January
in San Carlos is known for being brutally hot and dry; temperatures in
the 90s without a single rainy day. That might sound nice in the middle
of winter in New York, but it can get a little suffocating when you're
in the middle of it. Luckily, my family planned a huge road trip
through the south of Chile along the Carretera Austral, the “highway”
built under Pinochet to connect the Southern Region with Magellenes. It
is thousands of kilometers long, mostly unpaved, and connected in parts
by ferry. While the intention was to provide a domestic route to
transport military and economic goods to the south, most trucks still go
through Argentina to get to the south because to the hazardous road
conditions. The Carretera Austral today is mostly used by adventurous
vacationers and cyclists.
A
few days before the trip, everyone gathered at our house to get ready.
My host family, the grandmothers, my host dad’s sister’s family, my
host dad’s girlfriend, her son, and her brother and his wife. Thirteen
of us all together. The first stop was in Bariloche, a lakeside city in
Argentina known for its chocolate factories and long history as a
vacation spot for Chileans and Argentinians in both winter and summer. A
twelve hour car ride wasn’t the best way to start the trip, but we
broke it up with an amazing lunch at the half way point and kept
ourselves entertained with music and conversation. Unfortunately, the
long distance we needed to cover meant that we could only stay there one
night, so after checking out some chocolate factories the next morning,
we got on the road again. This time traveling to Futalefu, back in
Chile. This meant we had to cross over the Andes again, and it was
awesome to see the change in landscape from the arid Argentinian planes
to the lush Chilean forests. We arrived at night with heavy rain with no
food or water thanks to the notoriously stringent policies at the
Chilean border, so I was send out with a cousin to run around the town
looking for an open restaurant. We got thoroughly soaked, but it was
worth the effort to find the hidden Italian restaurant where we ate.
The next morning, everyone was up early to do some sort of outdoor
activity. Some set out hiking, others to bike, and I went with my host
dad, brother, and cousins to go rafting on one of the many world renown
rivers that flow by Futalefu. I had never been rafting, so I didn't
really know what to expect. All I knew was that the river we were going
on had the highest rating of difficulty that exists for whitewater
rapids. We got to the launch site, put on wetsuits, did a few practice
drills in calm water, and set off down the river. There were seven of
us in the boat, but the river still tossed us all over the place. Two
people fell out and one guy jump out voluntarily! They all agreed it
was more enjoyable in the boat. Afterwards, we had some snacks and got
to talk to the guides about their cool watersport lives. This was
definitely one of the most fun things we did on the trip.
The
next day we packed up again and continued south, getting as far south
as Caleta Tortel over the course of the next few days. With so much
ground to cover, we spend most of each day driving, but it was
incredible to see the innumerable mountains, waterfalls, lakes, plants,
and animals from the road, all of which were totally new to me! And we
did make sure to save time to fit fun things in like fishing, hiking,
kayaking, and swimming (sometimes in volcanic hot springs, other times
in glacier fed rivers). We returned north through Chile, at times
island hopping by to get past the sections without road. The ferries
are generally considered part of the “highway”. Finally, we reached
Puerto Montt, from which point we would have paved road and just one
more day driving back to San Carlos. Unfortunately, the return to the
connected world meant we heard the news about fires all across the
northern half of the country.
The
last final hours of the trip we spend driving through thick smoke.
Upon arriving back at the house, we heard all of the local news about
what had happened. There were forrest fires in towns both east and west
of San Carlos, and the smoke had spread to cover just about
everywhere. While these fires were put out relatively quickly and the
smoke had dissipated by the end of the month, others around the country
continued, and still haven't been fully contained. Thankfully,
everything seems under control where I am living, and international help
seems to have turned the tide. It was incredible to see the huge
efforts that people immediately made to help those affected. We had
numerous events and fundraisers in San Carlos, and the number of people
trying to help actually became a problem due to traffic jams going to
affected areas.
Despite
the disaster, I'm doing great. I've had an amazing summer here so far
and I'm looking forward to what's left in store. Hope its not too cold
in Albany!
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