Patagonia Cupcake Shop!

If you ever find yourself in Coyhaique, Chile make sure you check out The Cupcake Shop Patagonia! I made a new friend, Ignacio, who is just about to open his first shop. He makes his own breads, and delicious cookies and cupcakes! He was incredibly nice and helpful with my project, and I can't wait to come back some day and see the shop in action!  

Cochrane Air Pollution

July 1, 2014 

The first two questions you ask when you're looking for a hostel are: 

"Do you have a bed for us?" and "Do you have heat?" and if you're really feeling lucky..."Do you have hot water? Do you have WiFi?" 

Energy is really expensive in Chile which is one of the reasons why a large percentage of the popuation was in favor of the hydroelectric megaproject, HidroAysen, that I am here to learn about.  Currently most people heat their houses with wood and cook with wood burning stoves, and recently importing wood has become very expensive. People burn wet or green wood or even resort to burning their trash to keep their houses warm and thier stoves burning.

When we arrived at hostels the rooms were un-heated, but would warm up quickly once they got a fire started.

...but occasionally the fire goes out in the middle of the night and you wake up like this: 

Even the Abominable Snowman wished there was more heat!

With all the wood burning around the clock Cochrane is extremely polluted. 

The cold nights and lack of wind keeps the smoke trapped around the town. 

Once you drive out of town you can get a great view of how Cochrane is completeley surrounded in smoke sitting in the valley. 

I took this picture of Coyhaique from a plane on my way back north and you can see how much smoke  surrounds Coyhaique too. 

In an interview with Peter Hartmann, the director of CODEFF (The Committee for the Defense of Flora and Fauna) in Aysen, I learned that in Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas the government has subsidized the price of gas to reduce the pollution from burning wood and trash. He said there is a plan to reduce pollution in Coyhaique and Cochrane too, but the government isn't starting until next year. Unfortunately the plan focuses on burning dry wood and switching to different stoves. It's already destined to be a disapointing attempt at solving the problem according to Peter. 

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 )

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