Chile - The Last Day (and the cherry on top)

"Make voyages! Attempt them! there's nothing else" ~~Tennessee Williams

I think that life has provided me with the opportunity to travel and see so many wonderful and unique places around the world. And every place that I have been and the people that I have met have left a lasting impression on my heart and soul in some way. I have been asked what is my favorite place to visit - I can't really answer that because each place has given me something special that has added to or changed my life. This trip to Chile and Antarctica has been absolutely amazing but not quite in the way I expected. Our last day in Chile was what I would call the "cherry on top" bringing our trip to a close.

After Antarctica, we made it back to Santiago at about 1:30am on Saturday, February 13, 2010. After arriving at the bed and breakfast, Dean and I literally fell into bed. We were up again at 6:00am in order to get ready to attend the LDS Temple in Santiago. What a beautiful temple and a lovely morning.

As I have stated in earlier blogs, Dean served a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Santiago 30 years ago. With the help of our friends - Dean made contact with a gentleman that he had baptized - Armin. Armin was 14 when Dean last saw him - that was 29 years ago. Because the means to communicate and keep in contact with people were not as easy as it is now - it was really just a miracle to find Armin. We met Armin Saturday afternoon at the temple. Armin didn't speak English and Dean's Spanish had improved slightly during the week to the point that he could understand the language but his ability to speak Spanish was still rusty. Somehow these two men were able to communicate. We had lunch together and talked about families, the gospel and the long and short of the last 30 years. Armin has 3 children (2 close to the age of our children). He is in the Stake Young Men's presidency. It was the perfect end to our trip in Chile. As we departed company, these two men hugged and agreed to stay in contact. As Dean and I talked about this experience - I could see that he was truly touched. It made his heart happy and renewed his spirit to see that his service in the gospel had been so beneficial to someone else's life. And in return to see that Armin has grown in the gospel passing this service and work forward to many others. It was wonderful to me to see the joy that this meeting brought to my husband and that made this trip priceless!

Returning home was another adventure as our flight had been cancelled due to weather. Again, we were so blessed. An LDS missionary was on his way home to the same location and with the help of his translation services, we were able to get a flight home - just a few hours later than our original time to destination. That was a miracle since the airline told me it would be 4 days before I could leave Santiago due to weather and cancellations.

Dean and I have been so grateful for the opportunity we had to visit Chile and Antarctica. We are especially grateful for the people we have met and friendships we rekindled while we were in this wonderful country.

"My life will never be the same having seen the sun shine on the other side of the world!" ~ Joelle

Number 3 - Antarctica (Blog 4 of the Chile trip)

The trip to Chile was amazing. Each day presented a new gift to us as we explored this unique country. For me this trip had many purposes - it was a long awaited honeymoon for Dean and I. It was the opportunity to see where Dean had served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 30 years ago and see the world from his perspective as a missionary. It was also the chance to try to complete one of my life's goals of visiting all 7 continents on the Earth. So being in Chile was the achievement for me to visit continent number 6 during my travels and adventures.

In preparing for our trip, I had found that there is one company that offers flights from Chile to Antarctica. This trip allows you to actually be on the continent. Dean and I discussed all of the pros and cons of traveling to this remote place in the world. We both decided that we would take the risk and attempt the journey.

Before booking our trip I wanted to know more about this place we would try to visit. Here are some interesting facts: Antarctica is the Earth's southernmost continent and it is the fifth-largest of the seven continents. Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest and windiest continent and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland.

Knowing this information, I realized that weather would be the biggest factor in making the voyage. Wind plays a big role in the ability for a plane to land or not.

When we arrived in Punta Arenas on Monday (2/8/10), Dean and I had hopes that the flight to Antarctica would take off as scheduled on Tuesday. However the flight was cancelled. It is important to know that Dean and I had decided before we left for Chile that with such a tight schedule that we fly back to Santiago on Friday 2/12 in order to attend the LDS temple on Saturday before we left for home. The only flight I was able to book out of Punta Arenas back to Santiago left Friday at 12:30pm. I was told that was the last flight we could get out of Punta Arenas in order to be in Santiago on Saturday.

The flight for Wednesday was cancelled due to weather.
The flight for Thursday was cancelled due to weather.

As stated in the previous blog, we enjoyed Punta Arenas and its surrounding areas. It was cold and windy but very beautiful.

Thursday afternoon we got the call that the flight to Antarctica would go on Friday. We were told the weather broke and that the flight landing window looked good. We went to the travel agent and they excitedly explained the information to us. Dean and I looked at them and told them that we couldn't go - we would have to cancel the trip. The agent looked shocked and exclaimed "What?" He said if you cancel, you won't get a refund. We were to allow a 4 day window and opted for the risk with the 3 day window that our schedule would allow. We again expressed that we had to be in Santiago by 6am on Saturday and that we would need to cancel and we recognized that we would not get a refund. At that point - this gentleman who had been so unhelpful throughout the week looked at us and said "let us help you - we believe you can make the Antarctica flight and still return to Santiago for your 6am responsibilities. The agent found a flight out of Punta Arenas to Santiago at 9:40pm on Friday evening and there was space for us to make the change. We were very concerned that even if we made the change in flights there was still the possibility that the flight may not go to Antarctica if the weather were to change.

The flight to Antarctica did go on Friday morning at 7:00am and Dean and I were 2 of 8 people on the little 10 seater airplane. We were joined by a couple from Australia, a gentleman from Japan and another lady from the United States and our two pilots. Everyone except for Dean was in pursuit of the illusive 7th continent. The flight was 3.5 hours to King George Island. We got 5 hours on the continent and then 3.5 hours back to Punta Arenas. We had just enough time to check in for our next flight after the Antarctic adventure. Below is a summary of our Antarctic journey.

The air in Antarctica was chilly but there wasn't a bit of wind. We couldn't believe it. From the landing strip we could see the research bases, the water and an iceberg out in the water - our small group of travelers were just in awe with finally making it to this rugged land.

The first stop on the tour was to visit Villa Las Estrellas - the Chilean base, Bellingshausen the Russian base, the Russian Orthodox church. We also had the chance to visit the post office and a small store for tourists. Basically in an effort to protect the integrity of the environment, the living arrangements are as simple as possible - to me it appears as if everyone was living in ocean containers with windows cut into them. The interesting thing to note that the Russian Orthodox church was shipped in special and is held together by chains. It definitely does not fit the look of the land.




After a simple lunch, we headed off in a very small zodiac boat with our guide Alejo. Alejo decided not to follow the schedule and our small group of travelers were more fortunate because of his change of plans. Alejo took us to Collins Glacier. It is the most active glacier in the area and about 80 kilometers long. This part of the trip was absolutely amazing. After a 15 minute boat ride, Alejo steered the boat into an ice field and the pancake ice started surrounding the boat on all sides. We were now face to face with the glacier. I had seen pictures of glaciers but now being face to face with this mass of snow and ice was absolutely incredible. The color and size are indescribable. Then Alejo turned off the motor to the boat and what happened next was again something I had never experienced. There was complete silence and then popping (like gun shots), cracking and other similar sounds all of which were from the glacier's constant movement. Every once in a while large pieces would crash into the water and then dead silence again followed by the popping and cracking of this giant's slow yet steady movement. Also as we watched and listened, seals would pop up look around and then swim off. A few penguins would swim by to check out the strangers in their world. Again, the words that I have written can't even describe the beauty of God's creation. It was magnificent!

As time was running out we had to move on to the next spot - the penguin rookery. En route we passed ice berg after ice berg. The color and beauty of the massive chunks of ice were absolutely phenomenal. With the sun and blue sky it seemed to only make the ice formations even more stunning.


The penguins - I spoke about penguins in my last blog of how they live, mate and raise their young - but the numbers and masses here were three times the amount compared to what we had seen in Punta Arenas. Penguins everywhere. There were three types of these flightless birds - Barbijo, Papua, and Adelaida. Fluffy babies and parents as well - all moving around not really afraid of our presence. The penguin chatter filled the air - the noise was just as if we were in a bustling city in this foreign land. A couple of elephant seals had beached themselves on the shore after a long morning of eating.





After this - we headed back to the airstrip and caught our flight back to Punta Areans. Antarctica was breathtaking in its own way. A quote I found from Andrew Denton sums it up best:
"If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it."

The journey is still not over . . .the best is yet to come. More to follow.

Chile - on to Punta Arenas and Beyond

Now that we are back to reality, after what seemed like the longest flight of our lives, Dean and I are finally settling into the routine of our home again. In the blog entitled Chile, I described our first couple of days in Santiago. Today's blog is a continuation of our trip after we left Santiago.

In the book Footprint Chile by Janak Jani, the author has made the following statement: "Chileans say that, when God had almost completed the act of creation, there was a little of everything left, so God threw it all down in a narrow strip of land and called it Chile. . .this is a fantastically diverse country when combined with the country's shape the geographical barriers rule out circular routes within the country - the choice therefore comes down to whether to go north or south."

We chose to head to the southern part of Chile - in fact the southern most city - Punta Arenas. Because of the limited access to this part of Chile, we opted for a four hour flight into this city. We checked into the bed and breakfast La Casa Escondida. This was a very nice place tucked away in the middle of a forest like setting and just a half mile from the Straits of Magellan. Pamela and Luis were the most wonderful hosts and were there to greet us upon our arrival.

We then headed into town to tour the city of Punta Arenas. In the center of the city, there is a statue of Magellan with a mermaid and two Fuegian Indians at his feet. According to local wisdom, those who kiss the big toe of one of the Indians will return to Punta Arenas. I wanted to make sure Dean and I followed in that tradition and I insisted that we kiss the Fuegian Indian's big toe. So many people touch and kiss this statue that I didn't want to take any chances - I whipped out my handiwipes and sanitized the Indian's big toe before we kissed it.
Also during our 5 day stay in Punta Arenas, we had the opportunity to see areas surrounding the city. We headed to the southern most point on the continent - Fuerte Bulnes and Punta Santa Ana. In 1843, Captain Juan Williams, the naturalist Bernardo Philippi set sail from Chiloe to the Straits of Magellan to plant the Chilean flag in this region before other powers could beat Chile to it. They chose a rocky promontory that dominated the strait and named it Fuerte Bulnes. Although the promontory was strategically appropriate for monitoring seafaring traffic, the location proved undesirable, and they pulled up the stakes and moved to Punta Arenas.

Next we headed to Seno Otway the site of a colony of about 11,000 Magellanic penguins. It was interesting for Dean and I to learn that penguins form lifelong partnerships and divide up their chores equally. Every morning and evening the penguin couples change shifts. One heads out to fish, the other returns from fishing to take care of the young. When this changing of the guard begins, the penguins line up and waddle to and from the sea. These penguins come from Brazil from October through March to hatch and raise their young. Another interesting thing that we learned - these penguins burrow holes into the ground where they lay their eggs and raise their babies.

One day we also headed to Tierra del Fuego. We took a 20 minute ferry ride across the straights. The weather was so windy making this short ferry trip rather bumpy! We had Commerson's Dolphins playing in the wake of the ferry during our crossing. These dolphins were black and white and almost looked like small orcas. Our time on Tierra del Fuego we spent on the northern part of the island. We visited the town of Porvenir and we drove the circut of gold road. During the late 1800s, gold was found in the rivers close to Porvenir. Primarily the Chileans and Croatians worked to mine the gold. The rivers never produced an amount of gold large enough to truly sustain and grow the city. Gold mining is no longer prosperous for this city. This area of the island is very useful for raising sheep. It was very funny to watch the sheep walk in the evening after feeding in the fields all day. They lined up and formed straight rows and walked back to their farm pastures. Guanaco (llamas) and rheas also roam free. The roads on the Chilean side of the island are all dirt which made driving very challenging. There were a couple of times that during our rapid efforts to get back to the ferry after having a long day of driving, that while manuvering the car, Dean "caught air" (all four tires were off the ground) as we were speeding over rough dirt roads - whew (deep sigh) I am glad we arrived back home safe that night.

As we would drive around to all of these different places, the song "It's the End of the World as We Know It" kept going through my head. We were truly at the end of the world. But what a beautiful place to be! Our journey continued beyond this city - more to come...

Last Attempt

Due to limited time and resources this is short for now-

Dean and I have not yet made it to Antarctica. Tomorrow (2/13) there is a small window that they have said the plane may land so we will make our last attempt tomorrow and after that we must leave this wonderous place (Punta Arenas) at the end of the world. All is well!

Number 2 - Chile

It is early in the morning on February 6, 2010 and the airplane that we are riding - Delta's Boeing 767 - is making a very smooth decent into Santiago, Chile. Dean and I slept as well as we could on the plane but trying to get some good "shut eye" while flying tends to be a talent that neither he or I have yet to master.

After waiting for our luggage and having a slight delay clearing the agriculture portion of customs (for some reason I decided to declare a bag of trail mix. It was sealed and purchased at an appropriate location but something inside me said to declare it. I had to fill out new forms and that held us up for another 10 minutes - oh well. At this point in the trip speaking Spanish in any form would be very helpful - but we press forward not looking back at that minor missed detail) we made it through the Santiago Airport. We were greeted by our wonderful friends who had willingly volunteered to cart us around Santiago. We have been so grateful for their hospitality as we climatize to this place. We will be forever thankful for their sacrifice!

It is summertime in Chile, the air is warm and there is sunshine! The city has a lot of smog but you can still see the sun and blue sky. The flowers are blooming and the trees are just beautiful.

After a wonderful breakfast we headed out into the city. We started at a fruit and vegetable market. WOW the size of the produce is unbelievable. I could not believe what we were seeing, grapes, strawberries, cherries, two different types of corn and so many other things! There was also a small fish market at the end with so many kinds of fish! I loved seeing the market, the people and just being in the city. We then went to Los Dominicos a market where artisan crafts and clothes are sold. Also lapis lazuli is a big item as this stone is only mined two places in the world - Chile being one of the places. We finished the day at Cerro San Cristobal one of the highest points in the city - which today offered spectacular views. At the top is a 22m high statue of the Virgen del la Inmaculada Concepcion.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

In my opinion, today has been worth every penny we paid for the trip to Chile. When I booked the trip - I simply knew that Dean had served his LDS mission in Santiago Chile I had no idea the exact dates that he was in the city. As Dean prepared for the trip, by scanning and copying all of his letters and journal entries, he realized that our visit to Chile would be exactly 30 years to the day that he first arrived in the country. Our friends took us to Dean's last mission area San Bernado to go to church. To start nothing really looked familar to Dean. But the ward was wonderful, testimonies were thoughtful and the saints were very kind. After the sacrament meeting, there was a gentleman that Dean thought he knew - after speaking with this Brother, Dean realized that he was the first counselor in the Bishopric in the area that he was in.

Relief Society was a joy. The sisters were very kind and as each bore their testimony I could feel their spirits so strong without truly understanding most of what they were saying. As we left each of the sisters said good bye with a kiss on the cheek. It was very touching for me to realize that going to church is the same anywhere in the world. The lessons are the same and the spirit of the people loving and kind. We had the opportunity to stay for a baptism - just adding to the spirit of the day.

After church, we drove to another ward in San Bernardo and now the scenery was beginning to look familar to Dean. We found the building - this was the ward that Dean served in. It has been updated but it is the same place from 30 years ago. After speaking with the Bishop we found out that he was baptized the day President Spencer W. Kimball was in Chile to dedicate the land were the Santiago Temple in now built. We left and drove around and found an area where Dean would play basketball on P-Day and show and teach magic tricks to the local children and play NERF football with them as well - Dean called it cultivating.

Since the time that we left church today, Dean has researched more in his journals and he has realized that the Bishop we met today at the second building is probably the boy he baptized on May 30, 1981 - the same day the site was dedicated for building the temple. We did not get the bishop's name so we are back tracking to see if this is indeed the person from the family Dean baptized that day. What an exciting moment!

Tomorrow it is on to Punta Arenas as our adventure continues!