Happy 2021!!!! And a few bits and pieces of our 2020

The year that is going to be remembered for the Covid-19 Pandemic has come to an end, and although we have been trying to make the best of a difficult situation, it was clearly not the time for epic treks, travel and other adventures. Which explains why our blog has been semi-abandoned of late, though a little update is now in order.

Niebla, the sweet and fierce street dog

Niebla made it to our lives in January 2017. She was a beautiful mixed-breed dog, similar in appearance to a large black German Shepherd. She had lived many years as a street dog in the University of Chile campus in La Florida in the South of Santiago, and it showed. Many students there knew her as Guaily for her big size. We were told that in her old age she befriended, and used to follow around, the gardener of the campus while he was carrying out his daily tasks. However, that year, when the students left for the summer holidays, she fell into a depression and she was advertised as a dog that needed re-homing (and who probably would not live longer than a few months). Thank you to A4 U Chile for their incredible work looking after and re-homing these animals.

Mid-winter update

Back in January, when we wrote our last blog post, we knew that 2020 would have the potential to become quite a ...restless... year. Everyone expected a rekindling of the social protests in Chile in March, as soon as southern summer holiday season ended, and emotions running high in the run-up (and beyond) of the Constitutional Referendum, which was originally scheduled for late April. Little did we know back then what course the year would take...

La Ruta de los Jesuitas / Paso de los Vuriloches

A few years back, while on holidays in the Los Lagos Region in the South of Chile, we heard of a trek called "La Ruta de los Jesuitas". It follows one of the historic trading and missionary routes that connects Argentina across the Andes with Chile, via a pass with the name Vuriloche. Start and end points are the hamlets of Pampa Linda (Argentina) and Ralún (Chile).

Spring in Pucón: sendero cinco cascadas, Rucapillan volcano, termas & hydrospeed

Since October we have been living near Pucón, some 650km south of Santiago, which is one of the main tourist hubs in south-central Chile, known for its snow-capped volcanoes, temperate rain forests, beautiful lakes and hot-springs. Its picture-postcard-highlight is Rucapillan (which in the language of the Mapuche means "the house of the Spirit"), more commonly known as the Villarrica volcano.

The Protests in Chile

We have not written much since the total solar eclipse, however, we have been doing a fair bit of travelling and activities. It is overdue to do a post on how the social protests have developed and what is our experiences in Chile about the political situation recently.

Total Solar Eclipse, 2nd July 2019

In all these years since we started writing this blog we have had the privilege to enjoy countless incredible moments amidst breath-taking landscapes and natural beauty, travelling around Chile and beyond. And still we find ourselves knocked off our feet every now and then by yet another new remarkable experience: this year’s total solar eclipse definitely falls into this category.

Autumn in Malalcahuello - hot springs & snow

Autumn has arrived in Malalcahuello, the temperatures have dropped and a fresh layer snow has descended on the nearby volcano cones. During the month of May we woke up many mornings to frost and even a little snow on the ground near our dome shaped cabin. Lucky that for Chilean standards it is well insulated and relatively easy to keep at a comfortable temperature, at least compared to the house we used to rent in Santiago.

Volcán Lonquimay

One of our first proper outings, about a week after we arrived in Malalcahuello, was dedicated to climbing Volcán Lonquimay, whose majestic cone we can see from our cabin on a clear day.

Our Malalcahuello retreat

In case you have recently been following our blog a little bit you may have noticed a flurry of activity, which is for a reason. Towards the end of 2018 we have come to realize that we needed a proper break from corporate life (Patricia) and life in the big city (Christian), and our road trip to Peninsula Valdes in March with our friend Sandra was the first stage of that. On the very last leg of that trip, back on the Chilean side of the border, a day's drive south of Santiago, we spent the final couple of nights in a little village called Malalcahuello. We liked it so much that after our return to Santiago we emptied our house, boxed up or sold our belongings and decided to come back to Malalacahuello to make it our new base for the next couple of months.

Peninsula Valdes (Chubut, AR)

We finally made our way to Peninsula Valdés (for travelers, worth reminding "do not underestimate how far this place is from Buenos Aires, Bariloche or Punta Arenas"). Most travelers visit the Peninsula for its biodiversity.

Los Alerces National Park (Chubut, AR)

From Bariloche (see our previous blog post), we were heading to Peninsula Valdés on the Atlantic coast of Argentina, a road trip of around 1000km. Not being very fond of spending that much time in one go in our little Polo we decided to stopover in Esquel, a small town located 4 hours' drive south of Bariloche, in order to spend an extra day visiting the nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Park called "Los Alerces".

Refugio Frey Loop in Nahuel Huapi National Park (Barlioche, AR)

It feels like we have always neglected Bariloche a bit, or at least never have quite gotten around to properly sample some of its fine outdoor activity potential. After all, it’s one of Argentina’s top hiking and skiing destinations. We’ve been passing through several times over the years, and last year we even managed to squeeze in a very pleasant half-day walk to the Cerro Llao Llao viewpoint on our way back to Santiago from Central Patagonia. Back then we decided we needed to return for a more decent hike one day and in early March finally we managed to do exactly that.

Melimoyu

Patagonia continues to be a fascinating travel destination for us where we would definitely like to spend much more time than we have had the opportunity to do so thus far. At the end of February, we managed to get to know a new part of it, and that trip turned into a bit of an epic because… well, it’s Patagonia and things don’t always work out as planned.

Parque Pumalín

The end of the year is usually travelling-to-the-South time for us and this year we went to Parque Pumalín in northern Patagonia for a few days of hiking, camping and relaxing. To get there you have to make your way to Puerto Montt (we went by overnight bus), and then follow the  Carretera Austral (again by bus) to the village Hornopirén, from where a 4h ferry connects to the continuation of the Carretera Austral on the other side of the Comao and Reñihué Fjords. In other words, a bit of an epic to get there in the first place, i.e. right up our alley q-;

Medellín

A few weeks ago, we made use of another opportunity to travel to Colombia, when a conference which Patricia was invited to speak at coincided with the Fiestas Patrias National Holiday in Chile. This meant that the country pretty much shut down for a whole week, which made it easier to escape form our work commitments for a few extra days.

The Cordillera Blanca, Peru (part 2)

Once we were back from our Santa Cruz Trek, we had a few days left in Huaraz, which we spent recovering/relaxing in town and going on a couple of day-trips: 

The Cordillera Blanca, Peru (part 1)

Travelling back from Bogotá, where Patricia had attended a conference recently, we made a stop-over in Peru instead of heading back directly to Santiago. For a while now, we've been wanting to visit the Cordillera Blanca, last year we nearly made it… but then Patricia started a new job and the plans were shelved.

Bogotá

Patricia had to go to a conference in Bogotá recently, and since we hadn´t been there before we decided to travel together and spend a couple of extra days to explore the city. Colombia is quite a way from Chile (i.e. a 6 hour flight), so after all these years in South America it was only our second brief visit to this beautiful and diverse country.

Fiery drinks and snowy peaks

The southern winter has caught up with us again and, just like in previous years, the mountains around Santiago have had their first coat of fresh snow at the end of May, while down here in the city we finally received some badly needed rain.