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Caye Caulker: Unbelizeable

5/3/2016

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Belize is as small as it is unique. It only has 8,800 square miles of territory and a population of roughly 350,000. What really makes Belize stand out is its fascinating mix of Carribean laid backness and Spanish flare. It is the only country in the region to have English as its official language and is also the only country to have full membership in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Central American Integration System (SICA), and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). This obviously highlights that Belize is very much both a Latin country and a Caribbean country. Most of the people speak English (it was forced on them by the British in school until they gained their independence in 1981), Spanish, and their own creole dialect.

Some of the first people to inhabit the region were the Mayans. There is so much to say about the Mayans, so I will hold off until my post about my trip into Guatemala. Fast forward to 1506 and the Spanish began exploring the region. They claimed the area as a colony, but did not settle it due to its lack of resources. In the 17th and 18th centuries some European settlers and pirates (known as Baymen) established a settlement which was driven by slave labor (which is one reason why today a large portion of the population is of African descent) and the logwood trade (used for dying fabrics). The pirates used the area as a safe haven from which to attack Spanish merchants. As time went on instead of fighting the residents of what was known as the Belize District the Spanish granted them permission to stay and to participate in the logwood trade with the hopes that piracy would hault.  Since most of the settlers were from England the area fell under British control, but the British government was hesitant to declare ownership in fear of creating problems with Spain. In 1786 the British government assigned a superintendent over the region. There were a few minor battles with Spain over the region, but in the end Britain won. From 1862 to 1981, Belize was officially part of the British Empire. Even now that they are independent, they still belong to the Common Wealth and have Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch.

There were a few things I noticed instantly on arrival. One the people are extremely laid back. Laid back to a humorous degree. I tried to buy fish from a group of fishermen and even with US dollars in hand they couldn’t be bothered to sell it. Secondly, it is a very small place. In the keys the only form of transit is by golf cart. The banks actually have signs advertising multiple year loans for golf carts. As you can see in the picture above, even their police officers drive around in golf carts.

I spent the first five days hanging around Caye Caulker. I swam across the split (a waterway with a rather strong current that separates the two parts of Caye Caulker), rented a kayak, sat in one specific hammock I deemed mine, and cooked almost every meal at home. Most meals consisted of vegetable curry, but I did manage to buy a Hogfish directly from some fishermen and grilled it at night with the mosquitoes on a rather dirty grill by headlamp light. The only thing out of the norm that happened was the owner of one of the many Chinese markets noticed my jade bracelet and inquired if I had any Chinese ancestors since it is only common to see the older Chinese/Taiwanese generation wearing them.
On the sixth day I dove the Caulker Reef and snorkeled in Sting Ray/Shark alley. The two dives weren’t anything to write home about or in this case post about. We did see two sea turtles, but the reef wasn’t in a healthy condition and the current was pretty strong, so I went through oxygen faster than what is normal for my body size. I saw way more marine life snorkeling. There were nurse sharks, reef sharks, and lots of stingrays.

On the seventh day, I was given the treat of flying over the Blue Hole in honor of my birthday. The Great Blue Hole is a deep sinkhole near the Lighthouse Reef off the coast of Belize. It takes roughly 2.5 hours to reach it by boat and about 20 minutes by plane. It was created during a series of glacial events when sea levels were far lower. It is assumed the stalactites began to form around 150,000 years ago. The sea levels then rose and filled in the huge cave. It is roughly 985 feet in diameter and 407 feet deep. People are drawn to it for the beautiful change in color and for its perfect circular shape. Divers have to go to the recreational diving max depth of 40 m in order to see the stalactites and any shallower the really is nothing to see except darkness below you. The flight took an hour and 10 minutes. The pilot, Charles, did several fly bys and at one point got extremely close to a boat to the joy of both the passengers of the boat and the plane. It was an incredibly special experience and one I will never forget.
For the actual day of my birthday I was given the gift of diving the Blue Hole. The trip included a dive in the hole itself, a dive at Half Moon Caye, and a dive spot called the Aquarium. The seas were smooth to my glee and the weather was perfect. There were a few issues with the Dive Masters demanding all divers go to 40m regardless of their comfort level. In the end, it all worked out. There wasn’t much to see in the hole, but the next two dive sites were underwater playgrounds. The Half Moon Caye dive lead us through very tight canyons (with only room for one diver at a time) between massive coral ecosystems. It was definitely one of my favorite dives I have ever done. The third dive was along a massive wall which had a lot of marine life. I saw a Spotted Eagle Ray and several Blowfish. For lunch the boat stopped at an island, Half Moon Caye, that I don’t even want to describe. It was like a scene from Castaway. I felt like I should be talking to Wilson as I wandered around. The sand was perfectly white, the water clear, and all that stands on the island is a ranger station. I would love to go back there and camp out for a few nights. It is home to the Red-Footed Boobies. The only other place they are found is in the Galapagos Islands! There was a viewing platform from which you could see them nesting. I also spotted many Wishing Willies (a huge type of lizard). This is an interesting species. The guide said that usually one male will live in a tree with a harem of 100-150 females. WOW!
My last day was spent sneaking onto a resort’s dock in San Pedro, reading, and walking around the town. I ran into two of the girls who were on the same flight over the Blue Hole. We had a drink and laughed the night away.
The next day I took the ferry to Belize City. I had been advised to avoid Belize City as much as possible. It has an incredibly high crime rate and is just not worth messing with. So m options for buses to San Ignacio were 10 USD in a hand me down US school bus with no A/C, 20 USD for a spacious van with A/C, or 40 USD for a private cab. I decided to allow my Scottish side and my humane side compromise and I went with the 20 dollar van. The problem wasn’t so much the close calls on making my connections, it was finding my hosts house. The van dropped me off in San Ignacio, but my host’s house was across the river in Santa Elena. So I hauled my stuff across the river and up a steep hill. I wandered up another huge hill to the chagrin of many locals. One man was nice enough to call my host’s number several times. I finally decided to go back down to the main street and to plop down at a restaurant before I came up with more ideas of what to do. As fate should have it the owner of the establishment was also a town official and enjoys performing good acts in the name of town tranquility. I sat in the back of his pick-up and he headed off in the direction he believed to be correct. We didn’t find it. My host, Sandra, was still not answering her phone. He stopped a passing vehicle and asked the driver if he knew where a foreigner lived that had a pool. It is a small community and sure enough the guy knew Sandra’s house. Once there I was greeted by Sandra and her husband, Don. They are from Alberta, Canada. Their house has a nice yard with a pool they exercise in daily. They bought it 6 years ago for retirement and are now itching to hit the road and hope to sell it soon. It was incredibly hot in their house and difficult to sleep, but everything else about it was great. She provides breakfast for her guests by the pool every morning and likes to chat in the events. They were a funny couple because she basically told him, “I am moving to Belize whether you come or not!” He had never left Canada and had recently broken his back at work (industrial painter). So for four years they lived apart and only two years ago was he able to move down to live with her. He spends his time overly exposing his skin to the sun and painting in the yard.  

My next post will cover my day trips from their house. I hope you have good weather wherever you are reading from because right now I am learning what rainy season is like in Costa Rica...
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San Diego

5/3/2016

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Our time in San Diego was brief, but well worth the trip. We went to the world famous San Diego Zoo (one of the top ranked in the world- the only other zoo I have been to that beats it is the Singapore Zoo), toured the USS Midway, and met my college friend, Erin, for dinner.

The USS Midway was my favorite part of our time there. It is only named after the Battle of Midway and did not fight in it. We were there for over 3 hours and could easily have spent another 2. All the retired sailors on board at one time were stationed on the Midway and had all sorts of great stories to tell. One sailor had spent a year in Taiwan and his barracks had ironically been a few blocks away from my old apartment. If you don’t know anything about the Battle of Midway, google it. It changed the tide of WWII in the Pacific and was an impressive victory against almost the entire Japanese fleet.

We went on to tour the east coast. Orlando, Philadelphia, and New York City. We met many family members and shared many special evenings with loved ones. I will post about Philly and NYC in the future. All I will say now is thank you very much to my wonderful aunt and uncle in Philadelphia and all the cousins I was able to meet up with. I am very fortunate to come from such a strong family of interesting and giving people. I will always treasure the time I got to spend with you and hope we can see one another again soon! 
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Thank You Tim!

3/14/2016

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Even after we stopped traveling along the same path, Tim continued to get people around the world to jump with him. The new uploads come to you from Tim in Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Australia! I miss my best friend and can't wait for our reunion in Taiwan this coming year. No matter where we are in the world, Tim is always present with a listening ear. I just wish we could share our meals and our jump shots.

I miss you and thank you. 
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The California Coast

3/7/2016

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My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came rolling into San Fran to pick us up in their RV. We jumped in and set out along the coast. We stopped in Monterey to visit its famous aquarium. It is one of the only aquariums in the world to have yellow and blue fin tuna on display. Our next stop was Hearst Castle. There is so much to say about that place. It was designed by the San Francisco based architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 for William Hearst. At first he named the house “La Cuesta Encantada” or “The Enchanted Hill”, yet most of the time he lovingly referred to it as the ranch.

William Hearst’s father had struck it rich with silver in the late 1800’s. He bought huge pieces of land along California’s central coast for cattle ranching. His son, William, grew up loving the terrain of the area. When he was 10, his mother took him on a year and a half grand tour of Europe. The trip left a lasting impression on him. After his parents’ deaths, he began building his dream home on top of the hill from his childhood overlooking the beautiful California coastline. He wanted the house to incorporate the architectural designs he had seen in Europe. The house represents one of the greatest collections of art and architecture ever owned by a private individual.

Next up was San Luis Obispo. We checked out Calpoly (a place I have had interest in for graduate school) and ate some local cuisine. The next day we drove past the famous golf course Pebble Beach and along the 17 mile drive. Our last stop before reaching their house in Orange County was a winery for a tasting of Californian wine.

What a cool state. California has deserts, mountains, forests, lots of national parks, cultural cities, and thousands of miles of coastline. C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A!
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San Francisco

1/29/2016

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San Francisco is the second most densely populated city in the United States after New York City. It is personally one of my favorite cities in the US. It is built on rolling hills on the San Francisco Peninsula and affords its residents with stunning views of the bay. Tourists are attracted to the city for its victorian architecture, its historical flare, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Alcatraz Penitentiary, cable cars, world class museums, Ghirardelli chocolate, and cuisine from all over the world.  

A Brief historical run through of the city:

1.  The city was named after St. Francis of Assisi by its Spanish founders in 1776.
2.
The city’s real growth began with the California Gold Rush in 1849. Its population exploded making it the largest city in the west.
3.
In 1906 a major earthquake shook the city which led to a fire that burned most of the city to the ground.
4.
In response to the Great Depression the city constructed both the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge to put people back to work.
5.
During WWII, the city was the launching off point for naval and airforce troops heading to join the war in the Pacific.
6.
After WWII, massive immigration occurs from Asia and Latin America.
7. 1960’s hippies begin congregating in the city and in doing so established the city as the counterculture capital of the US. This came to a climax in 1967 with the Summer of Love.
8.
1970’s the gay rights movement blooms in San Fran and a very large gay community, the Castro, is formed. Harvey Milk is elected into political office and then assassinated. His place in the political arena and his death placed a spotlight on the push for gay equality.
9.
1990’s witnessed the dot-com boom and the economy soared.
10. 2000’s brought the creation of many start-up companies in the Silicon Valley making San Fran an even more popular place to live.
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San Francisco remains a very liberal city with an innovative atmosphere. Its historical roots planted by immigrants from all the major continents give it a diverse flare not found in many places. With powerhouse companies like Google and Apple nearby and hundreds of companies within the city limits such as Facebook, the city continues to attract the brightest minds in the tech industry from all over the world. It is surrounded by the beautiful nature of California and has access to some of the best universities in the world (ie. Berkeley and Stanford). If you are going to visit only one city in my nation, I believe it should be San Francisco. At its core it represents what makes the United States so special- innovation and diversity.

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Go Back and Read the Torres del Paine and Ushuaia Posts!

1/29/2016

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The gorilla says, "Do it!"... 
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The Pacific Northwest: Seattle and Portland

1/22/2016

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Welcome to the Pacific Northwest! I am very proud to come from this region of the United States. It is famous for microbreweries, coffee, hipsters, grunge, bikes, mountains, clean air, Starbucks, Nike, Microsoft, Boeing, Columbia, food trucks, and environmentally conscious/down-to-earth/friendly/easygoing people. I view the PNW to the rest of the country as the Netherlands is to Europe. It is very progressive and substantially more liberal than the very conservative central states. Washington and Oregon have a high standard of living with strong education and plenty of space for people to own land. Oregon is about the same size as West Germany and only has a population of 4 million people.

While in Seattle, my brother and sister-in-law rolled out the red carpet and took us on a grand tour. We ate some of the world’s best sandwiches at Salumi (if you go to Seattle, this is a must visit), sampled free trade chocolate at Theo’s, went to a plethora of microbreweries and a unique cidery, and visited the Space Needle and Pike’s Place Market. My wonderful friend from Taiwan, Jane, stayed with us for a few days. She made us Chinese pancakes, bubble milk tea, and came with a bag filled with goods from both Taiwan and the Netherlands (she is getting her Masters there). Jane is one of the many important people I have met while traveling. We met in 2012 in a hostel in Turkey. Little did I know I was meeting one of my future best friends. During my time in Taiwan, she and her family adopted me. They showed me temples, exposed me to new and strange foods, and took me to culturally important events. When I left the country, her father brought me to tears by telling me that I was his American daughter. Thank you for coming Jane. I look forward to a day in the future when we live in the same country again.
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Next up was Portland for CHRISTMAS! More on Portland in the spring. 
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La Familia de mi Fueguino

12/10/2015

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At the very tip of the South American continent one will find a scarcely populated island just south of the Straits of Magellan. A sliver of this island belongs to Chile and is relatively barren, while the rest makes up the Argentinian province of Tierra del Fuego. On this island there is a small city called Rio Grande and in this city resides a family of great significance to me.  

Since my arrival in Argentina almost 6 months ago, they have showed me nothing but kindness and have been welcoming in every way. The father of the family, Marcelo, possesses a calming presence and exudes an aura of kindness. It is obvious that he is an intelligent man of impressive accomplishments, but he doesn’t carry himself in an arrogant manner. The three sons all are highly intelligent and thoughtful people, yet they do have strikingly different personalities. The youngest Fabrizzio has a remarkable intellect which makes him fascinating to converse with. He is both book smart and street smart, ergo he is a force to be reckoned with. At only 17 he already has well informed world views and I look forward to witnessing how he improves the world later on in his life. Tomas is the middle son and was by far my favorite person I met in Buenos Aires. He has a cool guy exterior, but it doesn’t take long to see that he is incredibly thoughtful. He has the strongest whit amongst the bunch and has the ability to make anyone laugh. Nicolas is the eldest. One of the things I noticed first about him was his strong moral compass. It doesn’t matter if it has to do with global politics or making sure we paid enough at a grocery store, he will always do/support the morally correct action. He is more introverted than his brothers in some ways, but when he does speak it is well-thought out and meaningful. He has inherited many of his father’s traits and this may be one reason why I enjoy his company so much. Last but not least is their mother Alejandra. She is a hard-working and doting mother who has done an excellent job raising three sons. She deserves a lot of credit for making sure all three boys speak English fluently. Thank you Alejandra for welcoming me into your home and for all the thoughtful gestures (especially in the food department).

Thank you for accepting a strange estadounidense into your family. I am very grateful.
 


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Ushuaia: The Closest City to Antarctica

11/26/2015

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If you were to drive roughly 2,600 km south of Buenos Aires, you would come to the end of the mainland of Argentina. To continue south onto the island of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) you would have to first go through immigration to enter Chile. Then you would drive for around an hour and go through immigration to re-enter Argentina. That sounds ridiculous right? Well it is. There has been much contention between Argentina and Chile over control of the region for many decades. Instead of going to war the two countries signed the Boundary Treaty of 1881 on July 23rd of that same year. If I could go back in time and witness the discussions revolving around their final decisions, it would be worth learning Spanish for. The way Tierra del Fuego is partitioned is illogical and gives Chile the big benefit of being able to control the flow of Argentinian goods. Something worthy of note is that the Chilean portion of Tierra del Fuego is basically uninhabited.

The arrival of man on the island of Tierra del Fuego is estimated to have occurred 10,000 years ago. The Selk’nam are assumed to have been the first to arrive. The Selk’nam group who settled in the southern part of the island in what is now known as Ushuaia were called the Yaghan. Over the centuries there was conflict between the different tribes on the island, but they all shared relatively similar lifestyles. Some lived in temporary structures made from logs and sticks and focused most of their efforts on hunting guanaco. Others lived in more permanent housing along the coastline and collected some of their food from the sea. Many tribes became expert canoe builders and placed their trust in their workmanship by venturing out into the rough waters surrounding the island. It is impressive that these tribes flourished in the extreme weather conditions of the region.

Fast forward to 1520 when the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the Spanish Crown arrived to what would become known as the Straits of Magellan. There are several stories revolving around how the island got its name. One states that Magellan saw the fires of the Yaghan and became nervous that they were waiting to ambush him. So he named it the Land of Smoke which was later changed to Land of Fire.

Jump ahead again to 1833. On January 29th, 1833 the HMS Beagle under the command of a familiar name, Robert Fitz-Roy, reached the channel on which Ushuaia now sits.  Fitz-Roy had employed a young scientist named Charles Darwin to join him on his journey.  Due to the fame the expedition would later gain the channel was named the Beagle Channel. The first non-indigenous people to settle in Tierra del Fuego were British missionaries. It wasn’t until 1873 that the first Argentinian citizens arrived in Ushuaia. Their names were Juan and Clara Lawrence. They moved south to teach. They among others had been encouraged by Julio Argentino Roca (who later served two terms as president) to settle in Tierra del Fuego with hopes of securing Argentina’s legitimacy and sovereignty in the region. Roca also encouraged the creation of a penal colony. Not only would this help the previously stated goal, but it was also a practical move. If criminals escaped, where would they go? They couldn’t survive the rough weather conditions on their own and swimming off the island wasn’t going to happen. Only a few did end up escaping. Several returned on their own accord to avoid freezing and starvation. One made it to Chile only for the Chilean authorities to return him to Ushuaia. One was never accounted for again, but it is assumed he died.

More settlers came with hopes of striking it rich in a supposed gold rush. Unfortunately for them the rumors of gold were just that, rumors. So many of them turned to sheep farming. Later on the Argentinian government made the province of Tierra del Fuego a tax free zone to encourage more citizens to relocate and to encourage companies to place their factories there. As a result most of Argentina’s manufacturing takes place in Tierra del Fuego, especially that of electronics.

Ushuaia itself is a popular resort town for skiing and the main hub in the world for tourists and expeditions heading to Antarctica. It is considered the southernmost city in the world. Chile does have a town to the south of Ushuaia, but it isn’t a city! Our time there was shared with our Swiss friends, Martina and Raphael, as well as Nico’s little brother, Fabrizzio. We went to the prison, the national park, and took a boat ride to see a penguin colony. If you ever want to plan a trip to Antarctica, I highly recommend going to Ushuaia and booking it from there. The prices I saw were SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than anything you could book online or from another country. I met a retired couple who had just done a 18 day trip around the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, to South Georgia, and then onto Antarctica. Their stories and pictures made me incredibly jealous. The sheer number of penguin species they saw alone would make you want to do the trip.

So what are you waiting for? Start saving and make visiting the bottom of the world one of your action items. Just make sure you bring sea-sickness pills. The seas get pretty rough in those parts. ​
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Trekking the W of Torres del Paine (Chile)

11/17/2015

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The Torres del Paine (pronounced Pie-nay) National Park is in the Chilean part of Patagonia. It is very close to Puerto Natales from which most hikers bus into the park before beginning the five day “W” trek or the 8 day + “O” trek. We took a bus from Calafate to Puerto Natales and took a day to prepare for our adventure. The one piece of advice I received from hikers that I will continue to pass on is go to the ERRATIC ROCK informational session held daily at 3:00pm. We almost skipped it, but we were really thankful we went. The Erratic Rock is a hostel, but you don’t have to be staying there to go to the informational session. It is free and the employees there do a great job of going through what to expect each day, what routes to take, what the refugios are like, what to bring, and how to deal with the unpredictable weather of the park. Due to the park’s proximity to a massive glacier, the it has its own micro climate. It can be sunny and calm one minute and raining with strong gusts of wind the next. We had initially wanted to spend four days trekking, but were strongly informed that just wasn’t going to be feasible. So we took their advice and set out to buy food supplies for five days.

The two stores in Puerto Natales I recommend are Don Bosco and Frutos Seco. The first is a family ran grocery store that carries some great trekking options. They have soup packets that can be used as sauces. Just put half the required water in with the powder and you have a great sauce to add to polenta. We carried more weight than other hikers, but we ate a lot better. We pretty much ate tuna for lunch every day and had polenta/soup for dinner. No matter where we are breakfast is always oatmeal and that didn’t change on the trail. Frutos Seco has a huge variety of dried fruits and nuts. It was amazing how afford the nuts were especially after being used to the extreme prices in Argentina.

Before even getting to the park, we met a fellow hiker who would be a character we ran into along the way. His name is Michael and he is a librarian at a school of the arts in South Carolina. He was a very friendly guy and came to my aid with cold medicine at several points on the trail. It was already obvious on the first day that there is a strong sense of comradery amongst hikers. You all share the same blister issues, exhaustion, etc. This year my brother did the Pacific Crest Trail (a hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border). He has an endless list of stories about other hikers and how close they all became out there with the bears, rattlesnakes, and unpredictable access to water. We only trekked for five days, not five months! I can only imagine how strong the bond would be if you were together for that long out in nature.

I won’t bore you with all the details of each day. I will give a few pieces of advice to others who plan to do the W trek:

Day 1- Most people head to Refugio Grey on the first day. The hike up was pretty boring other than seeing Glacier Grey itself. I suggest adding a sixth day to the trek and going all the way up to Campo Paso. The proper viewpoint of the glacier is two hours past Refugio Grey and another two hours to Campo Paso. We only made it to the viewpoint, but were told by others that Campo Paso is absolutely amazing. The camp is about midway up the glacier and gives the feeling that you are out on the glacier itself. At Refugio Grey set up your tent in the trees. The wind here can be really strong and setting up in the field is not ideal.

Day 2- We trekked back down to where we started and then made the two hour trek to Campo Italiano. This stretch is the flattest and easiest part of the W. We constantly joked about Chileans’ definition of flat because the signage of the park was really inaccurate and horrible. “Is this next chunk going to be flat or a Chilean flat?” A sign would state you had completed 2 km after four hours of trekking and the elevation charts would show a section being flat or downhill and then we would be ascending for a couple hours, ergo don’t believe any signage. The maps show the average amount of time between camps and these estimates seem to be pretty accurate. Campo Italiano has issues with rats. Be extra careful with any food you have here. Try to make it early because very few campsites are flat. The cooking hut here is also really nasty- just be prepared.

Day 3-  If you plan to hike all the way into the French Valley, get up early. Due to strong winds and weather, we only made it an hour in. We still had awesome views of the hanging glacier and felt pretty content with what we saw. Others who went all the way said the views were pretty similar. We then made it to our favorite campsite, Refugio Los Cuernos. In warm weather this would be a cool place to just hang out for a bit.

Day 4- If you go West to East like we did, this is by far the hardest day. *Make sure you follow the sign for the shortcut to Refugio Chileno!!! - If you think the trail is getting really narrow and doesn’t seem right, you have probably joined a horse trail by accident.* We trekked all the way from Refugio Los Cuernos through shire like terrain with a mountain lion sighting and past Refugio Chileno to Campamento Torres. The last hour was pretty steep and we were exhausted. At one point Nico said, “I don’t think I have ever been this tired in my life.” One American /German couple we met coming down from Refugio Grey were there and the woman was in tears of exhaustion/pride that she had made it.

Day 5- We woke up at 3:30am to make the final 45 minute ascent to view the sunrise at Los Torres. The wind was howling and the tent was shaking. I was actually pretty concerned about the safety of going up in this weather. The park is notorious for its strong winds and we had actually been advised to sit down in strong winds because people are frequently knocked off their feet. We waited till we saw a few headlamps and decided we were going to do it. We met up with the German/American couple, an Italian, and a German couple. As a group we slowly climbed hoping that we were actually going to be able to see something past the clouds. We made it just in time to catch a golden sliver of light break over the horizon. We all celebrated together and felt bad for the group who decided to go back down just before reaching the top. If you make it to Campamento Torres, regardless of temperature force yourself to be part of the 40% of people who actually get up for sunrise.
After recharging at camp we headed down in perfectly clear weather. We met a group of Americans who were running the whole thing. They even opted to not take the bus back into town and ran all the way. Cool! Oh and if you decide to take a horse down to to Hosteria Las Torres (where the bus picks you up) I may judge you a bit. You made the effort to walk all the way up- you can walk yourself down. Almost to the Hosteria we saw a tall couple approaching. I called back to Nico, “Hey, we know that hair!” Yep, it was Raphael and Martina. Our lovely tall Swiss friends were just starting their first day of the W. We all laughed at how small the world is. This marked our fifth encounter.
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We did it and it was a really great experience to share. What I forgot to mention is that the night before we started I came down with a seriously bad cold. So not only was I tired from the trek, but I was struggling to breathe. I felt so content getting back to our hostel in Puerto Natales!

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    Hi, I'm Kristin!

    I am an avid traveler who also loves photography, history, and food. Life is short and I am trying to gather as many special memories as I can.

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    Travel Resume:
    Mexico (1990)
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    French Polynesia (2015)
    Canada (2015)
    USA (2015)
    Argentina (2015)
    Uruguay (2015)
    Bolivia (2015)
    Chile (2015)
    USA (2016)
    ​Belize (2016)
    Guatemala (2016)
    ​Costa Rica (2016)
    ​Greece (2016)
    Switzerland (2016)
    Liechtenstein (2016)
    Austria (2016)
    Germany (2016)
    ​
    Italy (2016)
    United Arab Emirates (2016)
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