It's A Long Way Home

3 days of solid travel from Patagonia to Bellingham. All are well. All have our favorite places and memories. More pictures soon.

Los Lagos, Agentina

We finished out our stay in Argentina in the famous Lakes District, a region filled with huge clear blue lakes carved out by glaciers that grew and then retreated from the Andean peaks that surround them. World class skiing here in June, July and August and fun to see the terrain even if there is now snow in the middle of summer. One thing that makes them so neat is that many of them are connected by rivers. We spent and entire day kayaking the Limay River with drains that largest lake, Lago Nahuel Huapi, all the way to the Atlantic across 900 miles of Patagonian Steppe. We spent the day with a great Argentine guide who started an adventure-eco-tourist company in 2002. He spoke great English so we were able to have some good conversations and learned a lot about the area. We alternated padding with floating in wet suits and snorkles and all saw the beautiful trout (4 species) that make these waters so famous to flyfishers. We didn't actually fish for them, but we swam with them! We swam in as many lakes as we could in the long, hot days of late summer and noticed that the plants and trees were just beginning to turn to their fall foliage. It made us think of winter soon turning to spring back home as our thoughts drift toward our return north. We've had a wonderful trip, all of us, and we are all surprised, especially the kids, that two months went by so fast in some ways yet when we think about all we've seen and done and learned d makes us realize glad we are to have taken this journey together. <

Ancient Forests and Abuelo (Grandfather) Trees

It's amazing that the arid landscape around Trevelin provides the gateway for visiting the Alerce forests since they need 3000mm of rain per year minimum. It's a testament to the rainshadow of the Andes, and it's a constant wonder that the Pacific Ocean lies close behind these high peaks, over there in the fjordlands of southern, southern Chile. There are huge lakes scattered throughout this region, and wild, green rivers connecting them. Adventure tourism is here but the wilderness retains it's wild character. Most people we meet are from the more populated areas around Buenas Aries and the Rio de la Plata. It's cool to see them out enjoying this part of their country backpacking, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking and river rafting---especially the young people. Not a lot of fancy gear, no lycra or spandex or ultra light gear, but they are making it happen on small budgets and with big spirits. We spend a day hiking in Los Alerces National Park with it's turquoise and emerald lakes surrounded by green shrouded peaks. We were able to get a close up view of the plants in these forests and take our time admiring the many varieties, shapes and forms. The park protects an area of Valdivian rainforest of the type that is fairly rare in Argentina----more common of the Chilean side of the mountains. Much of the park is a scientific research site and there are several endangered animals that the park provides habitat for including the tiny pudu, a deer the size of a small dog.

La Tronchita

We'd read about, we thought it would be cool to see but we didn't think we'd get that far south. "La Tronchita," also known as the Patagonia Express, the old steam train that was once the only way besides horses to get down to these parts. The train ended at Esquel, and still does 3 hour long round trip run north to a small native Mapuche settlement and back. It was great living history riding the narrow gage through the arid steppe, surrounded by impossibly steep ochre mountain ridges and green valley floors where the lambs graze. A small cultural center gave us a glimpse into the history and present of this still very much alive culture, a people who defended their land so fiercely from the Spaniards that this southern region was not conquered for many years after the northern areas were well settled by Europeans and the wars for independence from Spain were being fought. We enjoyed the ride with Argentine's of all ages who pulled out their gourds end enjoyed cups of Yerba Mate for the ride. We took turns hangling our heads out the windows and standing between train cars. A cultural ambassador from the Mapuche people joined our train car for awhile and sang us many beautiful songs while we swayed along the narrow gage transported in time and space. 

South and Further South

The force that pulls you south in Patagonia took hold of us as we headed out of Bariloche, Argentina in our rented VW Gol (that's right, no "f"). We headed for El Bolson, a smaller town (23,000) situated in a spectacular mountain valley. This hip little town was South America's first municipality to become "non-nuclear" back in the early 1980's and while they were at it they declared the town an "ecological municipality." The highlight of visiting El Bolson, alongside the great diversity of people, is it's vibrant weekly artisan market around the town square. We enjoyed purusing the market for fresh organic produce and admired the quality and craftmanship in the many things for sale there. We listened to a soulful Argentine reggae band and a high energy Ska band. Of course we supported a few artisanas with our pesos and got some cool stuff, too. Staying in a cabana a few k's outside of town, and with our own wheels (!) we were able to enjoy some of the wonderful trekking around the valley, visiting the "refugios" where remote living refugio caretakers (think fire lookouts in the Cascades) create a warm, wood stove atmosphere and cook things like pizza and "wok" which they sell alongside hot chocolate and cervezas. We also got in a long awaited by Miles and Lily horseback riding venture which we all enjoyed where we rode the the confluence of two large rivers and had thrilling walks over the rickety suspension bridges. After a few days in El Bolson we just had to get a little further south so we continued on through wild mountain landscape as forest turned to arid steppe. We traveled through Esquel and on to Trevelin (not much beyond these small towns until Punta Arenas, still 1200 kilometers away) where our next home away from home for a few days was a cabana off the dirt road leading to Parque Nacional Los Alerces.

the Tres Lagos Crossing

There are few passes through the rugged south central Andes and the southernmost is known as the Tres Lagos, or three lakes, crossing. It's pretty much for tourists only because of the cost and the length of time it takes, but we decided on the recommendation of other travelers that it was worth it to see the dramatic scenery, not to mention that Miles was a strong advocate of seeing and riding on the three catamarans. Speaking of tourists, we haven't seen hardly any North Americans since coming to Chile. Sure, there are lots of travelers, but most of them are wither from within Chile or from other countries in South America. Of course, there are a few Europeans, Assies and Kiwis around but the North Americans have been scant. On leaving Chiloe we got our first real rains of the trip, arriving in Puerto Varas on a day with low clouds obscuring Volcan Osorno. We left early the next day on a bus headed east, traveling for about an hour to the shores of the first Lago where we boarded the first catamaran. Traveling for two hours accross the lakes the weather slowly lifted and we gazed up at the surrounding peaks, the slopes of the volcano and the cloak of verdant Valdivian Rainforest, made up of many species of evergreen broadleaf trees and the cypress-like Alerce, one of the three oldest tree species in the world. These forests are incredible, with an understory of wild fuscia and layers of lichen draped trees. At the end of the first lake we go to hike for a couple of hours on our own, so we made our way up to a waterfall and the weather had warmed up enough that we all enjoyed a refreshing splash. Another bus took us over the pass and accross the Argentine border around the massif of El Tronodor with it's seven glaciers. The border between Argentina and Chile follows a line along the peaks of the highest mountains. Another smaller catamaran accross an emerald green glacial lake, another bus ride and then the final 2 hour lake crossing which took us into Bariloche, Argentina. During the crossing we traversed Chile's first National Park, Parque Nacional Vincente Perez Rosales, and the first National Park in South America, Argentina's Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, which was founded in 1903 with through a grant of 7000 hectares and now has grown to a colassal 710,000 hectares. Together these parks protect a large swath of the spectacular southern Andean Cordillera and the watersheds of many, many large and small beautiful lakes. It was an incredible trip and it was very exciting to arrive in Argentina, the third country we will visit on this trip.

Far Away in Chiloe

Chiloe is the second largest island in South America, Tierra del Fuego being the largest. It is a truely unique and special place being a stronghold of traditional Chilean culture and rural life. We rented a palifitto, a house on stilts of the type that once lined the coasts of Chile's fishing communities. Over time, athquakes and tsunamis have destroyed most of the palafittos but Castro sits in a protected fjord on the east side of the island so some of the palafittos have stood the trevails of time. "Mi Palafitto" was restored and fixed up by Sophia, a Chilean doctor living in Castro. She helped us get settled in and oriented and we spent ten dqys exploring the many wonderful aspects of Chiloe including it's old wooden churches, 16 of which are USESCO woeld heritage sites, and summer cultural festivals where we enjoyed traditional music and dance, food and fun. We walked beautiful beaches, kayaked in the fjord,  and on a few of the clearer days we could see the cordillera de los Andes accross the straights on the mainland, including the actively erupting volcano which recently forced the evacuation of the small city of Chiaten. Before we left Chiloe we visited a nesting colonly of Magellic and Humbolt penguins. Lily's favorite part of Chiloe was the old church at Colo, the huge artisan market in Castro, watching the tide come in and out from Mi Palifitto and the black nedked swans that hung out in the tidal flats. Miles favorite things about Chiloe was the design of Mi Palafitto, seeing the penguin colony and searching out the old churches in the remote corners of the island. Jim's favorite things were seeing the old ways still so alive and how they do eveything, literally everything, out of wood, and the music. Tracie enjoyed reading Darwin's writings about visting Chiloe on the voyage of the Beagle and thinking about what had changed and what hadn't since his time, seeing the Andes across the Gulf of Ancud and the brightly painted houses and boats that brightened even the greyest days. We took away many great memories along with our handmade warm wool sweaters and hats. Chiloe was avery special place. From here we head intto the Andes mountains and Argentina. 

Super Cama to Valdivia

We bid farewell to Casa Kryenberg, Lucia and Juan Pablo and the city of Valpariaso and boarded the bus for the 11 hour journey south to Valdivia. The bus system in Chile is amazing to us Norte Americanos. You can catch buses of all shapes and sizes to nearly anywhere very convienently and cheaply. For our long trip south we choose the overnight "super cama" bus with the cush sleeper seats. Miles has become the supreme travel researcher in matters of transportation gaining expertise all of Chile's major bus companies, their fleets and routes. Chile being such a large country and distances between regions so vast that 12-22 hour trips are commonplace. We boarded the bus at 10pm in Santiago and arrived in Valdivia, considered to be in the northernmost portion of Patagonia, around 9am. Valdivia is a beautiful small city that lies at the convergence of three large rivers. Extensive wetlands were created as a result of the 1960 earthquake, largest quake ever recorded on the planet we're told at magnitude 9.5, which resulted in a huge tsunami that hit most of southern Chile. Valdivia is famous for it's fish market. We stayed in a cabana in the nearby small village of Niebla on the outer coast where we visited the ruins of two of the 16 Spanish forts that formed the last stronghold of the Spaniards on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. The Chileans defeated the Spaniards here in one of the final battles for independence. We were able to see a reinactment of the battle for Fuerte Coral which ended with the raising of the Chilean flag. There was also a folk festival taking place in Niebla while we were there where we were able to see music and dancing while the sun set over the beautiful estuary. Our stay in our cabana in Niebla was short as our destination was further south to the island of Chiloe. Yes, it resembled home here in many ways yet oh so different. 

Valpariaso: City of Artists and Acensors

We fell under the spell of Valpariaso. All four of us. After 5 days spent exploring the winding alleys of the Cerros Allegre and Concepcion, watching the busy port and visiting the small towns and beaches to the north and the south, wandering through museums and artisan shops and feeling the history around us we were smitten. How quickly we forgot that the old buildings were worse for wear, that we are not really "city" people and that our Spanish learned from travels in Mexico and Central America does not for some reason seem to help us understand much in Chilean Spanish. Was it our perch on Cerro Allegre where we stayed with a painter who taught classes in the dining room and sold paintings from the garage and from where we watched the lights of the city appear each night and reflect the sky filled with stars? Was it observing the historic port where ships bound for Rapa Nui (Easter Island) mingled with ships readying for or fresh from rounding the horn and an occasional cruise ship bound for Anarctica while the Chilean navy stood guard? Was it visiting Pablo Neruda's "house in the sky"? Or was it the seemingly irrepressible artistic urge, a gallery behind every garage, a mural on every wall and graffitti literally everywhere? Or maybe it was the acensors, ancient lifts that carry you up the 14 mountainsides that make up the city, each one unique in it's design? No, I think what really sealed the deal was the dinner at J Cruz Verde. A little back alley restaurant that looked as dubious as you could imagine but upon entry was the most amazing hodge podge of visual imagary and Chilean hospitality where we were serenaded by the owner and his guitar while we feasted on the beef pobre---ooh la la!----and got to add our own graffitti to that covering the walls and the tables. That was the meal when we felt we had become part of the place and it a part of us as we all agreed we love this city because it has so much character. Gritty and real, old and wonderful there is nowhere else in the world you could imagine to be quite like Valpariaso!

Plaza de Armas, Santiago

Cerro Santa Lucia

An Oasis of calm in the city of 6 million (of 16 million in Chile). Cerro Santa Lucia was a "barren" rock outcrop that was ignored in teh center of Santiago for centuries. The base of this hill was the site of Pedro Valdivia's officially declaring Ssntiago a town in 1541.

Cerro Santa Lucia sat ignored until 1872 when the mayor, in a well established colonial Spanish-style act, set 150 prisoners to work transforming it with plantings and major landscaping.

The Capitol of Chile

Santiago is a city surrounded by the Andes Mountains, containing about a third of Chile’s population with a huge five million people, it is a very big city.
The center of Santiago is mostly all historical buildings built around the 18th & 19th century, the Vegas hotel witch our family stayed at was located in this part of town (photo). Tough it was only about a block away from the main street it was in a very quiet neighborhood.

Santiago is a very pedestrian friendly city. I would say that it is a cross between Las Angles & Paris. It is clean, has nice sidewalks and has allot of pedestrian walkways. These are big roads reserved for pedestrians only.

In Santiago all of the people are very friendly even though their spanish is a little hard to understand. For example on our first day in Chile an old man stopped us and told us that we should put sunscreen on so we would not get skin cancer, so we walked rite into a pharmacy and bought some.

In Santiago there are lots of old sculptures, fountains, parks and plazas. Some of these parks are on hills or Cerros. Since some of the hills in and around Santiago there are these lifts called Funiculars. They are set on a slant and they have multiple cars.

After spending 6 days in Santiago we caught one of the comfortable buses out to a town called Valpariso. More on that soon!

Posted by Lily Johannessen

In Chile Now!

We did make it down to Chile--arrived late on Jan 18.

Been seeing Santiago and Valparaiso since then, and as I had to send my fancy new laptop back to the USA for repair (3.4 lb Samsung, failed LCD screen), we could not get photos off the camera. But tech stores do exist down here and we are back up to speed w photos, if not my work laptop.

Four nights in Santiago and now most of a week in Valparaiso--great places. The port city here that seemed very seedy to our quick-to-judge son has now turned into a place of great interest and charm (that ¨chipped paint charm¨ as the Rough Guide puts it) with wild hilly geography, art almost everywhere, and ships coming and going in the bay.

More on that later..

N of Panama City--Sobriana Rainforest

Guillard Cut - the one that caused the French to fail on their late 1800s attempt at the Panama Canal, now clamly allows passage of ships form one ocean to another. The gringos that took over soon after 1900 tool on the mightly mosquito first, then the engineering second. And tens of thousands of Barbados and lesser numbers of Jamaicans did most of the actual work. this is just 15 mies north of the City.



Rainforest Discovery Center....

Panama Jazz Festival

Another nice surprise in sometimes cosmopolitan Panama City. A fine line up for the 4th? annual Panama Jazz Festival. We all came back to the city a day early so Tracie, Libby and I could go see one of the headline shows of the 10 day long festival. That was the Wayne Shorter Quartet (of Miles Davis quintet fame from the 1960s--one of the only guys to write a bunch of songs for the band), with opener of Luba Mason and her band Kava--mostly from Costa Rica, She is from California, and married to Ruben Blades, who did a guest appearence (along with Hubert Laws).

A fine theatre from about 20 years ago with very good acoustics. Wild improv form the Wayne Shorter band. 

panamajazzfestival.com

The Highlands of Central Panama

El Valle de Anton is a small town located in the highlands of central Panama. It is located in the crater of an extinct volcano witch is about four miles across. Though the town’s real name is El Valle de Anton most people here simply call it El Valle (The Valley). Because of its higher elevation it is significantly cooler in temperature than the rest of Panama and the wind also blows stronger. It is surrounded on all four sides by mountains and is about 30 miles away from the Pacific Ocean.
The protected forests in the mountains surrounding El Valle have lots of wildlife, including tree frogs, butterflies, brightly colored birds, colorful amphibians and cute small mammals.
On Monday the 12th we went on the Canopy Adventure zipline. In case you don’t know what a zipline it is a couple wire cables strung between trees with little platforms in between the cables. At the Canopy Adventure ziplines there were four wire cables. Each cable was set at a different angle. The third cable was my favorite, it was a very steep trilling ride rite over the waterfall. This was the only cable were you did not have to stop yourself. They would stop you in the middle and since you were so high you could see the mountains, the waterfall and the forest.
The outdoor Sunday public market has a wide range of local produce, arts and crafts and beautiful orchids.
We are staying at a hotel called Los Captitones meaning The Captain. This hotel is owned by a retired German sea captain. There is a restaurant at the hotel with lots of German food. My family and I like it here very much so we are planning to stay here for the rest of our time before we have to go back to Panama City to catch our flight to Chile.
Written by: Lily Johannessen

More Caribbean - the Search for the Perfect Palm Tree

All good things take time--especially along the little developed Costa Arriba of northern Panama, including this post. Some things there take a lot of time. From the house on the Carib shore (there for a week) it took some time just finding a really nice beach--all that cool reef and nice swell was in the way of just getting into the water on a hot day. After that we clued in to hiring la launcha out to several of the small islands outside the cool mangrove and reef shore. You know they are going to come back in the afternoon at the designated time (pretty much) as you pay them after you get back to the mainland.

Another time we were off to drive to the ziplines-a new operation out there, and got turned back by the lack of a passable road for our little rented Nissan-and the road work going on. So we turned back for Playa Langosta, a spot without a reef. After a fine lunch of whole fried fish and other goodies, Miles gets in the water first--and bingo, instant double jelly fish stings to the legs.

More days out via private launch--Chillaxing, as Miles puts it. Some launches funkier than others. One day the 2 guys (teenagers) were shaking the gas can for the outboard on teh way back to see how fast they could go. After we paid them and sat eating another fish and chicken dinner, back the younger one comes lugging a very heavy gas can.

The nicest part--breeze was usually up, swell with it, still god snorkling on the protected south sides, and fine fish. No photos of the reef fish here, but Tracie and I had a quick short swim back to the shallows after hearing both kids howling due to the howling of the howler monkies in the trees nearby. . .

So Isla Lame (top 3), Puerto Frances (w kids in bay), or Playa Blanca at Playa Grande (w Tracie)....which has the best palm tree scene--certinaly better than the Microsoft desktop image?? Well, they are diff views with v different levels of effort, so it goes down here. The heat, the cerveza, the little coral burn........

Panama's Outback

Out on the Caribbean where the trade winds blow a wild shoreline stretches as far as the eye can see. This is the outback of Panama. Further north (west), near Costa Rica, lies Bocas del Toro, a fully developed tourist meca for surfers and sun seekers. Most travelers to Panama that want to visit the Caribbean fly from Panama City to Bocas. East of Colon lies the Costa Arriba, a place of old Spanish ruins and neglected tiny towns that feels a world away from Panama City, although only about a two hour trip. We rented a house with a reef front shoreline where we watched little blue and yellow crowned night herons forage daily. Osprey were regular visitors, too, and howler monkeys frequented the forest nearby.
People here still don’t take much notice of the few tourists that make it out this way---not enough to make a living from---although the local fisherman provide launches to a few remote beaches on outlying islands. Looking back toward the mainland coast you can imagine the days of the Spanish forts and the British pirates that sacked them all in the lust for Inca gold. We’ve enjoyed lots of great snorkeling in the clear turqoise waters. Further east along the coast lies the Kuna Yala, the semiautonomous homeland of the Kuna people. We see them in the craft markets in the towns selling their molas, a traditioal art from made from many layers of colored cloth. Favorites from our time in the Carribean included drinking milk from fresh coconuts bought from roadside stands and enjoying delicious fresh fish.

Panama City Scenes

Isla Taboga, from a resteraunt terrace - nice place to visit, could have stayed a week.


This is no small or 3rd world city. High rise heaven and they are still building like mad. 9% growth rate last year. But other parts of the country are plenty stagnant.
Miraflores Locks - if you wait, the ships will come.
This is the lower of the 3 locks dropping down to the Pacific.