Thursday, January 3rd

El Calafate, Argentina —> El Chalten, Argentina

Stayed at: Rancho Grande Hostel

Dear Obiwan,

Today began with me finally having a good night sleep, it has been almost a week of poor sleep. However, in the morning our room wasn’t ideal due to a fellow roommate having incredibly bad BO. I am aware that I am extra sensitive to bad smells, but, it was so bad I had to stop packing and leave the room. I always wonder, is this person aware? They can’t be…right? Should I tell them? Wait, no of course not, but…someone should right?

Anywho, after evacuating the room Kelsey and I headed to town. I had some errands to run and Kelsey wanted to check out a bird reserve, before we took our bus to El Chalten.

I first needed to get more minutes on my phone chip, which in South America is it called ‘recarga’ or, recharge. It is always a fun adventure to find a place to get more minutes. Usually, they are at small shops that sell candy and soda, or at pharmacies. We wondered into a store that looked like a usual place that would be able to charge it. The guys who worked at this shop were SO NICE. First, they offered us matte…

MATTE. Okay, Obiwan, matte is A BIG DEAL IN ARGENTINA. You will see EVERYONE drinking it. And there is a beautiful culture to it. It is served in these beautifully (hand made?) cups that hold hot water. Then there is a tea catcher to hold the leaves, and a top with a hole. Lastly there is a metal straw that bends that goes into the cup.

How it works is, someone will always have hot water in a thermos. The matte is put into the cup and then the first person pours the hot water and drinks the whole cup. Then they pour it and pass it to the next person. YOU NEVER TOUCH THE STRAW. It’s a sign that you’re done or something? And also, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO FINISH THE WHOLE CUP. Before passing.

All of this I DID NOT know until later.

But, everyone in Argentina drinks it, you see it on buses, streets, hikes, just everywhere!

So as I am asking to recharge my phone chip, one of the guys asks if I want some, I told him it was my first time and he and the other guy at the shop became very excited. I sipped it…and…it was…disgusting! So bitter and just, blech. But of course I hid my facial reaction, SOME HOW, and nodded and smiled and went ‘ooh-mmm-ooh!’

Then quickly gave it to Kelsey, who also sipped it and then we gave it back to the guy quickly.

He also encouraged us to put on a traditional Groucho hat for our photos, look!:

He then tried to sell us one of his many cups, including a cup that had a beautiful artwork of a woman back in the day handing a man on a horse some matte!

Sadly, this place actually did not have the ability to recharge my phone, they told me where to find it, and after wondering around for a bit, I had minutes back on my phone!

After this Kelsey left to go to the bird reserve! I then needed to replace my newly broken Bluetooth head phones and had a joyful time in this store too. The woman was incredibly nice and I bought an adorable penguin postcard!…but left it in the store, one of the many things I have just, left places :(((.

After these errands I decided to get waffles with GELATO on it instead of running the bird reserve real fast before the bus. I was SO HAPPY with this decision, I didn’t realize how hungry I was…and it was so delicious!!! I also got a CINNAMON cappuccino with it! I was in heaven!

Finally, we were off to El, Chalten! Kelsey informed me that the bird reserve was beautiful but HUGE. So huge that you need HOURS to walk around to see all of it, so she wasn’t able to see that much of it, but, next time!

The bus was only 3 hours and there were gorgeous views of the Andes on the drive.

Once we got to El Chalten the bus stops at the information center for Parque National Los Glaciers. I was in a sleep daze and wasn’t able to listen to anything the park ranger was saying, but luckily Kelsey took it all in! She told me when I missed and it helped us figure out our hiking plans for the next few days.

The park ranger did tell us that yesterday it was all rain and wind and poor visibility on the trails, but he said TODAY, RIGHT NOW, was NO WIND and sunny. He said HIKE TODAY! Even though it was 7:00pm, but, it’s okay because the sun sets at 10:00pm!

The bus then takes you to the bus terminal, another 5 minutes up the road. But, NOTE- if you are staying at Rancho Grande Hostel, this bus will take you to your FRONT DOOR. We of course, found this out after walking about 20 minutes with all of our stuff, but it was fine. There was no way to know, they take everyone’s bags off so, it looks like it’s stopping there.

After dropping our bags off we headed to hike the ‘Mirador Los Condores’ (Condor Viewpoint) which was a 1 km hike and supposed to be 30 minutes.

The hike was beautiful, easy, and short- it was perfect, my kind of hike!

The short trail up a short hill had cute signs lining the trail that would inform you about the condors!

As we were nearing the top, there were some horses and cows! One cow actually was blocking the path at one point!

The views from the top were beautiful! Then after the top we walked the additional part that Kelsey knew about that was also pretty.

Then…Obi, on the way down we saw CONDORS. They were flying SO LOW that you could see how GIGANTIC THEY TRULY ARE! They are so big that when the fly they rarely need to flap there wings, which means…they just SOAR with the wind and look so majestic!

Here are some shots of the hike going back down:

As we were nearing the bottom there was a couple who told us to be quiet and were smiling and excitedly looking at the ground, I thought- PUMA, YES, FINALLY! But, then thought, ‘hm, if it’s a puma, I doubt they would be smiling like that.’

And then…from behind a bush, came…an ARMADILLO! It was so fricken cute Obiwan! I think you would try to hunt it, and then kill it, but Obi, he has this furry shield of a shell! So, I think you wouldn’t be able to murder him.

After we saw this armadillo…we saw A SECOND ARMADILLO!

Then as we were almost back on the main road…WE SAW AN OWL. It was the tiniest owl you could ever imagine!

Look!:

Our day ended with us finding an adorable small sandwich shop with a nice lady working alone inside. We bought sandwiches for our hike tomorrow and headed to bed.

OH, we were told to check at night after 9:30pm to check with our hostel for the weather report for the next day. We were told many times that THERE IS NO POINT TO EVEN HIKE THE 10 HOURS TO MT. FITZROY IF IT IS POOR VISIBILITY. And we had 2 days, so we had to get lucky that one of the two days were good.

And the results were in…IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE SUNNY TOMORROW, LOW WIND, AND PARTLY CLOUDY!!! The nice hostel worker told us to check again in the morning to be safe, but said we should plan to go tomorrow for Fitzroy!!!

Goodnight my dear lamb,

Love, Tú Madre,

Carly

Wednesday, January, 2nd
El Calafate, Argentina
Stayed at Folk Hostel

Dear Obiwan,
Today we walked on a GLACIER! Our day began with us trying and failing to find a place to get take away lunches, but we both had some snacks and knew it was going to be okay.

Soon we were on our way! We had a bus ride through the Glacier National Park with an incredible guide telling us about the park and the glaciers. As we were driving in we saw a CONDOR FLY SO LOW, next to the bus, IT WAS HUGE. Then moments later we saw a GROUP OF CONDORS all sitting on the ground together, just hanging out like the gang!

TAKE THAT COLCA CANYON! (Obi that was the hike from hell in Peru that is famous for Condors and we saw NONE)

Here are the Condors!:

Okay, so you can’t really see in the picture but, trust me Obi, it was SO COOL!

After this we stopped at the Mirador, or view point, of the south side of the glacier.

Then we drove for an hour to the North side where there is a huge path you can walk on to get to pretty close and we got to watch the glacier for an hour!

It was so beautiful and SO LOUD when it would break off! But don’t worry environmentalist Obiwan, this glacier is in balance! So it’s all good when it breaks!:

Also we stopped for lunch at this place and I bought a ham and cheese and lettuce and tomato sandwich that was actually delicious!

Next, we took a boat to the glacier! We said chau to our lady bus guide and said hola to our new boat and glacier hiking guide! He asked if I was drunk when I almost lost my boat ticket and almost tripped and fell while getting on the boat.

After a little break, we we’re divided up into 3 groups and we chose the ‘mixed Spanish and English speaking group’ (which ended up being all in English). And soon after they were sizing up our feet and putting on CRAMP ONS. Obi, cramp ons are these super simple shoes that strap on over your shoes and have SUPER SHARP SPIKES! So you can WALK ON ICE! Our lovely guide ended up putting on mine and I told him, “I’m a clumsy person on land, I’m worried.” And he told not to worry but to make sure I walk with my feet a ‘V’ shape or ‘duck foot-ed.’ Obi, as you know, I am pigeon- toed, so my feet naturally turn IN and I had walk with my feet turning OUT! He also said to never walk with crossing your feet, because if you stumble YOU’RE STABBING yourself.

I was very nervous, BUT once on the ice, it was actually super easy! I was an ice-walking natural Obiwan!

Next, our guide gave us lessons on how to walk with the cramp-ons. Always keep your feet a part, when going up, walk duck-footed and when going down point your feet straight!

We then HIKED ON A GLACIER. It was so cool and fun Obi! The Glacier is ends on this side against a forest and some mountain, which meant it was very easy to just walk up on it. And it was so gorgeous! And cold! Our guide walked us around and told us some Glacier facts. One of the coolest parts was witnessing the water melting and how it carves through the ice creating the glacier’s shape. The water was so beautiful and SO FRESH AND CLEAN.

You could crawl down and scoop it up into your mouth! Which I did, and it was FREEZING but it tasted so incredibly. I won’t ever forget that water taste in my whole life!

The glacier was gorgeous, there are tons of little Rivers cutting through not and the rivers will form sink holes! We saw crevasses that were small and big and deep. The pointy tops are called Serac.

This glacier is one of the biggest glaciers in THE WORLD, besides Greenland and Antarctica!

I asked our guide, how did you end up HERE?! Leading glacier tours?! He said he is from Buenos Aires and has always loved glaciers and has traveled all over the world to see glaciers! And now here is here, and loves it!

At the end they suprised us with whiskey and ice FROM THE GLACIER! It was cold and delicious.

Wow. What an amazing day OBIWAN. I hope you’re doing well and can’t wait to be snuggling with you soon enough!

Love tú Madre,
Carly

Day 90: Sunday, December 30th
Shuttle!!! to Laguna Armarga then bus to Puerto Natales, Chile
Stayed at: The Singing Lamb

Dear Obiwan,
We did it Obi! Today was our 5th and final day of the W-Trek. We had our first successful breakfast (for me that means- good bread and eggs!) and thanks to Will I learned the secret of how to aquire COLD MILK (yes, they only had HOT milk at every breakfast), so I would never eat cereal because that sounds disgusting to me! BUT all you have to do is ask for lactose free milk and boom, cold glass of milk!!!

After breakfast Kelsey, William, and I headed to the hotel gift shop, Kelsey has a thing for gift shops and I also love them. After this we relaxed for a little and then took our SHUTTLE (we were going to walk but when we found out there was a shuttle, we took it!) to Laguna Armarga and then took a bus to Puerto Natales.

This was one of the most tired I have ever felt in my entire life. We dropped off our hiking poles and laundry, then had dinner at Kawesquar Cafe where they had the LAMB sprawled out in the front WINDOW!

I got nervous that it would be all charred so I got sirloin steak with papas bravas and Obi- it MOST AMAZING PAPAS BRAVAS OF MY LIFE, CHEESE AND ONIONS AND OMG OMG SO DELICIOUS.

Kelsey got the lamb and it was so amazing and not charred! But it had bones so still happy with my choice. We then did some souvenir shopping for a little and went to bed! I sadly didn’t sleep too well due to the wind wildly shaking the window all night and I also awoke to people leaving early in the morning, it looks like I will never get a good night sleep in Patagonia my dear Jedi!

Day 91: Monday, December 31st
Puerto Natales, Chile
Stayed at: The Singing Lamb

Today is New Year’s Eve Obi! We made sure to have today be a rest day after the last 5 days. We had breakfast at this huge souvenir store ‘Nandu’, the food wasn’t the best but the coffee was good and the store was amazing. After this we headed to a cafe to relax and write. I dressed poorly and was NOT prepared for the windy weather, but I survived.

We ended up at this beautiful cafe on the water!!! It was called ‘The Coffee Maker’ and had a gorgeous spacious set up with a wrap around window and many seats to choose from.

We had trouble finding a place for dinner due to so many places being closed for NYE. We ended up eating at this pizza and pasta place in the main square. I got gnocchi and sadly, it was bad, they over cooked the noodles so they were mushy and the sauce had no taste. Kelsey got Guanaco!…Which is… this adorable llama that lives around here…and…I tried it 😣. I feel kinda bad, because they are so cute…but it didn’t taste much, it might have been how they made it though. The meal ended with a yummy hot brownie with ice cream!

After this we initially did not know what we were going to do tonight to celebrate the new year, but once we got back to our hostel we met all of our roommates, and as group went to the bar across the street!

Our NYE crew was me and Kelsey, 2 French girls- Ingrid and Pauline, 2 people from Brazil- Marcela and Lucas and then the 2 young Holland guys joined later. Our crew was amazing!!! Everyone was so nice, warm, funny, and they all were doing or about to do the W-Trek so we bonded over our adventures.

We went across the street to the bar of The Singing Lamb, we were worried there was karaoke till 2 am…due to reading a sign that said that, but it was just a DJ with a playlist titled ‘The Singing Lamb’ and he played a great list of music!

At the bar Kelsey had her first pisco sour (!) and we all had drinks. We hung out and talked and talked and it was such a fun night Obi! Everyone was nice and warm and funny and ready to celebrate.

Later in the night the Holland guys had us play ‘ride the bus’ the drinking game, which had the same rules we do for that game in the US!

At midnight there was no count down, which was a first, but all that mattered was that we were all together and it was great!

We left a little after midnight with plans to drink some of the bottle of wine the Holland guys bought, but someone was asleep in our dorm room and we aren’t allowed to drink alcohol that isn’t from the hostel so we went to bed, which I was sooo happy about, I was still just, so exhausted from the W-Trek! The Holland guys went out on their own and didn’t return until 5 am!

Day 92: Tuesday, January, 1st
Puerto Natales, Chile —> El Calafate, Argentina
Stayed at: Folk Hostel

Happy New year Obiwan! I wish I could have kissed you at midnight but we will be together soon enough. The morning began with us all watching the Holland guys over sleep and miss their tour bus! It was awful! They hope to get a refund or possibly go tomorrow, they had to wake up at 6am and got in at 4am…so it didn’t work out🤦🏻‍♀️.

After this I missed breakfast at the hostel on purpose to catch a few more hours of sleep, with the plan to eat somewhere in town.

I was not prepared for THE WHOLE TOWN BEING SHUT DOWN. It was a ghost town! It was almost noon and there were no cars, no people, and no stores open. I saw a few dogs and that was it. I was starting to panic and fell into hunger despair in the park. I sat down on a bench and put my head in my hands and began to give up. When I lifted my head up, directly in my eye sight was a small blinking neon sign saying ‘abierto’ OPEN.

I ran over and it was a small restaurant that sold candy, burgers, and hot dogs! I wanted to cry from relief. I got salchipapas, which is cut up pieces of hot dogs on top of french fries, and I couldn’t have been happier!!!

I then joined Kelsey at a new cafe and this place, was SO CUTE. It had art everywhere and old books. It was as if you were in your grandparents living room. And while you wrote or read the owner was working on making jewelery! I ended buying a beautiful copper necklace there of the famous tree that is unique to this area, the woman and her husband MAKE IT!

We then took the bus from Puerto Natales, Chile to El Calafate, Argentina!

We had the most seamless passport stamping too. You first get it stamped leaving Chile, and then drive up the road and get it for entering Argentina, they moved the line from the bus trough SO QUICKLY. Fastest boarder crossing yet!!!

Once we got to El Calafate we checked into our new hostel, Folk Hostel, it was SO COOL and nice! It had this new and clean feeling with white walls and black floors and large windows. They had chairs hanging from ceiling! And high stools and high tables with people scattered about on their phone, computers, or chatting. They also had normal size tables and chairs too 😀.

We then walked to town and it was so cute! El Calafate is a small mountain town with tons of cool stores and restaurants.

We finally decided on a restaurant, San Pedro Restro Bar. I got pizza with pancetta which was actually pretty good (pizza has been rough in South America Obi)! After this we headed back to the hostel and passed out.

Well welcome to 2019 my dear Jedi, I’ll be home in March, so don’t forget me yet!

Love you,
Tú Madre,
Carly

Saturday, December 29th
W-Trek Day 4
Hike to base of towers then back to Refugio
Stay at Refugio Torre Norte

Dear Obiwan,
I can’t believe we are on day 4 of the W-Trek! And today is THE DAY. Where we hike what the park is named after, LOS TORRES, or THE TOWERS!

We packed SMALL BAGS for this hike and left our big bags at the Refugio! We had breakfast with a few Americans and one guy from California had hiked to the towers yesterday and COULDN’T SEE THEM because the visibility was poor (which just means it was cloudy)!

We had been hoping for the last few days that we would get lucky today with the weather, and we had been so lucky every day so far. Yesterday was cloudy but we didn’t mind!

Finally around 7:00am, we were off. The beginning was so steep Obi, and most people had told me that “it’s pretty easy, but the last 45 minutes is hard,” and they must all be athletes, because, it was HARD right away. Only one person had said that it’s hard the whole time, and warned me about the beginning, so I am grateful for her!

The hike was beautiful, you hike through forests and valleys. In the beginning, we saw a bunch of horses! They help bring supplies to each Refugio and camp sites and also take back the trash!

Eventually the path did level out a little and at times was a gravel path. But Obi, I had started losing faith around this part. I kept thinking about allllll the people who said it’s easy until the end. And I felt so discouraged, I kept thinking, THIS IS EASY?! THAT HUGE HILL WAS EASY?! WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END?! CAN I EVEN DO IT?!

We passed a sign called ‘windy pass’ and there was not any wind! You also go over a ton of bridges, and bridges never get old, they’re always beautiful to me!

Finally you reach Campapmento Chileano, where you can pay 500 CLP or about 75 cents in USD to use the bathroom. This also is the stop right before it gets steep, so many people rest and get ready! Me and Kelsey saw the awesome American couple we met last night who was drinking some whiskey at dinner. They just had come down and told us how amazing it was!

After this we were hiking through some forest and a woman asked us anxiously, “how much farther?” We told her about an hour or 2 and she then told us, “well it’s supposed to rain at 1!” and it was 11, so that was COMFORTING THANK YOU.

As you hike every now and then you could see the tips of the towers, but mostly you could never see them, which I prefer! Then it’s a surprise.

Soon we reached a sign that said we were 2/3’ds the way…and a little after that there is another camp site and then it opens up and there it is, the infamous ‘scramble’ as everyone calls it.

Then began the infamous SCRAMBLE. Kelsey was off, we have established our hiking style by now, and we part at inclines.

It wasn’t too bad at first…but then, it gets STEEP. Colca Canyon steep. A zig-zag path on the side of a rock. During the last part I kept having to rest, I was so exhausted. As I would rest I would zig-zag a couple from Maine who was so nice and funny. We would cheer each other on as on of us would pass the other…

About 10 minutes later we were told by people hiking down, “you have one more really hard part and then it’s easy, you’re almost there!”

And man, they we’re telling the TRUTH. The last part was the steepest, you’re pretty much rock climbing. And at this point I would have to stop to just BREATHE. I could feel how weak my body felt, but by now, I knew I could make it. Moments later, like the couple told us, it flattened out! And at this point it was so crowded, you are actually walking in a single file line.

As we walked in this single file line, suddenly, you could see the towers over a rock for a moment! It was so beautiful I stopped walking and gasped…and forgot I wasn’t there yet and holding up this HUGE line…and then kept going.

Then you walk a little more around these huge boulders, still in a single file line, but then…it started to open up. There was no sign or any indication. I kept on walking and then BOOM.

THERE THEY WERE. The TOWERS shining in the sunlight! I also, forgot or maybe didn’t even actually know that THERE’S A LAKE BENEATH THEM. Formed from melting snow! Obi, it was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen in my life. I stood there in true awe. Truly speechless. And I was overwhelmed with emotions, I was relieved, proud, agog, in pain, and overjoyed!

I have never felt more proud of myself physically, in my entire life! That was HARD and the last 4 days were even tougher. The whole park is beautiful but…here I was AT THE TORRES OF THE TORRES DEL PAINE PARK! And there’s a crystal clear blue lake below? Is this real?!

After this I looked around at the sea of hikers and everyone wearing clothing similar to Kelsey but I found her! Kelsey and we embraced and we’re SO PROUD of each other, we couldn’t stop smiling, WE DID IT!
She also told me about 10 minutes before I got there someone CANON BALLED into the lake! That must have been so cold! She said people were very upset because he contaminated it. She said someone yelled, “people drink this water!!!” I hope he didn’t get hypothermia and die?

We also both said how nervous we were due to that woman telling us it was going to rain!!! We that we wouldn’t see the towers, but the weather was PERFECT! Kelsey and I also shared that we had the SAME FEAR of: what if Kelsey saw them, but when I got there it was cloudy? I had thought, if she see’s them and I don’t- IT’S OKAY DON’T BE UPSET. Luckily this fear did not come to fruition!

Kelsey had been there about 15-20 minutes before me and in that time she had scoped out a perfect spot, far from hikers, with a fantastic view, to eat our lunches.

We sat and relaxed and took pictures and basked in the beauty of the towers and our victory for almost 2 hours! It was windy at the top and was gradually getting more windy and more cloudy, so eventually we had to go.

Hiking down was more difficult than I thought it would be. I was feeling new pains in my legs and body and also, there were SO MANY people going down at the same time! (And many people would not follow the hiker etiquette and would run down and not let the people going up go first?!)

It was pretty infuriating, people were rushing and getting impatient so it makes you go faster but then…I would slip, I ended up falling 3 times and the last time I stopped myself from hitting a wall with my hands and my hand got stabbed by a tree root that was jutting out. I almost was bleeding, which hilariously got both me and Kelsey excited to use her first aid kit! But I ended up being okay, more just frustrated.

About 3 hours later, we finally were at the bottom. In total it took us about 9.5 hours, but if you subtract 2 for sitting and pictures, it took us about 7.5 hours, which isn’t too bad!

I was hurting pretty badly from exhaustion and pain of the last few days, but after a hot shower and dinner (pumpkin soup, a burger patty with no bun and coos coos, and a weird dessert), I was starting to feel better.

They messed up our dinner times again, but it was okay, we had reward wine and saw William who we met at Campamento Frances! After waiting an hour, again, for dinner, we ate dinner and immediately went to sleep. Unfortunately I slept pretty poorly, 2 guys came in around 1 am and spoke so loudly, it was as if they had no respect for the room full of people sleeping! Then after they woke me up, the guy across from my bed TALKED IN HIS SLEEP OBIWAN. It. Was. So. LOUD. He would do this loud “hmm, hummmm, hm hm hmmmmm,” thing that sounded so loud, it was as if he was a sports announcer, with this deep and resonating voice. Kelsey of course slept through all of this. But, at all in all, A WONDERFUL DAY!

Love you dear Obiwan,
Tú Madre,
Carly

Day 87: Thursday, December 27th
W-Trek Day 2
Paine Grande —> Campento Frances
Stayed at Campamento Frances

Dear Obiwan,
Today we hiked from Paine Grande to Campamento Frances. Our breakfast was the same as yesterday, some loose scrambled eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, and tea or coffee. Having eggs is so important for me so even though they were always runny, it was great! The toast here was deceiving, it looks amazing but ended up being very dry, but it was okay. Also, I accidentally got cold water for my tea, which I didn’t notice until I drank it, Kelsey said she saw me do it and just thought I wanted iced tea, haha!

Today was so much easier than yesterday, I also wanted to push myself to walk faster when it wasn’t steep, and I could do it! While this hike was shorter and mostly flat the whole time, my body was in agony from yesterday. My feet and legs were both hurting badly. But the worse was…my back, it hurt SO BADLY in my upper back and shoulders and neck. I was taking ibuprofen but it still felt as if I just carried a giant on my shoulders for a week. I never felt that pain before and I just…felt so helpless…and I just had to accept it.

We stopped 3 hours later at Campento Italiano. It was a gorgeous camp site in the middle of a forest, but, I’m so glad we didn’t sleep there…I stopped and used their bathroom and it was grooooosssssss. The other places had such cleaner and nicer bathrooms! Also, it looked like the sewage pump was right by some of the tents…and it did not smell good 😫.

It was here where we saw piles and piles of hiking bags, we investigated and Kelsey discovered that people leave their heavy bags here and then do the 5-8 hour hike up Valley de Francés.

With no hesitation, I made the decision to not hike Valley de Francés. If I wasn’t in excruciating pain head to toe, I probably would have…but I was 30 minutes from our next place of sleep, and it just had zero desire to hike for another optional 8 hours.

I also felt full-filled from everything I’ve seen! Kelsey assured me she was okay to do it alone, and we parted.

Then I was on my own on this quick 30 minute hike that was… beautiful! There was high grass, flowers, and amazing views of the mountains and lake around me.

Once arrived at our next camp, Campamento Frances, I was so grateful to see a big thick mat in our tent! The tent was smaller than the other ones but it was cozy and comfortable on these risers. This camp was nestled in the woods and was beautiful as well.

I then took a 2 hour nap, wrote a little, and watched some ‘You’ve Got Mail’ on my phone and started to feel like Carly again, phew! I was still in pain, but it was less, and I was also proud of myself for listening to my body and my gut, I could have pushed myself but I would have regretted that for the rest of the trek! The next 2 days are supposed to be tough, and I’m feeling better about them after resting today.

I met some extremely nice and warm hikers, most of them were hiking East to West and they comforted my fears about the Torres hike and said the beginning is tough and the end is really tough but the rest is supposed to be okay!

Kelsey returned about 6 hours later and said it was beautiful! We had to walk down this really steep hill for dinner, which yes Obi, means we have to walk it back up. Dinner was okay, I honestly don’t even remember, I was so exhausted. Then we went to bed.

Day 88: Friday, December 28th
W-Trek Day 3
Campamento Frances —> Refugio Torre Norte
Stay at Refugio Torre Norte

Today we hiked from Campamento Frances Refugio Torre Norte. The day started off cold and rainy. Kelsey and I have been SO LUCKY and our first two days were sunny and beautiful and not windy!

We ended up eating breakfast with a really nice American guy, William, who loves his pets as much as me and Kelsey love our cats and also eating with the people who Kelsey hiked the Valley de Francés with. This one woman first spoke to me about her living on Melbourne and how she did the visa and how it all worked and it was…so exciting to hear about!

But MORE IMPORTANTLY, right before we left I made a comment about how badly my shoulders and upper back hurt, and one of the women said, “it shouldn’t hurt your upper back, do you have your waist belt on tight?”

And then she fixed it, AND I HAD MY BACKPACK ON WRONG OBI. I thought I had it on my waist and tight, but it was just a few inches too tight to low, and after she raised it I could tighten it SO MUCH MORE and suddenly it was lifting up off my shoulders, she told me it shouldn’t be tight on my shoulders, but I had no idea BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING OBI!
But holy crap.

Cue Aladdin’s “A WHOLE NEW WOOOORRRRRLD!!!” I literally had that in my head for the next 3 days. I’m so grateful for this woman!

After leaving the camp site we hiked from 10:30am- 7:30pm in total with our bags. That’s 9 hours. Today was pretty flat…but, just LONG, Obiwan Kenobi.

We first hiked from Frances to Cuernos and stopped and ate our apples provided in our lunch bags. We ate on this beautiful BEACH looking at Lago Nordschlong (not the correct name, ;)) ! The scenery is NOT REAL, just endless beauty.

We then hiked a little more and had lunch on these beautiful huge stones over looking the lake. Lunch was so much better today! It was a chicken sandwich with some yummy sauce.

After lunch, we hiked from Cuernos to Refugio Torre Norte. The hike was gorgeous, amazing views of the lake, so many waterfalls from melting snow, endless river crossings, and bridges!

The landscape also kept changing. I, being SO ignorant, just imagined Torres del Paine as rocky mountains and that’s it. Both me and Kelsey were agog with the vastly changing landscape! The rocks changed from grey stones to red-ish rocks, grasslands to desert, gravel roads of dust to rolling green hills! There were also an impressive amount of bugs today? And when we reached Lago Inge the lake was surrounded by beautiful yellow and green bushes and plants everywhere! And at some points there were condors (we think) in the sky!

Finally, after 8 hours we could see the hotel in the distance, which we thought was our Refugio…but no…our refugio was 30 minutes further. And for some reason, this is when my body gave up today. I think seeing the hotel in the distance for an hour gave me hope… but then, 30 more minutes, and I just was dragging my lifeless body up this gravel road.

But finally, 9 hours later, we were at Refugio Torres AND OBI- here we were staying inside the Refugio, not camping. Which means BEDS. We showered, and showers were so hot and had amazing pressure!

They messed up our dinner times, which meant we had to wait, standing, watching a room of people joyfully eating…for an hour…till 915. But it was fine…kinda, they also some how ran out of food?! We knew this due to us watching everyone eat for an hour…and instead of a big piece of meat they gave us tiny pieces of meat in a soupy sauce with mushrooms, WHO LIKES MUSHROOMS?! There was also a chives cream soup and a caramel creamy dessert that was covered in chocolate syrup…and that dessert was all I needed to be happy at that moment.

Alright tú Madre needs a great night sleep for our final HIKE TOMORROW!

Love you,
Carly

Wednesday, December 26th
Refugio Grey —> Paine Grande
Stayed at Campamento Paine Grande

Dear Obiwan,
Obi, the day has finally come to start the W-Trek! I first want to give you some background information. First, I had no idea at all what the W-Trek was until Kelsey told me. I had heard of Patagonia…from the clothing brand and from random things. But…to be completely honest, I didn’t really know what Patagonia was. It wasn’t on my original plans (or lack there of) when I decided to go to South America. This happened because Kelsey wanted to go and asked if I wanted to join her, and I am so grateful that she asked me!

But Obi, I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. So, Torres del Paine National Park is a famous park in the Chilean part of Patagonia that is famous for it’s mountains and glaciers and wildlife. It also is famous for it’s weather! It is know to have all 4 seasons in just ONE DAY and also is famous for it’s wild and crazy strong WINDS. And due to it being so far south, during the summer it is sunny from about 4:30am- 10:30/11:00 PM. That’s about 18 hours of sunlight Obi!

Many people know it as one of the ‘easiest’ places to hike for hikers in the world due to it’s pretty low altitude, it is either at sea level, or the highest points are 2,870 feet (or 874 meters)…compare this to Cuzco where I couldn’t breathe for a week- Cuzco is at 11, 151 FEET (or 3,399 meters). All these people that call it ‘easy’ are HIKERS, first off Obi.

Second, you know me Obi cat, I have only hiked day hikes. I have done some tough hikes in my life…but, I DIDN’T HAVE A BACK PACK and I RESTED THE NEXT DAY. This was my first hike of my life with a big bag and the first time I would be trekking MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW.

But before I get to the hiking, I’d also like to add that Kelsey planned this trip out to every last detail. She thought of EVERYTHING. It was amazing! And was so beyond prepared. This really stood out to me even more because I have been pretty much winging my trip for the last 4 months, so having organization and plans was A WHOLE NEW WORLD to me!

Kelsey chose to hike the famous ‘W-Trek’ which is anywhere from 4-6 days, usually, where you see the most famous and desired parts of this park; Glacier Grey, Paine Grande, Valle de Frances, and Los Torres. The other famous hike is the ‘O’ and there is also the ‘Q.’ Those alternative hikes are longer and therefore the ‘W’ is the most popular. Also, we were going to do a tour, but then researched and discovered due to it being one of the most trekked hikes in the world, you don’t need a guide because there will always be people hiking! Lastly, due to it’s popularity, you need to book it at least 3 months in advance OR MORE. We had to change our route a little because 4 months in advance some of the camp sites or refugio’s were booked! And what you are booking is where you stay, they have limited space and your meals are included too(if you want, or you can cook but that means carrying cooking supplies!). There are refugio’s, where you can stay in dorm rooms or private rooms or camp. And there are also camping sites, you can book tent or bring a tent but they limit how many people can bring tents too!

But we had it all booked! EVEN BETTER- Kelsey chose the ‘West to East’ route, which meant we ENDED at the towers, which I think is the best way because you end at THE BEST PART. While many people go East to West, starting with the towers? No way, West to East!

So today, we WENT KAYAKING ON THE LAKE BY GLACIER GREY! The weather was unreal, clear skies and NO WIND. The guides kept telling us how rare it is and how lucky we were!

We were given half wet suites that had these cool skirt things that attach to the kayak to make it seal up where you sit. We were given a little lesson and were told what to do if we FLIPPED OVER, the water is just above freezing, so…that would be awful, but don’t worry, we didn’t flip! Also, the paddles had built in water proof gloves you stick your hands in which was amazing…however…Kelsey’s were chafing so she took her’s off…only to get the WORSE sun burn on her HANDS later!

In the kayak I volunteered to be the rudder, which means I steer because the person in back has a rudder to steer! It was so fun!! Kelsey was in the front with her nice camera taking photos. The kayaking was amazing Obi, we got so close to the glacier and we were surrounded by ice bergs! And not to brag Obi…but me and Kelsey were one of the best kayakers, so many people just would steer badly or have something going wrong, but we killed it! There was also a family of 4, with 2 daughters in their teens that kept arguing and it made me laugh so hard and reminded of me being a difficult teen on family vacations.

After the kayaking they gave us tea and coffee which was amazing, I did not realize how cold I was until I got out.

After this we hiked to Paine Grande! But Obiwan…it was, so difficult. This was the first time I had ever hiked with a big back pack, and I don’t exercise, I mean I swing dance and rock climb, but I haven’t done that in a few months…and I just, I never felt pain like that in my legs and feet. I…hated it. Hate is a strong word, but I HATED it. It was walking up for…6 hours…6 hours up a hill, who does this, and why? WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS OBIWAN. It got easier on the way down…but even the way down had random parts that WENT BACK UP. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to throw my bag down and throw a temper tantrum and give up. But, I couldn’t. And I did it. I think it took us 8 hours, I guess it normally takes way less, but I was struggling so hard. But, we did it!

There were so many beautiful waterfalls!

Oh I rented my first walking poles and they are AMAZING!

Oh- we saw CONDORS, TWICE! We looked through Kelsey’s binoculars and the second time we saw one it was SO CLOSE and big!
Also, the pre-packed included lunch was disgusting, it was ham and a mystery weird GROSS vegetable and MUSHROOMS and lettuce and SOGGY BREAD. So, I just threw it away and ate the ham. But, while lunch grossed me out, we ate it on this rock over looking the turquoise blue lake and mountains!

Oh! Look at THE CLOUDS Obi! Due to the incredibly strong Patagonia winds, they look extremely unique here, unlike nowhere else!

Finally, 8 torturous hours later, we made it to Refugio/ Campamento Paine Grande. It was so cute, it was a large log building and a sea of tents nestled together in a valley to block the wind. The bathroom was kind of a hike…but there were HOT SHOWERS, I thought I was never going to shower again! But, we showered that night! Oh, this site did not have mattresses or mats, we were spoiled from our first site! So I had to buy one, for 8 USD, and the first mat the gave me was so old that it was ripped in half and they had DUCT TAPED it together, it was like laying on a piece of paper. I returned it and asked for a better one, and they gave me a brand new foamy one of amazingness!

After showering we headed to dinner, and this place was different than last night, it was like a huge cafeteria, similar to high school cafeterias. And Obi, out of all food things that gross me out…large meals in a cafeteria are up there- as top 3 things that gross me out… People in an assembly line with hair nets and miserable expressions plopping mystery MUSH onto everyone’s plates. UGH.

Well, dinner was roast beef and mashed potatoes and it was just, gross to me. I tried as best as I could…even the dessert was pretty bad here. Other people seemed to love it! But oh well, it’s all good, I have snacks! After this we went to bed around 10. The bathroom was a good 5 minute walk through the cold, but, besides that, it was an amazing night sleep. It was one of the most tired I have ever been, I just died and passed out!

Oh, here are some pictures of us in the tent and my feet, covered in anti-blister Band-Aids, all over my new blisters 😫😫😫.

Goodnight Obiwan,
Love, Tú Madre,
Carly

Day 84: Monday, December 24th
Punta Arenas —> Puerto Natales
Stayed at The Singing Lamb Hostel

Dear Obiwan,
Obi HERE WE GO ON OUR PATAGONIA ADVENTURE! Kelsey and I left Punta Arenas and took a 3 hour bus to Puerto Natales- where you leave for Torres Del Paine National Park.

We are staying at ‘The Singing Lamb’ Hostel which was large, room-y, and beautiful. However, the hostel worker at reception wasn’t friendly or helpful at all. Maybe he was having a bad day?

Our room had 6 beds and bathroom and shower ensuite! The showers were huge and HOT and the beds were incredibly comforable. In our room we had 2 really nice and funny American guys and a very cool and sweet woman from Holland.

After showering we went out to dinner on Christmas Eve! We ended up eating with a couple who was FROM PHILLY! What are the odds? They live in Fishtown!

This place had pretty damn good burgers, but what was more incredible was the dogs of the store could open doors Obi! The doors were on a system where there was a huge rope that helps the doors not slam and close slowly, but the genius dogs figured out that you can open to door by jumping up and pulling the rope, I tried to capture this, look:

Day 85: Tuesday, December 25th
Puerto Natales —> Refugio Grey
Stayed at Refugio Grey and Camping Grey- camped

The next day our adventures in Torres Del Paine finally began! We had a nice wakeup at 5:45 and had an alright breakfast at the hostel. We then took a bus from Puerto Natales to Lago Grey!

For those who might do this one day, just for your information- you can take the bus all the way to Lago (lake) Grey on the bus that takes you to administon of the park, everyone gets off, but if you are doing or want to do a different route or go to the lake, just take this bus!

Here are some pictures from our bus ride to Lago Grey:

After this, we had a few hours to kill before our BOAT RIDE. So we had lunch at this gorgeous hotel on the lake, if I ever become an incredibly rich Music Therapist Obi, I’m coming back and staying here!

My meal was so delicious…it was some DELICIOUS MEAT and I ate knowing I might not enjoy our next 5 days of planned meals 😖😖😖.

I also ended up buying a wind breaker/ rain coat there because the one I brought from REI could fold up really tiny but its ‘water resistant’ or something that means IT CAN’T HANDLE ANYTHING. It could not protect me from the monsoons of Colombia and I definitely wanted to feel protected in Patagonia! I felt a lot better after buying this jacket too.

After lunch and relaxing we had to walk this beautiful 45 minute walk to the Catamaran and we had to walk on this tiny strip of sand at the end that was SO UNBELIEVABLY WINDY. Kelsey and I were blown away (ha, get it Obi?) but how windy it was! It was impressive!

We also took the special boat that you can take later in the day that specifically goes to both sides of the glacier and also drops you off at where we needed to go for camping.

And then…I saw my first glacier! Kelsey as seen one before but she was also SO EXCITED.

Glaciers are incredible Obi! IT WAS SO BIG. I still can’t comprehend how big it is! On the catamaran we were given free pisco sours and met some nice people. Before getting off the glacier we got some great photos!:

Only this picture needs a scale for you to understand how big this was, our big boat next to it would be a tiny itty bitty dot in these pictures!

After this our boat dropped us off right at Refugio Grey! (Kelsey did this organizing of course, I had no idea how convenient this was!).

We then checked in to our first refugio! The nice Refugio worker walked us over to our tent and it was a nice size and beautiful! They really NAIL it in to the ground, prepping for the wind, it was so firm! Also, they provided these THICK mattresses in the tent, which was amazing to sleep on.

After moving into our first tent, we went on this amazing hike to see these suspension bridges. It was later by this time, about 6:00pm…the sun was still up as if it were 1:00pm! And as we were walking this guy casually came up to us, and ends up being a park ranger! But he so sweetly told us we were there too late, but that we could go see the first bridge then return and it was all good. Once we got to the bridge, it was so cool and beautiful! You could still see the glacier and it was so fun to jump on, look!:

After this we had dinner, which was soup, chicken and rice, bread, juice, and a coffee pudding thing for dessert. I didn’t think the chicken wasn’t that good…but everything else was pretty darn good!

After this we slept in our first tent of our adventure!

Goodnight my jedi,
Love, Tu Madre,
Carly

December 22nd and 23rd
Punta Arenas, Chile
Stayed at Sol de Invierno

Dear Obiwan,

OBI, it happened, I WALKED AMONGST PENGUINS! AH! Before I tell you all about that I will quickly tell you that yesterday was a relaxing and a pretttty simple day. After a late wake up and breakfast I headed to the Penguin tour company to book my trip!

I set up my PENGUIN TOUR for 10:00am tomorrow and they warned me “Patagonia weather is very unpredictable so don’t pay now, we will have you pay tomorrow, if the tour isn’t cancelled!” That was very disconcerting, but luckily the weather was beautiful!

After this I went to an outdoor store to buy some WARM pants, and ended up buying snow pants because I don’t have any warm pants and I am terrified to be camping in this weather on the W-Trek in a few days! To be safe, I bought some (expensive 😖) snow pants and also ended up buying some wind resistant gloves, ‘gogirl’ which will be amazing for hiking!, and my first ever Swiss army knife! I also bought a warm hat at a cute small store that actually stays on my head in this crazy Patagonia wind (my current hat almost blew off immediately)!

I also went to a grocery store! Bought some food and had some interesting challenges as a foreigner: I first had trouble understanding the milk isle? The milk was not cold and all of it said ‘semi’ something which sounded like half cream or half fat and I wanted normal milk and nothing just said ‘leche’??? I even asked for help, I spoke all in Spanish! And they also did not know where normal milk was?

After this I was a DISASTER in the line, I did not know I had to get a sticker on my apples, so I had to run out of line to get them weighed and stickered…but that line was long and took a few minutes to get the sticker! Then I ran back…and to my dismay all my soda EXPLODED and so I had to run back AGAIN and get new soda. When I came back to the line I had many angry eyes staring at me, and I understood.

My day ended with me cooking dinner and heading to bed early! I had to have a good night sleep for the PENGUINS!

Day 83: Sunday, December 23rd
Punta Arenas, Chile

Stayed at Sol de Invierno

Penguin day, penguin day, Obi! After making breakfast and chatting with the Aussies I was off to my penguin and sea lion tour! The weather looked clear and beautiful!

The tour is to Magdalena and Marta Islands. Magdalena is where the penguins are and where there is a path for humans to walk!!! Then the Marta island is not walkable, you just drive up close in the boat and look at the sea lions.

I headed into this large boat that looked like it could handle these rough seas. On the boat I sat with a mother and son from Punta Arenas and it was also their first time on this tour!!! Diego had a bird book, binoculars, and a nice camera and was READY for this trip! They were both so nice and we all were SO EXCITED!

But Obi, the first animal we saw was not a penguin…we went out to look at the ocean and I was dying to see a whale. I asked Rodrigo(Khal) back at the hostel, was it possible to see whales on this trip too? And he said not usually but that there are many whales around here!

…but me and Diego went out to look out at the ocean as and I said to Diego, “I heard it’s rare but I want to see a whale so badly!” And then BOOM. I SAW A BIG FIN AND THEN A PUFF OF WATER SPURTS UP INTO THE AIR!!!

FIRST WHALE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE OBIWAN!!! It was so cool and exciting!!!

After this we were on the penguin island! It was surreal! There. Were. Penguins. Everywhere!!!

The guide told us on the boat that we had one hour and told us that it was just baby season but that almost all the penguins were grown up now- BUT HE WAS SO WRONG! THERE WERE SO MANY BABIES!!!

Diego’s mom in the first few minutes showed me 2 baby penguins in their little hole homes with their mom and dad! The guide told us to keep moving…but no way was I moving…it was 2 baby Penguins and their parents, I’m staying. I then saw an American mother and daughter with fancy cameras and pointed out the babies and they hadn’t seen them yet! They also flipped out like I did and all of us just stayed and took a million photos.

The mother told me that she had come years ago to the same place and there were NO BABIES. So this was a BIG DEAL OBIWAN.
After about maybe 20 minutes I forced myself to get up, it was hard, but I had to see the rest of the island! And man, I was so grateful I got up…before I got up I thought these babies were the only ones I would see…but no, I was wrong…there were SO MANY MORE BABY PENGUINS! They would stay in their nesting holes as their mama and papa go to get food and then they honk and honk for food and their parents and always one parent stays! The older penguins make sounds constantly too, they do it to help find each other, they each have a unique voice!

Look!!!:

Hahaha one of my favorite videos below!:

There were also a bunch of Seagull like birds with babies too!

Had another issue with a guide, I was the last person and the end of the trail is at a light house and I was legit, 20 feet from the lighthouse and this guy had a power trip with me, he told me to turn around, now. I said I will, once I go to the lighthouse, and he said “no you won’t, turn around you will make everyone late,” I then told him no, and went. Obi, the conversation took longer than it took me to take the photo and look at the view. Also, I was not the last person, I walked fast back. WE’RE ON AN ISLAND OF PENGUINS why ,here, are you having an inferiority complex?!

Once back on the boat we we’re given coffee, tea, and cookies! Then the boat took us to the sea lion island, you’re not allowed to walk on it so you just get real close!

And then Obi, as if this trip wasn’t already magical enough. We were sitting on the back of the boat watching the penguin island get smaller and smaller and I speaking with this nice Brazilian guy and I told him how we saw whales earlier and I am always searching for whales and am always wishing and hoping to see a whale.

AND THAT MOMENT AS I WAS SPEAKING ABOUT WHALES, WE SAW A WHALE!!! The Brazilian guy turns to me and says “wow, you must be good luck!” Minutes later Diego’s mom spotted another whale and then we saw a few more! You could see their fins and then the POOF’s of water spurting out! It was so incredible, whales are such amazing and magical creatures!

After seeing the whales the boat gave everyone Pisco Sours and I asked the guide and he said he thinks they were ‘6 whales’ or another kind of whale. Diego and his mother were so well prepared and offered us tea and snacks before we docked.

After this amazing day I was invited by Diego and the Brazilian and his girlfriend to go ‘slack rope’ walking…which Obi sounds difficult for people who are inherently clumsy? But I planned to maybe join them.

The day ended with KELSEY ARRIVING FROM PHILLY! I had cooked myself some pasta and cut up some peppers and I had extra and Kelsey ate it and so did this other guy from Israel who was hungry…I never cook for people Obi, you know this, and also I can cook about 3 things…but it actually felt so good to have people eating your food, wow!

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY OBIWAN!

Love you so much lamb chop,
Tú Madre,
Carly

Friday, December 21st
Punta Arenas, Chile
Stayed at Sol de Invierno

Dear Obiwan,

My lamb! Your mom flew to one of the southern most cities in Child today, Punta Arenas! On the flight over the sun was up way earlier than usual and the clouds looked like the ocean! The mountains were stretching through the clouds and it looked so close to the plane, it was beautiful! One mountain looked as if steam was coming out, as if it were a volcano, but I’m pretty sure it was just a cloud floating perfectly around it creating an optical illusion.

Look!:

Once out of the airport I saw signs for cabs for 20,000 Chilean Pesos (about $29 USD) and then saw a woman holding a sign for 10,000 (about $15 USD) so I obviously took the cheaper cab, only to find out later the 20,000 was a ‘colectivo’ which is a van for multiple people and way cheaper! But, it was very confusing Obi.
My cab driver to my hostel was incredibly nice and told me that he grew up in Punta Arenas his whole life, “es muy rico y tranquila!’ which means it’s very rich and chill.

Finally, after 20 hours of flights and waiting at airports, I was at my hostel in Punta Arenas! The hostel was called ‘Sol De Invierno’ and you walk in and immediately feel that you are home, or somewhere close to it. It has a large living room with beautiful paintings on the walls of Patagonia. The couches looked comfy and were covered in pillows with a coffee table in the middle surrounded by large pillows. Pillows and comfort are so important when at a hostel!

At this point Obiwan I was beyond tired and just needed to sleep. I headed over to reception and I don’t know if it was my lack of sleep or just- true fact- but, the hostel worker was a spitting image of KHAL DROGO, from Game of Thrones Obi! I mean…Obi you know how 5 years ago I was partner costumed as Khalessi and Khal for Halloween! Khal is just, SLIGHTLY, a big deal to me.

Well Khal, with his long thick black hair (and lacking an army) welcomed me and answered my BURNING question- WHERE ARE THE PENGUINS?! He (real name Rodrigo) told me all about the penguins!!! There’s a penguin tour to Magellan island EVERY DAY, where there are Magellenic Penguins everywhere and you walk on the island with them!!! I got directions to the penguin tour company and to the cell phone store. I wanted to check-in right away and take a nap but sadly needed to wait till 12, over 3 hours away, for check-in.

Since I couldn’t check-in, I headed to breakfast and the cell phone store.

After this I got a cab to breakfast and it was about 3,000 CLP (Chileano Pesos) or about 4 USD, but I only had 20,000 CLP bills or bigger from the ATM…and the cab driver didn’t have change! He ends up just kindly telling me not to worry about it and didn’t charge me! Wow! He was so nice!

I then had breakfast at “Wake Up” and it was a super cool looking place with really nice people, and delicious food and cappuccino!

After this I tried to find the cell phone place and I couldn’t find it and…I don’t know why anyone would want to help me at that moment since I probably looked deranged in my clashing comfy outfit for planes and my panicked downtrodden face but…I think it must of been an expression of pure desperation?…this man came up to me and offers to help me and not only tells me where the place is, but WALKS ME THERE. It was a 15 minute walk, and he initially was walking in the other direction! Also, when we got to the store they all spoke extremely fast Spanish and he just spoke to them for me and helped me find where I needed to be in the massive store. I am so grateful for him!

Finally, I was back at the hostel, and they were able to switch my bed to a bottom bunk!!! Then I showered and slept for a good 6 hours!

Around dinner time I woke up, and was famished. If this day couldn’t get any more helpful and giving, someone made dinner FOR EVERYONE at the hostel! I had asked Khal Drogo for a dinner restaurant recommendation but instead he told me to head into the kitchen, and in the kitchen a nice man from New Orleans had made Jambalaya for the whole hostel. He was incredibly nice and welcoming to everyone. It was my first Jambalaya and he said that it due to the random ingredients he couldn’t buy it wasn’t up to his normal New Orleans standard- but it was STILL SO delicious. It was hot and homey and the kind of food you want to eat when cold and tired. There was a large group of us eating and it was lovely.

After this I was tired Obi, but there was a small group of people heading to a free concert and…how do you say no to that?

The concert was a famous Chilean band, Serifico, and it was Punta Arenas 171st ANNIVERSARY today, so the band came down from Santiago to play a free concert!

The group was me, two Aussies John and Dylan who were hilarious and wild, another American girl from California- Gianna who was funny and chill and all good vibes, and Khal Drogo (Rodrigo)! On the way there the Aussies taught us a new way to chug beer…IN YOUR SHOE. They called it a ‘SHOE-Y” and you’re supposed to pour a beer in your shoe then drink it…they really tried to get us to do it, but no way would I ever drink from my shoe! – First- IT’S DISGUSTING IN SHOES, sweaty and stinky! Second- WE HAVE TO KEEP WALKING IN THEM! So your foot would just freeze! But, here it is!:

We also met up with a large group of Rodrigo’s friends when we got there, they were all so nice and friendly and welcoming (seems like everyone in Chile is!). We walked to the coast to where the concert was and since we are so SOUTH in the world, the sun was still up at 10:00pm! The place was packed with people waving flags, singing, drinking, and celebrating. The band was also HUGE and they were actually awesome! Everyone seemed to know every single word to every song, it was so fun to be a part of, even if you didn’t know the words.

Our timing wasn’t perfect because the concert ended about 30 minutes after we arrived.

Rodrigo’s group of friends all left because they were going camping tomorrow but our hostel crew still wanted to go out, so our leader Khal Drogo lead us to a bar. The bar/restaurant/club only had outdoor seating which seemed wildly dangerous but they had these huge gas fire things keeping you warm so, we stayed. We ate, had some drinks, chatted a bunch, and had many laughs.

One of my favorite moments was while Dylan was telling a story about a cat being in his room at a hostel and a girl had asked him to help REMOVE the cat, but he hates cats…so to get the cat out of the room, he moved the cat along the floor like a MOP Obi!… BUT as he was telling us this story- he stretched his arm back and unknowingly touched a REAL CAT and FLIPPED OUT, he yelled so loudly and jumped so high, while the cat did nothing. Obviously the cat universe was getting back at him for mopping a cat!!!

After our drinks and food, the bar invited us to go dancing upstairs, but when we got there it was a lonely DJ and two guys sitting in a dark corner on their phones…so we left. And then finally once back at the hostel we all went to bed!

What a great and long day Obi!
Miss you tons, love you,
Tu Madre,
Carly

Days 75-80: December 15th-20th

Cuzco, Peru

Stayed at: The Healing House

Dear Obiwan,

Obi, I have now been in Cuzco for 6 days! I also changed my flight one last time…instead of going to Lima on Tuesday for two days, I will be just going STRAIGHT to Patagonia on Thursday…well not straight, it’s about 20 hours of transit, but still, changed my plans again, I love it here!

In summary, my last 5 days in Cuzco were full of Spanish lessons, relaxing, and new friends. I also got to see Margaux one last time by surprise and we ate at this beautiful restaurant!

Finally after about 6 days I was feeling better! On Saturday I was about to explore and while on mission to find some comfy cheap and warm pants I met Juan, a really nice guy from Venezuala who worked at a big store in one of the squares in Cuzco.

Obi, I walked into the store and “Ocean Avenue,” by Yellowcard was playing! You understand this is my #1 guilty pleasure band…that I usually like to tell no one! Well, after bonding over Yellowcard, we chatted for a while and before I left he invited me out tonight to meet up with him and his friends.

Above is in the store, it has a million souvenirs and trinkets, including these GUINEA PIGS or ‘cuy’ in Spanish, which was an odd choice since there are dead full-body guinea pigs all around Peru to eat! (I did NOT try this Obi, don’t worry!)

A few hours later I was out in Cuzco, for the first time since I have been here! We started in the famous square, Plaza de Armas, and then headed outside of the tourist area! (Or as some call it, “Gringoland”…Obi gringo means…as the DICTIONARY states:
“(in Spanish-speaking countries and contexts, chiefly in the Americas) a person, especially an American, who is not Hispanic or Latino.”

Anywho, so after a 15 minute cab ride to where the LOCALS hang out, we were there. We went the bar where his friend who he traveled from Venezuala to Peru with works. She was incredibly friendly and warm.

The bar was amazing Obi. It was small and cozy. Outfront they were serving hot dogs and hamburgers and inside to keep warm each table had it’s own little fire! It was a bunch of coals in a stone square pit. We decided to get a drink unique to here, “te piteado.” It is hot tea with rum and other fresh and yummy flavors. It was served in a huge jar which was perfect because I was freezing.

There was a group of Venezualeans there and everyone was so welcoming and friendly. The music playing was salsa, bachata, and local music unique to each country. One of the bar owners was drinking with us and showed us how to dance a dance unique to this area of Peru, look at the video!

Also the women from Venezuala helped me improve my salsa and bachata skills and we all danced for hours. After this we headed to a club. I was 100% the ONLY GRINGA there. It was so much fun! However, I don’t know how people party this late. It was still RAGING at 4am when I threw my towel in and went to bed Obi! They told me the next day they were there till 7am!

I also have been TRYING SO MUCH NEW FOOD OBIWAN. I think only you and a few others understand how incredible that is and… incredibly terrifying it is. But look, this was a small shop in Cuzco serving these MASSIVE sandwiches and they were so delicious! I can’t remember what was on it…ham or beef or both?, cheese, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and tons of other mystery foods that Carly 3 years ago would never dare to try!

And then finally Obiwan, after 10 unexpected days in Cuzco full of learning Spanish, yoga, massages, healing, enlightening conversations, and amazing new friends, I left! I now am on my way to PATAGONIA and I have 3 flights and layovers…totaling in 20 hours Obiwan.

So, here I go, down to the end of the world!!!

Love you lamb,
tú Madre,
Carly