Central Chile and Almost Argentina

Posted on by Marea

A worldly Columbian we met in Peru said this of Chile: “It is the best of the South American countries, but my least favorite for travel. There are no – how do you say? – surprises. The showers, they are hot. The buses, they are on time. The toilets, they are working.”

I was relieved to hear this as my mother was coming to visit us in Santiago and bathroom-related surprises are some of her least favorite. And honestly, after a few months enduring some of the “surprises” Peru, Bolivia and the more remote regions of Chile had to offer, this didn’t sound so bad to us either.

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Last Hurrah in Southern Chile: Chiloe and Puerto Varas

Posted on by Marea

After leaving Patagonia, we only had a few weeks to explore the rest of southern Chile before we needed to hightail it to Santiago and greet our next round of visitors.

Past experiences had made us somewhat distrustful of Patagonian transportation, so we didn’t want to jam too much in and get stuck in some remote town with bi-monthly mule departures. We decided to play it safe and stick to two places – Chiloe and Puerto Varas – and pre-booked as much transportation as possible to avoid disaster.

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The Workaway Ambassadors Have Arrived

Posted on by Kristy

Almost as far south as Antarctica, you can safely call Patagonia a remote location. In recent years, tourism has taken hold in a handful of locations like Torres del Paine National Park, El Chalten, and the adventure tourism capital of Pucon, where you recently heard about the nearby volcanic eruption.

Roads have been built, a few paved, and bus routes and flights have grown in number. It’s all gotten a lot easier to maneuver as a tourist/traveler but as a Workaway volunteer we had our work cut out for us when traveling to our next job in the town of La Junta in Chilean Patagonia.

We didn’t know where to start. We couldn’t even find this place on a map! Even the host warned potential volunteers that they are located in one of the most remote parts of Chile and travel is difficult with buses and ferries that leave once or twice a week. They boast the life motto:

“If you’re in a hurry, you’re wasting your time.”

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Patagonia: So Much More Than a Clothing Brand You Can’t Afford

Posted on by Marea

The Patagonia portion of our trip opened with a very wonderful, welcome change: friends!

Kristy and I enjoy each others’ company very much, but when you spend literally every moment of your day with one other person, occasionally the conversation wants for some additional voices. Kristy will often start a sentence with, “did you hear that they recently did a study…” and I have to cut her off because it was a mutual friend that posted that article on Facebook, and I just read it too.

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