Our Round-the-World adventure

[Peter_n_Margaret]

I had a short work trip to Taichung City in Taiwan some years ago. I took my wife who befriended some locals. It was a great pleasure.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[tacototheworld]

Chile - Part 1

As soon as we hit the road in Chile everything felt right with the world. We were reminded what we loved most about our overlanding life. Travel felt easy with vast and varied wild landscapes and tasty food. We looked forward to learning about a new culture and people. We realized how challenged we had been in Southeast Asia to travel in our truck. The climate, our lack of knowledge of the local languages, the regulations preventing us from taking the truck into some countries and the general logistical difficulties (there are a lot of islands) had prevented our ability to travel freely. We had struggled with the jungle heat and humidity which we are not made for and the lack of accessible wild space. All this changed in Chile. Plus there was the fact that we had just had a significant break in the US with family and friends which meant we were recharged and ready for adventure.

Our six week, 3900 mile route through Chile

Chile’s geography is diverse and beautiful. A long narrow country spread between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains, its terrain encompasses huge deserts, fertile valleys, snowy volcanos, rugged coastline and majestic mountain peaks. Every day brought varied and intriguing landscapes.

Wild camp on the northern coast of Chile

But before our love affair with Chile commenced, we arrived in Santiago nervous and a little on edge. More than anywhere else that we had traveled in the world, reports of tourists and overland vehicles being targeted for robbery and petty theft were numerous and recent, especially in the big cities. Although we were challenged by some factors in Southeast Asia, we did not worry about robbery or theft. We were not sure what we would encounter in Santiago but were prepared for the worst.

So first up, we joined a free walking tour of the old town center. We have done scores of these and it was the first time we had heard a guide say “you may be robbed on this tour, it is not my fault.”

Despite the warning, our guide was incredibly informative, explaining that most of the long term, wealthy residents had actually moved out of the old city center due to a huge influx of immigrants who had been taking over the streets for the last eight years. He estimated that almost a quarter of the population of Chile, totaling 5 million people, had arrived escaping poverty, political persecution or drug cartels in neighboring countries.

Climbed to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia to enjoy the view

Despite multiple earthquakes over the last 100 years, some of the old buildings from the colonial period remained, and some had been more recently built by the first leaders after independence who were obsessed with European architecture.

Central square of Santiago, Plaza de Armas

Metropolitan Cathedral in Santiago, building started in 1748

The Spanish conquest of Chile in the 16th century led to most of the people affiliating with Catholicism, however, more recent surveys suggest that 40% of the people are unaffiliated which makes the country one of the least religious in the region.

Our city guide explained that Chilean people are largely descended from the Machupe people who were warriors who fought off the Incans and Spanish in Southern Chile, which he said explains their practical and serious culture.

Monument to the Indigenous People by Chilean sculptor Enrique E. Villalobos Sandoval. The Machupe people of southern Chile successfully fought off the Incan and Spanish invaders.

Pastel de choclo - traditional Chilean corn pie, delicious

We easily survived our three days without the truck in Santiago. We learned not to pull out our phones unless one of us was on guard, carried minimal money and did not walk after dark, all lessons learned in cities across the world.

But then it was time to get back to our real life. We gathered up our luggage full of spare parts and supplies from the US and made our way to the warehouse where our kind shipping partners (thank you Anouk and Hubert) had brought our truck after unloading it from the container.

Andy’s check through duffle stretched to its limit with supplies for the truck

Warehouse where our truck had been stored for us since shipping. Luckily it was in great shape - no damage or mold growth from its journey from Malaysia.

And finally - water, filling our potable water tank by pumping it through our purification system

Andy’s first day - changing the oil and swapping out the struts. A kind Instagram contact (thank you @BlueberryTaco) let us know one of the struts was installed upside down, Andy had thought it didn’t matter which way they go - he quickly fixed it.

The northern coast of Chile was beautiful, rocky cliffs, open space and clear water.

Bluff top camping spot

View from camp

But then the blissful honeymoon came to an abrupt stop as an check engine light glowed orange on the dashboard. We pulled into a Toyota dealership in La Serena for a diagnosis. The first thought was that rats had chewed some critical wires (shown here rat footprints on the engine, we think from the warehouse in Santiago).

Making the best of a forced layover, wandering the ocean front in Santiago waiting to hear from the Toyota mechanics.

Unfortunately the news was not good. The mechanics determined that we needed a new fuel pump and there were none available for our Tacoma in Chile. They said that we “would probably be fine” driving for a while. Since we were heading into the giant Atacama desert, we were a little nervous but decided the show must go on, so continued on our way. Andy found the parts we needed (we also needed some brake work) and had them shipped to our son Trevor so that he could ship them to a mechanic in Santiago for us.

Hike in Pan de Azucar National Park - the environment is getting more desert like as we near the Atacama region

Posing the truck by the Mano a Desierto, sculpture by Chilean artist Mario Irarrázabal

Walking the coast in Antofogasta - our re-supply stop before we head into the inland Atacama desert

And watching the tuna fisherman offloading their catch (and giving scraps to the begging sea lions)

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I am super stoked for the South American leg of your journey.

Thanks for taking us along.

 

[tacototheworld]

Chile - part 2

Our first guanacos! At least we think so, we are still working on identifying guanacos vs vicunas. But guanacos are supposed to be the ones with black faces.

Filling up the water tank in a village on the way. The Atacama desert is one of only three places in the world we have paid for water (eastern Romania and Kazakhstan being the other two).

In northern Chile at the time of year we were there, we quickly landed on our favorite wild camping spot - dry river beds. They were not privately owned, no one cared if we were there, they were usually flat and you could drive as far as you needed to get away from roads and be private.

Ancient petroglyph site in the desert at Yerba Buena

Throughout the Atacama region, native people are developing tourism sites on their lands. We found the sites to be well run, clearly signposted with very modern and clean restrooms and with welcoming staff to explain trails and attractions. Charges were minimal, typically $5-8 a person and we usually got a discount for being a “persona mayor” (or old, over 60). Because they were gated, we always felt safe leaving our vehicle which was a bonus. We appreciated that prices were always posted clearly so that we knew what to expect. Some places required us to have a guide for a given trail or hike but most of the time we were left to explore on our own.

Posting the truck in the scenic Valle de Arcoiris

The area is famous for its multi colored hills

We found our own ampitheater

After a few days out in the desert we arrived in the central tourist town of the region - San Pedro de Atacama. It was charming, filled with cafes and tourist shops, but also a bit of a shock to suddenly be surrounded by other foreign tourists, mostly young Europeans seeking desert adventures. (We are very aware that we are also actually tourists but we prefer to be in places where we feel like the only ones.) But it was a convenient town to come in and out of to re-supply food and access wi-fi.

The wide dusty streets of San Pedro de Atacama

Our first vicuña

High altitude (13,000’) mountain flamingos

We had been on our way to a mountain wild camp but when Andy’s watch let us know we were at over 15,000 feet, we turned back to seek a slightly lower sleeping place, we had already had a few restless nights sleeping up high.

Meet up with Jim (Terrapin Overland) and his dog Dax. It was fun to finally meet him after messaging back and forth over the last few years.

Gargantua del Diablo (a common name) canyon hike

Exploring Quebrada Chulacao

Enormous sand dune (Duna Mayor)

Old salt mining area

Salt flats encroaching on the sand

Our first entry into Chile was coming to an end and we set off to climb our second highest mountain pass with the truck (the highest was in Tibet), heading east to Argentina. Our plan was to work our way down to the tip of South America, criss crossing back and forth between Chile and Argentina. This meant more border crossings which was a hassle, but allowed us to see the best parts of both countries with a little less driving. We learned to carefully measure our fresh food buys so that we were empty whenever we crossed a border - neither country wanted any of the other’s fresh meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, eggs or honey. Luckily paperwork and bureaucracy crossing between the two countries was straightforward and generally easy.

Heading east to Argentina - almost 16,000 foot pass between the two countries - we planned to enter Argentina in the Jujuy Province.

And a last side trip to interesting rock formations rising out of the sand

Our first foray into Chile was a huge success. We were feeling relaxed and confident about dealing with travel logistics ahead. People were welcoming and kind and our limited Spanish was appreciated. We were greeted with smiles and given assistance with our broken Spanish and atrocious pronunciation. At least we could understand almost everything people were saying to us, speaking back was our issue. We did remain on high alert for robbery and break ins in crowded tourist areas. Most of the time Dawn did the shopping and errands and Andy remained with the vehicle. If we were both going to do something, we found secure parking and paid the nominal charge for peace of mind (usually a $1 an hour or so). Chile was rising to the top of our “best places to overland” list.