There are only a few hours left in this year of the lord 2013. And a pretty decent year, kayaking wise.
Chantal, my wife, and I collected good memories from sea kayaking and even white water kayaking. We got the sea kayaks out around the now regular Sorel Islands outing in the spring. For the May long weekend, we opted for a visit to the Mauricie park and discovering the Wapizagonke lake, its history and petroglyphs. We took the whole family out whale watching at the Grandes Bergeronnes, past Tadoussac where Chantal and Brigitte had a close encounter of the whaly kind.
Chantal and I toured the Gaspesian Peninsula during our summer vacation. We started with the amazing B&B in the Baie des Chaleurs, paddled around the imposing Rocher Percé and got adopted by couple of seals off the Forillion park. A 6+ hours horseback ride across the park tested my weak knowledge of those animals and more over our legs and butts... The drive back in the St-Lawrence golf scenery confirmed we live in a beautiful province.
On the white water side, Chantal and I took an epic Swift Water Safety class along with 10 or so other clubmates. We also had the best day ever on the river running the Assomption river with other club members; this was Chantal's 2nd river in a solo WW kayak; she ran everything like a champ, skipping only the ending 12ft waterfall. We left the boats to the side and jumped the fall instead and played in the jacuzzi-like whirlpools; what a great day.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Costarican Job, staring...
I went to Costa Rica paddling in January 2012, following on suggestions and comments from a few including Montreal paddlers and CdB members. A fairly short trip as I had a new job waiting for me the day following my arrival back to Montreal.
I went to the Turrialba area, and did some 120km of rivers in 8 days of paddling. Did the Upper and Lower Pejibaye, Upper, Upper Upper, Top, Middle and Lower sections of the Pacuare. Hell, all the sections of the Pacuare except the Headwaters section that requires somewhat of a jungle expedition. The Pascua and Florida sections of the Reventazon. The Upper and Lower Orosi. The Orosi being the nicest river.
I started with the Lower Pejibaye at flood level, also did it at mid-level and normal level. At flood, it was at least 18in higher and a big yellowish toilet flush experience - no eddy. Now this is how it feels to be flushed...OoooooKeeeeey.
The Lower Pacuare goes through a remote, deep and narrow canyon with 200ft+ waterfalls dropping unto us worthy of Fantasy Island. The end (class IV) of the Upper Upper Pacuare was very nice as well. My favorite was Upper Orosi, set in a more remote valley consisting of a big boulder congested run. Pristine water, beautiful countryside, minimal traces of human decay. The water level was just right, Joey indicated he had run it at much higher level and it was then very pushy. But not this time. Beautiful river.
Overall, I had a 2 swims. Got stuck into a hole near the end of a day (tired) and scared myself in the first day (aka the toilet flush)... A fellow CCKEVM (André) paddler joined me on day 3 and plus a third paddler (then unknown fellow Canadian, Terry) joined us on day 4. Those last 5 days of paddling were with Joey from Liquid Skills, helped by Mario Fernandez, our super Mario and local guide.
During those 5 days of paddling with Joey, we got good teaching from him and my techniques have improved significantly. Better river reading, using less power. We took a few hours here and there to go over some of these improved techniques.
Our third paddler, Terry, actually knows Leah and Wayne Donison with whom I was in Chile last year. Terry was from the Toronto area and has paddled with Leah several years during her debut.
Terry was also the best paddler of our little group of 3. André had quite a few swims and lots of bruises. He also skipped a couple of the harder sections we did. I sported a large hip bruise from my first swim, a doubled scraped thumb and a colorful right side big toe. I also lost my filtered equipped water bottle in that toilet flush.
Water levels in Costa Rica vary very quickly. You could possibly get stuck on a river turning into flood mode while paddling...Gulp! When I first got there, it had rained for 3 days already; no other river than the Pejibaye could be run commercially but even that one moved from a leisure class III to a non-stop class IV flush.
Water is generally fairly warm. A shortly or neoprene top would be sufficient. But I welcomed the dry top for added warmth on a few occasions, like when the Upper Orosi meets the Rio Macho... the water turns then mighty cold; enough to numb your hands if you stick them in. If the glimpse of the last 200m of the Rio Macho are significant of the rest, that river must be a hell of a run...lots of gradient.
I wanted to run the Poza Azul - 27 footer drop in the Sarapiqui area, but word is that the earthquakes and heavy rains have shifted the ground and made it less vertical and then a big hidden boulder is now waiting for unsuspecting visitor at the base... Add the fact that it was a few hours of driving from our Turrialba base...the Interamerica. Still would have been a pretty cool drop to add to my list... You can see it on the cover of the excellent river guide: Chasing Jaguars.
Instead of driving around from region to region, we did more rivers and less driving. Still I ended up paddling with that yellow and red boat shown on the book cover for the first 3 days. That's the closest I got to that Poza Azul. This book was published in 2003 and the picture was taken in 2002. In 10 years, that boat had suffered worst than me and I spent several hours patching up old holes and even fixing up the caved-in nose following my swim in the toilet flush of the first day.
Using the book, I had entered all the GPS coordinates of the sections I had targeted into my new Asus Transformer Prime tablet - equipped with GPS and a outdoor map software with the maps downloaded into the it. Pretty cool, but wasn't in fact required as my local guide and driver for the first 3 days knew it all. For the second half, Mario Delahof-Fernandez and our hired driver had it covered as well.
You can actually see several pictures of Mario in the Chasing Jaguars book along with Jeremy Garcia who was the son of local rafting businessman Ronald Garcia - Costa Rica Adventures Pura Vida. Jeremy died 3 years ago helping out a swimming rafter. After grieving and then a car accident that nailed him to a bed for a year, he is slowly getting back in business with his step son Julio. I spent several hours babbling and drinking with Ronald. For a mere 80$, Ronald provided me with a car, driver - himself - a kayak and a river guide for the day. When you realize that renting a kayak here cost around 30$ a day over here and in Costa Rica can cost you up to 50$ a day...and a car rental a minimum of 70$ in high season.
Twenty years ago, the Reventazon used to be the center of the rafting world until earthquakes, broken railroad and new dams changed the dynamics. The Reventazon is a big water river on the like of the Ottawa or the Gatineau. Some of the best sections are now under water reservoir or fully dry thanks to those dams. When we ran the Pascua which is still quite nice and very Ottawa-esque with flat and drops type rapid.
That day we continued onto the abutting Florida section and saw the construction of the next dam in progress. Silt everywhere, water not clean. Afterward, few shoots of the local fire-drink was very much warranted to kill stuff which got in our systems.
The Pascua is now the main attraction with commercial rafters and the canyon of the lower section is pretty remote and very scenic with the waterfalls dropping directly into the river from 200+ft. The Upper, Upper Upper and Top do not see as much paddlers as the technical level is significantly higher. We skipped a couple of rapids on the Upper due to dirt access road on the cliff side being cut by a tree - made for an interesting walk down to the river through cow paths. The cows there must be relatives to our BC mountains goats... It was steep and hot and...Pfiouuu. Our longest day was 18 miles down the extended version of the Lower Pacuare. Boy, were we tired after that day.
The Pejibaye is a narrow river, a bit like the Assumption, a 100 or 150ft wide and more like a creek. Quite shallow and pretty wandering through jungle at normal level. Not so friendly at flood level. The Upper section add some very nice boulder congestions and is a class III+ with a few IV steps at normal level.
The Orosi goes through a superb valley and offer a beautiful boulder run on the Upper section. I can imagine this section being terrible at high water and be very pushy - creek boat country. Paddling a pre-2009 old style Super Fun 50lb too big for me, I felt like I was driving a minibus equipped with a lazy boy for the driver seat through the underground tunnels in the Italian Job movie. Comfy, but not the best tool for that Costarican job.
After a 20min negotiation with Joey, off I was with my fat and old fat Fun following those with creekers. Oh!! How I missed my Habitat 80 that day...
Overall, we saw a bit of wild life, like tracks from a rare jaguar on the Orosi, various birds of prey, herons white and blue, kingfisher, a Jesus Christ lizard - you know, the type that walks on water.
I uploaded some pictures up here on Facebook...
Still have to go through the video footage from the Go Pro...
All in all, it is pretty easy to just drop in in Turrialba and get a few days of jungle river paddling.
But as in other South American paddling destinations, locating the put-in and take-out, having a guard watch your vehicle while you are on the river, private land trespassing or fees, changes in the riverbed over time and quakes, getting a decent boat and equipment, and language are all conditions you must deal with if you plan to travel on your own.
Louis
Already thinking about the next winter trip.... Mexico? Ecuador? Back to Chile?
Certainly something with more creeks and drops.
I went to the Turrialba area, and did some 120km of rivers in 8 days of paddling. Did the Upper and Lower Pejibaye, Upper, Upper Upper, Top, Middle and Lower sections of the Pacuare. Hell, all the sections of the Pacuare except the Headwaters section that requires somewhat of a jungle expedition. The Pascua and Florida sections of the Reventazon. The Upper and Lower Orosi. The Orosi being the nicest river.
 |
| Beautiful Orosi |
The Lower Pacuare goes through a remote, deep and narrow canyon with 200ft+ waterfalls dropping unto us worthy of Fantasy Island. The end (class IV) of the Upper Upper Pacuare was very nice as well. My favorite was Upper Orosi, set in a more remote valley consisting of a big boulder congested run. Pristine water, beautiful countryside, minimal traces of human decay. The water level was just right, Joey indicated he had run it at much higher level and it was then very pushy. But not this time. Beautiful river.
Overall, I had a 2 swims. Got stuck into a hole near the end of a day (tired) and scared myself in the first day (aka the toilet flush)... A fellow CCKEVM (André) paddler joined me on day 3 and plus a third paddler (then unknown fellow Canadian, Terry) joined us on day 4. Those last 5 days of paddling were with Joey from Liquid Skills, helped by Mario Fernandez, our super Mario and local guide.
 |
| Tough day on the river |
Our third paddler, Terry, actually knows Leah and Wayne Donison with whom I was in Chile last year. Terry was from the Toronto area and has paddled with Leah several years during her debut.
Terry was also the best paddler of our little group of 3. André had quite a few swims and lots of bruises. He also skipped a couple of the harder sections we did. I sported a large hip bruise from my first swim, a doubled scraped thumb and a colorful right side big toe. I also lost my filtered equipped water bottle in that toilet flush.
Water levels in Costa Rica vary very quickly. You could possibly get stuck on a river turning into flood mode while paddling...Gulp! When I first got there, it had rained for 3 days already; no other river than the Pejibaye could be run commercially but even that one moved from a leisure class III to a non-stop class IV flush.
Water is generally fairly warm. A shortly or neoprene top would be sufficient. But I welcomed the dry top for added warmth on a few occasions, like when the Upper Orosi meets the Rio Macho... the water turns then mighty cold; enough to numb your hands if you stick them in. If the glimpse of the last 200m of the Rio Macho are significant of the rest, that river must be a hell of a run...lots of gradient.
I wanted to run the Poza Azul - 27 footer drop in the Sarapiqui area, but word is that the earthquakes and heavy rains have shifted the ground and made it less vertical and then a big hidden boulder is now waiting for unsuspecting visitor at the base... Add the fact that it was a few hours of driving from our Turrialba base...the Interamerica. Still would have been a pretty cool drop to add to my list... You can see it on the cover of the excellent river guide: Chasing Jaguars.
Instead of driving around from region to region, we did more rivers and less driving. Still I ended up paddling with that yellow and red boat shown on the book cover for the first 3 days. That's the closest I got to that Poza Azul. This book was published in 2003 and the picture was taken in 2002. In 10 years, that boat had suffered worst than me and I spent several hours patching up old holes and even fixing up the caved-in nose following my swim in the toilet flush of the first day.
Using the book, I had entered all the GPS coordinates of the sections I had targeted into my new Asus Transformer Prime tablet - equipped with GPS and a outdoor map software with the maps downloaded into the it. Pretty cool, but wasn't in fact required as my local guide and driver for the first 3 days knew it all. For the second half, Mario Delahof-Fernandez and our hired driver had it covered as well.
You can actually see several pictures of Mario in the Chasing Jaguars book along with Jeremy Garcia who was the son of local rafting businessman Ronald Garcia - Costa Rica Adventures Pura Vida. Jeremy died 3 years ago helping out a swimming rafter. After grieving and then a car accident that nailed him to a bed for a year, he is slowly getting back in business with his step son Julio. I spent several hours babbling and drinking with Ronald. For a mere 80$, Ronald provided me with a car, driver - himself - a kayak and a river guide for the day. When you realize that renting a kayak here cost around 30$ a day over here and in Costa Rica can cost you up to 50$ a day...and a car rental a minimum of 70$ in high season.
 |
| Ronald and Julio |
That day we continued onto the abutting Florida section and saw the construction of the next dam in progress. Silt everywhere, water not clean. Afterward, few shoots of the local fire-drink was very much warranted to kill stuff which got in our systems.
The Pascua is now the main attraction with commercial rafters and the canyon of the lower section is pretty remote and very scenic with the waterfalls dropping directly into the river from 200+ft. The Upper, Upper Upper and Top do not see as much paddlers as the technical level is significantly higher. We skipped a couple of rapids on the Upper due to dirt access road on the cliff side being cut by a tree - made for an interesting walk down to the river through cow paths. The cows there must be relatives to our BC mountains goats... It was steep and hot and...Pfiouuu. Our longest day was 18 miles down the extended version of the Lower Pacuare. Boy, were we tired after that day.
 |
| Getting ready for the Upper and Lower Pejibaye with André |
 |
| Joey leading the little ducks |
After a 20min negotiation with Joey, off I was with my fat and old fat Fun following those with creekers. Oh!! How I missed my Habitat 80 that day...
Overall, we saw a bit of wild life, like tracks from a rare jaguar on the Orosi, various birds of prey, herons white and blue, kingfisher, a Jesus Christ lizard - you know, the type that walks on water.
 |
| Looking closely, Leaf-Cutting Ants |
Still have to go through the video footage from the Go Pro...
All in all, it is pretty easy to just drop in in Turrialba and get a few days of jungle river paddling.
But as in other South American paddling destinations, locating the put-in and take-out, having a guard watch your vehicle while you are on the river, private land trespassing or fees, changes in the riverbed over time and quakes, getting a decent boat and equipment, and language are all conditions you must deal with if you plan to travel on your own.
Louis
Already thinking about the next winter trip.... Mexico? Ecuador? Back to Chile?
Certainly something with more creeks and drops.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Spring time
Spring brought a lot of water and some serious inundations along the Richelieu river and never seen levels at the Chambly wave, around 1500m3/sec. I went at 1340m3/sec and the wave was pretty boily and trashy with about no slope but a small shoulder surfer left. The nice part was the warm 23 degrees and chatting with the locals coming here for a walk in the park or a family BBQ. The main wave does not have eddy service, but it's a nice short walk from the stairs of the take-out to the put-in through the park. I went again on June 11th at around 1120 and the wave wasn't as boily and trashy. Got a couple of decent rides as I was getting used to the wave.
Spring also brought the WW Grand Prix organized by Pat Camblin and our own little Julie Crépeau-Boivert. Lots of video and an amazing competition stretching the WW sport and humbling a few of the best paddlers. I got to see the last and final run down the Rouge at 500, but the most amazing for me was the Petite Bostonnais. They had 7 swims during the competition day... It seems like the event set a new line for extreme kayaking competition. The Rodeo World Championship in Platting, GE is going to look a little bit bleak compared to that.
I accumulated a few new rivers and sections during the spring; Hudson, St-Régis, all 3 sections of the Ouareau, Doncaster B. I also did the Rouge at 165.
So far, St-Régis and Doncaster B stand out as the best runs. The St-Régis as the Hudson is in NY state. The St-Régis is a long continuous section with about only 200m of flat water. Lots of continuous class III and a few spots of class IV. Not much time to doze off and the couple of spots spice the river well. We ran the river at high level thanks to the good timing from Bill and the Ottawa CdB crew and a few very good waves could be surfed on the fly, especially closer to the canyon section.
Not much surfing as the water levels on the St-Laurent was above 10000 a lot. I went to Habitat 67 a couple of times at 9800, the left wave is then pretty nice. Trevor, Alex and I went once to the Big Joe section at those high levels, the waves to get there were really big and we almost missed the entrance. With barely enough rock island to stand on it with our kayaks piled up and not much chance of paddling back up, we opted for a quick run through Pyramid. Big Joe looked very trashy and no slope. As the guys flushed right through, I managed a surf on Pyramid, but leaning forward most of it.
Spring also brought the WW Grand Prix organized by Pat Camblin and our own little Julie Crépeau-Boivert. Lots of video and an amazing competition stretching the WW sport and humbling a few of the best paddlers. I got to see the last and final run down the Rouge at 500, but the most amazing for me was the Petite Bostonnais. They had 7 swims during the competition day... It seems like the event set a new line for extreme kayaking competition. The Rodeo World Championship in Platting, GE is going to look a little bit bleak compared to that.
I accumulated a few new rivers and sections during the spring; Hudson, St-Régis, all 3 sections of the Ouareau, Doncaster B. I also did the Rouge at 165.
So far, St-Régis and Doncaster B stand out as the best runs. The St-Régis as the Hudson is in NY state. The St-Régis is a long continuous section with about only 200m of flat water. Lots of continuous class III and a few spots of class IV. Not much time to doze off and the couple of spots spice the river well. We ran the river at high level thanks to the good timing from Bill and the Ottawa CdB crew and a few very good waves could be surfed on the fly, especially closer to the canyon section.
Not much surfing as the water levels on the St-Laurent was above 10000 a lot. I went to Habitat 67 a couple of times at 9800, the left wave is then pretty nice. Trevor, Alex and I went once to the Big Joe section at those high levels, the waves to get there were really big and we almost missed the entrance. With barely enough rock island to stand on it with our kayaks piled up and not much chance of paddling back up, we opted for a quick run through Pyramid. Big Joe looked very trashy and no slope. As the guys flushed right through, I managed a surf on Pyramid, but leaning forward most of it.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Back in Quebec, the trail end of winter
Getting back to winter life and Quebec was rough. Post traumatic syndrome or such. Day dreaming about the good and exciting times in Chile; mostly paddling and such, but the countryside, strange vegetation, bugging Billy-Bob. But we're back in Canada and we'll make the best of it...
My wife is hoping to do sea kayaking; good way to spend more time together. Our first major outing was in Grandes Bergeronnes for a weekend of whale watching and sea kayaking in mid July last year. Our youngest daughter, who was grounded for prior instance of poor judgment and behavior, was forced to come with us. With oceanic conditions and saline water temperature around 4degC, my wife limited paddling abilities were restricting her paddling to say the least. We managed to see small and common humpback whales, marsouins and white belugas and a seal or two. At one point, a couple of belugas circled my daughter's kayak; for some unknown reason, this daughter tremendously enjoyed being grounded for the weekend.
Anyway, toward improving my wife's paddling skills, we attended a few of the CCKEVM pool sessions over the winter months and we worked on improving her kayaking skills. Transitions from terror to amusement and her first rolls.
With a better snow base built of the winter we ought to have a decent creeking season, but everything is still pretty much frozen as I write these lines. Spring surfing is on though and I had a couple of sessions at Habitat 67, also had my first 2 visits to Chambly. Not overly impressed on my first visit; the main wave surfer right is not very interesting; once on the right side of the pit you can hardly come back with the foam pile angling significantly downstream. On my second visit, the balmy 9degCand big sunshine turned into windy wet snow falling at sharp angle with the temperature quickly dropping to a mere 1degC. Clack, clack, clack was the sounds from my unprotected ankles. This time the level was around 720m2/sec and the surfer left side was beautiful with a tall green shoulder. I also dropped into the secondary near-shore mostly-green wave once or twice. This mostly-green wave was deserved by a shore eddy. One of the unknown paddlers on the site was bravely only wearing shorts; no dry pants nor neoprene legging or any sort. Brrrrr. After 1.5hr, my feet and ankles were frozen overwhelming the surfing smile out of my face.
That weekend I participated in a Masters age segment volleyball tournament in Ottawa (that's 50 and over) and afterward, went for a surf session at Bates Island in beautiful sunshine and around 12degC. The Champlain waves looked so small!!! The chat with the familiar faces largely compensated. The short wearing dude was there again and we had a long chat in the warm sun about Chile where he (Marcos) comes from. Clearly, Chile is sticking to my skin...Not a bad feeling at all...
On to spring now...
My wife is hoping to do sea kayaking; good way to spend more time together. Our first major outing was in Grandes Bergeronnes for a weekend of whale watching and sea kayaking in mid July last year. Our youngest daughter, who was grounded for prior instance of poor judgment and behavior, was forced to come with us. With oceanic conditions and saline water temperature around 4degC, my wife limited paddling abilities were restricting her paddling to say the least. We managed to see small and common humpback whales, marsouins and white belugas and a seal or two. At one point, a couple of belugas circled my daughter's kayak; for some unknown reason, this daughter tremendously enjoyed being grounded for the weekend.
Anyway, toward improving my wife's paddling skills, we attended a few of the CCKEVM pool sessions over the winter months and we worked on improving her kayaking skills. Transitions from terror to amusement and her first rolls.
With a better snow base built of the winter we ought to have a decent creeking season, but everything is still pretty much frozen as I write these lines. Spring surfing is on though and I had a couple of sessions at Habitat 67, also had my first 2 visits to Chambly. Not overly impressed on my first visit; the main wave surfer right is not very interesting; once on the right side of the pit you can hardly come back with the foam pile angling significantly downstream. On my second visit, the balmy 9degCand big sunshine turned into windy wet snow falling at sharp angle with the temperature quickly dropping to a mere 1degC. Clack, clack, clack was the sounds from my unprotected ankles. This time the level was around 720m2/sec and the surfer left side was beautiful with a tall green shoulder. I also dropped into the secondary near-shore mostly-green wave once or twice. This mostly-green wave was deserved by a shore eddy. One of the unknown paddlers on the site was bravely only wearing shorts; no dry pants nor neoprene legging or any sort. Brrrrr. After 1.5hr, my feet and ankles were frozen overwhelming the surfing smile out of my face.
That weekend I participated in a Masters age segment volleyball tournament in Ottawa (that's 50 and over) and afterward, went for a surf session at Bates Island in beautiful sunshine and around 12degC. The Champlain waves looked so small!!! The chat with the familiar faces largely compensated. The short wearing dude was there again and we had a long chat in the warm sun about Chile where he (Marcos) comes from. Clearly, Chile is sticking to my skin...Not a bad feeling at all...
On to spring now...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Adventures in Chile, with Billy
Well, my kayaking trip to Chile is over and I already miss the adventure.
Billy-Bob Harris (aka Guido, our trip organizer and lead man, who also happens to be a top Canadian kayaker) delivered and in no small amount. Our Guido did a great job; coping with everything from transmission trouble on the big Suburban on a road trip to female mood swings to driving us around in the wee morning hours, to just coping gracefully with my own excessive behavior... My Sahib turban goes to Billy-Bob.
The group of 8 paddlers and 2 guides was often split in 2 to cater to the different skills/head space levels. Billy/Guido was taking the "B" team on class II/III runs and teaching at the same time. While Kurt Casey (local guide who opened a great many runs in the 20 years he has been there) stretched the envelope of the more advanced group.
For those just green with envy, hopefully this long blog entry and Billy's own will have you salivate.
You can expect Billy to run a similar trip next year, but do not expect a copy of the same trip; it will be different runs and all new adventures...
Let's start with a quick presentation of the players:
Moving on to a bit of a diary:
Feb 5: get to airport at 10h30 and depart to Chile. Landed in Miami where I hooked up with Sandra. Naturally, I didn't even follow my own plan and it took us 1.5hr to hook up... Next, overnight flight on nice LAN airplane to Santiago.
Feb 6: Landed and went through Chilean customs, paid the Immigration fee of 132$us. Move to the other terminal; bit of a maze. I had to jettison the remaining food I had brought in prevision to the poor food service at AA. Arrived in Temuco, bargained a taxi hop to the bus station to Pucon thanks to Sandra's Spanish skills. Got in Pucon, found the local bus stop toward Caburgua. Jumped off at the right spot thanks to the good instructions from David's PKH website and about 30 hours after leaving home sweet home, we are now at our destination. Prep a Nomad.
The Nomad is a typical Dagger kayak, made for creeking with 79 gal and has the typical high cockpit lid ending in a single lip that has the tendency to wedge itself in-between 2 vertebrae.
Feb 7: Lower Rio Trancura (III)
Getting used to Nomad - flater/catchier tail, needed a lot of additional padding on the outside knees to make it somewhat comfortable.
Billy had a number of things to to do, but squeezed in this first Chilean run for Sandra and I with the Chuck Meister. Beautiful scenery. Water is not too cold, just fresh. Volcano in the back drop.
We're in Chile, baby!
That evening , in Pucon, we came across Leah and Wayne and got them on board for the next day's volcano climb - they didn't know what they were getting into...
Pucon is a touristic city, jammed pack in the summer evenings with long car delays after 18h00.
Feb 8: Climbed the Villarrica volcano - no small picnic walk. Billy-Bob woke up before 6h00 to get us into town - thanks Billy! Every participants was attributed crampons, ice axe, helmet, shell and over-pants and a butt sized crazy carpet. Too much wind for chair lift, so we had to walk it all.
Saw 4 condors. Sulfur swifts on whirl of wind had immediate effect to breathing.
We could see several others volcanoes around. The glide down on the butt was fun and _fast_.
Feb 9: Rio Machin (IV)
Our first run with Kurt and a great creek run through boulder fields in a tight canyon.
This run is a must-do.The rough start with a log jam at 1st rapid got Kurt completely worried with an unknown crew. The huge tree trunk was part of the original bridge way up over our heads and must have fell on the last earth quake - these quakes are quite frequent; we had a 6.8 and a 6.1 near by. Several nice boulder sections. After a mandatory portage of a deadly section, I did a nice 15ft pencil seal launch for re-entry. We all did the so called crux section - although Leah flipped and recovered. On the last rapid, all walked but I, I opted to run it left side away from the crunchy hole - exit on 2nd channel. The tid bit of climbing they did seamed more dangerous and a lot more work then my pleasant run of the left side.
This was followed by a very narrow and deep canyon, with the walls spotted with drips and tiny waterfalls and several bird of prey nests on the last wall. On the last soft section, we saw locals bathing playfully including a boy with diving mask at the take out; we played with them a bit... Kurt hopped on his mountain bike to fetch the Suburban while we ate sandwiches and enjoyed the sun. The bamboo is a strange and amazing plant; my engineering brain is intrigued.
Feb 10: Rio Truful Truful (continuous III)
Long trek today; Suburban bearing/transmission failure - Billy-Bob/Kurt got local Oscar (nice man) to carry kayak in his big open truck. Learning a few Spanish words riding in cab with him. On the way back, he showed my his house.
The drive to the put-in goes through a national park that was wiped by the last lava flow. The road was bulldozed over at a few spots to uncover the road. Talk about a lunar expedition. Leaving the truck and Oscar, we hiked through an old lava field that made us feel what the burgers must be feeling in my BBQ. Interestingly enough, the rocks spread around us looked exactly like the rocks I have in my BBQ...Was I dreaming or we were being cooked for some Chilean god?
Truful means waterfall in Mapuche and since they do not have a plurial form in their language, you have to repeat the word twice. Truful Truful indeed has several drops at the end, past our take-out.
Marie-Eve swam twice - once under my care - gulp, sorry girl. The second time was at the big corner under the majestic basalt crystal wall. She ran that beautiful section upside down, hitting a few big rocks on her way down. Too much for her. We should have had the Dynamic Duo for her. Kurt and Marie bailed out.
After this first section, a long unending class II/III; then the angle sharpen and finishes with a more than sturdy 20-25ft waterfall that was not inviting. Came back to the PKH at 9h30pm that day. Want more adventures???
Feb 11: Upper Rio Trancura (IV, pool and drop)
Withe the long day yesterday, we had a slow start and the "K" team went for a local run.
More poll and drop. Ends right before the bridge, at the PKH.
The first major drop was a fairly straight forward 8ft ledge down a steep vein. I flipped and rolled back.
The next rapid was scaring me: fairly long and steep with a big hole 2/3rd in and the a last hole that was in fact not much after all. I must have veered off course a bit and ended up at the edge of the hole and got swallowed; I offered a solid brace but slid further into the hole to the "Catcher's Mitt" and got violently flipped. I had my camera on attached to my back deck pod for those 2 drops. Shows interesting video of me flipping like a coin. Ended backward near the last lip. Leah, from the shore, helped me point in the right direction again as this was an uneasy spot and off I went.
Next was a big folding (Fea) drop with a big rock on the right side. I took my pod down, anticipating a beating. But I had the best line of the group and didn't even get wet...
Next came Salto del Mariman. On the prelude to that big drop, we did a semi boof that I slopped, then off the boat to skip that strong 25 footer. As we were walking it, some peruvian kid styled it while working security for a rafting company operating regularly on the Upper Trancura. On to the final section and the Last Laugh that got Leah pretty good.
The group went for a bit of rest to a local Hot Spring spot, but there were already crowded. In the evening, after dinner, Sandra, David and I went back to a local musical performance at a diner/bar with a slice of the the Chilean high end granola society. Very interesting. The drinks were so strong...Sandra was pretty drunk after 2 Mojito, I was feeling tipsy after just one...
Feb 12: Turbio (waterfall practice)
This was our big rainy day. Not to let this disturb us, we went for a boofing and waterfall study and practice and the rest of the group went for a boofing/run practice on the Lower Liacura I believe.
Wet day. We did a lot of walking, a good technical talk on how to launch and how to land based on the waterfall conditions. Checking the foam pile and under cuts. Then hurried up through 4 little run of a 2m drop to test that out. Time to exit and get the B team. Not the best day.
Feb 13: Lower Fuy (III)
Start of the Fuy road trip. Long drive to Fuy area through dirt roads then went down the Lower Fuy (III). I filmed all the way down to a bridge where we waited for Leah where she adjusted her boat. For this road trip we stayed at the Hotel Rucapillan from where they also support a rafting operation.
Breakfast were rough with that infamous traditional hockey puck bread and everyone dreaming of the great breakfasts served at the PKH. Dinners were good. Chilean eat a lot of meat. Cereals are not very popular, except for kids apparently with that extra load of sugar and funky shapes.
Feb 14: Upper Fuy (IV+, waterfalls and boulders fields)
We all started the day by driving over to the Baobab Hotel to reserve our dinner for the next evening and have a look at the main 3m waterfall. The Baobab Hotel is a strange place to say the least. The waterfall impressive and the start of the most difficult section of the Upper Fuy; that was a tough run.
The K team shrunk to Leah, Wayne and I and was led by Billy, this time, who had done that river the year before.
A good chunk of flat water lead into a long III/IV broken section, into the main meat of the day; 5 waterfalls spread by good class III/IV segments opening with a solid 9m waterfall followed by a 3m one. A bit more boulder garden class III/IV leads in to a river wide ledge with a retentive hole at the bottom.
That main drop (Salto La Leona, 28 footer/9m) had a nice approach to the deadly horizon. Billy styled it. I broke my nice all carbon Select paddle on entry, but still managed to roll with a remaining half paddle.
Thankfully, Billy had a spare break down paddle for the rest of the day. We all hopped the following 12 ft (3m) drop and drifted through the boulder field and the river wide ledge; on the way down, Wayne decided to spend some quality time in a small hole. Now at the lead in to the river wide ledge, "This is the most dangerous part and just don't miss your boof...". Great pep talk, Guido... Gulp! I went full speed and did the required boof. Wayne followed, but Leah struggled with a late and timid boof stroke and swam. Billy got her out before being swallowed. All is good. Stressed out but good.
Well, by this time, Leah, Wayne and I were phasing out, but more solid class IV boulder field was waiting for us. Wayne and I got tricked by one particular boulder, he managed to rolled back while I struggled upside down speeding up toward the last big 16 feet drop.
Bail! Bail! Bail! Ouf...not a pretty swim, but better than that retentive 16 footer. My kayak went for it and got stuck into a sieve just below acquiring a nice puck in the process...collection time.
Leah went for that last 16 footer and got sucked back in. Rope went flying and got her out. Her Little Hero enjoyed the shower so much, it stayed there for over 24 hours.
After a few failed attempt to retrieve it, we organized a graceful exit... Thanks to Billy we are still in one piece but the learning was hard. Bed time...
Feb 15: The next day we visited Huilo Huilo waterfall park on the mid section of the Fuy river then a rescue team was assembled and went to fish Leah' Little Hero out of that last waterfall of the Upper Fuy.
Huilo Huilo has 2 big waterfalls in the 90ft range; Huilo Huilo and Puma (about 80) that have never been run. Some very nice very tight and tortuous basalt gorges just above - a la Rio Claro.
Feb 16: San Pedro (big water III with a IV rapid)
Packed up and left the Fuy area; we drove over to Rio San Pedro on nice new paved roads. They are building a dam on the Rio San Pedro and we might have been the last team kayaking down this big water river. This is mostly a Class III river with long flat sections with a beautiful scenery. Evidence of the dam work in progress could be witnessed.
Trickery Kurt had one big surprise hiding in his sleeve; one of the rapids was clearly a solid notch above and everyone got a run for their money. "What the f...!".
End results; 4 swimmers. Stripped the camera threads on my XP10 on a solid encounter with the main boulder restricting the exit. Duh!!! Slightly shaken and unhappy with my results and self-rescue, I went back again through that section with Kurt and Sandra. More class II/III rapids and flat sections led to the take out at a high concrete bridge with over 100 wooden steps to climb back up to the Suburban with the heavy kayaks. "Mommy? My legs hurt...". I think I slept most of the drive back to PKH.
We did stop on the way to free some space in Kurt's beer heavy bladder. This led to a talk and presentation from a farming family with a pair of strong Belgian horses.
Feb 17: Upper Palguin (class IV+, waterfall run)
David Hughes joined us on the Upper Palguin and provided excellent step by step instruction to go down that signature waterfall run near Pucon (a class IV+ run). This video shows a good run of it with; interestingly, the exact same kayaks seemed to be used in that video as the ones we used to for our trip. I think they were sold to David when they left.
After a steep hike deep into the canyon's bowels, we seal-launched from the natural arch into the start-up pool a good 10 feet below.
I had good lines, but my IR skirt imploded twice - grrrr; once on the 2nd and then on the 3rd waterfall as well. I managed to rolled my kayak on the first pop with my kayak full of water. On the last drop - and the highest, 7m high - my skirt imploded again and I somehow managed to roll again, but my Nomad was full of water and was being sucked deeper and deeper in the middle between the 2 waterfall flows in true Malaxer fashion. That wasn't too funny. Made me feel I need a much better skirt...
We returned to the PKH and I then had 1 hour to dry my material, eat, pay the bills, say bye bye and pack up before we left for Temuco.
Local Culture
The Mapuche have been in the area for a long time; they pushed back the Inca and then later the Spaniards. Although they formed a quiet nation, they didn't like to be invaded and resisted invasion for centuries. The area is called Araucania from the name of some of the oldest trees on the planet - the Araucaria - also known as Pehuén by the Mapuches.
Those trees are very strange; they look like a mix between a Pine tree and a Blow fish.These columnar trees are living fossils, dating back to early in the Mesozoic age. The female cones can be up to 25cm in diameter and were a main source of food for the Mapuches.
All those volcanoes are also offering a few perks.
And yup, this was our local guide...
Billy-Bob Harris (aka Guido, our trip organizer and lead man, who also happens to be a top Canadian kayaker) delivered and in no small amount. Our Guido did a great job; coping with everything from transmission trouble on the big Suburban on a road trip to female mood swings to driving us around in the wee morning hours, to just coping gracefully with my own excessive behavior... My Sahib turban goes to Billy-Bob.
The group of 8 paddlers and 2 guides was often split in 2 to cater to the different skills/head space levels. Billy/Guido was taking the "B" team on class II/III runs and teaching at the same time. While Kurt Casey (local guide who opened a great many runs in the 20 years he has been there) stretched the envelope of the more advanced group.
 |
| Leah and Lenny in the back on a calm section |
For those just green with envy, hopefully this long blog entry and Billy's own will have you salivate.
You can expect Billy to run a similar trip next year, but do not expect a copy of the same trip; it will be different runs and all new adventures...
Let's start with a quick presentation of the players:
- Billy Harris, (aka Billy-Bob or even better Guido!) head honcho and organizer.
- Kurt Casey (aka Mister-knows-it-all - and yes he does) our local kayak guide and translator.
- Chuck McDonald (aka Chuck Meister, aka Mr Bush), old fart who will die a martyr and a saint thanks to Billy-Bob, hoping every day Guido will get a real job and deliver a grand kid, but otherwise getting younger every day now.
- Leah (aka Princess Leah) formely Miss Ben Wilder
- Wayne (aka José), that is Leah's Han Solo.
- Leonard (aka Lenny) team boat anchor and quiet comic relief.
- Sandra (aka the Merkin Princess) my excellent room and CdB club mate.
- Marie-Eve (aka Frenchy) the acting teen on the team, always ready to dive head first or go out late at night.
- Christo, the surfer/climber/leadership consultant and our main barometer and comic relief.
- Myself (aka Sahib) time keeper and Guido's nemesis, always dressed for the occasion.
- David Hughes, our host down there. Pucon Kayak Hostel/Hughes Experience/etc owner, general good guy and local pimp for teen canuks.
Moving on to a bit of a diary:
Feb 5: get to airport at 10h30 and depart to Chile. Landed in Miami where I hooked up with Sandra. Naturally, I didn't even follow my own plan and it took us 1.5hr to hook up... Next, overnight flight on nice LAN airplane to Santiago.
Feb 6: Landed and went through Chilean customs, paid the Immigration fee of 132$us. Move to the other terminal; bit of a maze. I had to jettison the remaining food I had brought in prevision to the poor food service at AA. Arrived in Temuco, bargained a taxi hop to the bus station to Pucon thanks to Sandra's Spanish skills. Got in Pucon, found the local bus stop toward Caburgua. Jumped off at the right spot thanks to the good instructions from David's PKH website and about 30 hours after leaving home sweet home, we are now at our destination. Prep a Nomad.
The Nomad is a typical Dagger kayak, made for creeking with 79 gal and has the typical high cockpit lid ending in a single lip that has the tendency to wedge itself in-between 2 vertebrae.
Feb 7: Lower Rio Trancura (III)
Getting used to Nomad - flater/catchier tail, needed a lot of additional padding on the outside knees to make it somewhat comfortable.
Billy had a number of things to to do, but squeezed in this first Chilean run for Sandra and I with the Chuck Meister. Beautiful scenery. Water is not too cold, just fresh. Volcano in the back drop.
We're in Chile, baby!
That evening , in Pucon, we came across Leah and Wayne and got them on board for the next day's volcano climb - they didn't know what they were getting into...
Pucon is a touristic city, jammed pack in the summer evenings with long car delays after 18h00.
 |
| Nice scenery on the Lower Trancura |
Feb 8: Climbed the Villarrica volcano - no small picnic walk. Billy-Bob woke up before 6h00 to get us into town - thanks Billy! Every participants was attributed crampons, ice axe, helmet, shell and over-pants and a butt sized crazy carpet. Too much wind for chair lift, so we had to walk it all.
Saw 4 condors. Sulfur swifts on whirl of wind had immediate effect to breathing.
We could see several others volcanoes around. The glide down on the butt was fun and _fast_.
 |
| The slide down was much more fun and way fast. |
 |
| 2800m of volcano ready to erupt. |
Feb 9: Rio Machin (IV)
Our first run with Kurt and a great creek run through boulder fields in a tight canyon.
This run is a must-do.The rough start with a log jam at 1st rapid got Kurt completely worried with an unknown crew. The huge tree trunk was part of the original bridge way up over our heads and must have fell on the last earth quake - these quakes are quite frequent; we had a 6.8 and a 6.1 near by. Several nice boulder sections. After a mandatory portage of a deadly section, I did a nice 15ft pencil seal launch for re-entry. We all did the so called crux section - although Leah flipped and recovered. On the last rapid, all walked but I, I opted to run it left side away from the crunchy hole - exit on 2nd channel. The tid bit of climbing they did seamed more dangerous and a lot more work then my pleasant run of the left side.
This was followed by a very narrow and deep canyon, with the walls spotted with drips and tiny waterfalls and several bird of prey nests on the last wall. On the last soft section, we saw locals bathing playfully including a boy with diving mask at the take out; we played with them a bit... Kurt hopped on his mountain bike to fetch the Suburban while we ate sandwiches and enjoyed the sun. The bamboo is a strange and amazing plant; my engineering brain is intrigued.
 |
| I think I saw Billy-Bob naked over there. |
 |
| Lenny on the crux section |
Feb 10: Rio Truful Truful (continuous III)
Long trek today; Suburban bearing/transmission failure - Billy-Bob/Kurt got local Oscar (nice man) to carry kayak in his big open truck. Learning a few Spanish words riding in cab with him. On the way back, he showed my his house.
The drive to the put-in goes through a national park that was wiped by the last lava flow. The road was bulldozed over at a few spots to uncover the road. Talk about a lunar expedition. Leaving the truck and Oscar, we hiked through an old lava field that made us feel what the burgers must be feeling in my BBQ. Interestingly enough, the rocks spread around us looked exactly like the rocks I have in my BBQ...Was I dreaming or we were being cooked for some Chilean god?
Truful means waterfall in Mapuche and since they do not have a plurial form in their language, you have to repeat the word twice. Truful Truful indeed has several drops at the end, past our take-out.
Marie-Eve swam twice - once under my care - gulp, sorry girl. The second time was at the big corner under the majestic basalt crystal wall. She ran that beautiful section upside down, hitting a few big rocks on her way down. Too much for her. We should have had the Dynamic Duo for her. Kurt and Marie bailed out.
After this first section, a long unending class II/III; then the angle sharpen and finishes with a more than sturdy 20-25ft waterfall that was not inviting. Came back to the PKH at 9h30pm that day. Want more adventures???
 |
| The differential acted up on the way to Truful Truful |
 |
| Pickle in a bag! How amazing! |
 |
| Not everyday you get to play for the President |
 |
| Hot Cookie |
 |
| One Frenchy girl coming down |
 |
| Why this is called Truful Truful |
Withe the long day yesterday, we had a slow start and the "K" team went for a local run.
More poll and drop. Ends right before the bridge, at the PKH.
The first major drop was a fairly straight forward 8ft ledge down a steep vein. I flipped and rolled back.
The next rapid was scaring me: fairly long and steep with a big hole 2/3rd in and the a last hole that was in fact not much after all. I must have veered off course a bit and ended up at the edge of the hole and got swallowed; I offered a solid brace but slid further into the hole to the "Catcher's Mitt" and got violently flipped. I had my camera on attached to my back deck pod for those 2 drops. Shows interesting video of me flipping like a coin. Ended backward near the last lip. Leah, from the shore, helped me point in the right direction again as this was an uneasy spot and off I went.
Next was a big folding (Fea) drop with a big rock on the right side. I took my pod down, anticipating a beating. But I had the best line of the group and didn't even get wet...
Next came Salto del Mariman. On the prelude to that big drop, we did a semi boof that I slopped, then off the boat to skip that strong 25 footer. As we were walking it, some peruvian kid styled it while working security for a rafting company operating regularly on the Upper Trancura. On to the final section and the Last Laugh that got Leah pretty good.
 |
| Leah vs the Rock on the Last Laugh |
 |
| Nice bar for the upper granola society |
Feb 12: Turbio (waterfall practice)
This was our big rainy day. Not to let this disturb us, we went for a boofing and waterfall study and practice and the rest of the group went for a boofing/run practice on the Lower Liacura I believe.
Wet day. We did a lot of walking, a good technical talk on how to launch and how to land based on the waterfall conditions. Checking the foam pile and under cuts. Then hurried up through 4 little run of a 2m drop to test that out. Time to exit and get the B team. Not the best day.
Feb 13: Lower Fuy (III)
Start of the Fuy road trip. Long drive to Fuy area through dirt roads then went down the Lower Fuy (III). I filmed all the way down to a bridge where we waited for Leah where she adjusted her boat. For this road trip we stayed at the Hotel Rucapillan from where they also support a rafting operation.
Breakfast were rough with that infamous traditional hockey puck bread and everyone dreaming of the great breakfasts served at the PKH. Dinners were good. Chilean eat a lot of meat. Cereals are not very popular, except for kids apparently with that extra load of sugar and funky shapes.
 |
| Sandra after the Lower Fuy |
Feb 14: Upper Fuy (IV+, waterfalls and boulders fields)
We all started the day by driving over to the Baobab Hotel to reserve our dinner for the next evening and have a look at the main 3m waterfall. The Baobab Hotel is a strange place to say the least. The waterfall impressive and the start of the most difficult section of the Upper Fuy; that was a tough run.
The K team shrunk to Leah, Wayne and I and was led by Billy, this time, who had done that river the year before.
A good chunk of flat water lead into a long III/IV broken section, into the main meat of the day; 5 waterfalls spread by good class III/IV segments opening with a solid 9m waterfall followed by a 3m one. A bit more boulder garden class III/IV leads in to a river wide ledge with a retentive hole at the bottom.
That main drop (Salto La Leona, 28 footer/9m) had a nice approach to the deadly horizon. Billy styled it. I broke my nice all carbon Select paddle on entry, but still managed to roll with a remaining half paddle.
 |
| Bibi entering Salto La Leona |
 |
| Good feel for how high 28ft are. |
Thankfully, Billy had a spare break down paddle for the rest of the day. We all hopped the following 12 ft (3m) drop and drifted through the boulder field and the river wide ledge; on the way down, Wayne decided to spend some quality time in a small hole. Now at the lead in to the river wide ledge, "This is the most dangerous part and just don't miss your boof...". Great pep talk, Guido... Gulp! I went full speed and did the required boof. Wayne followed, but Leah struggled with a late and timid boof stroke and swam. Billy got her out before being swallowed. All is good. Stressed out but good.
 |
| Another waterfall on the Upper Fuy by Wayne |
Well, by this time, Leah, Wayne and I were phasing out, but more solid class IV boulder field was waiting for us. Wayne and I got tricked by one particular boulder, he managed to rolled back while I struggled upside down speeding up toward the last big 16 feet drop.
Bail! Bail! Bail! Ouf...not a pretty swim, but better than that retentive 16 footer. My kayak went for it and got stuck into a sieve just below acquiring a nice puck in the process...collection time.
 |
| Good sieve kept my kayak close by |
Leah went for that last 16 footer and got sucked back in. Rope went flying and got her out. Her Little Hero enjoyed the shower so much, it stayed there for over 24 hours.
After a few failed attempt to retrieve it, we organized a graceful exit... Thanks to Billy we are still in one piece but the learning was hard. Bed time...
 |
| Banana suited Billy-Bob Harris going kayak fishing... What do you use for bait? |
Huilo Huilo has 2 big waterfalls in the 90ft range; Huilo Huilo and Puma (about 80) that have never been run. Some very nice very tight and tortuous basalt gorges just above - a la Rio Claro.
 |
| Baobab hotel, a mix of Swiss Family Robinson and Ewok Architects had too much Pisco Sour |
Feb 16: San Pedro (big water III with a IV rapid)
Packed up and left the Fuy area; we drove over to Rio San Pedro on nice new paved roads. They are building a dam on the Rio San Pedro and we might have been the last team kayaking down this big water river. This is mostly a Class III river with long flat sections with a beautiful scenery. Evidence of the dam work in progress could be witnessed.
 |
| Waiting for car shuffling for the San Pedro |
Trickery Kurt had one big surprise hiding in his sleeve; one of the rapids was clearly a solid notch above and everyone got a run for their money. "What the f...!".
End results; 4 swimmers. Stripped the camera threads on my XP10 on a solid encounter with the main boulder restricting the exit. Duh!!! Slightly shaken and unhappy with my results and self-rescue, I went back again through that section with Kurt and Sandra. More class II/III rapids and flat sections led to the take out at a high concrete bridge with over 100 wooden steps to climb back up to the Suburban with the heavy kayaks. "Mommy? My legs hurt...". I think I slept most of the drive back to PKH.
We did stop on the way to free some space in Kurt's beer heavy bladder. This led to a talk and presentation from a farming family with a pair of strong Belgian horses.
 |
| Down to earth farmer with wierdo gringo Kurt |
Feb 17: Upper Palguin (class IV+, waterfall run)
David Hughes joined us on the Upper Palguin and provided excellent step by step instruction to go down that signature waterfall run near Pucon (a class IV+ run). This video shows a good run of it with; interestingly, the exact same kayaks seemed to be used in that video as the ones we used to for our trip. I think they were sold to David when they left.
After a steep hike deep into the canyon's bowels, we seal-launched from the natural arch into the start-up pool a good 10 feet below.
 |
| Seal launching to start off Upper Palguin |
I had good lines, but my IR skirt imploded twice - grrrr; once on the 2nd and then on the 3rd waterfall as well. I managed to rolled my kayak on the first pop with my kayak full of water. On the last drop - and the highest, 7m high - my skirt imploded again and I somehow managed to roll again, but my Nomad was full of water and was being sucked deeper and deeper in the middle between the 2 waterfall flows in true Malaxer fashion. That wasn't too funny. Made me feel I need a much better skirt...
 |
| The last drop on Upper Palguin |
 |
| Taken by Sandra from way above at the edge of the canyon |
We returned to the PKH and I then had 1 hour to dry my material, eat, pay the bills, say bye bye and pack up before we left for Temuco.
Local Culture
The Mapuche have been in the area for a long time; they pushed back the Inca and then later the Spaniards. Although they formed a quiet nation, they didn't like to be invaded and resisted invasion for centuries. The area is called Araucania from the name of some of the oldest trees on the planet - the Araucaria - also known as Pehuén by the Mapuches.
 |
| Araucaria: 2nd oldest tree genus |
 |
| Straight from a Sponge Bob Square Pant cartoon |
Those trees are very strange; they look like a mix between a Pine tree and a Blow fish.These columnar trees are living fossils, dating back to early in the Mesozoic age. The female cones can be up to 25cm in diameter and were a main source of food for the Mapuches.
 |
| Ex-President Bush, son-in-law Billy-Bob, Crazy Cristo, Frenchy Marie and Merkin Princess |
All those volcanoes are also offering a few perks.
 |
| Thermales Geometrica |
And yup, this was our local guide...
 |
| Will paddle for free beer - good man! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)