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Patagonia

Caves in Última Esperanza show that humans, known as the Aonikenk people, have inhabited the region since 10,000 BC. In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the region. In the late 19th century, estancias formed, creating a regional wool boom that had massive, reverberating effects for both Chilean and Argentine Patagonia. Great wealth for a few came at the cost of native populations, who were all but wiped out by disease and warfare. With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, traffic reduced around Cabo de Hornos and the area’s international importance diminished. Today fisheries, silviculture, small oil reserves and methanol production, in addition to a fast-growing tourism industry, keep the region relatively prosperous.” Lonely Planet

After three centuries there are now only about 60 or 70 from each of the different Nomadic populations left. The ship we see cruising on can accommodate about that number of people. It brings the facts into sharp relief. There were several very distinct groups with their own languages. The Kaweskar were they only ones that shared language knowledge and dealt with other groups. In a number of the groups the women were the hunters and the ones that traded seal skins, shells and seafood with the people from Punto Arenas. There are records showing the women diving naked into the water to collect crustaceans. Man! that would take some courage.

The cruise has been an amazing experience. The ship carries a very small number of passengers and the staff very much treat the guests like family. The food has been amazing, like most cruises food is constantly offered, but here there are no generic buffets here. Lunch and dinner have all been set three course meals accompanied by a different range of wines at each sitting. Seafood has featured heavily. But the absolute highlight of the trip is the scenery and many excursions. Glaciar Perito Moreno is the stunning centerpiece of the southern sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. It measures 30 miles long, 5 miles wide and 60 meters high. It the only glacier in the park that is not retreating. It is advancing at around 2 meters per day. Unfortunately, this is the only one advancing, all the others are retreating. Huge building sized blocks fall off into the water and create mini tsunamis. It is hard to believe that what you are seeing is real. Glaciers seem to appear around every corner and they shine absolutely blue in the sun. Several times a day we moor up close to a glacier and climb into zodiacs and onto the shore. We have been blessed with sunny weather and little wind. The plant life is incredible, with an incredible variety of shrubs, grasses and lichen. The ground looks like it has been landscaped by an elite team of Japanese gardeners. The first full day finished with one of the most spectacular experiences I have ever had. We all loaded into a small ice breaker and travelled into a small bay to see the Fernando, Captain Constantino and Alipio glaciers. The water was full of icebergs and the sound of them crashing into the side of the boat was a little scary at first, but once you braced for the collisions it was fairly exciting. The water was like a mirror and the mountains and clouds were reflected perfectly. The boat was large enough to hold about 80 of us, but small enough to get up close and personal with the glaciers. During one of these investigations we were privileged to see s truely iconic South American bird. We were close of the cliffs looking at (and smelling) colonies of cormorants (imperial shags) and rock shags, when the most enormous hunting bird I have ever seen cruised down onto the rocks. It was a condor. It sat on the rocks and methodically worked its way through the nests raiding the eggs. When it took off it’s wing span was around 3 meters, (they can grow up to 5 meters) a truely magnificent sight.

After travelling for about another half and hour the crew hauled in some chunks of iceberg and we enjoyed a few (too many) glasses of 12 year old scotch with 30,000 year old ice cubes. While the scotch was warming us from the inside we travelled over to moor a few feet from a large waterfall. The whole day was like a series of cascading events, each one more wonderful than the last. This would have to be one of the highlights of our lives. Some very special memories, such as lying warm and snug in soft white sheets with Len and watching glaciers glide past the picture windows; playing dominoes and drinking pisco sours with Alicia and Juan and we sail to another destination; chatting to the crew and other guests at meal times, and just having the time to contemplate the world go by.

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Planes Trains and Automobiles

We have finally left Machu Picchu for sea level. I now know for sure that the thick, turgid, oxygen laden air of sea level is perfect for me. The thin mountain air of Cusco would be impossible for us long term. There will be no plans for a holiday home in Cusco. It was quite a journey from Aguas Calentias to Patagonia. We were up at 4.30 to catch the train to Ollantaytambo (2 hours), then by car for two hours to Cusco, from there after a four hour wait we flew to Lima, a short stopover before the flight to Santiago. We arrived in Santiago about 18 hours after we left Machu Picchu. We overnighted at the airport hotel and then took a short flight to Puerto Natales to catch our cruise of Southern Patagonia the next morning. This is a big continent. The car journey did provide an opportunity to be exposed to much Peruvian music, as the driver changed radio channels frequently. It was hard to tell why, as every channel sounded the same to us. As far as we can tell, Peruvian music is mainly lots of melodic pan pipes with men shouting over the top. The men are certainly not “singing” as such, more like chanting in a very encouraging way. If it was in Australia, they would be yelling, “oh come on, come on”, “let’s go to the pub and get ratted”, “Gallen you’re a wanker”, and things like that. We caught another look at the Sky hotel on the way back. Three accommodation pods attached to the sheer rock face and a dinning room. You either have to climb the rock up to the pods, or abseil down. It’s certainly an option for the very adventurous. Sally tells me they were constructed by a local man who really enjoys welding. He has no formal qualifications in engineering, so created his own solutions to the challenges involved in tacking glass cubes to the side of the cliffs. It makes you realise how regulated we are in Australia, and what a nice trait that is for a country.

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Machu Picchu

The Incas worshipped the mountains and it is not hard to see why. They soar into the sky at a seemingly impossible angles all around you, hundreds of kilometres of bare rock and sparse vegetation reaching into the clouds.

Machu Picchu was built in the 1500’s by the Inca king Pachacutec. There is still debate about the actual purpose of the site. However it’s magnificence cannot be denied.

As rocks were easy to source, the temples, accommodation and terraces were constructed from stone over a 50 year period. The Spanish conquistadors never discovered the ancient city, and the site lay largely ignored until 1911 when a Yale archeologist Hirum Bingham mounted an expedition. He is a fairly controversial figure as he removed many artefacts from the site over three different visits. These are still housed at Yale University to this day. Many people believe Indiana Jones was based on old Hirum.

The site is made up of houses, temples and an enormous number of terraces, created to provide level spaces for walking and agriculture. However, at this height, the mountains hold very little arable soil. The soil for the garden terraces had to be carried up from Paraguay on the backs of llamas. As they can only carry 20kgs at a time, there must have been a shit load of llamas travelling those trails. The engineering is remarkable as the construction had to cope with the harshest of conditions. Many of the buildings are made of polished stone joined without mortar - well certainly those designed for the important inhabitants. Streams from higher in the mountains were diverted and channeled down to the site to provide water for the crops and sanitation. As you travel around the site it is hard to believe that this could have been created in the estimated 50 years. At its peak, the site was home to 500 people and was joined to the capital in Cusco, and through to the rainforest through a series of highways. It is a very spiritual place for many people as the site has many constructions that helped the inhabitants to determine the seasons and the time. The ‘Hitching Post of the Sun’, for example is an carved rock likely used by Inca astronomers to predict solstices. It’s a rare survivor since invading Spaniards destroyed intihuatanas throughout the kingdom to eradicate pagan blasphemy. The site itself is quiet challenging as there are lots of steps made treacherous by rainy weather. I didn’t really make it much past the entry before I found a spot to sit and quietly contemplate the view of Machu Picchu. But as usual Len scoured the site with a wonderful guide and brought back these amazing photos.

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Cusco

Cusco has a very pretty central square, that sits in the middle of city, which sits in the middle of a valley. At night it is a magical sight, as the hills around the square light up from the many houses that climb up around it. We stayed in a beautiful little hotel that was a steep climb up from the square. Under normal circumstances the climb would make you a little breathless. At 3,500 meters we could have done with oxygen tanks to get home. Instead we made do with many stops up the hill. Poor Cusco did not get our best attention. Len came down with a very upset tummy (cured from the resources of the magical first aid kit), and I couldn’t breathe. The first night we ventured down to the square to pick up our train tickets and found a nice place that sold tomato soup. I mainly concentrated on getting as much of the thin mean air into my lungs as I could, while Len quickly realised he had attempted solid food far too soon. Yep, everyone wanted to sit with us as we were clearly the life of the party.

The second night was greatly improved by the arrival of Juan and Alicia, and the departure of Len’s stomach bug. After a mammoth series of flights from SYDNEY to SANTIAGO to LIMA to CUSCO, Alicia and Juan showed remarkable fortitude and jumped into the shower, threw on some new clothes and we visited the square. We came back to the hotel for dinner, as they had advertised a special menu with matched wines and a show. The restaurant was packed, and the food was fabulous. But, what is it about this holiday and fu@king opera singers!!!!! Like our pizza restaurant in Havana, half way though the meal, the lights were dimmed and an extraordinarily loud live opera show commenced. Thinking past the sound of my lungs sucking in every last atom of oxygen as we climbed around Cusco, it was a very pretty city.

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Random Cuban experiences

There are some moments we don’t want to forget. They are:

1. The doorman from the hotel waving down random members of the public to take us into the old city.

2. Getting into the buildings very very crowded lift (which we had used the night before) to find a woman sitting on a kitchen chair pushing the buttons on request...and playing some very Cuban music. We had to learn the Spanish word for eleven. No way was she allowing us to push the button.

3. Catching another random taxi from the city late at night with the waves crashing on the Macion, the salt spray coming through the window and great music on the radio.

4. On arrival to Cuba, the sight of the female customs police wearing very short military skirts with heavily patterned stockings with things like mock suspenders belts.

5. Learning how to make a mojito with the waiter explaining that you pour the rum for 12 seconds.

6. Cuban men displaying their wealth by exposing their bellies to the world.

7. A young man telling us he was very lonely as most of his friends had left Cuba.

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“Yes that is a good choice for dinner. You will not get sick from eating there.”

Taxi driver

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Cuban Food

We had been warned that Cuba was not a culinary hotspot, largely due to the difficulty of getting things imported. But I have to say, although not great, we did have some memorable meals. The holy trinity of Cuban cooking is the onion, garlic and pepper (capsicum). Chilli is not used to any great extent. We cannot remember seeing one dish that was at all spicey. The Cubans use a lot of root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, taro and cassava. We had a few different versions of cassava bread and crisps, and taro chips. In traditional places, the soup was a mainstay, based on a chicken stock and a variety of vegetables, thick and filling, and very much a comfort food. Seafood was a common ingredient as you would imagine. At a cooking class outside of Havana we used about eight huge Craytails in one dish. Unfortunately the chef got very excited about giving us all a go at flaming he dish in gallons of rum and the meat was over cooked and a bit rubbery. The other very “Cuban” dish is white rice cooked in the cooking water of black beans. The rice should be as black as the beans. Roast pork is very much a celebration dish in Cuba.

Many of the restaurants were serving a range of Spanish and Italian dishes alongside the Cuban ones. Some of our group were very excited about the chicken palmies in Trinidad. We had a great meal in Havana, and an exceptional two meals in Vinales. All recommended by Danny. An organic farm at Vinales grew all their own produce and served it very traditionally, lots of steamed veggies, salads, black rice, soup, chicken, fish and pork. All of it prepared simply and allowed the ingredients to be the main star. The other Vinales restaurant was called El Olivio. They also sourced organic produce and made their own goats cheeses. I had the cannoli which was stuffed with beef and pork and baked under a layer of goats cheese. We also ordered a salad with actual arugula, goats cheese, dried fruit and nuts. Tomatoes here, like any grown in the sun on the vine until ripe, are a taste sensation. I won’t post many photos of dishes as Len has flooded Facebook with pics of every meal we have eaten.

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Danny operating the old coffee grinder!

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Old French Coffee farm

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Las Terrazas

In the 70’s one of the Cuban leaders formed a community here and took a denuded part of the countryside and replanted it with native forest. The area had previously been cleared by the French for coffee growing. The houses and community buildings are all really well cared for and sit in a beautiful little valley near a man made dam. The only way you can stay here and do the many hikes around the area is to check into the community owned hotel. They have also preserved the old coffee drying area and the original French farmhouse.

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La Terrazas

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Vinales

“The valley supports Viñales’ quintessential tobacco landscape and has been heavily modified by agriculture. The hard limestone mogotes to the north are all that remains of a huge cave system that used to cover the whole region. At some point, millions of years ago, the soft roofs of the caves collapsed leaving only the harder walls and pillars standing.” - Lonely Planet.

When slaves escaped the sugar plantations around Trinidad this is the area they would run to. The cave system provided lots of great hiding places and small communities developed here.

The town (around 7000 pop) is very much a farming community - the houses are all picture perfect and colourfully painted. Although you can hear and see live music as you walk along the one Main Street, most locals are sitting in rocking chairs on the verandah smoking cigars. Every house has a verandah cluttered with rocking chairs. Danny tells us that this is the only place in Cuba where you can leave you rocking chairs on the verandah when you go to bed and they will still be there in the morning. It’s the prettiest Cuban town we have visited.

We travelled to an underground river and took a boat ride through the cave system, the weather here has been very strange - cold as a cold cairns winters day. Last night we had our warmest clothes on to go out to dinner. The two farms we visited, like most of Cuba are heavily into recycling everything. Not a lot goes to the tip. The restaurant and the cigar rolling areas were all constructed from saplings and the wood from packing cases. The stairs were made of rocks from the fields and handrails branches from the trees. Everywhere you look you see things like broken roof tiles forming pot plant holders, and the hard bottoms of palm fronds folded to make bins.