Weeks 17 & 18: Vino, Cerros, y Islas
Mendoza
After being dragged off that glorious overnight bus, we found ourselves in sunny Mendoza. Several of the locals quickly informed us that it rains here only three days a year and sees full sun (with zero clouds) 330+ per year. However, Mendoza is blessed among deserts as it sits in the shadow of Aconcagua (21,825 ft), the snowy central high point of the mighty Andes. From these mountain peaks flow a constant stream of water for the people (and grapes) of Mendoza.
Our first stop in town was to rent a car and drive out to our AirBnB in Lujon de Cuyo (one of Mendoza’s three primary wine-growing sub-regions. Ariel’s cabaña clocked in at a hefty $18 per night and stands as one of our top value lodging finds on a trip full of good deals. From this vantage point, a host of world-class wineries were just a short jaunt away.
Bodega Vistalba was a 10-minute walk so that’s where we began. A ‘pairing lunch’ means a glass of wine with each course. We are very happy we didn’t go with the seven-course option for obvious reasons.
Over the next few days, we thoroughly enjoyed being out of the big cities which have dominated our trip thus far and visited several more wineries (Norton, Lopez, Zuccardi) all of them recommended,.
Then, over the weekend, we drove up Route 7 to the entrance of Parque Provincial Aconcagua. The full hike is open November — January, is 70 miles round trip and takes 14 days due to the need to acclimate to life above 20k. We went as far as park regulations would allow (almost to the first of 5 base camps). It was a lovely day hike and we were wowed by the scale of the Andes.
From where we were, it would’ve been just another 2–3 hour drive to our next destination, Valparaiso, Chile. However, due to the complications of taking a rental car across an international border, we opted to take a bus the next day. The Chilean side of the border was possibly even more gorgeous and dramatic.
Valparaiso
“Valparaiso, what an absurdity you are, how crazy. What hair disheveled that you never finished combing. Never did you have time to dress yourself. Life has taken you by surprise..”
So begins Ode to Valparaiso, penned by Pablo Naruda the city’s most famous poet. As the words suggest, Valparaiso beautifully, confusingly, eclectically mixes her styles and colors and smells into a lovely, decaying, masterpiece on the sea.
The style merge Italian, French, and Spanish colonial architecture through a jumbled mess of ‘cerros’ — which means hill or mountain in Spanish, but means “neighborhoods connected by confusing roads and old-school trolley elevators” in Valpo-speak.
The colors mesh bright, cheerfully, painted 300-year-old houses; the ever-present ‘street art;’ the hazy grey fog; the cerulean blue ocean crashing against the port town’s outer wall.
The smell is mostly of urine.
Four lovely, dreamy, stinky days — window shopping, strolling, jogging, and getting lost in this intriguing mess of a city — flew by without us even recognizing.
Yes, the above is correct. The entire place smells like pee. And we’ve never liked a place with that exact scent so very much.
A moment of realization: On our last full day in Valparaiso (last Tuesday), we realized that we had no plans beyond that night’s lodging. Up to this point in the trip, we had thought that Jake might have to return on a quick business trip to Williamsburg and that Rachel might pass the days at a ‘natural horse ranch’ outside Valpo. Thus, we had ruled out travel to Patagonia, that uber-remote crown-jewel of the continent for lack of time.
However, at the last minute, those plans changed and we found ourselves with two solid weeks before we need to be in Antofagasta, Chile where we meet up with our good friends Shane and Julie for our epic trip into Bolivian-backcountry.
So, we kicked our last-second travel planning into high gear and started planning, in earnest, our journey south.
Chiloe
Until Tuesday, we had never heard of the island of Chiloe, Chile. However, in just 5 days, it soared onto our ‘top 5 favorite places’ list (alongside Eje Cafetero, Colombia; Porto/Duoro Valley, Portugal; Western Ireland; and the Pacific Northwest).
To rapidly oversimplify, Chiloe is the Western Ireland of South America. It is green, cool, misty, softly beautiful, and full of lovely small towns brimming with authentic local flair and hospitality.
Our first stop in Chiloe was to Monumento Nacional Isoleta de Punihil. We took our brand new (4km on the odometer) rented 5-speed VW Gol down some pretty rough gravel roads as google led us closer and closer to the beach. Then, all of a sudden, the road ended in a river. We could see the beach across the river, but there was just no way.
Then, up rolled a 4x4 pick-up with a friendly Chiloen tour guide. We parked and followed. Then, for $10 we got a private boat ride out and around the isoletas (tiny islands).
We saw 7 penguins!
4 Magellans and 3 of the highly endangered Humboldts to be exact. We also saw red-billed ducks, pelicans, seagulls, and about forty, fat, beached sea lions lounging on these grassy, windswept rocks. It was our naturalist highlight of the trip thus far!
In Ancud (one of the towns), we tried curanto the local dish of traditional ground-oven cooked: mushy potato cakes, sausage, chicken, smoked pork butt, clams and mussels (you are supposed to eat it in that order apparently). It was all delicious and Jake didn’t even get sick afterwards.
Our AirBnB just outside Castro, Chiloe was an equally delicious ‘refugio’ which came with its own mascot. Sasha is a gorgeous, extremely needy and playful Golden Retriever puppy who we fell in love with and wanted to take home. The only downside was getting there in our car. It sat on a 45 degree angle hill with a large ditch in front which meant Jake had to come to a stop and then manage the sporty clutch in order to gain access. He only burned rubber and had to roll backward down to the bottom of the hill for a second try once.
We spent four nights using this as our base of exploration. Chiloe’s National Park is a winner as is the Muelle de las Amas hike just to its south. However, the real gems on this island are the little towns and markets and the strange wooden churches (erected by the Jesuits in the 18th century and now, as a collective a UNESCO world heritage site). Dalcahue, Achao, Curaco, Cuosco de Velez.. all amazing.
There were too many other highlights to mention: Magnolia Coffee; Pioneras Brewery; all the ferries, etc.
However, Rachel’s favorite was the Dalcahue Wool Market. Dalacahue is the port village for all the ‘islands off the island’ and even ‘islands off islands off the island.’ One commonality of these islands is the prolific sheep population. On Sundays, all the knitters take the early ferries into Dalcahue to sell their wares. The result is one of the cutest, most authentic, most lovely markets we’ve ever visited. The other result is that we bought a lot of stuff. As of October 14, our Christmas shopping is completely done!
Jake’s highlight was a little pub we found on Quinchao (one of the islands off the island). He had just gotten back from a lovely, chilly, hilly run while Rachel snapped pictures of the adorable village and needed to warm up. Here we found two delicious bowls brimming with steamy beef stew which could’ve been straight out of a west Ireland hamlet alongside fresh, free sopapillas and salsas which must have been imported directly from central Mexico. Entirely beside himself with joy, Jake then ordered, quantifiably, the best Sidra of his life, brewed at a colegio (tech school) just down the street. This experience amounted to $10. The perfect afternoon for an aspiring fat-kid.
It was sad to leave lovely Chiloe this morning, but I think we’ll be back.
We arrived this evening to Punta Arenas, gateway to Southern Patagonia and Antarctica. We’ll be exploring the former for the next two weeks. The latter will have to wait until we’ve got $11,000 lying around to blow on a day trip.
