En La Patagonia El Que Se Apura Pierde El Tiempo

In Patagonia, he who rushes, loses time.

I've seen this saying a few times here in Coyhaique, and it's just perfect! You can't be in a rush here because if you are you're missing out on the true beauty. 

Tonight I went to the first night of the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Coyhaique. The film tour travels all over the world featuring films about climbing, paddling, biking, base jumping, conservation efforts, surfing, general dirtbag culture and so much more. I live for it! The photogtaphy and the messages that the films offer are so inspiring that they warn you at the start of the event that you will want to quit your job by the end.

The festival here in Coyhaique is 3 nights, and tonight was all Patagonia films. A dream come true! 

Here's my favorite video: 

Patagonia Who Rushes Loses Time

http://vimeo.com/81565668

And here's another great video featuring Patagonia

A Crazy Kayak Adventure down the most Remote River on Earth

http://youtu.be/NSf2lTvLNUw

The one with Carretera Austral

Carretera Austral is the name given to Chile's Route 7. The road connects Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins, about 770 miles of mostly unpaved road, and three ferry crossings where the roads don't connect. 

Despite its length the road provides access to about 100,000 people, and the largest city along the way is Coyhaique, population about 45,000. 

The Carretera Austral is both a tourist attraction with incredibly beautiful views throughout, and a very important connection for the people of Patagonia between towns. There are plenty of hostels in every town along the way, and it's a popular route for bike touring (anyone interested in biking it with me let me know!)

It's winter right now in the Southern Hemisphere so there are very few tourists (as in me and one other person...we're friends now naturally), but with a very flexible schedule it is possible to do most of the route. I decided to take a boat for the first part from Puerto Montt to Chaiten. The boat, run by Navier Austral, takes 10 hours and usually runs twice a week. From Chaiten I took a 12 hour bus ride to Coyhaique. With the exception of when we stopped at a random house along the way for coffee and I had the special opportunity of watching just stoppage time of the USA vs. Portugal match, it was the best 12 hours on a dirt road I could ever have imagined!

I think going any further south from here is going to require renting a four-wheel drive car so there will definitely be more stories to come. 

The one with the Gaucho's Horse

Today in my adventures around Coyhaique I was walking outside the city and taking pictures with a friend who I met here in Coyhaique (she's from Austria). We came across two gauchos, a gaucho in chile is the equivalent to a cowboy in the US, riding horses on their ranch. 

In true Chilean fashion, they were unbelievably friendly and came over to talk. They asked if we wanted to go for a ride on their horses, and as adventurers we naturally crawled through a hole in the fence saying sure (or the spanish equivalent - claro)!! 

Just another day in Patagonia, sometimes when you're on a walk you end up riding a gauchos horse. 

The one with the Homestay like Grandma's!

The best part about not having a plan is that sometimes things end up better than you could ever imagine! 

I stumbled upon a hostel last night that very well could have just been a nice old lady letting me stay in her house. I had arrived in Puerto Montt around noon and didn't have a plan for where I was going to stay that night. Just a few blocks from the bus station I saw a really cute sign: Hostal Suiza 

Only problem was I couldn't figure out how to get in. I stood looking through the gate for a few minutes hoping someone would see me when I noticed a tiny sign - "backpackers go to next door - 247". So I walked up the street further and rang the bell of the next house. An old woman opened one of the windows on the first floor and stuck her head out. Her face lit up when she saw me standing there with my backpack. She came running to the door and before I knew it I had an adorable twin bed with a great view, a key to her house, we were all sharing a bathroom, and I had been introduced to three other nice old ladies in her kitchen. I say before I knew it because she didn't speak a word of English just some damn fast Spanish. I just smiled and nodded as usual. 

Later that night she came by my room with her alarm clock asking what time I wanted to be woken up and when I wanted breakfast. It was like being at grandma's house! 

I had breakfast in her kitchen next to the wood burning stove with a fresh loaf of bread she had just baked. She sat and chatted with me the whole time. 

Sometimes you think you're far away from home, but just because it's not your home doesn't mean it can't be home. 

Lagos Todos los Santos Timelapse

When you get the chance to lie in the sun by a beautiful lake take it! What a wonderful afternoon. 

http://youtu.be/Khf4XqB2JoE

Osorno Volcano and Petrohue River Slideshow

Here are some pictures from Volcan Osorno, Lago Todos los Santos, Saltos del Petrohue and LagunaVerde (sorry, so far I haven't figured out how to get the slideshow to work on mobile devices and tablets). This link works: https://plus.google.com/photos/100416856523238069147/albums/6025668201009312961 )

katiemathieson.com

The past few weeks I put together a personal website designed to provide information about me for friends, family and future employers. The website is both a portfolio of my past projects and a frequently updated blog about my current projects and adventures. Recently more and more employers are asking for a personal portfolio, or personal website especially in the more creative and non-profit field areas.


So this is a work in progress. I have not sent it to any employers, so please give me any feedback you have!


Check it out! katiemathieson.com

¨A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving¨- Lao Tzu

So was back in February I saw a flier in the student union.

¨Travel Reporting Grant 

http://www.davidson.edu/offices/international-studies-program/travel-grants¨

My immediate thought was Wow! That sounds like the dream! I had only been back in the U.S. a few weeks after having spent 5 months studying abroad in Thailand, but I was ready to be back in Thailand before I had even left. I knew I would go back some day, but I didn´t think I could pull it off this summer. I had also found a new interest in community based journalism, specifically film and documentaries while I had been in Thailand. Why community based journalism? Why film? Katie, you change your mind about what you´re interested in faster than the weather...you may be thinking if you know me. Well, I believe that the stories of a community across the world are as important, as valuable as a local story. The problems of a community struggling from the social, environmental and health impacts of a gold mine in Thailand are important for everyone to hear. So rather than complain about how ¨no one knows what I know¨ I´m going to inform. Good writing is a powerful tool, but seeing the faces behind my stories, seeing the places they love and want to protect, hearing the quiver in their voice when they speak of a family member who died of cyanide poising from the mine, that captures the story I want to share better than my writing ever could.

So I walked in the office of a Davidson professor, Jeff Rose, who I had never even had for class and pitched him my idea to go back to Thailand. He loved it, I pulled together all the application materials, and submitted.  (It wasn´t really that easy, but this is a blog...I´ll try to keep it interesting)

In mid-march I got an email that I had been chosen and I realized I had been given the opportunity of a lifetime. I now had $4000, support from Davidson and support from The Pulitzer Center to go back to Thailand, live in Na Nong Bong for 6 weeks and give being a community journalist a shot! 

I booked flights, had friends picking me up at the airport, had the visa all figured out, and it all fell apart. Part of me was devastated. I was so excited to go back, but the reasons I couldn´t go back were way bigger than my dream project. It was selfish to be upset about the Thai military rule affecting my summer plans, Thailand and my friends in Thailand had real problems. 

Fortunately for me the Pulitzer Center was extremely flexible and understanding about the fact that I couldn´t go to Thailand this summer. They had picked me to do a project and when I couldn´t do it my editor said OK pick another project. Read the news see what interests you. 

My jaw dropped. I thought going back to Thailand was the opportunity and now I could go wherever I want to do a story! So I looked for a story:

- Gold mining in Rosia Montana area of Romania
- South Africa and the production of parks and game reserves
- South Africa and just about every mine that has ever been created (diamond, gold, etc.)
- Indigenous coastal BC resistance to the tar sands pipeline (sending oil to China)
- Ecuador and the battle between Chevron and the Amazon
- Nigeria and one of the oil companies (Texaco?)
- Aboriginal issues in Northern Territories of Australia
- Pebble Mine in Alaska
- Charcoal production in Mexico or other rain forest countries (South America)
- Shrimp farming in mangroves (El Salvador, Guatemala, etc)

...there is no shortage of environmental (in)justice issues to be passionate about.

But even when I thought I was going to Thailand I had been following a story in Patagonia, Chile. A huge environmental (in)justice movement in Chile against a Megadam project. I have dreamed of Patagonia for years and so given the opportunity to go do whatever story I wanted...this was it!

The Pulitzer Center had no problem and now I'm writing a blog from a hostal in Patagonia. I have slowly been making connections in Patagonia, but I unfortunately don't speak Spanish very well. The day I arrived Michelle Bachelet, the President of Chile, announced that the Megadam project was not viable and would be put to rest. A very exciting announcement for everyone in Chile...or not?

So here I am writing blog posts I should have written before I left, but I´ve been in Patagonia for about a week now and I finally have my feet under me again. I have a very loose plan, but fortunately that's just the way I like it!

So keep reading my blog because this should be interesting.

 

http://youtu.be/BAkhm5l2-Ds

 

 

Why am I not in Thailand?

Good question. It's a long story.


As I've mentioned in other posts I have a grant this summer and a fellowship with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. I applied for the grant to go back to one of the communities I had stayed in in Thailand and report for English-speaking news sources about the untold stories of this small village in northeastern Thailand.


I was all set to return and 6 days before I left the Thai military declared marshall law across Thailand. The military stepped in to ¨mediate¨ the tense political situation that had flared up since November. A caretaker Prime Minsiter was appointed. My friends and contacts in Thailand still felt it was safe enough for me to be there after the military stepped in (I hesistate to call it a coup) because all that had changed was that there was a curfew and no one could be out after 10pm. Every morning I woke up to see every news article about Thailand that my dad could find sitting at my spot at the family dinner table and countless more in my inbox from The Pulitzer Center. We were all well informed.



However, I woke up the morning of the day I was supposed to leave for Bangkok (May 27th) to multiple emails, skype messages and texts from friends in Thailand and Thai friends in the U.S. saying don't go, just wait a few weeks, the situation has gotten worse. While I had been asleep, General Prayuth, the commander of the army was asked at a press conference if he would become the new prime minister himself, and he aknowledged that it was in the plan. When journalists asked when an election would be held Prayuth replied: "[An election] depends on the situation. [There is] no deadline. That's enough," before walking out of the conference room. The following day, two journalists were summoned by the NCPO on grounds of "giving questions that lessen public confidence in the ruler".


While for many travelers in Thailand this was not an issue, where I was planning on living in Northeastern Thailand people were angry. The elected prime minister, Yinglick Shinawart, who was removed by the military, had been elected by them, poor rural farmers, the majority of the Thai population. That night the military presence in Khon Kaen, the largest city in the northeast, noticably increased.


I wasn´t going to Thailand any more. The situation had become too unpredicatable, and no longer ¨safe enough¨. I am so grateful to all of the people who were constantly updating me from Thailand or reading everything they could find to try to keep me safe. I take more risks than most, but safety is still very important and I take it very seriously.


I am still very passionate about Na Nong Bong, the community I had intended to live in this summer and share their stories. So keep an eye out for posts with updates I come across about Na Nong Bong.

Photo taken in Na Nong Bong at the site of the protest last November

Happy Father's Day Dad!

The title of this blog is “Not All Who Wander are Lost” and no one understands that more than my dad. He supports me no matter how far away and how dangerous my latest idea is, and no ones support means more to me. I know he would love to be with me on all my adventures. This blog is for you, Dad!  I love you! Happy Father’s Day!

Someday we'll backpack together again!

 

Welcome to Puerto Varas

Welcome to Puerto Varas, Chile. Puerto Varas is in northern Patagonia in the lakes and volcano region and is just 30 minutes by taxi from Puerto Montt, the capital city of the lakes region of Chile. It is absolutely beautiful. 

I set up my timelapse camera one afternoon looking out at the lake and the volcano on the opposite shore.  http://youtu.be/WxaJAF3g2ks