Wine Tasting: Cousina Macul and Concha y Toro

Wine tasting at two wineries just outside of Santiago -- whoo hoo!

Wasn't this cool -- entering the bodega -- by candelight!

And we got to keep our wine glasses.

We lunched here in between visiting the wineries.

All that wine!!! We had a great day. Wish I would have been organized and had my camera battery charger with me -- we did a walking tour of downtown Santiago the next day and my battery was dead. Next time!

Flat Stanley Visit

Our great niece from Omaha sent Flat Stanley to visit us. His arrival encouraged us to visit areas around Calama that we hadn't been to yet. This sign is seen as visitors leave the airport. It says, "Welcome to Calama Land of Sun and Copper" and notes that we live here with 142,000 other folks.

The first place we took Flat Stanley was the copper mine where Larry works -- El Abra -- the reason we are here. Freeport McMoRan owns 51% and the Chilean government-run company Codelco owns the remaining percentage. The mine began operation in 1996. As the sign indicates, El Abra lies at an altitude of 3,276 meters which is approximately 10,748 feet.

Here is the end result of what the folks at El Abra do.

We were able to show Flat Stanley that we have corn fields here in Calama too!

This photo is one of many that demonstrate how barren the Atacama Desert is. The Atacama lies west of the Andes and east of the Chilean Coastal Range contributing to this area being billed as the driest desert in the world. The Atacama has been used for filming Mars scenes.

We took Flat Stanley to visit the San Francisco de Chiu Chiu Church which was constructed during the 17th century. Following are photos from inside the church. The roof beams are constructed from cactus and the walls are approximately 1 meter thick (a bit over 3 feet.)

We traveled from the church to Pukara Chiu Chiu which was a "fort" constructed between 800 and 1400 A.D.

We continued north on the road entering a canyon which the Rio Loa flows through ultimately arriving at Pukara de Lasana -- another pre-Inca "fort" constructed during the 12th century and restored during the 1950s. These two fellows asked if they could have their pictures taken with us. We agreed if they would let us photograph them with Flat Stanley.

Another example of the barren Atacama Desert.

This photo shows San Pedro (left) and San Pablo in the background with the green Rio Loa valley in the center of the photo and the stark comparison of that valley and the surrounding desert.

Thanks Flat Stanley for getting us out and about to view more of the areas near where we live.

Calama Tour

My fellow Calama buddies and I decided to take you on a tour of Calamaland. This cool fellow greets everyone as they leave the airport. Speaking of the airport.... I can't brag about air quality in Calama. Below is a photo of the government run mine called Chuquicamata with a claim as the largest open-pit mine in the world. "Contemporary" construction began in 1911. It spews sulfur dioxide but the wind is generally blowing away from town -- whew! Because the mine is run by the government and because it is so old, it isn't required to follow the same environmental standards as newer mines. Chuqi is about 20 miles outside of Calama and employs quite possibly around 10,000 Calamenos. Calama's population is around 150,000. The elevation here is approximately 7500 ft. Here is a photo of our favorite restaurant -- Patagonia. Great steaks! The statue of Christ in the background was erected in September 2008 -- just before our arrival. You'll notice the artistic attempt here with the beer bottles in the foreground. We visited one of the cemeteries -- interesting. There are flower vendors just outside the entrance. Families visit the cemetery on weekends and always bring flowers. Here we were out on the town and ran into Jorge (left, who takes care of all the plumbing needs) and Alfonso (who takes care of any electrical problems where we live.) That is Odessa on the left and Tracey on the right. A fountain along the pedestrian walkway.

La Iglesia Catedral San Jaun Bautista built in the early 1900s and remodeled in 2000.

We ran into a friend of Odessa's -- we're feeling pretty tall here....

Tracey and me heading to the Feria Modelo.

Here we are at the entrance to the Feria Modelo which is an indoor market where you can purchase almost anything.

The Bookstore!

Anything and everything!

The plastic products tienda.

We couldn't find any pants long enough....

In addition to the Feria Modelo, there is a traveling fruits and vegetables market that moves to different neighborhoods within Calama. This photos shows Odessa, Tracey and Betsy, another of Odessa's friends. Odessa has been in Calama starting on her 6th year -- she knows everyone! Here we are at the meat store. Tracey was buying a bone for her dog. By the way, I don't buy my meat here. So, the best place for purchasing fruits and vegetables is the Feria Modelo and the traveling Feria but for grocery shopping -- we go to Lider! We park in the underground garage (which is always a tad uncomfortable because I think we have too many earthquakes (Calamenos call them "tremblers" which I think to them is anything less than a 6.0!). Anyway, we park and then jump on the moving sidewalk taking us up to the grocery store. These walkways are magnetized so you don't have to worry about your full cart rolling on your way back to your car.

FYI: this is where we buy our meat. You are to tip the young people who bag your groceries. We've heard that Safeway is somehow associated with Lider which may explain why we're seeing so many Safeway brand products on the shelves -- woohoo -- chocolate chips and marshmallows! I'm so easily pleased these days....

The circus came to town -- always blowing dust. No we didn't go.

Our niece Dawson sent Flat Stanley to visit us and as we were taking him on a tour of town, school had just let out. I rolled down the window and started waving at the kids -- they loved having their picture taken! All of the schools, public or private, require students to wear uniforms.

There is a food court in the mall (where Lider is located) and this is Kentucky Fried Chicken -- chicken strips and fries -- ummmmm! The dollar amount you see is Chilean pesos so $1,690 pesos is around $3.00.

Here we are returning home.

Here is an aerial photo (compliments of Odessa) of the El Abra Condominiums. Our house is the third one from the left in the back row. There is a small river (Rio Loa) that flows by the Condominiums providing irrigation for ... corn fields!

Torres del Paine March 2009

Torres del Paine National Park -- I'll be pulling information about this location from Frommer's Argentina & Chile, our bible while here in S.A. This national park's granite peaks go from sea level to approximately 9,000 ft. and are next to the Andes but are a separate geologic formation created around "3 million years ago when magma began growing and pushing its way up, taking a thick sedimentary layer with it. Glaciation and severe climate weathered away the softer rock, leaving the spectacular Paine Massif whose prominent features are the Cuernos (which means horns" [in the middle-right of this picture) "and the Torres" (towers - not visible in this picture). The black sedimentary rock is visible on the upper regions of the Cuernos. Behind the Paine Massif are several glaciers that descend from the Southern Ice Field. In reference to the severe climate mentioned above, we just missed experiencing the famous hurricane force winds that rip through this region during the spring and summer in South America. Our trip started by flying from Calama to Santiago and then onto Punta Arenas arriving early evening. We ditched our stuff at our hotel and headed out to see the town. What a difference from Calama. Punta Arenas is the furthest south you can fly in Chile and that isolation in conjunction with a European population fleeing Yugoslavia, Russia, Spain and Italy during World War I make for a Chilean city with a small-town European feel regarding cleanliness and architecture. The following morning a van picked us up and we enjoyed a 5-hour drive to Torres del Paine passing by lakes filled with flamingos and fields filled with llama-like guanacos and ostrich-like rheas. We were able to participate in a half-day hike upon our arrival at which time we had the opportunity to experience those fierce winds we had heard about. It was approximately a 2 1/2 mile hike offering grand views of the park and a 800 foot climb -- great way to begin our stay. Upon our return, we explored the walkways around the lodge. Our room was on the other side of the lodge facing the Paine Massif. This picture was the view from our room.

Our second day in Torres del Paine began at 7 a.m. with a boat ride to the starting point of our hike with our ultimate destination of the Glacier Grey. This was approximately a 7 1/2 mile hike with views of icebergs in Grey Lake, the Southern Ice Field, and the Paine Massif from the back side. We had a picnic lunch and returned by boat offering us a closer look at the glacier wall. Below is our first view of Grey Glacier. The young lady in the middle was our guide -- Pepa.

Our guide snagged us a piece of melted glacier ice. After a hard day of hiking it was off to the jacuzzi with a view of Lago Pehoe and a sip of champagne with our new friends.

Our second full day of hiking took us on a hike to the base of the Paine Towers leaving at 7 a.m. and driving approximately an hour to the Cerro Paine Ranch where we began a approximately 1100 foot ascent through the Ascencio River Valley, a walk through forests of beech trees (just beginning to change into their to fall colors), past gorges and then climbing a glacial moraine (another approximatly 1100 foot ascent) until reaching the Towers vista point where we enjoyed a picnic lunch. As I was climbing the glacial moraine, I was actually wondering if it was worth it -- it was! Unfortunately there was not a boat or a helicopter available to return me to the lodge but the return trip was definately easier.

Our third day of hiking involved a half-day stroll to a waterfall and then a lake with the Paine Massif behind it and then a free afternoon to enjoy the view from the lodge. We left the following morning at which time we took our final pictures of the Massif. What a trip!