Chile – Santiago, Pablo Neruda and Me

March 3, 2010

According to the latest news from Chile, a massive aftershock was felt in the south of the country earlier today. I can only imagine the stress that they are going through so I decided to post some pictures I took of Santiago, the capital city which has more or less escaped without any damage.

Sadly, six University professors crashed in a small plane yesterday as they went to survey the damage to their University in the South. Sometimes there isn’t much to say when tragedy strikes.

On a cheerier note, I read in Decanter that the wine industry has not suffered an enormous amount of damage. I am sure we will hear more reports as time goes on.

I visited Santiago a few times during my three week trip to Chile last year. I was surprised at the vegetation which is quite tropical and the silence. I found the city to be somewhat quieter than I had expected. I guess I thought it would be very similar to Buenos Aires but it is not. There are parts of the city that are just gorgeous such as Barrio Bellavista with this amazing building.

The area reminded me somewhat of the Palermo district in Buenos Aires with lots of cute shops and bars. Chile is renowned the world over for its copper production as well as for its supply of Lapis Lazuli. You see many products made from these two materials throughout the country.

I spent most of my time in Santiago visiting Pablo Neruda’s home, La Chascona. Neruda, Nobel Prize winner, poet, writer, former diplomat and so much more was and is a national hero in Chile. Ever since a young man gave me a copy of Los Versos del Capitan, I too have been completely encantada… His poems were to his lover, who later became his life long companion, Matilde Urrutia who apparently had a huge head of red hair and whom he called La Chascona.

Neruda had three homes in Chile, this one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso and one in Isla Negra. Isla Negra is without a doubt the most extravagant and is also the location of his tomb with Matilde. An avid collector of everything, especially things related to the sea, Neruda is a fascinating human being and one who has interested me for a long time. If you saw the movie Il Postino with Massimo Troisi and Maria Grazia Cucinotta some years ago, the Philippe Noiret character was based on Pablo Neruda. If you have never read Los Verso del Capitan, get a hold of a copy. I think even the most cynical people will see the simple beauty of these love poems.

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Posted by Susannah

Chile’s Concha y Toro Reports Damage According To AP

March 2, 2010

According to the Associated Press, Chile’s largest winery Concha y Toro has stopped production for a week to assess damages to its wineries. I have not independently confirmed this but AP is extremely reliable. Apparently some production facilities south of Santiago were quite damaged by the earthquake. To read the article, click here.

I visited Concha y Toro last year on the penultimate day of my trip to Chile. It is about 45 minutes outside of Santiago on a very slow bus. The winery is enormous and extremely well organized with tours running every hour or so. The winery, officially called Vina Concha y Tour was started with cuttings brought from France by Don Melchor Concha y Toro in 1883. Concha y Toro was founded in 1883 on an estate in Pirque that his wife had inherited. Melchor immediately hired Frenchmen Monsieur de Labourchere to make his first wines. By 1918, the family had hired a second winemaker from France, George Guyot. The company has been public since 1921.

Concha y Toro owns numerous other wineries in Chile and widely exports throughout the world. In the 1990s, it established Cono Sur winery to produce and market new world wines, bought Trivento Bodegas y Viñedos winery in Argentina and formed a joint venture with Baron Philippe de Rothschild and created Almaviva. In the last decade, Concha y Toro’s developed two wineries called Viña Maipo and Viña Palo Alto.

I am posting pictures that I took at the winery in order to give a sense of the place and its beauty. Many people go to Santiago and don’t visit Concha y Toro because they think it is too big. I was thrilled that I didn’t make that mistake. The property was absolutely stunning and the wines were quite enjoyable. Walking on the property, I almost felt that I was visiting an Italian villa.

Until I got to the cellar, the Casillero del Diablo. Then I felt that I was in a completely different world. Don Melchor was not just an astute businessman and politician but also a student of human nature. Apparently he discovered that wines were being taken from one of cellars. He quickly spread the word that a devil lived in the cellar and lo and behold, thereafter, he suffered no further losses. People were terrified of the cellar.

The cellar was a bit creepy but I am highly susceptible to legends, superstitions and the like. The tour ended with a trip to the restaurant and a lovely Carmenere, a grape that is making Chile world famous. I don’t much feel like writing about the wines today, it seems kind of inappropriate but I do encourage you to drink Chilean wine this week and into the future to support the industry. I know I will keep raising a glass to Chile and will be happy to toast to its recovery.

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Posted by Susannah

Chile On My Mind – Damage Not Yet Clear For Wine Industry

March 1, 2010

I have been thinking about Chile nonstop since I heard the news about the dreadful earthquake that has claimed many hundreds of lives and wrecked havoc on the region near the city of Concepcion. On my trip last year to Chile, I spent consider time wandering around the wineries in that beautiful country and just loved it.

According to Twitter reports by the Wine Spectator’s James Molesworth, a number of wineries have sustained loss to inventory on account of the quake. Tyler Coleman also had a report on the industry on his well read blog, Drvino.com.

On other sites, I read reports that Viu Manent, Montes, Casa Silva, and others may have had losses. All of the reports were unconfirmed. I visited two out of three of these wineries last year and find this news really heartbreaking.

Luckily, I haven’t seen a single news item that says the industry has had fatalities. While I am a wine lover, the most important loss here is obviously human life. More than 700 people have died according to the latest reports. Hopefully that number won’t climb.

As wine professionals of course, we all are concerned about the wine indsutry. It is quite distressing to think of all the work that has been destroyed and how many people are affected by the quake. Nature can be quite unforgiving but surely after the dust settles the Chilean wine industry will pick itself back up. The wine industry is quite resilient and the Chileans are a serious lot.

The Chilean fruit industry was also severely impacted by the quake. We will soon see just how much of the fruit we eat in the United States comes from Chile as prices begin to rise.

Apparently, in addition to loss of inventory, the two big issues now facing the industry now are the coming harvest and logistical problems. Will the harvest continue and if so how, vintners are asking themselves. The airport in Santiago is closed and the port in Valparaiso is still not cleared in terms of potential structural damage. We are still in a wait and see phase.

I have decided to write about Chile for the rest of the week and to support the industry by drinking only Chilean wine this week. I loved Chile as is clear from so many of my blog posts. I am optimistic that things will get better but saddened that they have been struck with this devastation. Chile on my mind.

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Chile Day 13 & 14- Trip To Easter Island

February 25, 2010

Last year I had the good fortune to spend almost three weeks in Chile traveling happily up and down the country. One of the last things I did on the trip was take a plane to Easter Island, some five hours off the coast. When you first get off the plane, you are greeted by people giving you flower garlands.

I went swimming that first afternoon and looked around the island a bit. The people were exceeding friendly and the island was filled with wild horses. I found a horse looking into my bedroom window the first night. It was quite odd indeed.

There are a number of things to see on Easter Island including the ruins of an ancient civilization, volcanos and Eucalyptus forests but most people go to see the Moai. Truly a remarkable experience, I spent a few days driving around in a jeep with a British friend Adam who happened to have a PhD in Archeology looking at these Moai statutes and ruins.

The stautes were just breathtaking with some reaching up to 30 feet in height while weighing more than 75 tons. The statutes were all built between the 12th and 15th centuries and served as altars and places for religious ceremonies and family gatherings. At the height of their glory some 900 of these statues graced the island.

They were truly breathtaking and as always with these types of monuments, I found myself wondering how in the world they were able to carve such enormous statues. Not all of the Moai were in good shape as this photo shows. Many were destroyed, some had disintegrated and others were merely toppled over and eroded by the wind and the sea breezes.

It’s actually hard to fathom how large these statutes are unless you are looking directly at them. These photo shows people walking around the site where the stones to make the Moai came from. This quarry still has some Moai statues built into the rock which were never finished and put on altars.

The next photo shows one of these statutes. It reminds me of Michelangelo’s sculptures of the slaves in the Accademia in Florence. Both sets of statues are trapped in stone and the figures seem to want to spring out. It’s amazing to think what was happening in Western art at the time these sculptures were being built.

All the Moai we saw were standing except for the one in the next photograph. Some faced the sea and some faced inward towards the land. Easter Island has always had a very small population so these sculptures which are the deification of ones ancestors were really built for families. They are quite formulaic with the head being 3/5 the size of the body.

Some sites had long rows of stautes. That’s me with the blue pants. I’m about 5′5 on a good day so that should give you an idea of the grandeur of these beautiful statutes.

Almost painful to think about as we await another snowstorm but yes, Easter Island also has beaches and sand. I went for a beautiful swim on this beach. People were surfing and the day was long and lazy with Moai overlooking the beach in the distant. Pretty snappy.

Hard as it may seem to believe, that is truly the color of the sky on Easter Island, a gorgeous midnight blue. The Moai on this beach have been reconstructed but originally all of the Moai had these top knots. They must be about five feet tall alone and about 40 tons.

Adam and I decided to celebrate that evening and went to an oddly expensive french restaurant on the isalnd called LaTaverne du Pecheur. It was great and we had a lovely bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

I particularly like Sauvignon Blanc from Chile which is strange because I tend not to gravitate towards that variety. My guess is that anything would have appealed to me after that unbelievable day but if memory serves I actually liked it. I spent a bit more time on Easter Island but it is one of the places in my life that I would love to go back to at another point. I found it completely enthralling and I can see how someone ends up just staying for months or years at a time.

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Posted by Susannah

Chile Day 12: Almost 1 Year Later

December 22, 2009

Amazing how time flies but almost one year has past since my fabulous visit to Chile. I feel nostalgic for that beautiful country, its vistas, its people and of course, its wines. I get more letters from people about my trip to Chile than I would have ever imagined. A couple of friends are on their way now and I must say, I am happy for them but a wee bit envious as well…

That said, I remember my trip perfectly so here are some thoughts about Valparaiso and the day I spent in the Colchagua Valley visiting wineries. Apparently Valparaiso is the place to be on New Year’s Eve. I was there after New Year’s and it was somewhat subdued up in the older part of the city where I was staying. I found it beautiful in an aging lady sort of way. I loved the multicolored houses, the ascensores from the last century and the sea gulls overhead. I found the port area of the city to be quite seedy and frankly a little scary. I would advise staying in the upper neighborhood in an old guest house which can be quite romantic.

This was the nicest hotel I saw up in my favorite part of the city. I stayed in a guest houses with a tin colored facade, all very characteristic but somewhat declasse.

I wished I had more time in Valparaiso. Instead I was off to the wine country in the Colchagua Valley. I planned my trip on the phone through the tourist office and I took a very long train ride to get there and spent too much money on a van and driver. Next time, renting a car would be much smarter.

Colchagua is one of the newer regions in Chilean viticulture. It has a Mediterranean climate which is cooled by ocean breezes. There are some low hills in the valley. The region is particularly well suited to making red wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Carmenere. The Valley used to be in habited by Mapuches, a bellicose tribe and was once the southern tip of the Inca empire. The Valley has always been an agricultural area.

The Ruta del Vino of the Colchagua Valley has a very helpful office in Santa Cruz. This was the first area to develop a wine route and is at the forefront of wine tourism in Chile. They organize tours, wine tastings and the like for groups or for individuals. I decided to go to three wineries: Mont Gras, Montes and Viu Manent. The first stop was Mont Gras. The winery was very welcoming and the staff seemed quite used to giving tours to foreigners. They have an experimental vineyard where they try to grow many grapes.

I tasted the Montgras Riserva 2008 Sauvignon Blanc which I quite liked. Citrus and lemon abounded and it was nicely integrated. The grapes for that wine come from the Casablanca Valley. It is the red varieties that do particularly well in this area of Chile. I also tasted the Carmenere Riserva from 2007 which I liked very much. It had a wonderful bouquet of dried fruit, berries and tobacco, according to my notes, and spent 10 months aging in American oak. I am quite partial to Carmenere and this was one that I truly enjoyed. I actually drank the 2008 Montgras Riserva earlier this week with friends from graduate school. It didn’t disappoint but was full bodied, plummy and rich with spice and nuts.

Carmenere, a French grape, has truly found its home in Chile just as Malbec has found its soul mate in the soils of Argentina. Between the two, I find Carmenere sexier and more sensual, a little pepper and spice but not so much that it leaves nothing to the imagination…I also tasted their 2007 Montgras Merlot Riserva. Not bad. It was very plummy and had a lot of vanilla notes on the nose and palate from the 10 months it spent aging in American oak.

Visiting wineries in Chile is so interesting when compared with visiting wineries in Europe. The enormous amount of land and the vineyards surrounding the winery is quite striking as are the Andes in the distance, a very special experience and one I would highly recommend to all. Frankly, I can’t wait until my next visit.

The soils at this vineyard were incredibly interesting. Crusty and volcanic in origin, the Colchagua Valley has a variety of soils including loam clay, loam silt and those of volcanic origin. The vineyards can be irrigated as you can see from this picture. Chile, like Argentina, uses the ice melt from the Andes to irrigate its vineyards. Chile is largely immune to the phylloxera louse but does have a problem with root knot nematodes, Eileen Le Monda reminded me. Nematodes can do just as much damage to grape vines if not more because they penetrate the grape vine as opposed to chewing on the surface of the bark.

From Montgras I went on to visit Montes. Montes is almost a mythical name in Chilean viticulture. Aurelio Montes, the President and Chief winemaker is a true cult figure and the winery, done according to principals of Feng Shui, is a destination for wine lovers.

Who knows what the true impact of the Gregorian chants that are piped into the barrique room in the Montes winery is on the wines? Does it improve the quality of the wine while it ages? It’s hard to tell and to prove but the chants certainly create a lovely and appealing experience for the visitor and those who work in the winery.

The staff at Montes is very enthusiastic and takes you on a long tour of the different parts of the winery. The vineyards in Colchagua, one of four Montes estates in Chile go on for as far as the eye can see.

It is somewhat hard not to be dazzled by these wineries and their extensive holdings not to mention the wines. Montes has more than 1000 hecares in Chile and makes 12 million bottles of wine a year. Montes was the first winery in Chile to plant grapes on hills.

Montes makes a number of wines under the Montes Alpha label. They also make Montes Folly and Montes Purple Angel. Montes is quite famous for its Syrah. The one I tried, a 2006 was a blend of 90% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a beautiful ruby red with spice, strong tannins and cedar notes. Everyone loved it.

I also tried a Montes Alpha 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon 90%, Merlot 10% blend. I actually preferred this to the Syrah but that is just a matter of taste. They were both extremely well made and well integrated wines. I tried a Montes Limited Selection 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon 70%, Carmenere 30% which was my favorite. The wine spends nine months aging in French and American oak. It was rich and full bodied with wonderful spice, vanilla, tobacco notes with dried fruit and nuts on the palate.

At a Wine of Chile tasting in New York earlier this year, I also tasted the Montes Limited Selection 2007 Cab/Carmenere blend. It was equally as good as the 2006 that I had tasted in Chile. The Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon from 2006 was bigger than its 2005 counterpart and even more full bodied.

After Montes, we headed towards Viu Manent which was a true scene. They have a beautiful restaurant apparently with great food. I ate in a local joint and had a strange specialty called Pastel de Choclo. Rather than taste any more wines, I wanted to take a nap. Of course, I persevered and went on to try some of the local wines at Viu Manent. Like Montes

Viu Manent was a very large winery as well with 270 hectares. They make two million bottles of wine a year. The winery itself it very large with big round epoxy resin tanks to hold the wines. The company began exporting after 2000. I tried a 2007 Merlot riserva which impressed me. It was a very big wine with 14.5% alcohol, ripe tannins and black and red fruit on the nose and palate. I thought it was one of the better Merlots I had tasted in Chile. I also tried the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva. It had more oak, smoke notes and fine tannins. I thought it was more elegant than the Merlot and very well balanced.

We went around the winery on a horse and buggy through the extensive vineyards. This is definitely a winery where you should have lunch and spend some time. It was quite crowded on the day I arrived and when I left, I wished I had had more time there as well as one of their juicy steaks on the grill. I look forward to my next trip. Day 12 was my perfect vacation day, hours in wineries with a beautiful landscape everywhere you look.

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Posted by Susannah

Chile Day 11: The Casablanca Valley – Rediscovering Sauvignon Blanc

July 26, 2009

Although it has been almost seven months since my lovely trip to Chile, I have yet to write about my vineyard trips while there. An article by Eric Asimov in this week’s Dining In section sparked my memories of just how much I enjoyed the Chilean Sauvignon Blancs that I tried while visiting.

Vina Mar

Let me be frank, I generally find Sauvignon Blanc is not a grape I favor, unless it is from the Loire Valley or blended in a White Bordeaux. I am not fond of the new world style sauvignons so I was quite surprised to discover that these wines from Chile’s Casablanca Valley appealed to me very much.

Wine Label

Quite unexpectedly I found that I truly enjoyed the Vina Mar 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. It was light and fresh with nice acidity but none of the tinned vegetable notes or other characteristic aromas that one gets with other Sauvignon Blancs.

Vina Mar 3

Vina Mar was started in 2002. Casablanca is ideal because you have warm temperatures during the day and cool ocean breezes at night and early morning fog. This combination of factors helps to keep the acidity lively. Vina Mar uses selection tables for the grapes and a pneumatic press.

The Sauvignon blanc ferments in stainless steel although for the special reserve version of this wine, a small percentage sees some wood. The fruit is more tropical on the special reserve and it is a bit creamier than the leaner 100% stainless steel one. I also enjoyed a Pinot Noir that they produce and a Carmenere. The Chardonnay was less interesting to me.

I am used to visiting wineries in the old world and have visited quite a few in the new world in Argentina, Australia, California and New York, however, I was quite unprepared for the scale of the holdings in Chile. The valleys run for miles with nothing but grape vines.

Vina Mar Winery

This winery reminded me more of a scene from Dallas, the soap opera, and I expected JR to walk out of the front door.

Vina Indomita

My group moved on to the neighboring winery, also quite commerical called Vina Indomita. Here the decor reminded me of chic bars and night spots in Milan.

Milan

This estate was immense as well, some 200 hectares. Immaculately groomed and well cared for, the wines were pleasant. The Sauvignon Blanc was lemony with citrus notes. Not very complex but most enjoyable. The scenery is gorgeous. Nothing about these wineries is at all quaint but they were both truly beautiful.

Not quaint but beautiful

At this winery, I preferred the Carmenere and the Cabernet Sauvignon. Both are made with grapes grown in the Central Valley, farther South.

Wines at Vina Indomita

The day was exceptional and I was sorry to see it end.

Before going to the wineries we went to Pablo Neruda’s famous home on the coast, Isla Negra. Neruda, that most romantic of poets, is one of my favorites. I saw three of his homes while in Chile. He was a fascinating character with a love for everything related to the sea, although he was afraid of boats. His homes are fabulously interesting with a charming, eclectic variety of objects. Un incanto, come si suol dire…

Isla Negra

Neruda’s poetry speaks for itself. Surely there is nothing I can add except to remind people to go visit Isla Negra, a truly magical experience.

Bar at Isla Negra

Beach at Isla Negra

View at Isla Negra

While you are there, have a fruity Sauvignon Blanc, what a great way to relax. After the visit, you must also buy a chocolate from this lady, Nonna Tina.

Nonna Tina

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Chile Day 10 – Geysers, San Pedro di Atacama, Licancabur

March 28, 2009

san-pedro-di-atacama

San Pedro, the tourist mecca in Northern Chile, is a crossroads for all kinds of people going in different directions in South America. According to local custom, the extinct volcano Licancabur which hovers in the distance is somewhat of a diety. Mountains are considered to be female in their mythology while volcanos are, of course, male.

licancabur

We got up at 4 a.m. to drive to a field of geysers. It was freezing but watching the sun rise mitigated our climate woes. Chilean security in some of these places is pretty lax. Tourists can get really close to the exploding geysers and a few years ago, people were seriously harmed.

geysers

I like these shots. I think they are evocative and remind me of a black and white movie.

evocative

The colors of the rocks and the shrubs against the crystal blue sky were breathtaking. I think I took 200 pictures that day. Not quite Ansel Adams, I did my best. I also learned on this trip to always bring a number of memory cards. Modern living.

ansel-adams

We were not the only inhabitants of the desert that day. In addition to some small birds, we saw a group of Vicunas grazing. I had seen the other indigenous species, the Guanacos, in Torres del Paine. Guanacos are slightly larger it seems to me. I saw a group of them running and felt like I was in the movie Out of Africa but without Robert Redford and that sexy hair washing scene.

vicunas

I love this last picture with the reflection of the scene in the lake. Everyday was so long in Chile that it felt as if there were two days in each one.

reflections

At the end of this lovely day, I went hiking in a cactus filled canyon. There was a running waterfall where we could soak our feet and hang out. I could have fallen asleep in the canyon but somehow made it back to my hostel. Onward to the wine country and Valparaiso….

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Chile Day 9 – Desert Beauty, Salar de Atacama

March 27, 2009

These photos are just so beautiful that I decided to put them up even though I drank very little wine during these two days. San Pedro di Atacama where I was staying was very hot and dusty. Water was my main companion. We tended to get up really early in the morning to go on expeditions to the various attractions in order to be there at day break. During the afternoon hours I tried to take a siesta but also wandered around a bit together with the local crowd (of doggies). Isabel Allende, the famous writer from Chile, wrote in her novel My Invented Country which I highly recommend that she had never known a Chilean to buy a dog. Apparently, they just follow you home and become part of your family.

salt-lakes

This was the Salar de Atacama, the world’s third largest salt lake after the one in Utah and the largest one of all, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. As soon as I got home from Chile, the New York Times had a big article on lithium that is being retrieved from these salt flats. Chile, Bolivia and Peru all have heavy mining industries and mixed records with the environment in this area. There is much concern in the local communities over their future but there is also widespread poverty and mining activities bring jobs. As always, there are no easy answers our guide said with a shrug.

laguna-miscanti

This Altoplano lake was surrounded by mountains and beautiful desert grasses. This lake is part of Los Flamencos National Reserve.

andean-flamingos

These Andean flamingos were truly incredibly with their black back feathers and gorgeous pink beaks. Watching them fly over the lake was very exciting.

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Chile Day 8 – San Pedro di Atacama

March 24, 2009

Chile is such a long and varied country. I went from the green tones and blue glaciers of Patagonia to one of the driest deserts in the world, that of San Pedro di Atacama.

desert

San Pedro is a tourist mecca for hikers, backpackers and people coming from northern Argentina or making their way to Peru and Bolivia. I was perfectly happy to spend some time in San Pedro, despite packs of rangy dogs roaming the streets. Someone mentioned that they only bit gringos or tourists so I pretended I was Chilean.

valle-della-luna

Among the most popular trips from this area are a sunset visit to the natural wonders of the Valle del la luna and the Valle del la Muerte. The wind has shaped these beautiful valleys and as the sun sets, they take on brown and purple hues. It reminded me of the sand paintings I used to make when I was young. There were no guard rails along the trails and the wind was pretty strong but the view was just breathtaking. I was glad I had not yet had any wine that day but was looking forward to my first glass before my night trip to look at the stars and the moon.

A top draw in San Pedro is also a night time Astronomy class taught by a French Astronomer. He takes around 25 people at a time on a trip to his home to look through his gigantic telescopes.

sun-setting

Before my night trip, I went out for dinner with friends and had the best wine yet on my trip. It was from the Limari Valley. I highly recommend this wine, the Vina Casa Tamaya Carmenere Reserva 2007 that I drank at a local restaurant. After such an exciting day, this wine and the delicious steak we had with it were a welcome addition.

tamaya-reserva

The wine showed black fruits, spice, vanilla, smoke and pepper notes on the nose and on the palate. It had good structure, firm tannins and a long, persistent finish. It was a perfect end to a lovely day. The night sky awaited me and I was ready.

San Pedro is one of the clearest places in the world to study the night sky. You also get to see stars that we never see in the northern hemisphere such as the Southern Cross. Most countries with a serious astronomy program have telescopes in this area of Chile.

the-moon-photo-taken-from-a-telescope1

This shot of the moon was taken through the astronomer’s telescope. Pretty cool…Pictures will give you a hint of what I was lucky enough to see but there’s nothing like being there.

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Chile Day 7: Patagonia’s Penguins & Polar Explorers in Punto Arenas

March 17, 2009

Although my trip to Chile seems like ancient history, whenever I get the chance, I look through my photos and am immediately transported back to that beautiful land. On Day 7, I went to see the Seno Otway Penguin Colony. A much larger colony is located on Magdalena Island. Unfortunately it was too windy to go out in a boat to reach the island, a common occurrence, the day that I was in Punto Arenas.

mov00465

Penguins are different colors, according to my guide, with markings around the eyes depending on their age. The lighter the pink around the eyes, the older the penguin.

penguins

I also learned that penguins are constantly spreading a wax that they keep in a specific gland all over their fur. Once they have completely spread this wax, they are ready to go for a swim.These penguins are also called Magellanes penguins. Chilean Patagonia is often called the Magellanes region after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Punta Arenas is a port city perched on the Straits of Magellan , a pathway between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. It is very exciting to feel the wind and the sea air here. You can actually see Tierra del Fuego from the city.

punto-arenas

This baby penguin made my day. The babies are lighter gray in color and are furry. They actually make you go all soft and mushy, even the big tough guys on my trip were cooing at the little fellow. The mother and father keep very close watch and don’t allow members of the colony to approach their young.

baby-penguin

In addition to penguin colonies, hiking in Torres Del Paine, and whale watching tours, people set off for exotic trips to Tierra del Fuego, Antartica, and Argentinian Patagonia. Once you are in that part of the world, you begin to want to see everything but the area is extremely vast and planning ahead for long expeditions is a must. Additionally, they are very costly. I met a neat group of people on a trip to ski with 80 pounds of gear on their backs for 10 days at the South Pole. Their extreme vacation was out of my league for physical and financial limitations but it did sound exciting.

The guide, Keith Heger of Polar Explorers, was very nice and seemed very low key for the trip they were about to begin. He was also extremely knowledgeable about the area, Ernest Shackleton’s expedition and his asking for help in Punto Arenas, as well as many other explorers and their fates. I was impressed with the depth and breadth of Keith’s knowledge and passion. I guess to carry 80 pounds on skis for 10 hours a day in freezing weather you must be pretty focused.

shackleton-bar

The Shackleton story of how his boat, The Endurance, got stuck in the ice and how he managed to save his entire crew in the early part of this century is truly inspiring.

I can’t wait to go back to Punto Arenas and hopefully see a bit of Antartica and Tierra del Fuego. Although I was about to leave Patagonia, I know I will be back. Run don’t walk to visit this cherished land.

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