild boar, an abandoned cow corral at the top of the mountain, several streams, views of the lake and also fields of charred trees from the fire 40 years ago. It was great!

     

Later in the day, we rode onto our next location and took a shorter route than planned to ensure we would get there before dark – we had had enough evening adventures at this point.  We were also a bit desperate for running water and the promise of a real shower!  Most of the day was a basic ride, but I do remember well Raj and I galloping at full speed into a large green clearing with a river on one side that and racing each other up the gentle hills.  After a few days, we were both so much more comfortable with the speed! My hat flew off as we let the horses really go for it , and watching Raj manage as if he’d been raised a cowboy is a sight I will remember when we are old and gray! If only I had a picture for the rest of you!

Our hosts, Elena and Edermo, were incredibly sweet, and also lived on one of the most picturesque properties we have ever seen.   Not only did they have large green pastures, but they were directly at the mouth of the river with a swinging bridge (a very terrifying bridge with several holes that we had to walk our horses over one at a time the next day) and they were close enough to town to have some more modern conveniences. Fabian had promised us a shower but we were shocked to find that we actually had our very own cabin that Edermo had built himself. This gorgeous cabin had a full bathroom, kitchen, fireplace, electricity, a sleeping loft and was built around a tree giving it the sense of a luxurious tree-house.  It was also immaculately clean, which was another fabulous bonus.  The food was again fantastic and fresh and abundant and our hosts introduced us to the traditional customs of drinking Yerba Matte. They also gave us beer and wine!  We have to admit that we weren’t exactly roughing it as this place! I could easily live there without feeling deprived of anything except a refrigerator and a washing machine – it was absolutely lovely.  

Day 4:  The next day was beautiful and since we only had a 4 hour ride to the next location, we took it easy in the morning.  We enjoyed chatting with our hosts (who didn’t speak English but spoke slow enough for me to catch most of it), skipping rocks in the river, watching Edermo prune his apple and cherry trees, and playing with their dog, Corvata. It was perfect!  We also took a walk/hike to see one of the Futaleufu river’s biggest rapids – Devil’s Throat; it is actually considered impassable and from what we saw, I for one can understand why. 

When we arrived at the next home, the first thing that greeted us was an adorable 6 month old puppy and his dad. He was sort of a spazz, like Guinness ,and we instantly adored him.  We joked with his owner, Magdalena, that we wanted to take him with us – she did not approve. Magdalena and Marciel had a very nice home, also on a lake, with electricity, running water in the kitchen, and even a washing machine. Oddly, though, they did not have a bathroom, and instead utilized an outhouse. It certainly wasn’t the first place we had stayed without a toilet, but it was an odd contrast to their other amenities. Also, the outhouse was “decorated” with pictures from magazines – mainly of women’s underwear ads and product ads. It was strange for sure.

Before dinner, Fabian took us for a walk and we found an interesting boat to take out on the lake for sunset. It was a row boat/pontoon boat that looked more like a square piece from the dock.  Along the way to the dock, we also picked up another puppy, presumably the sibling of Magdalena’s. So, Fabian, Raj and I took turns rowing (mostly in teams) and we had a nice time on the very quiet water.  They had a Chilean BBQ prepared for dinner when we returned along with salad and wine.  Somehow, Raj ended up coaxing me into reading Fabian’s palm, and then Marciel and Magdalena’s as well with Fabian translating.  I was surprised at how easily it came to me after so long and they seemed slightly unnerved by the accuracy of a few things I said.

Day 5:  The next morning over breakfast we tried to teach Magdalena a bit of English, as she is trying to learn for business purposes.  We then were just chilling out and watching TV and ended up watching the movie, The Firm, while Magdalena cooked us a pack lunch to take on our journey. When we stopped a few hours later to eat at the Condor Nest (a small cabin owned by Expediciones Chile that is used for honeymoons and overflow), we found that lunch consisted of spaghetti, rolls and salad, complete with oil and vinegar and cheese and tomato sauce and real plates; Fabian must have been exhausted from carrying all of it on his backpack!

Just as it was getting dark, we arrived at our final hacienda.  Benedicto and his partner were just finishing up dinner and lighting their single gas lamp.  They were used to working with tourists and were very patient with communication – they even preferred Fabian not help so that I would be forced to practice more.  Despite being only 12 km from town, they live about 99% off their land; as far as we could tell, the only foods they purchase are rice, oil and Nescafe. They have an entire potato patch, two huge greenhouses and other gardens. They make their own butter, jams, teas, cider and vinegar. Additionally, they have cattle, chickens, pigs, rabbits, ducks, goats and sheep.  They spool their own yarn from the sheep’s wool and then make ponchos, bags, slippers, etc. to sell in town. So, during the summer months they work with tourists and during the cold winter, they hole up and weave, weave, weave. It was truly fascinating.

After dinner, Raj and Fabian had a chess rematch.  There wasn’t anything else to do after that, so Raj and I decided to check out the night sky (it had been cloudy on all the previous nights).  When we went outside, the sky took our breath away.  We could clearly see the milky way, Orion’s belt, the Big Dipper, and I suspect we could have seen any other particular star in the sky had we been looking. It was the most stars we have ever seen, no doubt about it. We were mesmerized at the reality of how many are really out there that we miss throughout our lives.

Day 6:  We woke up the next morning to the sound of ducks engaged in some form of a world war – it was ridiculously loud! We were also completely freezing and getting our first sight of the house in daylight, we understood why; there was not only zero insulation, but there were huge gaps in the walls and floorboard exposing the ground and the outdoors. We marveled at how the couple manage to survive the winters there since we were so cold and it was technically the end of summer.

After breakfast, they took us on a tour of their gardens and property.  We also got to meet their rabbits and 9 piglets!  Then Fabian took us on another hike – this one was very steep and we ended up on the river in a lovely spot. Raj and Fabian talked about movies (did I mention before that they talked about movies for the entire 6 days?) on the beach, and I explored the boulders and rocks by the water and meditated for about 20 minutes.  We finally, and reluctantly, began our journey back up the hill which required two breaks to catch our breath!

After 6 days of riding, we felt surprisingly great. Raj’s knees hurt a bit, and my butt was definitely sore, but otherwise, we had no trouble whatsoever.  About an hour before we reached town I realized that my bum was indeed sore enough that I’d like a break, so the timing couldn’t have been better. Raj and I had been fantasizing about a long hot shower at the Lodge and then curling up in bed to begin writing this blog or maybe watch a movie on our laptop, but that was not to be. After unloading at Fabian’s barn, the three of us were walking back to the Lodge and ran into everyone else staying there as they piled into a van to go to a BBQ outside of town.  We literally threw our bags behind the reception desk and piled into the van – we didn’t even have a chance to go to the bathroom or wash our hands! So, our trip ended in a field, with a bonfire roasting a lamb and a bunch of adrenalin-junkie kayakers.  At least the previous weeks of eating meat had prepared me for this style of cooking!

The next morning Fabian accompanied us on the 2 hour journey to the airport in Palena, and we said goodbye to our new friend.  We are hoping to get to see him again – perhaps in the States, as he wants to travel through soon. It is daunting to think of what we could show him that would possibly compare to all that we experienced with him!  In any case, our weeklong adventure was truly wonderful and we highly recommend such an experience to all of you.  If you can go to Chile, you have to make time for something like this – the combination of cultural immersion, beautiful scenery and exploration certainly left lasting marks on us.  We’ll be happy to return with you and repeat the experience anytime!

6 days and 5 nights of horseback riding and haciendas (Part 1 of 2)

Day 1: We woke up early in the lodge after a freezing night's sleep that was often interrupted by crazy dogs barking all night long. We had a quick breakfast and then Fabian arrived to take us to his barn to meet our horses and load up the pack horse. Fabian and his dad introduced us to La Pinta, a very cute, gray and white smaller horse, and Al Tivo, a large, brown, beautiful horse. They were concerned about giving me Al Tivo because he often scares tourists with his intense desire to run, and more importantly, his tendency to disagree about when to stop running. They offered me another horse as an option but said I'd need to wear a spur because she could be kind of slow. I opted to take my chances with Al Tivo – after all, this was supposed to be an adventure! Raj was very comfortable on La Pinta, but it took some time to get used to the snug saddle. Though we had discussed our anxieties about whether we would be able to handle the unknown terrain on new horses and with new tack, once we mounted our beautiful horses, and rode out of the town and into the foothills, we were immediately at ease and our previous anxiety was replaced with anticipation for the sights and experiences to come.

We were prepared for a long day, but were a bit surprised by how quickly we rode into difficult steep and rocky terrain, at times the narrow path was only 2-3 ft wide and on a cliff’s edge.  We rapidly learned to lean forward going uphill and to lean way back going downhill, and of course, to trust that the horses knew where to step.  It was also a pleasant surprise to see how fast the terrain changed from cliffs overlooking lakes and rivers, to meadows and fields full of sheep, horses and cattle, and then into dense forests.  We stopped after about 3 hours to enjoy our pack lunch of sandwiches, peanuts and cookies at a beautiful spot right on the lake’s edge (sorry, don’t remember which lake because we saw at least 4, but picture is attached). You can see that the color of the lake is a fantastic blue, but that the clarity is cloudy due to lingering ash from the Chaiten volcano. Fabian and I discussed my need to learn Spanish and how he became fluent in English in just 3 summer seasons of working with tourists.  We took one other break later in the day in a small field, and overall, we rode for over 6 hours. The weather was nice during the day, but about an hour or two before we arrived at the first hacienda, the weather turned colder and very windy. The wind was blowing ash straight up into our eyes and the sky turned a bit ominous.  However, we arrived in the small village of Espolon (which consisted of about 5 buildings total including church, school and store and for which the only mode of transportation is horse) around 7 pm, and another 15 minutes of riding later, as the sun set, we arrived at Irma’s home.  We no sooner unloaded the pack horse and got inside when an absolute downpour began… I mean southern summer night – you are soaked in seconds rain. We were SO lucky! 

So then began the awkward interactions between people who speak little to none of the other’s language.  Irma was extremely hospitable; she immediately indicated our bedroom and where the bathroom was. For our first night we were fortunate to have running water with a water heater and a real toilet!  And then the eating began.  As we sat in the kitchen (which is traditionally dominated by the wood burning stove serving as the only source of heat for the entire home, as well as the water heater), we watched Irma prepare a feast of newly slaughtered lamb (from their land), soup and various other vegetables and spices taken from their land, all the while enjoying her freshly made bread with homemade jams and their own honey. I can honestly say it was the best meal we had eaten in Chile – the soup in particular was ridiculous (and is traditionally the first course, yet hearty enough to be the entire meal). Fabian taught me how to compliment Irma’s meal in proper Spanish, and after dinner, Raj and Fabian played two games of chess by candlelight (Raj narrowly won both). We should mention that they have a generator for limited amounts of electricity, which they sparingly used while Irma was cooking and when we showered, but turned off otherwise. With the excitement of the first long day, we fell asleep quickly about 11 and slept soundly in our drafty room.

Day 2:  <RAJ> We woke up before Fabian and wandered out to a freshly made breakfast of tea, eggs, bread and jams (again, all from their land). Unfortunately, it was still raining and we began to prepare ourselves for a wet day of riding. We decided to go for a morning ride and then go back to Irma’s for lunch; the hope was that the weather would improve by the afternoon. After finally rounding up the horses from the vast land, we went on an exhilarating (and dry) morning ride. Tovah was on a mission to get me galloping on La Pinta. I’d trotted and cantered before but never really galloped at full speed without hugging the horse and praying for dear life. After a few pointers from Fabian on using my knees to hold on rather the the stirrups, La Pinta and Tovah’s horse, Al Tivo, took off at full gallop. I quickly understood La Pinta’s rhythm and was half scared to death and also overcome with adrenalin. Galloping was so much fun; La Pinta really wanted to run and I let her have her way. From that time forward, La Pinta and I had a better understanding. During the morning ride, we also discovered that Al Tivo was afraid of bridges – he wouldn’t cross a bridge first, but would reluctantly follow.  After the morning ride, we said goodbye to our hosts and continued our journey through the heavily wooded Espolon Valley.  The weather turned out to be beautiful and we never even got a drop of rain while on the horses! Again, SO lucky!

Our ride was supposed to be about 4 hours, but turned into a much longer day (and night) than we had planned.  During the day we came across the most spectacular view of a rustic property situated in the Espolon valley right on the Espolon Lake. Tovah was immediately obsessed with the location and when Fabian told her that it was actually for sale, she believed it was meant to be hers. She even started talking about how she wanted to live there and create benches and tables from the abandoned trees fallen from a fire 40 years ago.  The vegetation eventually thickened and we found ourselves in dense woods called The Rain Forest as the sun set quickly behind the canopy of the woods.  Tovah and I were riding ahead of Fabian and the pack horse and soon found ourselves wondering whether we had stumbled onto a cow path rather than staying on the trail we were supposed to be on.  Since the volcano last year, the part of the trail we were travelling had not been used due to the ash, and Fabian had warned us that tourists can get lost because they follow cow paths instead the proper trail. We no longer saw or heard Fabian behind us and we suddenly feared that we had become those tourists! After a few minutes of spirited debates, we agreed to turn around and try to find Fabian or a different trail.  I started yelling out Fabian’s name but received no answer and we became more and more concerned as the darkness fell on the thick woods.  Some ten minutes of backtracking later, we finally heard Fabian yelling back to us and we soon found each other and confirmed that we had indeed been on the correct path, but that the pack horse had slipped and fallen, and Fabian had stopped to re-pack all the gear. Since it was now quite dark, with no light penetrating the canopy, Fabian led us through the thin path, and reassured us that the horses saw better in the night than in the day, and certainly better than we could currently see.  With one hand on the reins, and the other protecting our heads from branches, we slowly made our way through the woods – we could not even see our hands in front of our faces, much less the trail or horse in front of us. 

All of a sudden, Fabian yelled out for us to stop and said “It’s BIG.” To which we predictably replied, “WHAT’S big?” He explained that our path was blocked by an enormous tree.  He tried to find a way around but came back and asked us to dismount.  Our only options were to leave the horses and continue the final couple of miles by foot (in the dark with our bags) or to try and jump the horses over this tree. To put this in perspective, the fallen tree was at least chest high on Tovah (approximately 5 feet high!).  Fabian first tried his horse and was surprisingly successful.  After Tovah and I climbed our way to the other side to hold his horse and wait for the others, he unloaded the pack horse and painstakingly got him over. It was NOT easy, but the horse managed with me pulling the reins and Fabian whipping him from the back. Al Tivo, magnificent animal that he is, cleared the tree easily.  Then came little La Pinta, my much smaller horse in comparison to the other horses.  She finally got her front legs on the tree with quite a bit of encouragement from Fabian, but when she attempted to jump over, she became stuck on the tree with her belly on top, her front legs in front (not touching the ground) and her back legs in back of the tree (also not reaching the ground).  She was furiously trying to run, but to no avail. Finally, with Fabian pushing her hind down so she could kick off, and with me pulling on her reins from the other side with all my might, the sweet little girl found her way over the tree (and then sadly, if not amusingly, tripped before finally finding her balance on solid ground again). She was visibly shaken from the experience which made me concerned about mounting her again.  However, she quickly calmed down and was fine.

About 20-30 minutes later we finally made it to a somewhat abandoned hacienda where our host, Irvin, had come to meet us and to cook dinner for us. He had only returned to the hacienda at Fabian’s request; he had left this home with his kids following the Chaiten volcano (further evidence of how disruptive the eruption was to the region).  There was no running water, no bathroom or outhouse, no electricity, and the place had not been cleaned in 9 months.  After our exhausting experience, the hot stove was all that mattered to us.   As Irvin cooked a simple but delicious dinner of a single pot of rice, chicken and vegetables, Tovah fell asleep on the bench next to the stove.  I struggled to keep my eyes open as our host spoke with Fabian in Spanish over the dim candlelit room.  After our yummy feast, Tovah and I were shown our bedroom (with a single twin bed that sunk in the middle) and quickly, and perhaps rudely, passed out without even saying goodnight to our host.

 

***More to come soon. we promise that Part 2 covering the rest of week will be much shorter! Sorry for the very lengthy post!***

As promised…

Sorry for the week-long teaser! It wasn't really intentional – we just ran out of time to write and also had no access to our computer or Internet all week. So, here we go...

1. Getting pulled over by la policia after drinking a bottle of wine - In Santa Cruz we drove out to a lovely dinner in a rural area at a traditional family owned restaurant. We shared a really nice bottle of Montes wine (for $13) and asked the owner/waiter to order for us (meat for raj and fish for me-although I'm eating meat on this trip, I am still ordering fish when possible). This place was a bit too much for me to handle ordering meat anyway because the lamb was cooking over an open fire about 20 ft from our table (picture attached). There is only so much a newly converted vegetarian can handle. After finishing our wine, the owner brought us our complimentary choice of traditional liqueur for dessert. Without thinking much of it, we hopped in the car to try to find our way back to our hotel. We quickly got lost and were driving through the town trying to find our way through a confusing maze of one way streets and lack of street signs. We were not drunk, but we were still pretty freaked out when we got pulled over at a road block! We played the part of the dumb Americans pretty well though and ended up asking the cops directions to our hotel before they could question us at all. Since they didn't speak any English, our tactic worked pretty well.

2. What Santa Cruz Wine Valley is like – very much like California's wine valleys – very warm, sunny, lots of hills, and a strange mix of both lush yet dry terrain. They mostly grow grapes for red wine. We were there during their first week of the harvest, so not only were there beautiful orchards all around, but they were bursting with purple grapes ripe and ready to be picked.

3. Wine tasting by horseback – Our B&B introduced us to a guy named Diego who organizes more adventurous tours of the valley (i.e. mountain biking or horseback riding). We, of course, went for the horseback riding. It ended up being six of us total – Raj, me, Diego, our gaucho, and two girls from Canada. We hoped on our horses around 10:30 am and began a ride through a mix of orchards and steep rocky hills. Our horses were amazing - a mix of the traditional Chilean Criollos and quarter horses. We rode mainly uphill for nearly two hours and then came to a small wood gate. We dismounted and left the horses with the gaucho. Diego guided us through the gate and up some stone steps and we arrived at a beautiful deck overlooking the valley. On the deck was a an old wood wine barrel with a bottle of wine and 4 glasses. This was our first wine tasting! It was so different, and unexpected, and absolutely perfect! The 4 of us shared the bottle (Diego abstained) and some conversation, and then hopped back on our horses and rode back down for another hour or so. It was getting pretty hot, so although I was bummed to say goodbye to my horse, the air-conditioned van that drove us to the next winery (and lunch) was very welcome. The rest of the day followed a more traditional wine tour itinerary. It was a very fun day.

4. GPS getting directions to Santiago airport wrong – Our drive from our hotel in Santiago to Santa Cruz took about 2.5 hours, so we were careful to budget about 4 hours to get to the Santiago airport expecting plenty of time to get lunch and return the rental car. Before we left, we downloaded directions onto my phone. Unfortunately, despite being an International airport, Google maps does not know where the Santiago airport is. We arrived at the location it said was the airport and were more than a bit uneasy to find ourselves in the middle of the city at an office building! To make a long story short(er) we asked directions from a few women on the side of the street and again from a few other drivers (again– difficult due to my pathetic excuse for Spanish) and eventually found our way to the airport just in time rather than significantly early as expected.

5. Raj giving away his burger to the needy – on our way to the Santiago airport, we stopped for lunch along the highway. As we ate outside, a stray dog wandered over to us (obviously, we continue to wear the “we are suckers” signs on our foreheads). We both started putting aside some of our lunch with the intention of giving him some scraps, but Raj decided to go a step farther and actually gave the sweet little guy about a quarter of his burger. Didn't you know that he was worse than me???

6. Charter plane to Palena – Normally to get to the Futaleufu Valley, one would take a plane to Chaiten, but last year, Chaiten was devastated when its volcano erupted. So, instead we flew in an 8 seater to Palena. The flight plan took us over the bay and we were low enough to see the salmon and trout fish farms. Then we reached mountainous terrain that appeared impossible to reach. There were pockets of lakes high in the mountains that were sapphire blue and sometimes emerald green and several glaciers as well. It was quite beautiful. There was also a lot gray due to the volcano's ash everywhere – made the glaciers a very strange color. Then, all of a sudden, we left the mountains behind and entered a valley where we landed smoothly on the single, small runway.

7. Ride to Futaleufu Valley – Our driver, Pato, picked us up at the tiny little airstrip and we began the 2+ hour journey to Futaleufu.  For the first 2 miles or so, it is a paved rode, but after that, the entire way is dirt/gravel. It was a beautiful, if bumpy drive through the valleys and along the rivers. It made me really excited to get out into the wilderness. There were also a few places where new bridges were being built – a sign of how the area is growing and that the road from Palena to Futaleufu is being used so much more now that Chaiten is no longer the first destination.

8. “The Lodge” in the Valley – We arrived around 1:30pm just in time for lunch that is served family style there. I had somewhat high expectations of this place for some reason. I had done the research on this portion of the trip and had the impression that the lodge would be cushy and comfortable and that part of us would not want to be leaving to stay in haciendas and such. However, the lodge was actually more like a hostel with private rooms.  Not the cleanest place I’ve ever stayed and although the staff seemed nice, they weren’t the most helpful we’ve experienced either. It wasn’t until around 5pm that Saturday that we finally found out our itinerary for week when Chris Spellius (owner and former Olympic kayaker) knocked on our door. He came in with Fabian (our fearless guide) and explained that Raj and iI were the only people going on the trip and that they had created a special program for us and that we would be leaving Sunday morning and coming back Friday evening (rather than Monday to Thursday). Also, our first day riding would be the longest – 8 hours!  His main question for us was “Can you handle it???” to which we replied “Sure” even though we had know idea still what exactly we were going to have to handle.

9. Why Tovah is no longer interested in Kayaking – That night at the lodge we learned that everyone else staying there was there to kayak the “Fu” with Chris. The ONLY thing they talked about all night was kayaking. They took turns telling personal stories or horror stories they had heard. They talked about rolling and as far as I was concerned, used so many kayak specific terms that they might as well have been speaking another language. In any case, I realized that I am not crazy enough to attempt the stuff they were talking about and that if I ever get in a kayak again, it will only be a sea kayak. No rapids for me!

10. Our 5 day tour through the mountains that have not been ridden this season (due to volcano eruptions that wiped out a town last year) and staying at haciendas with locals who were notified today via radio that we’d be dropping by.) Okay, forgive us, but we can’t possible update you on the past week in this posting – there is simply too much and it really deserves its own section with lots of pictures. For now, let me just tell you that it was absolutely fantastic, that I have every intention of repeating it several times over the years and I highly recommend it to every one!

10 Things we will tell you about next weekend (after we get back from #10)

1. Getting pulled over by la policia after drinking a bottle of wine

2. What Santa Cruz Wine Valley is like

3. Wine tasting by horseback

4. GPS getting directions to Santiago airport wrong

5. Raj giving away his burger to the needy

6. Charter plane to Palena

7. Ride to Futaleufu Valley

8. “The Lodge” in the Valley

9. Why Tovah is no longer interested in Kayaking

10. Our 5 day tour through the mountains that have not been ridden this season (due to volcano eruptions that wiped out a town last year) and staying at haciendas with locals who were notified today via radio that we’d be dropping by.

Riding Horses through vineyards. What could be better?

Unfortunately this is a quick post as it's 2am in Peuto Monte, Chile and we have a 8am charter flight to Futaleufú Vally for a week of riding. more to come on the next post in about a week.

Anyway the last few days in Santa Cruz have been amazing. From jumping into a rental car and finding our way down to what I'd like to call the James bond on wineries (Casa Lapostolle's Clos Apalta), to riding through vineyards experiencing the beauty of the back country on amazing strong horses.

I wish I could write more, but you'll have to wait a week for the details. Oh got stopped by the policia two nights ago, but luckily they where cool:-)

Click here for all the latest photos...

Have we really only been here 36 hours???

That is what I asked Raj about 10 minutes ago as we sat by the pool enjoying recounting everything that we have already experienced...

So, our flight arrived in Santiago, Chile yesterday (March 10th) at 6:30 AM. We easily got through customs/immigration and hired a taxi to take us to our hotel. As you can imagine, the hotel wouldn't allow us to check in at 7:30 am, but they were very nice and were willing to hold onto our bags so we could explore for a bit. So, without the opportunity to change or freshen up from our 16 hour journey and red-eye flight, we set out to see what Santiago had to offer. Fortunately, our hotel was centrally located and we easily stumbled toward the most obvious of Santiago's tourist destinations, Parque Metropolitano. Since we arrived there before 9 am, and the Funicula (a tram that takes you up/down the steep hill) didn't open until 10 am, we ventured out on the one hour hike up the very steep hill (I was not wearing the appropriate shoes or attire for this, and poor Raj was still carrying his heavy backpack with our Netbook and everything else he had carried onto the plane). The beginning of the path was not clearly marked and we initially took a wrong turn. During this short walk going the wrong way, we were enthusiastically greeted by two stray dogs, who seemed insistent upon escorting wherever we went. One of them, stayed by our side when we realized we needed to back track. This sweet little girl (picture attached) guided us all the way to the top of the hill, and an hour later, plopped down beside us at the steps of the statue and took a little nap as we sat, rested and took in the view. We named her Mira (because she was so excited to be showing us “her hill” and seemed to constantly be saying “look!”). She stayed by our side until we took the Funicula down the hill (my feet were starting to blister in my inappropriate shoes and couldn't bear to walk back down). We wandered back toward our hotel around 11:30 am, and were very lucky and relieved to find that they had a room ready for us (3 hours early!). So, we took much needed showers and a very nice long nap until about 4pm. We woke up hungry but unwilling to eat a large meal because we wanted to explore the nightlife. So, we strolled down the street in the opposite direction as in the morning and quickly came across a little cafe. Our waitress did not speak any English, and my Spanish is very limited (generous), but she was incredibly patient and we eventually ended up with an interesting and yummy sandwich to share and two beers.

A few hours later we walked to the Buena Vista district (known to be more Bohemian and young and randomly chose a lovely restaurant for our first dinner. By now it was after 10 pm, as we had read that the nightlife doesn't begin until around 9:30. However, we found that the nightlife consisted of drinking on patios and the restaurant was actually empty except for 2 other tables. We had two waiters, but neither spoke any English. They were slightly less patient with our lack of Spanish than the waitress earlier, but mostly nice and our food and bottle of wine was not only delicious, but cheap! It was definitely worth suffering through awkward ordering!

First impressions of Santiago: an energetic city, very pedestrian friendly (sidewalks were wider than the street), friendly and helpful people, clean roads, but surprisingly bad air pollution, stray dogs everywhere, but seemingly well fed. Second impression: not enough going on to stay more than one night.

We had only reserved one night in the hotel in Santiago, but we have a flight out of Santiago to Puerto Montt on Friday, so we decided to take a couple of days to explore the Chilean wine country. Although there are a few wineries that can be visited as day trips, we wanted to get a bit farther away from the typical tourist locations. We got a solid suggestion to check out the Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley. So, this morning I called a B&B highly recommended on TripAdvisor and booked us 2 nights. Then the fun began because Santa Cruz is about 3 hours south of Santiago. Short notice transportation was a very expensive option, so the hotel assisted us in renting a car (they brought it right to our hotel). Now, for those of you who know the story about my parents driving through England, I have to say that for the first 20 minutes of our road adventure, I imagined titling this blog, “Bloody hell, give way!!!” But honestly, once we found our way to the main highway, the drive was incredibly pleasant and was a great opportunity to see more of the Chilean lifestyle and scenery as we drove through tiny towns and through valleys, corn fields and wine orchards. We arrived at our 6 bedroom B&B much earlier than we expected and were greeted by a helpful staff who immediately made us a reservation at a nearby winery called Lapostolle (voted Best Winery in the World by Wine Spectator Magazine last year). We really enjoyed the tour of the modern facilities and the detailed information about their production (like they are the only winery in Chile to hand separate the grape from the vine, and the owner lives in France and also owns Grand Marnier – she only visits here about 4 times a year). The wines we tried were good but not good enough for to buy any and lug around... or even to drink tonight really – we'd prefer to sample something new. As soon as we got back to the hotel, we rested by the pool in the sun and shared a sandwich as we realized we had missed lunch altogether...again. We also arranged for tomorrow's adventure, which will include a full day of wine tours (3 wineries) and wine tasting, but with a twist – we get to do almost all of it on horseback! Woohoo! Apparently, not too many visitors are brave enough for this so we don't have any feedback on what to expect – we'll get back with you on that. The guide was very pleased to learn we have horseback riding boots with us though. And we are happy to have another day to use them so that hopefully we won't resent the extra weight they add to our bags :(

Anyway, we are having so much fun already. We've had a perfect balance of exploring, relaxing and adventure. We feel like time is moving very slowly for now; it feels like we have been here several days. It is very hard to believe we have been here only one night! We will try to post another update on Friday because we leave for our week-long horseback trip in Patagonia on Saturday and won't be posting anything until we get back.
Salud!

ATL Goodbye Bash

My bags are packed, everything on my to-do-list is pretty much done, and I'm ready to get the hell out of here. Our flight leaves Monday at 2pm. We fly to Miami and then to Santiago, Chile. Arrive really early Tuesday morning (6am) so that should be interesting.

Thanks for everyone coming out to The Warren Saturday night. I'm still suffering from a hangover. Pretty sure that's due to martini's, Irish car bombs, lemon drops, and a shit load of Stella's. Here is a link to all the photos and the evidence.





We'll miss everyone, our house, and our three dogs (thanks again Dee, Joel, Leon and Edward for looking after them).

Yes we are leaving for a 4 month world tour

We are less than a week away for an adventure of a lifetime and I can't wait. For some of you this trip might be a little bit of a surprise, so perhaps let me provide a quick background on how we got here.

As some of you know Spunlogic got acquired by Halyard Capital in March 2008. The Agency was renamed Engauge and I remained with the agency based out of Atlanta. I approached my executive team with a request to take a 4 month Sabbatical a few months ago and was lucky enough to get my request approved. I have to thank the executive team and all my fellow colleagues at the agency for this opportunity. A number of you have worked hard during my role-off transition to take on my duties. Thank you!

So back to the 4 month world trip. As my first post I'll leave you with an image of the world map and our route (above). The countries we'll be visiting are Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Tibet, Mainland China, Japan, Thailand, England, and back to Atlanta.

Make sure you follow our blog as we travel around the world in less than 4 months:-)

3 Questions...

There have been exactly 3 responses I have received from people upon them hearing about our trip: 1. "Wow, FOUR MONTHS?" 2. "Where are you going? and 3. "How do you pack for four months?" So, let's get this over with once and for all :)

Yes, four entire months! We can't believe it either. If you are interested in how this came about, check out Raj's entry.

We have a mostly loose itinerary. We are starting with spending about 3 weeks in Chile including Santiago, horseback riding in Patagonia, and trekking in the Torres del Paine National Forest. Then we will spend about 10 days in Argenina including Ushuaia (southern most city in the world), Buenos Aires, Iguaza Falls, and hopefully some their wineries. Then we hop over to New Zealand where we will rent a car and drive through both islands for 27 days. After NZ, we go to Hong Kong, China and Tibet for a total of 30 days; we are working with a tour agency to help us with this portion of the trip so it is the only part that is set more or less in stone. Then, our current plan is to spend about a week in Japan, a week in Thailand, and finally, a week in London to see Raj's family (timing works out to celebrate Maha's 16th birthday AND help her get dressed for her prom! We return the 1st or 2nd of July - Raj returns to work on the 6th!

While still partly in disbelief that I will actually be gone for four months, I am currently going through a dizzying whirlwind trying to pack for not only the length of time, but also the likelihood that we will experience all four seasons as well as city travel, trekking, horseback riding and light camping!

I recognize that there is really no way to be totally prepared and perfectly packed for this trip. I also realize that I will likely be able to find 99% of what I might need and can make due with or without anything in particular. Yet, I find myself running errand after errand, shopping online, reading reviews, making returns, breaking in new hiking boots, trying on new clothes/raincoat, packing up my bag to make sure stuff fits and is lightweight enough. And then when I'm not doing any of these things, I am still thinking about whether I got the right bag, what is currently in my bag and what could be taken out to lighten the load and what I might want to bring instead. Constantly. All day. Either in my head, or in actualilty, I am packing. So, to answer the question officially, I have no freaking clue how to pack for four months!!!

Surely, once I'm actually on this trip, I will have much more interesting posts than this regarding packing...