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TL #12 30 November 1981
Chiloe, Chile
Hi!
Don't groan, please. I promise, this'll be the last letter.
And we'll keep it short (I think). We want to tell you about
the icebergs!
We've just left our recordmaking southernmost point
for both of us .. It's just about as far south of the equator
as Redondo is north. From the very southernmost end of the Pan
American Highway at Puerto Montt, we took a bus further south
on dirt roads, then an 18hour (mas o menos = more or less)
ferry ride further south to Puerto Aysen. Getting closer, but
there was still a great deal of work involved to find a way to
the glacier. There are tourist boats, but very expensive. So
we went to the docks and talked to the owners of fishing boats.
The first we talked to would take us, but we'd have to wait about
a week 'til they finished some scheduled errands; but the boat
owner invited us back in the evening for mussels and clams (at
which time Robert enthusiastically indulged). Negotiations with
another boat owner progressed further. This boat would truly
have been an adventure .. about a 2day journey. The boat
had only one large room which would be shared with crew, fish,
and clams; and no toilet facilities. Such luxuries! Yet
still too expensive for us. But this man suggested that we fly
out .. And he assured us that there's a landing strip and small
boat available at the lake. So his son led us to where we should
meet a pilot. After some time and some phone calls, an appointment
was set for us to come back in a couple of hours. Eventually
we met the man. But he wouldn't use the landing strip that's
at the glacier .. too rocky and bushy for his plane. He called
another man, however, who came immediately; and we quickly negotiated
with him to take us to Laguna San Rafael the next morning. By
the way, we were three .. We'd met a Canadian on the ferry who
also wanted to see San Rafael.
We were feeling so high. Everything going so well. The weather
had been really marvelous ... the air so clean that the sky was
a beautiful blue. Snow level about 45005000 feet and lots
of lovely mountains around the green valleys. But the next morning
when we woke, the clouds were thick .. too thick to fly. I hadn't
even considered the possibility that the weather could hinder
our plans. (Sob!) We agreed to wait one day .. or two if necessary,
if it would look hopeful. The next morning, there were blue skies
and some nottoothreatening clouds up high. Perfect!
The clouds covered the highest peaks, but from up in the little
4passenger Cessna, we were enthralled with the many glaciers
and milky rivers, green valleys, and isolated cabins below us
as we headed south. It was more than an hour's flight .. And
then we spotted just a few icebergs floating out to sea .. and
then more .. and more. We flew in over the laguna and saw more
and more icebergs .. then we flew in lowwww over the glacier.
I've never seen a glacier so beautiful. It's breaking up, looks
like stalagmites. And it's so blue! .. a beautiful blue. In
the crevasses, the blue takes on deeper shades .. so the whole
glacier shows off the cracks and crevasses. It's lovely! And
clean .. Why is it some glaciers get so dirty and others don't?
The plane landed then .. on the wildest, roughest runway I've
ever known. We walked to the remains of an old hotel. Here were
some park rangers working. They took us out on the lake in their
rowboat .. a huge rowboat about 25 feet long. It was a long row
for them .. at least an hour each way. And not easy. As we got
closer and closer to the glacier, it got colder and colder, and
the floating ice got thicker and thicker and the cracking of the
glacier got louder and louder. We rowed past some huge icebergs
.. lovely blue and white. Sometimes the floating ice was so thick
it was like rowing through a wet snocone. Sometimes we'd
get up against a slab of ice big enough that the men could walk
on it and push the boat. As we listened to the cracking of the
glacier, like gunshots, some pieces would fall into the sea.
One in particular was fairly large, and it set off a large series
of swells. It was lovely to watch the icebergs slowly rock from
these swells. They'd rock back and forth, deeper and deeper.
The ice that peeked up from below the surface was a beautiful
translucent blue. Such huge monsters! For each volume of ice
above water level, there is ten times that quantity below the
surface. We were in the midst of a "slush cup" when
the swells came, and the ice was beautiful as the swells moved
along in slow motion .. like the rolling waves an earthquake can
create on land.
We didn't go all the way to the glacier wall .. too dangerous;
and, as far as I'm concerned, too cold, too! On the way back,
we had a chance to walk on an ice floe .. a new experience! And
we also came very close to what could have been an experience
I prefer not to think about ....
We had just worked our way through a thick area of ice .. and
had squeezed the boat between two fairly sizeable icebergs. After
we'd gone another 30 meters or so, I was looking back and saw
one of those two icebergs start to move. It was like a big monster
waking up. It swung slightly, then tipped a little. Then rocking
a bit, dipping deeper and deeper. Something below the surface
had melted through and given way. The iceberg was readjusting.
It swung and rocked. Then it tipped completely one direction,
rocked a bit more and tipped completely again. It was all in
slow motion and continued for perhaps a minute or more. A spectacular
sight! But if it had happened just a minute earlier .... ....
....
We made it all the way back to Aysen just fine .. a truly incredible
day.
The Chilean people are really wonderful .. extremely friendly
and outgoing and generous. Especially so in this far away port
of Aysen, it seems. Everyone was eager to visit and share whatever
they could with us. When we arrived back from our glacier expedition,
the first pilot we'd met picked us up at the airport and took
us to his home for a "cafecito" (little coffee)
and to look at pictures. The cafecito turned out to be hors d'oeuvres
and dinner as well .. and we stayed until after 11 PM. This man
is a local businessman and eager to discuss conditions in Chile
vs Canada and the US .. also Sweden .. and conditions in many
of the countries we'd visited.
The Chilean economy is critical now. Common wages are about
$200 per month. And we know ourselves that food costs are astronomical!
.. perhaps twice what they are in the US. A simple sandwich costs
over $2, a plate of meat and potatoes is $4. In the grocery,
one small package of crackers is well over $1 and two bananas
plus one small onion cost us almost $1. So how can the people
survive? That's a real problem here. Perhaps Chile will have
another revolution soon. But will that solve anything? There's
a military dictatorship now .. and a lot of resentment toward
the American government that helped this military take control.
And there were problems before, that's for sure. So what is
the answer for all these Latin American countries? It's not easy.
Now we head north, north, north. Back to Pto. Montt, then Santiago,
the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and perhaps a day or two
on the Pacific beaches there before crossing over into Peru again.
Chile's a long country Look on a map!
Two weeks from tonight we go to the Lima airport. My flight
to Miami leaves about 1 AM and Robert's flight to Frankfurt leaves
about 9 hours later. I'm dreaming of barbecued spare ribs ..
and a Thanksgiving dinner .. then Christmas carols!
I don't think we ever told you about Iguassu Falls, so perhaps
I fill out this page. I can't just ignore the Falls after telling
you about our plans before we got there .. That would be unfair.
And they are considered one of South America's main tourist stops.
They were magnificent really. From the Brazilian side, one gets
miles of view of these tremendous water falls amid lush green
countryside. The most spectacular is at Devil's Throat, a long
valley where the falls come from all sides. On the Argentine
side, we walked on catwalks all along the top of the falls ..
and some that took us down alongside a few also. Butterflies
and birds all around us. The butterflies would land on us frequently
and even stay for several minutes. I wish the one that landed
on my nose would have stayed long enough to have his picture taken!
Hugs to you all!
See you soon!
Surain & Robert
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[Letter 12] |