10 things I did for the first time in Chile
I suspect this list could have been 100 items long. You'd be hard pressed to find somewhere more conducive to easing yourself out of your comfort zone, putting your inhibitions to one side and trying something for the first time than Chile. It's one of the many things that we love about the country. But what makes it truly special is that, whilst there are many common themes, every one of our travellers come back with slightly different 'first time' moments. Some moments can be carefully planned, many many others are spontanious. Few others would have had a pair of skunks try to jump in their 4x4. Here are 10 stand out moments from Clare's Chile adventure. Enjoy.
Seeing glaciers and getting right up close weaving in and out of icebergs in a motorised rubber boat. Then drinking whiskey on the broken up iceberg rocks afterwards.
Ten things I did for the first time in Chile
by Clare Chetwood
1 - First time seeing glaciers and getting right up close weaving in and out of icebergs in a motorised rubber boat. Drinking whiskey on the broken up iceberg rocks afterwards.
2 - Riding a horse, and negotiating the horses up and down steep paths for an hour and a half in the rain without falling off.
3 - Clambering on top of a sheer rock face peering over watching condors waking up and circling below us before they eventually rose up on the thermals to fly right above our heads.
4 - Drinking glacial water and filling up our water bottles from Pato's private waterfall having climbed 200 feet up to the top.
5 - Drinking Pisco sours, all slightly different but all delicious and not to be missed.
6 - Seeing dolphins, penguins and a baby sea lion swimming beside us on our way to Pato’s island then swimming in the fjord looking up at a hanging glacier behind.
7 - Meeting two skunks who almost jumped into our car while unknown to us our back boot window had lowered by mistake (we wondered why we were suddenly very dusty!)
8 - Seeing families of guanacos which are so pretty and abundant in Parque Patagonia which we took a detour through but preferring meeting them naturally on our walks. Enjoying meeting one on his own who walked past us while we picnicked by the turquoise Rio Baker which I had just swum in..amazingly cold and exhilarating.
9 - Driving a 4WD on unpaved roads and really enjoying the experience and our Toyota Runner….road trip from Chile Chico to Tortel out of this world.
10 - Running down sand dunes feeling the heat on our feet in the Atacama. As soon as we left Patagonia, we started to miss it. But after acclimatising, we began enjoying the sand dunes, incredible colours and salt flats with their flamingoes. We had an amazing walk with Cristobal from 4000m past llamas and vicunas down through a deserted abandoned village to meet the ever faithful Sebastian, who met us with his car and reviving aloe vera juice.
"Thank you Pura for everything from the trip notes with excellent recommendations included, the excellent accommodation throughout, all our lovely guides, the perfect choice of hire car to even checking us in on our internal flights. Would definitely recommend you and hope to travel with you again"
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The Pothole is Pura Aventura's popular monthly email. We share what we love, what interests us and what we find challenging. And we don't Photoshop out the bits everyone else does. We like to think our considered opinions provide food for thought, and will sometimes put a smile on your face. They've even been known to make people cry. You can click here to subscribe and, naturally, unsubscribe at any time.
