Introduction: from Ushuaia Argentina, bottom of the world, travel onward through Patagonia, and reach Puerto Montt, southern terminus of mainland Chile.
Country is 2,000 miles long, stretched along the Pan-American Highway, yet, only 110-miles wide. An amazing road trip if it wasn’t cost-prohibitive for one-way car rental.
Travel 750-miles north by bus to reach Santiago, the nation’s capital, before flying five hours west to visit Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua, Easter Island.
MON 30 December: quiet afternoon at hostel, wait to board Navimag ferry to southern tip of mainland Chile. Harbor area is busy, with tractor trailers endlessly disgorged from the vehicle deck. Check-in process is paper-based (9pm); passengers are not allowed to walk to the vessel, due to security, but rather, shuttled to the vessel via passenger van (10pm), and watch the crimson sunset.
Navimag ferry, MV Esperanza, completed in 2019 (est. $30-million USD), and entered service in 2020. It is 150-meters long, 23-meters wide, capacity of 1,800 freight lane meters, cruises at 13-knots (15-mph), with up to 200-passengers (in staterooms).
Stay in 8-pax stateroom; half-full, no one takes an upper bunk; passengers from Australia and Switzerland. Staterooms have door locks (key card), and keyed lockers. Hot shower is welcome, harbor area was cold and damp; in bed by 11pm.
Tuesday: it is strange to be back on maritime vessel, after disembarking from Antarctica a week ago. Depart before 5am, three-day voyage north through Patagonia and Chilean fjords to Puerto Montt, southern tip of mainland Chile.
Sleep well, well enough, and wake up without an alarm. Water is calm, similar to Alaska inside passage; none of the furniture is chained or bolted down, unlike Antarctica expedition. Exterior door hatches are open; there is no place warm on the ship. There are few places for passengers: individual stateroom, small café, and dining room.
Breakfast is served 8:00am, mostly underwhelming, as if, how to feed passengers as quickly, cheaply, and easily as possible, with the emphasis on cheap (cheap).
Wednesday: Happy New Year. Lose the day to migraine; agony breaks after 12-hours. Vessel navigates open water of Pacific Ocean, pitch and roll, but, not unreasonable.
Thursday: wake up, shower, and shave, slow morning, but I am vertical. Ship returns to sheltered waters of the Chilean Fjords. After breakfast, passengers are allowed to tour the bridge; third officer and helmsman on deck, two crew members at all time.
Always wanted to travel the world by freighter, but, now less certain. Little to do on board; assemble jigsaw puzzle, read an underwhelming book, play solitaire. Eventually, meet some interesting travelers, maybe, everyone has an interesting story if I am willing to look around, and ask open-ended questions.
FRI 03 January: Esperanza docks at Puerto Montt at midnight, long after most passengers retired to bed. Early breakfast (6am), and disembark (7am); it is a secure port, foot passengers are bused from the ship to the local bus station.
Drop off backpack at AirBnB, and explore. Puerto Montt, northern gateway to Patagonia, with two nearby volcanos (Osorno and Calbuco). Town was severely damaged following the 9.0-magnitude, 1960 Valdivia (Great Chilean) earthquake.
SUN 05 January: travel south, Puerto Montt to Castro; bus crosses ferry to Chiloé Island. Some passengers don’t wear headphones or earbuds; forced to listen to inane TikTok or Facebook videos. To choose anger is wasted energy.
Wanted to rent car (24-hours) to visit Chiloé National Park; peak summer, car rental companies would only rent for minimum period of two days.
What a difference one day makes; on Sunday, town was practically a ghost town. On Monday, town is bustling with people, vehicular traffic, and bus transport.
Many homes constructed of corrugated steel. Chile is earthquake prone; corrugated steel is light and fracture resistant. Many of the coastal homes are built on stilts, brightly painted colors, and resemble box of crayons.
TUE 07 January: northbound bus to Puerto Varas; town founded by German settlers, the homes have skillful, wood-carved craftsmanship; check into nice hostel, few and far between, only two (very good) hostels during three months of travel. One hostel guest is riding the Pan-American highway on brand-new 1100cc Honda Africa Twin.
It is a small town, and there is no centralized bus terminal, each bus company has its own station. Present onward ticket (mi boleto por jueves), and inquire that I am at the correct station (autobus salida aqui). Agent laughs, and replies in grade-school Spanish (si, llegar diez minutos antes).
Morning run, barefoot, along Lake Llanquihue, with Osorno volcano in the background; challenging run, sidewalks are rough, aggregate concrete; grass has sharp thistles. After dinner, develop muscle ache across entire body, not a good omen.
THU 09 January: wake up with migraine, too, and it is a travel day, five-hour bus north to Temuco. At the bus station, bent in half, head in lap. Agent asks if I am okay, I reply that I have a headache (dolor de cabeza), which is an understatement. Manage to not get sick at the bus station or on the bus. Check into AirBnB, private room with private bathroom. Remove my backpack, all bets are off. Play the vomit lottery, will it be dry heaves, bile, or the last supper. I toss everything. To vomit is a violent act, cold sweats, blood shot eyes, followed by the worst sore throat. For those of you keeping score at home, third migraine in three weeks, ugh.
SAT 11 January: four-hour bus north to Chillán, via Los Angeles, duration of patience. Check into AirBnB, have time to visit Claudio Arrau museum before it closes. Arrau (1903-1991) was born in Chillán and studied in Germany, one step removed from Franz Liszt. I have one of his Beethoven piano sonata CDs, truly sublime.
Sunday, visit nearby Concepción, two-hour bus. Sometimes, travel is purely transactional, where I am departing is no better (or worse), then where I am going.
Monday, return to Chillán; during its history, city has experienced at least four earthquakes greater than 8.0 magnitude, resulting in extensive destruction. Chile is considered the second-most seismically active country in the world, after Japan.
TUE 14 January: five-hour bus north to Santiago, subway to hostel. Santiago’s safety reputation precedes today’s bus trip. Meet a couple from United Kingdom in Puerto Varas traveling southbound. They relate a story; hostel traveler visited Santiago after dark and was robbed down to his socks. Concerned, because I don’t wear socks.
Chile is a democracy, except for the period, 1973-1990. Chile fell into a military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet, established after the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup d’état backed by the United States. Illustrates the often heavy hand of US foreign policy. Not always visible from within its borders, but, often visible from outside its borders.
FRI 17 January: Centropuerto bus to Santiago airport does not operate between 11pm and 6am, and does not operate early enough for morning flight, so bus the night before. By midnight, airport lobby is full with people waiting for early morning flights. Cable lock backpack to padded bench and fitful sleep for a few hours.
Five-hour LATAM flight, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua, Easter Island. Passengers deplane via air stairs, there is a building, but it doesn’t resemble an airport terminal. iPhone picks up no cell service or WiFi to update maps. Only a vague sense of direction allows me to walk two-miles to nearby hostel, dodging raindrops.
Easter Island is considered one of the most isolated, inhabited islands, with a population of 8,000 people. Chile annexed the island in 1888; inhabitants were granted citizenship in 1966.
There is no electricity or WiFi at the hostel, service frequently suspended when it rains. There are a few minimarkets offering sundries; visit rental shops to examine available motorcycles; most appear underwhelming. Don’t want to rent an under-maintained motorcycle, or ride without safety equipment.
Collapse in bed, wake up the next morning in the dark, to the sound of roosters crowing. Hostel isn’t much, feels like camping, and I don’t like camping. Only water that comes out of the tap is a cold shower. Island isn’t hot, but it is humid, feel sticky, like a lollipop dropped in the sand. Climate reminds me that I much prefer the desert.
Saturday, explore the island on foot. 300 people per day arrive on the island during peak summer; for the life of me, or a bad horror movie, there isn’t a trace. Sound of ocean surf and pounding waves is soothing. Don’t feel like a tourist, but rather, feel like I have been condemned to the island. When do I return to mainland Chile.
Sunday, wake to heavy rain; indifferent to flying back to Santiago or participating in today’s tour. To view the moai, humanoid, monolithic statues, requires both $80 park pass and $50 tour guide. Tour was in Spanish, most of the sites were underwhelming, except Rano Raraku volcano, which includes a quarry of 400 statues, and nearby Ahu Tongariki, with 15 moai staged along a 200-meter platform.
Monday, 9-mile run (with shoes) to Rano Kau volcano; parts of the run are steep, in excess of 20-degrees for two miles, and forced to alternate running and walking. Downhill isn’t any easier, it’s a lot of pounding, and by the time that I’m finished, my quads shake. Faster than walking, and better than sitting on the couch. Unstable, low-pressure systems moves out, allows dryer air to move in, and a break from the rain.
TUE 21 January: Mataveri International Airport (IPC) doesn’t resemble a conventional airport terminal. Its 3,300-meter runway was extended by NASA in 1987, to be used as an abort site for the space shuttle, and subsequently allowed LATAM to operate wide-bodied aircraft to the island, which boosted tourism. It is considered the most remote airport in the world, defined as distance to another airport. Due to the lack of diversion airports, Chilean aviation authorities prohibit more than one aircraft from being in the vicinity of Mataveri. LATAM Boeing 787 tankers enough fuel on board to return to Santiago, ten-hour round trip, if it is unable to land at Easter Island.
To visit Easter Island is not inexpensive; flight, lodging, food, tour. If you are not hell-bent on visiting, you might take a pass. Minimum stay is two nights; the two significant moai sights may be experienced with a private guide inside of three hours. Moai are quite surreal, but the island was underwhelming at best, and grateful to move on.
THU 23 January: considered taking subway to Santiago Sur bus station, but had time to walk. Morning bus from Santiago to Valparaiso, first bus cancelled, board the next available bus. Two-hour ride to the coastal community, once home to Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, who earned Pulitzer Prize in Literature (1971) prior to his death (1973).
Some travelers suggest staying at Viña del Mar, which offers a similar coastal environment, western hotels, and less crime, and to take a day trip to Valparaiso.
Main part of the city lies along the coastal “flats” while residents live in the surrounding, steep hills, serviced by six funiculars. Residential neighborhoods are colorful, with a curated collection of painted murals. There is a bit of unease exploring the town, due to risk of tourist crime. I avoid the central market, with its crush of people. Also avoid those areas of town that are desolate, where I could be easily targeted. Often times, I avoid the sidewalk, and walk in the street, less risk of being cornered, and more escape routes, even if it means running into traffic. Try not to check iPhone map on the sidewalk, but rather, inside a store front. Vigilance is fatiguing, and dampens any sense of joy exploring the city.
Hostel has pull-up bar in the hallway. Perform pull-ups every time that I walk underneath. Travel nine months a year, any chance to challenge the body is welcome.
SUN 26 January: ambient light, 20-minute tactical walk to bus station, about as uncomfortable as any early morning walk to a bus station. I avoid anyone on the sidewalk, walk in the gutter, walk in the street, switch to sidewalk on the other side. Similar to man or beast, avoid eye contact. Haven’t observed street crime, don’t want to, but, not sure how to process third-party anecdotes from other travelers.
Marine layer blots out the sun, as bus curls its way north along the Pacific coast to La Serena. If not for the metric road signs, might reckon that I was driving along California’s Pacific Coast Highway. Marine layer burns off by mid day, and gives way to blue skies, and the landscape trades palm trees for low scrub brush and cactus.
Use bathroom on board the bus, only allowed to urinate. There is an illuminated red button, if my Spanish is of any benefit, it is the flush button. I wonder if the toilet will flush, or, if the bus will come to a screeching halt. Sure enough, a toilet flap opens, I see Highway 5, and the contents are sprayed out below. Hope that a motorcycle isn’t trailing too close behind the bus.
La Serena is a pleasant enough stop-over, with an enjoyable pedestrian mall. Alternatively, it’s possible to stay at Coquimbo, the adjacent resort town.
TUE 28 January: five-hour bus to Copiapó; appreciated the stark beauty of the dramatic, arid landscape; steep mountain pass yields to sand dunes before arriving.
AirBnB host asks if I speak Spanish. I reply that I speak Spanish like a child. She shares check-in instructions in full-on, rapid-fire Spanish. I nod and smile politely.
The city, located at 1200-feet above sea level, was struck by two major earthquakes in 1918 and 1922, destroying most of the city. City’s economy is based on mining, grapes, and olives. Enjoyed visiting the city’s mining and mineral museum. While the displays are in Spanish, the stones and gemstones were quite amazing.
THU 30 January: pre-dawn walk to bus station, pass a dumpster belching smoke. Through-bus departs late, better late than cancelled, and refuels outside the city.
Seven-hour bus north to coastal city of Antofagasta; cross Tropic of Capricorn, at 23-degrees south latitude, where the sun may be viewed directly overhead at the December solstice. Scenic drive through barren desert, not a place to break down. Pass through only five towns, and also the remote, Pan de Azúcar National Park.
AirBnB host is a couple, he is a police officer; she likes Hello Kitty and the color pink, and pulls it off with a sarcastic sense of humor. In the morning, we share dark chocolate and coffee, and alternate speaking in Spanish and English. There is a wash machine in the unit, my clothes rejoice, until they are held hostage, when the machine won’t unlock the door. They get washed twice before the door cooperates.
Walk 6-miles per day, 600-miles over three months.
Passport status: 30 pages available; Chile stamps.
Cost:
Cumulative travel costs, during past 96-days.
Lodging: $1,352 total | $14 day
Transport: $3,192 total | $33 day (plane | train | bus | ferry | taxi)
— Flight | Santiago > Easter Island: $836 ($75 per flight hour, non-stop)
Food: $156 total | $2 day
Other: $8,829 total | $92 day (FX | ATM | visa | tourism | RV & motorbike)
— Antarctica expedition: $8,400 (ten nights)
— Easter Island (tour guide & park pass)
Total: $13,529 total | $141 day | $51,400 annualized
Annualized spending is less than United States GDP per capita of $82,000.
Conclusion: as I stumble through the world, wonder what it means to know a place, or to belong nowhere. Owned a condo after graduate school for a year. Otherwise, rented a room in a house for most of life, far different lifestyle than family or friends.
Fools find fault, but wise men continue looking until they find the good. Following three months of travel, journey improves when I discover where I wish to return. Argentinian Patagonia is quite interesting, and requires a subsequent, and lengthy visit, including: Bariloche, El Chaltén, and El Calafate, including bus trip across Andes Mountains, Paso Internacional Los Libertadores, from Mendoza to Santiago. Would also like to visit Machu Picchu and Amazon rain forest outside of wet season.
During February, continue north through Chile, including the Atacama desert region; transit Peru to Ecuador, and onward to the Galápagos Islands.
garthmonroe 