Vacationing in Pucón Chile and an introduction to monkey puzzle trees

I want to clarify something. What George and I have been up to is not a vacation, it’s a lifestyle choice. We thank our lucky stars most days for the opportunity to explore, but we’re not lounging around every day either. Whatever you are up to, it seems to be human nature to keep busy and find new things to stress about. For us there is the daily routine of packing/unpacking, making meals on the tailgate and hours/days spent working through the laundry list of things to fix on the truck, planning what the heck we’re going to do next, and more recently shipping the truck home.

So, sometimes it is nice to have a tiny break from the ever present feeling to move on to the next thing. When George and I got settled in Pucón Chile, I think we both took a big sigh of relief. There was water, sun, sushi, many barbecued dinners and most of all great time hanging with los Juntos!

After the holidays, we backtracked a little to visit Conguillo National Park in Chile known for the very active Volcan Llaima which erupted in 2008 and the Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria Araucana). I didn’t really think about the curious name of the tree until arriving in Conguillo. One look at the tree and it is clear that any monkey that attempted to climb one would be puzzled by the spiky branches.

The park was simply outstanding though with lakes, great camping and wonderful hikes.

Continually driving with someone means that you quickly exhaust your preferred available music and start to explore the underbelly of each other’s tastes. We made it to deep into the bowels of George’s musical tastes on our second night in Conguillo. As I prepared dinner, he selected some Megadeath which made me want to scratch my eyeballs out. I vetoed metal in the car after that night.

I think this is the point that we started to rely heavily on podcasts to get us through the long drives. Podcasts were a very welcome change because we were heading to the beginning of the Carreera Austral and 770 miles of mostly gravel road.

Back into Chile: Valparaiso and Santiago

Our days were numbered. George and I enjoy one another’s company, but the idea of spending Christmas alone was depressing. Enter Southern Tip Trip – the three sprinters were parked in Pucon at the heart of Chile’s Lakes District, so we accepted the few days we had to explore Valparaiso and Santiago before Christmas.

Taking Ruta 7 from Mendoza toward Chile took us pass the impressive 6,962 meter Aconcagua (highest mountain in the americas) and the “Inca Bridge”.

Valparaiso sits on the coast of Chile and is known for it’s vibrant neighborhoods rising up on the hilltops of the city. The plan was simple – take in the neighborhood scene and eat some sushi. I had a hankering for sushi that needed to be tended to. As you work your way up hill into the neighborhoods, I was once again reminded why I let George do all the driving. Negotiating the narrow steep streets takes finesse in an overloaded pickup with a tricky gas pedal. Once on foot, we began a food and drink crawl, sustained by artisan beer and local wines.

We balanced the extravagance with yet another night spent in the parking lot of a gas station, a surprisingly typical thing to do in Argentina and Chile.

In the morning, we braved the Christmas crowds on the streets of Santiago to experience the very large and well-stocked fish market. I’ve noticed that it is usually a small detail or moment that really sticks with me after visiting some place. For George, one of the memories of Santiago from a visit in 2010 was of steak size mussels at the fish market. I generally eat mussels and think they are delicious, but the idea of taking fork and steak knife to one rather turned my stomach.

At the fish market in Santiago, the mussels turned out to be a little smaller than George recalled (maybe off season?), and I was able to enjoy our wonderful fish lunch in the depths of the market without being disturbed by visions of giant mussels chasing me pac man style.

Fortified with a seafood lunch, we started heading south again towards a Christmas celebration with new friends.

Indulging in Wine Country, Northern Argentina

A certain set of conversation topics inevitably end up on heavy rotation when you spend endless hours driving with someone. The beef in Argentina was one of these topics. I, as a vegetarian, silently will George to stop salivating over the idea of rib fat melting on his tongue and biting in to a juicy blood sausage to no avail. Taking the Paso Jama from Chile, we finally made it to Argentina. George could finally grill meat to his hearts content. Unfortunately for me, the availability of Argentine beef only meant that it became a daily topic instead of a twice weekly ordeal.

We made it to Salta Argentina in time for a police strike. Looking at the faces of the city’s residents, it was clear the populace was on edge. This made the decision even easier to hightail it to wine country.

Inexpensive and delicious wine would begin to flow in Cafayate Argentina, a base for exploring Valles Calchaquíes.

Cafayate is an adorable little town overflowing with temptation. Pulling into the town’s campground, we were greeted with some company to enjoy the ample wine, cheese and meats – Kyle and Joe (Patagonia or Bust) and Brooke and Tom traveling in a VW Van-Again. At Bodga Nanni, we were introduced to the Torrontes grape which made for a delicious aromatic wine full of fruit that was not sweet. I was in love.

We hopped on the iconic north-south highway Ruta 40 to head south along the andes, making a quick stop at the Ruins of Quilmes.  The story of the Quilmes is disheartening at best. They resisted Inca invaders and then the Spaniards for 130 years until they were defeated in 1667. The Spaniards marched the 2000 survivors 1500 km to Buenos Aires.

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Ruins of Quilmes

That night George got his grill on in Tafi del Valle. The rolling green hills surrounding the town are a stark contrast to the rest of dry and open Ruta 40. The evenings entertainment was a concert in the town center complete with gauchos (South American cowboys) on horses galloping through the center of the crowd.

Continuing on Ruta 40, we made it to Mendoza taking advantage of the ubiquitous grills in the campground. Maipu, just outside of Mendoza, is a great area for some wine tasting as well as a visiting one of the many olive farms.

And the verdict on wine country in Argentina? We’ll be back soon.

Back into Civilization – San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama may seem like a tourist trap to some with it’s higher prices and ample restaurants, but after ten days in the Salar and Sur Lipez Province, George and I needed a few days of hot showers, restaurant meals and internet. While I dined on massive pieces of salmon, George toured his way through the town’s parrillas (grills). We managed to work in a few sightseeing activities including visits to Valle de la Luna (famous for the sunsets) and an observatory. Seeing planets and stars in more detail along with an astronomy lesson was unexpected and surprisingly satisfying. Funny enough, from the 12 telescopes that were set on different stars, planets and moons both George and I most enjoyed the closeup view of the moon. There is something special about seeing the character of the circle of light ever present in our day-to-day lives.