Our travel through Chile is most easily told in two chapters; highlighting the distinct adventures, and northern and southern landscapes we visited.
Part One: Caballos
A walk with Heather and Matty, and their horses, from Cahuil to Bucalemu.
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Part Two: Patagonia
Backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park.
Shot with Nikon D750 + Nikon 24-70mm f2.8, Video/Time Lapse with iPhone 6.
Santiago
Santiago is Chile's capital and largest city. We had two days in between flights to walk around this architecturally diverse city and explore the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.
Part One: Caballos
This is Heather and Matty, and Pichi (short for Pichilemu). In many ways, their adventure was the impetus for our trip to Chile. Sure, South America was on the bucket list, but when you add a good friend and horses carrying surfboards, it's - kinda - irresistible.
To catch you up, over the last year-and-a-half these two traveled by motorbike down California's west coast to Baja, through Central America and down to South America. Then, two months ago they sold their bikes and bought four horses: Salvador, Blacky, Pichi and Hari. Now they plan to walk the Chilean coastline for the next few months to Chiloé Island, surfing and filming along the way for Matty's movie.
To meet up with these vagabonds, we took a bus from Santiago to Pichilemu. This charming beachfront town is a weekend getaway destination for locals who flock to the beach with their sun shades. A "Collectivo" (taxi) then took us to Cahuil, another small coastal town just south of the surf break Punta de Lobos.
As we sat at Laguna de Cahuil watching skimmer birds and weekenders paddle around in kayaks, Heather (after an afternoon of failed messaging attempts) pulled into the parking lot - seemingly serendipitously and hand waving wildly out the window - to pick us up. After a few days of travel by planes, trains, buses and taxis, it was surreal to see an old friend in another hemisphere.
Punta de Lobos
Before our walk between Cahuil and Bucalema, Angie and I had some time to see Pichilemu, Cahuil and the famous surf break Punta de Lobos . You may recognize this surf spot from the Patagonia movie short, A Fisherman's Son.
For a few hours we watched surfers navigate these turbulent, rocky waters and paddle out into massive waves.
Heather, Matty and the Horses
After trading in their rides for reins, Heather and Matty purchased Chilean saddles and learned to ride. Their horses are a bit spirited, so it took some time to learn their temperaments and build rapport. During this learning period they built custom surfboard racks from saddle frames - a first, ever - and devised ways to comfortably haul their gear on the horses. Pretty rad, right?
Our Walk with Heather and Matty
Prior to leaving for Chile, we didn't know where Heather and Matty may be on their journey along the coast to Chiloé. As it happened we arrived just before they embarked, which allowed us to meet their new friends and owners of ZEUS farm. Heather and Matty called ZEUS home while they trained their horse. The property is also home to a shipping container yoga and arts studio and is in the early stages of permaculture farming development.
We spent a day at ZEUS while the last pieces of gear were collected. On the second day we set out for Bucalemu.
Over the next two days and three nights we navigated beaches and coastal roads, negotiating barbed wire fences and passing through fishing villages, moving at the speed of horse.
To continue following Matty and Heather's adventures:
Matty Hannon www.slowburningdreams.com • Instagram: matty_hannon
Heather Hillier Instagram: hillierheather
ZEUS Facebook: www.facebook.com/ZEUS-1669920396574154/
Part Two: Patagonia
For our second week, Angie and I flew south to Punta Arenas and then headed north by bus to Puerto Natales. This colorful but windswept coastal village is the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. Here, the terrain is defined by snowy peaks, glacier fields and interconnected fjords, and winding rivers.
To get into Torres del Paine most visitors take one of the many daily buses leaving from Puerto Natales. It's also possible to access the park by boat, so - obviously - we opted for the nautical entrance. We took the Turismo 21 de Mayo charter boat up the Ultima Esperanza Fjord, viewing the Serrano Glacier, and then boarded a zodiak that zipped up the Serrano River into the park. The James Bond getaway by zodiak was crazy fun.
Torres del Paine NP has two main trails: the "O" and the "W". The "O" takes hikers around the entire park on a 8 to 10 day trek. We hiked half of the "O", called the "W", over 5 nights and 4 days. Covering a little over 50 miles the "W" took us from the west to east side of the park, providing endless stunning views of towering peaks, glaciers, waterfalls and mirrored lakes.
