Navimag to Puerto Natales

From Chiloe Josh, Dusty and I took a bus back off the island of Chiloe to Puerto Montt. Before leaving Santiago an employee of Casa Roja, the hostel we had stayed at helped us arrange the Navimag boat ride from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. We chose to take the ship rather than bus because it traveled through the various fjords that make up the west coast of Chilean Patagonia. We heard also that there was the possibility of sighting whales.
The ride was delayed a bit due to bad weather that caused it to arrive late into Puerto Montt. We finally were able to board the boat at about 11pm. We all hurried on with our huge bags excited for the adventure ahead of us. Dusty, Josh and I hauled our luggage up the steps and were pleasantly surprised with the sleeping situation of the dorm rooms. Each room contained 4 beds with a locker and a reading lamp. The three of us shared one small dorm with a Chilean fellow that was on his 3rd or 4th pass on the Navimag.
We headed up to the top deck just before midnight to toast the trip off with some boxed wine in our camping squishy cups. On the top deck there was a bar with a decent sized lounge room and 3 or 4 card tables. The bathrooms even smelled clean in the place. Everything was looking good.
We were on the boat for a total of 4 days and 3 nights. We ate 3 very good meals each day and slept well every night, including naps. Day one the weather was lovely and the scenery increased in beauty as we pushed on further south. We heard that the section of the trip in which we head into open water can be very rough. Thus I stocked up on seasickness medication prior to the trip. 2 am on the second night we broke into those open waters. Josh and Dusty slept soundly, snoring included but the rocking woke me. I took a pill and headed to the door to check out the action. From my bed I could hear the waves crashing up on the deck, from the window on the door I verified that waves were definitely crashing aboard. We swayed from side to side for awhile, and then I fell into a Dramamine sleep. By the time everyone arose for breakfast the sea had settled down. Dusty was disappointed at the lack of swaying, the rest of us were relieved.
During a nap I missed the back of a whale, the boys saw. Josh was kind enough to say that I didn't miss much. We saw a few dolphins and some happy sea-lions playing in the water as well.
Other that that, the ride was fairly uneventful, very relaxing- probably the closest we'll ever come to a cruz.

Chiloe

From Santiago we took a night bus south to Puerto Montt. From there we immediately got on a bus to the town of Castro, the capital of the island of Chiloe. We found a little place to stay, a bit overpriced for the lack of space and cleanliness. Dusty, Josh's buddy from college (the first years) has rejoined us for Patagonia. The three of us went to a schoperia- place that sells draft beer, and had hotdogs and beer for lunch in celebration of entering patagonia.
The island is famous for it's houses on stilts- palafitos, pictured here. We didn't actually see quite as many as I was expecting, but they still looked neat. The next couple of days we spent taking mini-buses around the island looking at the wooden churches.

Back to Santiago

We took a night bus back to Santiago with the girls. We had one more night booked at Casa Roja before Katie and Abby were to fly back to Grand Rapids. We spent the day hanging by the pool. Abby developed a bad case of bed-bugs so called it an early night while Katie, Josh and I toasted off the night with some nice Chilean wine. Our last day, Katie and I went shopping for a few things in the city and later, Abby Josh and I got some hot dogs for dinner. Josh loves the completo- hotdog smothered in avocado. Josh and I departed for the bus station and shortly thereafter the girls got a cab to the airport. It was awesome to have some friends to share the vacation with.

Punto Chorros

From the tourist office in La Serena we were given the number of a company that would provide transfers to Punto Choros. Punto Choros is a beach located 1.5 hours from La Serena where a small colony of Humboldt penguins reside. Josh made the phone call and arranged the transfer for the four of us.
We were picked up in the morning and made it to Punto Choros by early afternoon. We checked into a lovely Cabana (Amarilis Cabanas) owned by a charming Chilean couple. Shortly thereafter we headed to the dock to check on Penguin tours. We were able to get on a tour quickly. We ordered shrimp and cheese empanadas for lunch, bought some bottled water and boarded the boat.
The tour lasted about four hours. We saw a variety of birds native to the area before arriving to the island. Curious dolphins jumped along side the boat. We visited two islands, Isla Damas and Isla Choros. We didn't see a huge number of penguins but the 20 or so that we saw were on the first island that was restricted from landing on. An enormous colony of Sea Lions was the highlight of the trip for me. They played in the water together, slipping off the rock and jumping back up. The shear number of them was astounding.
After the tour we made some pasta, taught the girls cribbage and shared some wine in the cabana. The next two days we spent relaxing on the beach, playing cards in the cabana and eating tasty cheese & seafood empanadas. Josh, Katie and I rented kayaks for a few hours on one sunny morning. Katie and I were a bit nervous to try sea-kayaking, but it went well and we had a great time.

La Serena

We headed north 7 hours to the city of La Serena. For some reason our reservation at Maria's Casa was forgotten so we had an adventure finding a spot to sleep. The owner of Maria's Casa was overly helpful and did in the end find us a place to stay. We went through a few streets and checked about 5 diff locations that were all booked due to summer travelers. Finally we arrived at an accepting location. We were all a bit unsure about this place as there wasn't a sign on the door, in fact the door was actually just a cut out in the brown wooden wall. Surprisingly enough behind the door was a very sweet woman with an equally sweet pooch named Freida. We settled into two separate rooms, Josh and I in one, Katie and Abby in the other.
Time for some eats and maybe a couple drinks...
We found this bar, I think it was empty, maybe a couple of guys in the back when we arrived, but we had to problem making it a happening place. Abby's favorite-margaritas were 2 for 1. We put back a few and a few more, had a great time taking pics and singing along to the 80's music video's. Katie and I were sure we could handle a few more and make our way back to the brown door. Thank you Josh and Abby for pulling us out!
Unfortunately the walk home had a few stumbles. Katie's flip-flops were not helping with the moving sidewalk. On one particular corner the road claimed some pieces of two of Katie's pearly whites.
We made it back. However, as reported by Abby, Katie did not have a restful night. At one point she fell out of bed and suffered from a probable concussion.
Ugg...sorry Katie.
Yet Katie was resilient. She made some phone calls and squared away a dentist appointment upon her return and was back to enjoying the vacation.

Valparaiso and Vina del Mar

After a night in Santiago we caught an afternoon bus 2 hours away to Chile's largest Port city of Valparaiso. Immediately we all loved the quirky and artsy vibe of Valpo. We walked checked into Hostel Caracoal and took a walk about town, stopping at a nice seafood diner for lunch. The rest of our time in valpo was just spent walking up and down the impossibly steep hills taking photos and enjoying the colorful buildings, tiled lampposts, and funky graffiti.
We spent 3 nights in Valpo, on one of these days Abby, Katie and I took the bus just 15/20 minutes to beach town of Vina del Mar. We enjoyed the afternoon laying on the sand. The water was icy cold, and the wind was a bit brisk for a beach day. But the girls coming from snow, soaked up the sun. I think we all got a little red that afternoon.
The next day Abby took the opportunity to catch more rays in Vina while Katie, Josh and I toured Valpo a bit more. We rode up the hill in the mechanical lift system on tracks that they call the 'ascensor'. Katie led our camera to some interesting graffiti, afterwords we ended the night at the tasty El Mastadon restaurant.

Esperando mis amigas

For the 24 hour bus ride from Iquique to Santiago we splurged on the supreme bus with seats that extended completely flat like a bed. The ride went suprisingly quickly, I slept through most of it. We arrived in Santiago the night before my friends from work, Abby and Katie were to arrive.
We made reservations at Casa Roja, a beautifully restored mansion in the area of Satiago called Bario Brasil. I immediately loved the place. The building seemed enormous with ceilings looming at least 20feet high. Out back there was plenty of space to relax including an enticing pool for the warm days.
The next morning we rushed off to the airport to get the girls. Their flight was delayed a bit, so we wasted time drinking coffee and people watching for a couple hours before their arrival. Awaiting them I was literally sweating with excitement. Thankfully they made it safely and we caught the next bus back to to central Santiago.
Their first day of vacation we relaxed around the pool. Katie and I put back a liter of beer while Abby tried at a nap. She joined us later to have at a bottle of nice Chilean white wine. Needless to say we stumbled out of the pool a bit tipsy. Katie was attacked by the ruthless step into the shower and came out with a rough looking scrape. If only she knew that it was only the beginning of her battles against the ground.
We headed out to dinner that night a few blocks from the hostal near a cute plaza. Katie asked along a friendly guy from Chicago that she had been chatting it up with. After dinner we wandered down to the plaza to find couples dancing quite elegantly to latin beats. Josh and guy from Chicago, Andy, headed off to find some wine while we watched the show. The dancing kept on into the night as we shared the bottles of Chilean red wine.
After the music ended we headed back to the hostal, but weren't quite ready to say goodnight. We sat at a patio table in the back to play a round of cards with a little Heineken night cap. It was a good first day.

Out of Peru!

The second of week of January we finally crossed the border into Chile and out of Peru. We had spent over 1.5 months in Peru and were ready for some fresh faces.

We landed in Iquique, a coastal town in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. I immediately was in love. The first public bathroom I went into had not only a toilet seat but toilet paper and handsoap as well. I couldn't believe my eyes when I could buy diet coke= coca light almost everywhere! And guess what, the Chileans didn't bat an eye if you handed them a 10,000 peso, the equivalent of $20. If you handed that large of a bill to anyone in Peru they'd 1.) glare 2.) ask for a smaller bill 3.) Declare that they have no change and refuse to sell you whatever you were buying. 4.) Run down the street to get change. We never figured out where all the change went in that country.

Besides the conveniences of a modernized country, Iquique stood alone as a nice place to lose time in. The beach didn't have the white sand or clear waters of the carribean, but hot just the same with plenty of beach bunnies in the afternoon. We spent a few hours each day soaking up the sun and taking quick dips in the icy water to cool down.

We ventured over toward the dock and to see the older part of town. The old town's building are colorful, constructed of wood with high ceilings and wooden verandas. The street has a feel of an old mining town perhaps seen out west, maybe Colorado. Not far from the town is the port. We headed over one afternoon to check out the dock. We were pleasantly surprised by a harem of sea lions. The animals were adorable and huge! On occasion visitors would approach the lions a bit too closely and the sea lions would bark and jump toward the tourists to declare their territory. What a highlight it was to see those creatures one afternoon out of the blue!

a week in Arequipa

We signed up for a week of Spanish at Rocio Language Institute just a few blocks away from the hospedaje of good value and friendliness that we were staying at. Josh and I enrolled in separate private classes, as his spanish is wonderful and mine is just above horrible. The classes were good, but saying this from 3 weeks later...I forget quickly without studying properly. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to fit studying into a day down here!

When outside of class we spent the rest of our time walking around the city or doing our homework in a nice little coffee shop. We toured a lovely monastery on one day and the Cathedral in town on another. We found the city quite relaxing, easygoing, but maybe a touch to dry to cultivate a nice flower garden.

We spent New Years in Arequipa, Peru. This has to be my favorite city in Peru. I believe it is the second biggest, next to the capital, Lima. The city has beautiful architecture, many of the buildings being made out of a type of white volcanic rock found in the area.
To welcome in the new year people decorated their homes and businesses in yellow; yellow balloons, yellow streamers, bouquets of yellow flowers sold at the stores. Everyone sported their yellow hat, sweater or flower lei for the nights events as well.
When the clock struck midnight fireworks sparked from every direction. Pretty colors in the sky, loud firecrackers down the street, the town was awake and excited. We stayed in a hospedaje with a very kind family. They handed Josh an'd I a cup of champagne and layed a yellow flowered lei around our necks. After toasting to a 'Feliz ano' the grandmother brought out a smoking bowl of fragrant incense. Then she tossed perfume water throughout the house, letting us have a toss for good luck in the new year as well.
We felt welcomed that night. Even with such a limited Spanish vocab we all understood that everyone wanted a happy new year, we celebrated it hopefully and joyfully together.