Tag: hiking

15 Free Things To Do in South Florida and the Keys

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Florida Keys Dry Tortugas National Park Fort Jefferson

We recently bought tickets to go to Dry Tortugas National Park, and those tickets are not cheap. Add to that a few days in the Keys, and your budget will definitely feel the pinch. However, as we discovered, there were plenty of free (and almost free) things to do in our two weeks between Fort Lauderdale and Key West. There was one card in our wallet that helped us out the most- our military ID. Read on to find over 15 free things to do in the area.

1. Alligator Alley (Tamiami Trail)

It is free to drive across parts of both the Everglades and Big Cypress along the Tamiami Trail. You will see quite a lot of wildlife as you drive. If you enter the Everglades National Park at one of its entrances, it will cost you $30 per car. However, if you have a national parks pass, a military ID (retired and active duty both get in free now, plus up to 4 accompanying occupants), or a 5th grader, you can visit inside the park for free.

2. The Ochopee Post Office

This small post office is the tiniest post office in the United States. It used to to be a storage shed! It’s just off the Tamiami Trail, before you reach Everglades City if you’re heading west. Stop by and take a picture, it’s really cute. Yes, it still sends mail! Thanks to Charles McCool for suggesting this one- find out why this post office is especially important to him.

3. Clyde Butcher Big Cypress Gallery

For some stunning nature photographs, visit the Big Cypress gallery of renowned artists Clyde and Niki Butcher. Their gallery also features art from other artists. Outside their shop is a short nature walk, and you can usually see a gator or two in the pond by their parking lot.

Florida Everglades Clyde Butcher photography

4. Museum of the Everglades

This small museum in Everglades City is really good. From their beautiful pine floor, to their extensive array of information about how the Tamiami Trail and Everglades City came to be, this museum is not to be missed. The museum is free, but you can always drop a few dollars in their donation jar, they do appreciate it.

Almost free: Smallwood Store

If you’re already as far west as Everglades City, you might as well continue down the road the last few miles and visit Smallwood Store in Chokoloskee. This old building, perched on pilings, is a real treasure. Built in 1906 as the first general store in the area, this is an actual “Indian trading post”, also post office, restaurant, shoe repair, bank, and apothecary. It does cost $5 to enter, but I found it well worth the price to go inside and look around. The breeze coming through there off the water can’t be beat.

5. Big Cypress National Preserve

Although national parks have entry fees, national preserves and national forests do not. Be sure to stop in at the HP Williams Roadside Park and check out their board walk- we saw tons of gators in the waters. We also saw manatees at the Kirby Storter Roadside Park a bit further down the Tamiami Trail.

6. Loop Road Scenic Drive

Taking this narrow dirt road will add some time to your Tamiami Trail drive, but we saw so much wildlife here that it was absolutely worth it. Recently graded, the road parallels cypress swamps and features gators, herons, cranes, turtles, and more. Keep an eye out for barred owls as well.

7. Betsy the lobster

As you head south into the Keys, you can’t miss Rain Barrel Village, which features a huge (40 foot) sculpture of a lobster out front. Rain Barrel Village might look like a t-shirt shop and bar, but if you walk through to the back yard, you’ll find some lovely art galleries, glass studios, and shady spots to sit.

8. National Key Deer Refuge

It’s only open three days a week, but you can stop in and learn about the Key deer at the refuge on Pine Key. Like a lot of wild animals that live on islands, this species is smaller than deer found on the mainland. If the refuge isn’t open, you can turn into one of the side streets near there and probably spot some if you drive slowly.

Almost or maybe free: Zachary Taylor State Park

This fort on Key West is a Florida state park, but if you have a Florida State Parks pass- or a military ID- you can enter for free. The fort, which is a sister fort to the one at Dry Tortuga, is really interesting in how it helped shorten the Civil War by as much as two years. Free guided ranger talk at 11 am daily. The park also has a nice, sandy beach, where you can picnic or buy concessions.

9. Books & Books @ The Studios

If you’re a literary fan, you probably already know that Key West was the home of Ernest Hemingway for nine years. But did you know that author Judy Blume lives here as well? Visit the bookstore she runs with her husband, and be sure to check out the Key West history section.

10. Visit the sister shop of Hemingway’s Pilar at the Bass Pro Shop in Marathon

In 1933, Hemingway went on a fishing trip in this boat. He liked it so much that he kept the brochure, and had another one made! He named it the Pilar, and you can see it today at his house in Cuba. The original ship can be seen at the Bass Pro Shop in Marathon on your way down the Keys. You can also see this boat feature in the movie “Key Largo” as the Santana boat that Bogart sails at the end of the movie.

11. Ride the Duval Loop bus in Key West.

This bus stops at 16 points around historic Key West and is absolutely free. You can see their live map at kwtransit.com. A bus arrives every 20-30 minutes. Bonus: use your military ID to get onto the base and park for free at Trumbo Point gate- saving you $5 an hour or $40 daily on downtown parking fees. Stop #1 on the Duval Loop route is just one block from Trumbo gate.

Not free, but half the price: stay at the Navy Lodge

If you are active duty or retired military, you can stay at the Navy Lodge on Dredger’s Key for $135 a night- a huge saving from Key West hotel prices. You can call for a reservation starting 30 days out from your intended stay. But call as soon as you can- they only have 26 rooms.

12. Cool off at Truman Waterfront Park

It’s pretty hot in Key West, but there are some places to cool off. If you have kids with you, one excellent place is the Truman Waterfront Park. They have a splash pad there, and in Thursdays you can visit the Farmer’s Market from 2-5 pm.

13. Visit the Southernmost Point(s)

Of course you can’t visit Key West without visiting the southernmost point. Just walk down Whitehead Street until you get to the very end, and you’ll see the famous painted monument. But if you REALLY want to get to the southern point, you’ll need to go into the nearby naval air station, which is built in a mile of reclaimed land.

14. Wander up and down Duval Street

I don’t think it’s possible to visit very many of the bars, restaurants, boutiques, and art galleries without opening your wallet often, but it’s free to try! Even just people watching and reading all the funny t-shirts is a pretty good time.

15. Grab a book (or drop one off) at the Green Parrot’s Little Free Library

I hate trying to read on my phone or e-reader when I’m at the beach- a paperback works much better! If you need one, or finished yours and want to drop it off, I spotted several Little Free Libraries around town. This one at the Green Parrot is particularly well-located.

Borrow free snorkel equipment at Fort Jefferson:

Okay, so really this one isn’t free. It’s pretty expensive to visit the Dry Tortugas National Park. The only ways to get there are to sail your own boat, take a seaplane, or take the Yankee Clipper ferry, which will run you $200 per person. Be sure to take your national parks pass with you to get $15 off per person. However, they will provide a free breakfast, free lunch, and free snorkel equipment at the beach, as well as a free guided tour of the fort. We really enjoyed our day and felt in the end, it was worth the cost!

I’m sure there are more free (and almost free) things to do in South Florida, but these were some of my favorites. If you’ve visited the area, let us know your favorite things to do!

Bolivia: A Country of Contrasts

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Salt desert sunset bolivia

Our Bolivian adventure began at the southern La Quiaca/Villazon border, where, despite having all our documents printed and ready to go (visa application, visa application confirmation, hotel itinerary, exit flight, yellow fever card, and our bank statement, plus $160 in US cash), it still took us more than six hours to get the actual visa stamp. But we prevailed, and at last we had our 30 day visa for Bolivia.

Deah Argentina Bolivia
Waiting…. patiently… for the Bolivian consulate to re-open after a lengthy lunch

Uyuni

We immediately headed for Uyuni, where we booked a tour with Discovery Colored Lagoons for a three day, two night tour of the Salt Desert. What am interesting area! On the first day of our tour, we visited the old train cemetery, where rusted locomotives that once extracted Bolivia’s mineral wealth now rest. We saw the Dakar rally monument from the years that the race passed through this part of the continent . We visited the Salt Flats, and took fun “perspectives” pictures. And that night we stayed at a hotel made of actual salt bricks.

Chris and Deah Salt Desert Bolivia
The endless stretch of white salt desert makes trick photography fun.

For the next two days, we drove around the desert with our tour group, visiting several lagoons, looking for flamingos, vicuñas (wild llamas), and viscochas (wild, long-tailed rabbits). Ringed by volcanoes and mountains, the altiplano desert in Bolivia is stunning. The second night of our tour, after dinner, we soaked under the stars in a natural hot spring, while our guide pointed out the Milky Way and the Quechua constellations. Wow! A night to remember, for sure.

Salt desert lagoons
The colored lagoons of the Uyuni Desert

Potosí

After our tour, we went to Potosí, home to a silver mine (Cerro Rico) that has been in constant active use for more than 500 years. This small Bolivian city once had more inhabitants than Paris or Madrid! The backbone of the Spanish empire’s mineral extraction, Potosí was home to hundreds of silversmiths. We went on a tour of the Museum de Moneda- which was really fascinating – as well as a tour of a working mine (booked through Koala Den). Well, Chris did. I only made it 20 minutes before I had to leave the mine- claustrophobia really caught up to me! In addition, being one of the highest altitude cities in the world, it was hard enough to breathe outside, let alone inside a mine deep in a mountain.

Potosi Bolivia silver mine
A miner getting ready to go back into the mountain to look for more silver ore. In a good month he will make approximately $100, after paying for his equipment, supplies (including buying his own dynamite), and tax to the mine company and the government

Sucre

After Potosí, we took a bus to Sucre, where we spent New Year’s Eve. The day before the holiday, we went to the Parque Cretacico, home of more than 5,000 dinosaur prints preserved from 65 million years ago in limestone. It was a fun outing! On the bus ride there, we met a gal from our Facebook travel group Every Passport Stamp (for super nerdy travelers like ourselves), as well as two Kiwis that we wound up spending New Year’s Eve with. It was nice to share the holiday- and a meal at a French restaurant- with some new travel pals.

The Dino Park
New Year’s Eve

La Paz

I could not face a 12 hour bus ride from Sucre to La Paz, so we found a quick flight and arrived in record time. We stayed three nights in a beautiful, 400 year old building that once housed a monastery. La Paz is… a busy, crowded, bustling city. Technically not the capital of Bolivia (constitutionally, Sucre is), La Paz is viewed as the administrative capital of the country. The best thing I can say for La Paz, and it’s sister-city El Alto, is they have a pretty cool cable car system. With 28 stations and 8 lines, it’s a fun and easy way to get around the two cities, without spending hours in traffic breathing in the fines from the trufli in front of you.

The cable cars can get you from 3000 meters above sea level to more than 4000 meters in no time at all… and for less than $1USD a ride

Lake Titicaca

Several travelers we had met along the way had encouraged us to go to Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, which is just three hours from La Paz. We bussed out to Copacabana, at the edge of the lake, and spent one night there. The next day we took a boat to the Isla, which is considered to be the birthplace of the Inca Empire. This simple, peaceful island has no roads or cars, and only about 800 families live there. We spent the next two days hiking along the Inca Camino, visiting the Roca Sagrada, and looking at 500-year old ruins of a small Incan village. The main town of the island, Yumani, site at 4,100 meters above sea level- while the days were warm, the nights were cold! We huddled under our alpaca wool blankets at our hostel, the Palacio del Inca.

Relaxing on Isla del Sol, halfway between mainland Peru and Bolivia

Samaipata

After Lake Titicaca, we were nearing our time to leave Bolivia. Our exit flight was from Santa Cruz airport, in the eastern sub-tropical part of the country. We flew there (rather than taking a 17 hour bus), and spent our last 3 days in Samaipata, a small village in the hills just outside of Santa Cruz. Peaceful, walkable, surrounded on three sides by Amboró National Park (also called the Cloud Forest due to low-lying fog), this town was a treat to relax in. The hammocks at the Andorina Hostel were the perfect place to read a book, write a blog, or take a nap. On one day we walked into the hills to visit an animal rescue park, but mainly we just… chilled out.

Dirt roads, green hills, blue skies… Samaipata is super relaxing
This part of our travels is tapir-ing off to an end

And then it was time to leave Bolivia. We were ready for a break from our travels, and wanted to codon friends and family in the US for a bit. In a month we’ll continue our South American adventures, probably starting with Brazil. Stay tuned!

From Ushuaia to Iguazu: An Adventure through Argentina and Uruguay

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20221105 argentina, buenos aires street art

As it is the world’s eighth largest country, it’s difficult get a trip through Argentina into just one blog post. And to add Uruguay in as well! But I will do my best to give the highlights and most pertinent information from our month here in this beautiful part of South America.

If you are a carnivore, look no further than Argentina

Patagonia

Our Antarctic cruise docked in Ushuaia on Thanksgiving Day, and after making it clear to us that yes, we really needed to leave the boat (or pony up a quick $4000 for the next sailing), we found our guesthouse and set about to getting our land legs back. We took a local bus to Tierra Del Fuego National Park and did some hiking out there ($15 US for the round trip bus tickets, and $10 US/ 3000 pesos for the entry to the park). The park borders the Straits of Magellan, with the snowy peaks of Chilean mountains visible just a few miles away. Later, we listened to the sounds of an entire town cheering as Argentina scored in the World Cup. We also visited the Western Union to get some cash (the “Blue Dollar” rate for USD is twice as good as the “official” ATM rate). Armed with – literally- fat stacks of cash, and nowhere to go but north, we took a night bus up to Calafate.

Once thought to be empty of people, explorers named this area “Tierra del Fuego” when they saw cookfires from their boats

Calafate is the home to several of Patagonia’s national parks, including the Perito Moreno glacier. As our bus rolled through mile after mile of pampas, we saw plenty of rheas (a type of ostrich), guanacas (a type of camelid that looks like a llama), rabbits, sheep, and mara (long-legged relatives of the guinea pig). Calafate is a cute little town filled with great parrilladas (grills) and North Face clothing outfitters, there are endless opportunities in Calafate to get out and enjoy nature. From hiking, to boating, to horseback riding, the Argentinian side of Patagonia does not disappoint. And the long days in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer make it easier to fit it all in.

We spotted these Commerson’s dolphins- also known as panda dolphins- as we ferried across the Straits of Magellan leaving Ushuaia

It’s nearly the same price for the public bus to the Perito Moreno National Park as it is for a tour shuttle, so we opted for Caltour to pick us up, take us the 80km to the glacier, and return us to town four hours later ($25 USD for the bus, and about $13 entry/4000 pesos). While out at the park, visitors can walk along boardwalks that face the huge glacier, waiting for a loud crack! and a chance to film the ice calving, and they can opt for a boat that gets up and close (but not too close) to the glacier at the waterline.

I was so excited to have caught this huge chunk of ice calving off the Perito Moreno glacier!

From Calafate we faced a choice. We could take a 24 hour bus ride along “Route 40” to the picturesque town of Bariloche, in Argentina’s Lake District, and then another 21 hour bus to Buenos Aires… or we could take a 3 hour flight. We decided on the flight.

The Argentine flag flying proudly in front of Buenos Aires’ Congress building

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a lively city, that barely seems to sleep. It has a very European feeling to it, in large part due to the huge numbers of Italians who migrated there during the early part of last century. The Italian heritage of the city can be felt in the high percentage of bookshops, coffee culture, pizza, and ice cream.

The obelisk in Buenos Aires makes an excellent reference point when roaming around the city

We wound up spending eight days in Buenos Ares and were able to experience a few different neighborhoods. We visited Boca, home to BA’s most famous soccer team, and the nearby Plaza Dorrega for a milonga (an outdoor tango show). We had a walk through the Mercado San Telmo, eating a delicious choripan (chorizo sausage on bread, with a chimichurri sauce). We took a walking tour around the Palermo area and Recoleta, and saw Eva Peron’s grave, and another walking tour that taught us about different street art movements.

Tango dancers put on a show at Plaza Dorrega

For a couple of nights, we stayed in a private room at the Viajero Hostel, which was a really fun place to stay. We met some other travelers, took an empanada-making class, a tango lesson, sang in a karaoke night, and enjoyed a pizza tour of the city. Nearby, we visited the Ataneo Grand Splendid Bookstore, voted “most beautiful bookstore in the world” by National Geographic (and by me).

The Ataneo Grand Splendid Bookstore, a former theater

It’s easy to take a ferry ride to Uruguay, so when we were ready to leave Buenos Aires, we booked tickets with Bosquebus ferry ($100 USD by credit card online, or half that if paying the blue dollar rate in cash). We had time to visit the Puerto Madero nature reserve while waiting for our ferry, and then we were off to Colonia, Uruguay!

Uruguay

You can visit the small historic city of Colonia in just one day from Buenos Aires, but we stayed two nights and enjoyed strolling around the cobblestone streets, rhododendrons exploding everywhere, and trying out their “national” dish of chivito (a thinly cooked steak, with mozzarella, ham, tomatoes, mayonnaise and black or green olives, and commonly also bacon and fried or hard-boiled eggs, served as a sandwich in a bun). Colonia is definitely high on my list of places to see, a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires.

The lighthouse in Colonia rests against the one wall remaining from the city’s first church

From Colonia we took a bus to Montevideo, where we stayed for four days. You can also take a Bosquebus straight from BA to Montevideo, but it takes longer, and if you have to choose, I suggest Colonia. The bus between the two takes about 3 hours with stops, 2 of you catch an express. We arrived at Tres Cruces bus terminal, found our hotel (it felt strange to deal with credit cards again after using cash in Argentina), and signed up for a GuruWalk walking tour.

Spring has sprung; in fact, summer is nigh

Most of Uruguay’s 3.5 million residents live in Montevideo, but it is still not a super crowded capital city. There is plenty of shopping, the city is lined with beaches (on the Rio de la Plata, not the ocean), and there is a cute little historic center. They claim to have south Americas oldest working theater. I particularly liked their indoor port market, constructed from an old iron London train station. Our favorite experience there was when we happened upon a huge Candombe parade, featuring 25 local groups practicing their Carnival routines with drums, flags, dancers, and more. Wow! It was breathtaking.

Candombe captures the blend that is Uruguay: African, Spanish, Portuguese, indigenous, Brazilian, and Argentinian

From Montevideo, we took a six hour bus north to Salto, to visit the hot springs. Pro tip: take the public shuttle bus from Salto to Hot Springs Daymán, not a taxi! It leaves every half hour and takes just 15 minutes, and costs 50 pesos each person. We were mainly using Salto as a place to break our long journey north, but I did really like the town, and the hotel owners were incredibly kind and let us stay for a very late check out, as we had a night bus. We soaked in the thermal waters as long as we could. We crossed the border back into Argentina at Salto/Concordia, and took a night bus from Concordia north to Puerto Iguazu (13 hours, 15,000 pesos or $50 USD).

Soaking those aching joints!

Iguazu Falls

Arriving in Puerto Iguazu, the most northern city in Argentina, it was noticeable hotter and more humid than anywhere else we’d been so far. Luckily, we got a hotel with a pool, and were able to cool off in the water. The public bus runs to the Iguazu Falks National Park every thirty minutes, so it was easy to catch a bus and visit the park on our own (entry 4000 pesos/ $12 USD at the Blue Dollar rate). And… wow. It is impressive. The sheer magnitude of water forming the falls, 3 km wide and 80 meters tall, is astounding.

The falls from the Argentinian side
Iguazu wildlife: a butterfly, two coaties, a capuchin monkey, and a toucan

The following day, we took a bus over to the Brazilian side. And if I had been impressed the day before? Wow. Seeing the “Devil’s Throat” from the Brazilian side was incredible.

Chris at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

And with that, we’d gone from the southern-most city in Argentina to the northern-most. There’s no way to see all of this great country, but we tried our best. Now it’s on to Paraguay, and then Bolivia. Stay tuned!

Salta

(Edited 12/20 to add Salta). We wound up taking a night bus from Asuncion, Paraguay, and re-entering Argentina for a few days more days en-route to Bolivia. We arrived in Salta and spent a couple of days exploring this medium-sized city. We joined a walking tour that meets every night (Mon-Fri) at 6 pm in front of the cathedral and that helped us get oriented. Our guide also suggested dinner at El Charrua, which was probably the best steak dinner we had in Argentina. While we were in town, Salta had a free museum night, and we visited three of them. The most interesting, to me, was the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology, which features three of the child sacrifices from the Incas. Both creepy and fascinating, from a sociological and archaeological perspective!

Salta, the 5th largest city in Argentina

The next day was the final game of the World Cup, and of course Argentina was playing. What a game! We needed to take a bus towards Bolivia, so we watched with our bus mates and we all cheered as Argentina won. Champions of the world!! When we arrived in Humahuaca, our final city in Argentina, the entire town was gathering to celebrate.

Argentina celebrates the World Cup

The next day we spent a quiet day in Humahuaca. From the old town you can see the Andes mountains, and an area called “The Hills of 14 Colors”. The cobblestone streets and small buildings, along with the dark eyes and dark hair of the inhabitants were an indication that Bolivia was just a few miles away. The next day, we took a two hour bus, and arrived at the Bolivian border.

Humahuaca, Argentina

Chilling out in Chile

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Chris and I (Deah) have spent the last four weeks exploring Chile, and believe me, it’s still not enough time. This country is quite big! From top to bottom, Chile is 2,700 miles long- not including the part of Antarctica that Chile claims. Since we started in Santiago and headed south, we still haven’t visited the northern part of Chile including the Atacama desert- we hope to access it from the Bolivian side later in the year. But we were able to see quite a lot of this beautiful country, including the Santiago/Central area, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chiloe Islands, and the southern area of Patagonia.

Arrived in Chile! This is country #135 for Deah, and #163 for Chris. Can’t wait to explore this place (after a nap!)

Central Chile

The Museum of Memory

In the central Chile area, we spent time in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Concón. In both Santiago and Valparaiso we took a walking tour with GuruWalk to get a sense of the history and the politics of the area. That’s one of our favorite ways to orient ourselves in a new city or country. One of the suggestions our guide gave us in Santiago was to go to the park on San Cristobal hill, one of the major greenspaces in the city. We took a funicular to the top of the hill, and then a cable car across the tops of the hills, to get a wonderful view of the city. We also visited two museums, including the Museum of Memory and Human Rights (free, open daily Tuesday through Sunday 10 am to 6 pm) and the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino (8000 pesos, open same times- be aware that currently, only one level of this museum has exhibits, the rest is closed). Santiago is an easy city to get around in, with a comprehensive metro system. At our walking tour guide’s suggestions, we tried two specialties of the city: a “completo“, which is basically a hot dog slathered in several condiments (Chilenos REALLY love hot dogs) and a drink called a “terremoto” (earthquake), featuring pineapple juice, ice cream, and white wine. Interesting!

San Cristobal Parque cable car

From Santiago, we took a three hour bus to the city of Valparaiso. Founded in 1536, Valparaiso has a history of conquistadores, pirates, earthquakes, fires, and, pre-Suez Canal, ships circumnavigating the continent in order to reach California for the gold rush. Most ships would stop in Valparaiso and pick up ice from the Andes mountains, fruits, and vegetables, and deliver them to the west coast of the American continent- a lucrative business. For that reason, Valparaiso itself is full of old manors and Victorian mansions built in the 19th century. Most have been turned into hotels and museums now, and make for a quirky bit of Europe in this South American city.

Valparaiso is full of street art; I really loved these three paintings that showed the evolution of the city through the centuries

Near Valparaiso is the small surf town of Concón, featuring several surf competitions at their LaBoca beach. We took a local bus (500 pesos) up the seaside highway, getting off at LaBoca, and had a delicious seafood lunch. We watched the surfers and the fishermen, then found the Concón sand dunes, and trudged our way to the top of the vast sands that overlook the ocean. At the top you can rent sandboards and ride down, or just sit and enjoy the view. From there, it’s easy to hop on the bus heading south and return to Viña del Mar or Valparaiso.

Las Dunas de Concón

Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

From the moment we started planning our South America adventure, we knew we wanted to visit Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, as it is also known. Due to Covid, it has been closed to tourism for over two years. However, as of August 2022, it is open again, and you can access it via a flight on Latam Airlines, or various cruise lines. For specifics on getting to Rapa Nui, please see this guide to getting there. We spent four days, three nights on the island, which was just enough time to see almost everything if you plan your activities carefully and have good weather. From the moai statues on platforms, complete with pukao, to the volcanic quarry where the moai were carved, it was a fascinating look at this sea-faring Polynesian culture. Currently (as of fall 2022), Rapa Nui requires visitors to have a guide with them to visit the 15 or so national park sites ($80 USD for a park pass to all sites), and actually we found the guide very helpful in learning about the history of the island, its people, and their customs. Although the trip out to the island was a bit of an investment, we were not disappointed and would absolutely recommend anyone visiting Chile to take the additional steps to see Easter Island.

Moai on Rapa Nui, Easter Island, Chile
Of the 887 moai statues in the island, these were my favorites

Chiloe Island(s)

From Central Chile (either Santiago or Valparaiso) there are several buses heading south, as far as Puerto Montt. We overnight bussed there and then took a ferry onto Chiloe Island, the largest island in South America. We spent a week exploring the archipelago , the food, and the local culture. The few towns on the islands are small, with lots of fishing boats, ferries between islands, and cociñieria (small family-owned restaurants in a common building, which serve tea and seafood soups to fishermen, tourists, and locals). The cuisine of this area is unique and you will definitely eat a lot of fish and shellfish while you are there! One local dish we particularly liked was the chupe de jaibo, which is a kind of crab casserole (usually about 9000 pesos, or about $9). On the island you can also find plenty of places that offer curanto, similar to a hangi in New Zealand- hot coals are placed in a hole in the ground, then a layer of mussels, pork, chicken, sausage, and potatoes, then covered with turf and leaves, and left to cook for several hours.

Extremely fresh and extremely delicious Chilean seafood; main dishes run between 5000 pesos for a local eatery, up to 20,000 pesos for more touristy places

Another feature of the Chiloe Islands is the local mythology, a blend of legends, myths, and religious stories that are a result of the Spanish Catholics trying to “Christianize” the local Mapuche natives. Nearly every town offers up their own tales of witches, phantom ships, traucos, and mermaids. To combat these beliefs, the Spanish built churches in practically every corner of the islands- more than 150 small wooden churches. Several of these still exist and around 15 of them have been given a UNESCO heritage status.

Inside the wooden church at Castro, Chiloe

If you want to learn more about either Valparaiso or Chiloe Islands, and you enjoy reading historical fiction, definitely pick up some books by Isabel Allende. Perhaps Chile’s most well-known author, and winner of Chile’s National Literature Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she includes so much of Chilean culture in her books, such as Daughter of Fortune, The House of Spirits, and Maya’s Notebook.

Palafitos– houses on stilts- edge the water on Chiloe island

Patagonia

Finally, we found the bottom of Chile, a vast area called Patagonia. In certain times of the year, you can take busses or roads to Patagonia via a shared road with Argentina, but at other times of the year you can only get here on the Chilean side via boat (try Navimag ferry or Hurtigruten cruise line) or plane (Latam or Sky). In Patagonia, we visited the Torres del Paine National Park, home to glaciers, mountains, fjords, and wildlife. From one day hikes to five days trekking the “W”, horseback trails, or a boat, visitors can find just the right fit for visiting this beautiful park. Be advised that the weather in this park is very fickle, and can suddenly and un-seasonally turn from sunny to sleeting rain in just a few moments, so dress accordingly. We booked our visit using the Las Torres website, and were able to book a dorm room at a refugio with meals, but you can also camp with your own stuff, rent camping equipment, or stay in a hotel in the park. If you are only planning a one or two day stay you can probably do it without much advance planning- but if you are wanting to do the longer W or O Circuit, you really do need to book weeks or even months in advance, as it is a confusing system of three different entities that own different facilities inside the park along the circuit. I can say that if you enjoy hiking- and don’t mind paying fairly hefty sums for the experience- that it is a beautiful and unique experience. For us, the weather turned bad, so we took very few pictures, but from what I did see and from what I’ve seen online, it is stunning.

Chris at the base of Las Torres

In addition to basing ourselves out of Puerto Natales before and after the Torres del Paine visit, we also went to Punta Arenas, which is essentially Chile’s most southern city. It is a small town and there is not a whole lot to do there, but many people fly into Punto Arenas on their way to the national park or to Ushuaia, the southern-most city in Argentina. In Punta Arenas you can visit a nearby penguin colony, take a boat or ferry to the town of Porvenir, which is actually on the island of Tierra del Fuego. For us, we spent a day taking a bus tour which went south, following the Strait of Magellan, to the very tiny Fort Bulnes– the first Patagonian settlement. The tour was in Spanish, but as we’ve been diligently practicing every day in our Duolingo app, we were able to get the gist of it.

Fort Bulnes, overlooking the Straits of Magellan, at Point Famine. The 1584 settlement was soon moved to where Punta Arenas is now.
Deah at Punta Arenas: can’t get much more south than this… or can you?

And now, after countless lunches of fish, mussels, crab, and potatoes (more than 150 varieties in Chile), as well as trying out all the Chilean wines and Austral beers we could, it’s time to head to Argentina. We got a super hot, last minute deal on a cruise to Antarctica, so check back soon for details on how we managed that, what it’s like there, and what we get up to later all over Argentina. Subscribe below to get our updates straight to your inbox!

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Hiking the PCT pt4: interviews with hikers

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a group of hikers at the trail head ready to head into the PCT Northern California

While Chris hiked, I got to know several of the hikers who crossed his path on the trail or in towns. I gave rides to and from the trail, had lunch and dinner with hikers, and sometimes camped with them or shared hotel rooms when they were ready for a break from the daily grind of hiking. I tried to interview a few of them to find out why they had carved out 5-6 months of their life in order to come live in nature and hike 2,660 miles.

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