Black Sheep Feb 07

Torres del Paine • Puerto Natales • Punta Arenas • Isla Navarino

ACCOMMODATION RESTAURANTS GUIDES CULTURE MAPS TRAVEL ADVENTURE

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Organizing Travels in Patagonia

Black Sheepwww.patagoniablacksheep.com

Antarctica and the Environment•Torres del Paine Tips

•Banff Film Festival in Puerto Natales

•Recycling in Patagonia

•2nd Annual Big Rock Festival

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www.patagoniablacksheep.com

The Black Sheep is an independently and locally owned paper, inspired by life in Puerto

Natales, Chile. A warm, woolly thanks goes out to all black sheep who helped make this paper possible. The

opinions within the Black Sheep, written or implied, are not necessarily those of some of the advertisers. But we

do it for the fans, not the critics.


Published by Southern Cross Ltda.The Black Sheep

Organizing Chilean Patagonia Patagonia, Chile

ph +56•61•415749

Production Editor • Design: Rustyn Mesdag

Business Director • Advertising Manager: Pilar IrribarraContributers:Diego Araya,

Marjan AlkemaBrian WileyConsultant:

Bill Penhollow

PUNTA ARENASERRAZURIZ 891

FONO: 240214

PUERTO NATALESBARROS ARANA 299FONO: 413622

Camping Equipment • Sport Fishing • Fly Fishing • Hunting Gear • Fleece Jackets • Parkas • Thermals • Tents • Sleeping Bags • Backpacks • Boots & Tennis shoes • Climbing Equipment • and more...

We had a lot of fun putting this months Black Sheep together. We like putting together the annual environmental issue because it gets our blood

pumping a bit. It’s the one thing that we feel so strongly about that we will often get on our soapbox and pick a fight. Personally speaking, my weakness (for claiming to be such an enviro-mentalist) ...is my truck, ‘Crush’. (Yes, the truck has a name.) I’m a hipocrate really. I’ve always had a interest in old cars. I love driving. I drive a lot more then I really need to. And now that I live in Patagonia, I bought myself the coolest, oldest, crappiest little Land Rover. A gas guzzler, really. Not exactly eco-friendly transportation. And because it is environmental month, Bill, my friend and business partner, called me out on it and told me to put my money where my mouth is. Give up the truck for the month... or shave off my dreads. Truth is truth, I know right from wrong, enviromentally speak-ing, and he was right.

So, I’ve got my month challenge ahead of me. No driving Feb 1st - Feb 28th or I’ll shave off my dread locks. The whole thing is an inspiring idea really. So now I put it to you. We all pick our battles, so pick one this month. Take one for the team. So get fired up and go out of your way to do something that takes effort, maybe even

going so far as to change a bad habit. I have chosen one of many bad habits I have in my life that directly contradicts my enviromen-tal beliefs. Yet I overlook some of these things in my head, when it suits me. Does this happens to everyone? I think yes.The truth is that I should be just able to hang my keys for all the right reasons, like for the enviroment, but this way I have a more tangible punishment if I faulter. This challenge keeps my commitment fresh. Unfortunately when dealing with environmental issues, our lack of committment doesn’t affect us directly yet. Kind of a ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thing. When we choose to drive less or recycle a can, we don’t see any huge difference in our daily lives (other then less garbage on garbage day), but globally, with everyone doing their share, there is a real impact that can be made. So, this month if you ever see me driving my truck, you win yourself a chance to shave my head... a deal is a deal and I’ll sport the nice republican look that my father always hoped for!

The other reason we enjoyed this months’ issue was because of Antarctica. The link between the environment and Antarctica is more direct then most people think. The state of Antarctica is a clear picture of our environ-mental habits as residents of this small planet.Antarctica is one of the true representatives of the state of our world and holds history’s most

observed treaties, The Antarctic Treaty.The Antarctica Treaty was signed in Decem-ber of 1959 by twelve countries; Argentina, Australia, Belguim, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Africa, UK, and the USA. The treaty really went into effect in June of 1961. Since that time, 33 other coun-tries have acceded, including: Poland, Germany, Brazil, India, China, Uruguay, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Korea, Peru, Ecuador, The Netherlands, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The basic idea behind the treaty was to keep Antarctica a war free zone. Article I of the original treaty states, “Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited... any measure of a military nature...” To date, there has never been a treaty more adhered to by its signers. Scientific research has continued peace-

fully on Antarctica from the beginning.There has never been an act of war on the white continent (and there is no debate that war is not exactly a friend to the environment). This treaty shows what can be accomplished when we simply choose to do the right thing. Nobody is here in Patagonia by accedent. We all came here for adventure, freedom, knowledge, and for the spectacular, untouched environment. This issue of the Black Sheep represents all of these things that you and I hold important and get excited about. We are all part of a new, smaller world. It’s time to stand up and give back. It’s time to ‘paint with bold strokes’ -enviromentally speaking. Not to put to fine of a point on it, but it’s time to get our shit together.

Patagonia National Park will be located in Chile’s Valle Chacabuco mostly centered on a 70,000 hectare farm that was purchased by Conservación Patagonica. Doug Tompkins, a multi-millionaire from the clothing industry, and his wife Kristine are ardent conservationists that have acquired 800,000+ hectares through their Conservation Land Trust. Kristine Tompkins developed the Land Trust Conservación Patagonica to purchase lands in Patagonia that will be restored, developed and absorbed into the current string of national parks that have been created and sustained by these land trusts.

The overall plan of purchasing and protecting these lands involves revitalizing overgrazed and damaged landscape that results from the practice of unsustainable ranching. Patagonia

National Park’s location protects areas from the Andean foothills, through the Chacabuco Valley’s grasslands and westward to Rio Baker. This region will provide an area for huemul deer, herds of guanaco, and the puma to roam and populate.

One of the many steps upon purchase is the removal of livestock and its fencing, cleanup of former ranches and eradication of non-na-tive plant species. A master conservation and restoration plan, run by a wildlife manager, includes construction of park infrastructure is also put into place. Patagonia National Park will showcase a healthy and intact ecosystem that has been restored through ambitious planning by ecologists who believe in their mission.

New Northern Patagonia National ParkValle Chacabuco

On the trail, you need to be aware of others. Instead of taking your break in the middle of the trail, try to move well off to the side, so others can pass by eas-ily, without compromising the vegetation. If I am taking a substantial break to eat lunch, fix a blister, etc., I will try to move out of sight as well. Then others can pass me by without even knowing I´m there. We both keep our sense of solitude, which is important to the wilderness experience.

While trekking in a team, try to spread out by 20 full paces (or more) to avoid a bumper to bumper if you come head on with another group. With heavy

packs, you might not have a chance to avoid a collision. Spread out and look around at the views. You don´t need to be staring at the backside of the person in front of you all the time.

Sticking to the trails is important. Stepping off the trail to avoid a muddy patch or a puddle only widens the trail or creates a second, or sometimes third, trail. In time, these side trails will become muddy as well. The same holds true while in Tor-res del Paine or on the Dientes Circuit (Patagonia). Remember, boots are meant to get dirty.

Trail Tips... Trail Etiquette

Choosing my battle Letter from the Editor -Rustyn Mesdag

Puerto Natales / Torres del Paine Questions & Answers 3What’s the weather going to be like for the next few days? That’s the forbidden question. But we put this one in just for fun! .... No, really, what’s the weather going to be like? I need to know what to pack! Plan for everything, but mostly cold. The weather changes constantly.

How far is it to the park from here? From Natales, by bus, it takes about 2 - 2.5 hrs.What time do the buses leave in the morning? Most of the buses pick-up between 7 - 8am. There is also a 2pm bus.What’s up with all the dogs? Half of them are street dogs, half of them are owned but run free anyway. Together they make more street dogs. It’s a circle of life thing...

Can the buses to the park pick me up from my hostel? Some do, it depends if your hostel is friendly with the bus company.How can I book a refugio? In town, go to Pathgone or Comapa. How much does camping cost in the park? Camping costs 3,500 pesos per person, not per tent, at the privately run sites. The CONAF sites are free.So, I pay an entrance fee AND pay to camp? Yep, and don’t forget your bus ticket, mini shuttle or catamaran, as well - all in Pesos only. Which campsites are free? Los Guardas, Italiano, Británico, Japones, Camp Las Torres, Paso, Pingo and Las Carretas.

At what time do the stores open in the morning? Don’t count on the stores being open before 9:30am.What about midday? Between 12 and 3 everything is pretty locked down, exept for the supermarkets.Where can I buy camping food in town? There are three bigger supermarkets in town, the Magno located 1 block south from the Santiago Santander bank. The Don Bosco and Super Mix are both on the main streets of Baquedano and Bulnes.How do I contact the park’s Search and Rescue if something happens? There is no official Search and Rescue in the park, but any of the CONAF Ranger stations will help you.What are the winters like around here? Calm, blue, clear, freezing and beautiful. How cold does it get in the park at night? In summer, not freezing, but it can still get close sometimes.Can I rent a tent, sleeping bag and matress at the refugios?Yes, but you can’t take them with you as you trek. How much does the catamaran to Pehoe cost in the park? The Catamaran costs 11.000 pesos per person, one way, 17.000 round trip.Is there food sold in the park? You can buy hot meals in the refugios. As far as buying camp food, you can find some staples at refugios.Can I cook in the refugios? In the nicer, bigger refugios you can usually find a gas stove to use, but no real kitchen facilities.

Why do all the girls here wear those uniform mini skirts to school in such a cold and windy place? Another big mystery, but we are pretty sure it was a man’s idea.How much do the taxis cost? From 6am to 1am it’s 800 pesos. From 1am to 6am it’s 1.000 pesos. (Within city limits).How long does the trekking season last? Roughly from October to April, but it’s growing more every year. The truth is that it’s beautiful here all the time, the park is great in winter.Are there backpackers here in winter? Not many in June, July and August... yet.What time is sunrise and sunset? It changes, of course, but the map you receive when you enter the park has some of that info on the back. When do the bars start hopping? If you’re really going to go out, and do it up right, don’t worry about starting until midnight... and don’t plan on coming home until breakfast.What’s up with me not being able to flush my toilet paper down the toilet? Do I really have to throw it in the waste basket?!

It depends on where you are. Sometimes it’s fine to flush it, but if it says not to, DON’T!A bit gross and bizarre, I know, but the pipes from yester-year just can’t handle it.If the weather is nice on the first day, should I go see the towers first?Any experienced climber, trekker or hiker will tell you to make a plan and stick to it, but as long as your logistics all work out there is nothing wrong in a little improv.

Are the times on the trail maps accurate? The times are pretty good on the CONAF map, depending on your physical condition. Some of the books seem to be a bit off though.Is it worth renting a car to get around instead of using the buses?Depends on your budget and your destination. Public transportation is always a good ideas when possible, but there is a lot of Patagonia out there that has no public buses. To see those places, getting a few people to pitch in for a car can make for a unique experience.Do I get a map when I enter the park? Yes. You can buy a nicer wall map in town.Do I need sunscreen in the park? Absolutely! The hole in the ozone wobbles right over us this time of year. It can and will cause you problems after a multi day trek in the park. The UV rays come through the clouds too, so don’t go light on the sun protection.Where can I buy white gas? The pharmacies carry clean white gas. You can start finding them in some of the outdoor and building material stores too. What’s up with all the military guys walking around town? There is a military base located right outside of town.Why do I get given a piece of little receipt paper every time I buy something? It´s the law, no joke. Everyone takes it very seriously.Do I need to tie up my food in the park? Not really. But mice and/or a fox might get into your vestabule. It’s best to sleep with your food in the tent, with you.Can you drink the water in the park? You bet! Best water in the world. Just make sure it’s fresh run off, no lake water or anything down stream from a camp or refugio. Why do I seem to understand LESS Spanish in Chile than anywhere else? Chileans down here talk really fast and with a lot of slang.Why is there so much garbage on the beach? That is a very good question. Do I have to worry about making a reservation for the bus on my way back from TdP?No. There is almost always room, and they never leave anyone behind. They always work it out for you. ...and all the buses and all the boats meet up with each other perfectly, crazy I know.

A free information talk is given at Erratic Rock everyday at 10:30am & 3pm. Information about the Park, logistics, food prep, programs, cloth-ing and any questions you might have.

Need a trekking partner?The 3 o’clock talk is a great place to meet other solo trekkers! Bring pen & paper, sit with some real coffee and figure out what you need & who’s going where.

Need More?

February 2007

Punta Arenas

Puerto Natales, Chile

Yungay

M. Bulnes

Eberhard

Bories

B. Philipi

O’Higgins

Miraflores

Ladrilleros

C. Pinto

A. Prat

B. Encalada

Baquedano

E. Ram

irez

Esmeralda

Chorrillos

B. A

rana

Magallanes

T. Rogers

Magallanes

P. Montt

Valdivia

B. Zam

ora

Galvarino

Milodon CaveCerro Castillo

Puerto PratPuerto Bories

Trekking DoroteaRio Turbio, Argentina

NAV

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Señoret

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One way ticket $11.000 per person (one backpack is allowed)Round trip ticket $17.000 per person

No trips on 1/01/2007Los arrieros 1517. Puerto Natales. Phone 61-411380. Mail: [email protected]

CATAMARAN HIELOS PATAGONICOS

November 1 to March 15, 2007 09:30am 10:30pm 12:00pm 12:30pm 18:00pm 18:30pmMarch 16 to 31, 2006 12:00pm 12:30pm 18:00pm 18:30pm April 2007 12:00pm 12:30pm

TEMPORADA 2006-2007- Regular Schedule

A comfortable & secure voyage across Lake Pehoe...

Pudeto Pehoe

Torres del Paine

Natales - Torres del Paine Torres del Paine - NatalesAndescape Ph 412877

7.30 (Laguna Amarga) 15.00

(Pudeto) 14.00

(Administration) 13.45

Gomez Ph 415700


(Pudeto) 13.45

(Administration) 13.00

JB Ph 412824


(Pudeto) 14.00(Administration) 13.00

Puerto Natales - Punta Arenas Punta Arenas - Puerto NatalesBuses FernandezPh 411111E. Ramírez 399

7.15 9.0013.00 14.3017.00 18.30 20.00

Buses FernandezPh. 242313Arm. Sanhueza 745

8.00 9.0013.0014.3017.0018.3020.00

Bus PachecoPh 414513Baquedano 500

7.3010.0013.30 18.00

Bus PachecoPh. 242174Colón 900

8.3014.00 18.3019.30

Bus Sur Ph 411859Baquedano 668

7.00 15.00

Bus SurPh. 244464José Menéndez 552

15.00 19.00

Via Paine / Andescape - Eberhard 599 - Ph 412877Puerto Natales – Torres del Paine Torres del Paine – Puerto Natales

Trip 1 Trip 2 Trip 1 Trip 2

Puerto Natales 7.30 14.00 Administration 13.00 18.00

Laguna Amarga 9.45 16.30 Pudeto 13.45 19.00

Pudeto 10.45 17.30 Laguna Amarga 15.00 19.45

Administration 11.45 18.00 Puerto Natales 17.00 22.00

Gomez -Arturo Prat 234 - Ph 411971Puerto Natales – Torres del Paine Torres del Paine – Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales 7.30 14.00 Administration 13.00 18.15

Laguna Amarga 9.45 16.30 Pudeto 13.45 19.00

Pudeto 10.45 17.30 Laguna Amarga 15.00 19.45

Administration 11.45 18.00 Puerto Natales 17.00 22.00

Buses JB - Arturo Prat 258 - Ph 410242Puerto Natales – Torres del Paine Torres del Paine – Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales 7.30 10.30 14.00 Administration 13.00 18.30

Laguna Amarga 9.45 12.30 16.30 Pudeto 13.30 19.00

Pudeto 10.45 17.30 Laguna Amarga 14.30 17.30 20.00

Administration 11.45 18.00 Puerto Natales 17.00 19.30 22.00

Approximate travel times from Puerto Natales (allow for border crossings and tour connections within park)El Calafate 5 hrs TDP L. Amarga 2 hrs 30Punta Arenas 3 hrs TDP Pudeto 3 hrs 15Ushuaia 15 hrs TDP Admin 3 hrs 45

Remember: Hostería Las Torres operates a transfer that connects to all the buses that arrive at and leave from Laguna Amarga (cost is $2 USD).

Torres del Paine Bus Schedules

Andescape - Dickson, Lago Grey [email protected] +56-61 412592

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Full board

Fantastico Sur - Las Torres, Chileno, Los Cuernos [email protected] +56-61 360360


Vertice - Paine Grande Mountain Lodge [email protected] +56-61 412742


Torres del Paine Refugio Information These prices are reflected in US dollars. Paying in Chilean pesos adds tax.

$8.50$13.00$15.00$59.00

$8.00$12.00$14.00$63.00

$9.00$12.00$15.00$63.00

Dorm bedCampingSleepingbag2 person TentMattress

$25.00$7.00$7.50

$13.00$3.50

$33.00$7.00$7.00

$11.00$3.00

$35.00$7.00$9.00

$14.00$3.00




Trail Tips... Nalgene Bottles

If you’re not sure what a Nalgene bottle is, just find yourself a Yank, they will probably have one. These Lexan bottles are quickly becoming industry standard for trekkers and climbers. They are bullet proof, won´t leak and are guaranteed for life. These little bottles are a must while trekking. The large mouth-type makes for easier filling at a water source and for harvesting snow in an alpine environment, but a little more difficult to drink out of while walking. Here are a few good tricks...1. While making your nightly boil for dinner on the trail, boil an extra liter to make your Nalgene a great hot water bottle for your sleeping bag. This will raise the average temperature of your bag and will do wonders for sore trekking feet. Throw your wet socks or gloves down there with the hot water bottle and it will dry everything like a oven in your sleeping bag.2. Want eggs on the trail? Break a few eggs into a Nalgene for omelettes on that first morning out. This is a mess-free way of creating a breakfast upgrade. 3. Using a large mouth Nalgene to carry and protect dry & powdered goods is another great use. Whether it’s oatmeal or powdered soup mix for the long haul, a Nalgene can give you a hard, waterproof case.


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February 2007

What & Where is Cabo Froward? The Strait of Magellan, the channel, scene of countless shipwrecks, the oldest cemetery in Patagonia, historical bays and we have never seen anyone else on the trail.

The bottom of Africa and the bottom of Australia are easy to find. They’re just spots on a map that you drive your car to, get out, take a photo next to the sign and drive off. Not the case for the bottom point of South America. This journey is only for those ready to get completely away from the masses and willing to put themselves in a place where the words ‘self reliance’ cannot be taken lightly. Be prepared for an agonizingly rough trail, relentless wind and two neck-high river crossings carrying your pack over your head. There is no going back, mi amigo.

The trek begins where the dirt road ends. Old deep forests of Nothofagus: huge coigues that seem never before seen or touched. The views are incredible, not only the Strait itself, but the mountains surrounding it. Mt. Sarmiento is impressive, reaching more than 7,000 feet after rising out of the sea. And then there is the Darwin Range, part of Alberto de Agostini National Park. There is also a good chance of being saturated at least once a day. The hike covers sand, rainforest and rock, plus two large river crossings and multiple small ones. The trail is not always clearly marked.

Finding a reliable map is next to impossible. Trails are only marked by the few that try their luck reaching the bottom of the continent. This is what will be a section of the Sendero de Chile project, which aims to create roads and paths and ferries that span the length of Chile, eliminating the need to cross into Argentina. This project is expected to be completed in 2010.

The final goal is to reach the crucifix that overlooks the end of the American continent. The view from the lookout provides a true sense of history. At that moment you realize where in the world you are. This trek is not for everyone. There is no help, or contact with the world for days in any direction. The weather can be equally beautiful and unforgiving. This completely self supported trip can be called nothing less then extreme trekking. The trek is only really possible January - March. Other times of the year you will possibly run into river problems. Deep winter makes for frozen conditions. This route boasts two large, cold, strip down and hold your pack over your head river crossings. If you have successfully trekked and camped the Torres del Paine ‘W’ circuit, then you might be ready for Cabo Froward. This trek is about the location itself, the bottom of the continent and the history. Very few trekkers have ever been to Cabo Froward.

erratic rock.comJoin the rucksack revolution.

reservations +56-61 410355

Experience and good physical fitness is essential.

Must be able to carry full and loaded pack and walk on and in difficult terrain, including river

crossings of a minimum of 1.5 meters deep.

Optional zodiac return from tip or trek up Mt. Tarn is subject to additional fees.

C a b o d e p a r t u r e d a t e s 2 0 0 7

Feb 4-9Feb 11-16Feb 18-23

Feb 25-Mar 2Mar 4-9

Mar 11-16

Cabo Shoestring Trips 2007As a special summer promotion, erratic rock® in Puerto Natales is posting special shoestring Cabo Froward programs for backpackers in Patagonia. For what they call ‘...a getting back to our roots program...” these series of Cabo Froward trips will be open to the public at a surprising low backpackers price. Program director Bill Penhollow: `We designed this series of Cabo trips for the backpackers who don’t normally use guides. Travelers that want to do something unique and who want to carry their own gear, who want to achieve the tip of the continent on their own, under

their own power. The problem is they just need someone to show them the way....’. The program runs weekly during the months of January, February and March and is 6 days in total. Program cost starts at 75.000clp for full groups. Trips include guide, food, one night in Punta Arenas and transportation. This is a self sufficient program and each team member must carry all personal gear and equipment. Cabo Froward programs leave every Sunday from Puerto Natales and return to Punta Arenas on Fridays.

NIKO’S II

Phillipi 528 - Puerto Natales, Chile 56-61 413543www.nikostwoadventure.com

L o d g i n g*Rooms with private & shared bathrooms

*Cooking Facilities*Laundry Service*Free Bag Storage

*English Information*Rental Equipment

*Half Block from Main Square*Daily Buses to Torres del Paine

*Argentine Excursion Destinationsand more...

A D V E N T U R E

v

B A N F FFILMFESTIVALMO

UNTA

IN

WORLD TOUR

FESTIVAL DE CINE DE MONTAÑACHILE 2007

A PROGRAM OF THE BANFF CENTRE

www.banffmountainfestivals.ca

Puerto Natales, PatagoniaLocated at Escuela 1

Across from the ‘other’ Plaza on Baquedano

8pm • Free Enterance

Feb 8 & 9, 2007

6


Mejicana 1174 Punta Arenas, Patagonia, Chile

CHEZ MOI... CHEZ VOUS...

Mejicana 1174 Punta ArenasPatagonia, Chile

fono 227678 / cel. [email protected]

79% Water & Ice.You´ll need a kayak.

Patagonia.

www.aquanativapatagonia.com

Aqua NativaSea Kayak Patagonia

Eberhard 161 Pto. Natales, Chile

+56-61 415749

Weekly tours

Rio Serrano!

NuevaImagen

Eusebio Lillo 1417Puerto Natales, Chile

ph +56-61 412052

Gymnasium & SpaHand & Foot Therapiesmachine & free weights

saunasun bed

Massage roomChocolate Therapy

Roca 907 #10 Punta Arenas, Chileph. +56-61 225889

www.patagonialternativa.com

Everything inPatagonia.

TrekkingKayakingPenguins

HorsesNavigation

patagoni alternativa

Toore Fri

en

ds & Drinks

RestoBaR

EbErhard 169 PuErto NatalEs, ChilE

At the crack of dawn we’re driving along the coast, towards a cloudy looking Paine. Kayaks tied on the car, a sleepy guide in the back. It looks like the coming days we’re going to be cold and wet. Even before the park rangers are present we enter the park to get set at Rio Serrano, where our trip starts. Struggling to get all our stuff first in a waterproof bag and then into the kayak, to find out a couple of times that we forgot something and have to start all over again, we get some safety instructions. Never grab or hit a tree in the water (hmm), never move your body over to the side to inspect something next to your kayak and… please pull over to the side of the river just before reaching the big waterfall (that’s a big time hmmm).

After circling around for the first bit, trying to control this unsteady kayak, (without grabbing any trees or moving over that is) floating down the river doesn’t seem to be that difficult. Our guide doesn’t let us work to hard and points out the beautiful views of the Paine Massif and different birds; mostly spectacled ducks and upland goose with little chicks. Fortunately we manage to get our kayak on the shore before reaching the waterfall which roars dangerously in the background. After some well deserved sandwiches we get to the hardest part of the trip, carrying the kayaks overland to the other side of the waterfall. Back in the water it takes some ef-fort to get floating away from the waterfall, but after that it’s time to relax again. The sun has come out and with the shores full of flowers we don’t feel like being in Patagonia at all. After some extra safety instructions, we even pass the normally very windy Donoso pass relatively easy, to reach glacier Tyndall where the weather suddenly turns and big waves and strong winds

surprise us. Our guide decides that that’s enough adrenaline for one day, and we make camp at the first beach we hit.

It’s a nice campsite, with a look out point with good views of the glacier, although the grey rain clouds don’t really help. Fortunately we find out that you can carry a lot in a Kayak, we set up a table, make a plastic roof with use of the paddles and have some hot chocolate and toast with tuna. For dinner there is pasta, chicken and wine, very tasty, but the cold and rain drive us to bed early.Next day our luck doesn’t change, it’s still rain-ing, but it appears that kayaking in this weather is less cold than it looks. After joining with the rivers Tyndall and Geikie, the water is running faster here, which seems to attract other kinds of birds. Couples of very scenic ruddy-headed gooses (not much seen in the park) fly over and noisy kingfishers don’t even seem to notice us. After a couple of hours, just before arriving at Puerto Toro, where our kayaking ends, we hit the ocean. Immediately we’re taken by waves and it’s harder than it looks to actually reach the little harbor, but we make it… After a quick change of dry clothes, we have time to make some pictures of charming glacier Serrano. And then we change our experience of floating along, becoming one with the river for a big boat, full of day tourists to take us tired, with sore arms, but satisfied back to Puerto Natales.

For more information about this tour (2 or 3 days on Rio Serrano kayaking and camping) please contact Onas Patagonia: Phone 061-614301 Blanco Encalada 211 [email protected]

Rollin’ On The River by Marjan Alkema

Freedom.Local Rental Car Guide.

[email protected] 56-61- 410775 Baquedano 558 - Puerto NatalesPhone 56-61- 241182 Roca 1044 - Punta ArenasTranspatagonia www.transpatagonia.clPhone 56-61-413593 Blanco Encalada 330 local #1 Puerto NatalesPhone 56-61-242304Mejicana 528 - Punta ArenasPunta [email protected] 56-61-410115Blanco Encalada 244 Puerto NatalesBudget [email protected] 56-61- 202720Bdo. Ohiggins 964 Punta Arenas

Magallanes Renta Car www.magallanesrentacar.cl

[email protected] 56-61- 220780

Ohiggins 949 Punta Arenas

Econorentwww.sandypoint.cl


Lautaro Navarro 975 Punta Arenas

Wilcar Ltda [email protected]

Phone 56-61-220617Boliviana 679 Punta Arenas

International www.international-rac.com [email protected]

Phone 56-61- 228323Waldo Seguel 443 Punta Arenas

Adelwww.adelrentacar.cl


Pedro Montt 952 Punta Arenas

7

February 2007

The Black Sheep would like to thank all the local businesses that make being a traveller a little easier.

Sheep Shearing

Bulnes 299 Pto. Natalesph +56-61 412239

10% off anycafetería

EMPORIO de la PampaEberhard 226 -Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile

This coupon is redeemable for a 10% discount on a regional

cheese plate with the purchase of wine for two.

Eusebio Lillo 1417 ph 412052 Puerto Natales, Chile

Rustike

10% off any purchase

ÑANDÚHand Crafts

Eberhard 301 Puerto Natales, Chile ph. 414382 - 415660 Cerro Castillo ph. 691932 - 413063 ANEXO 122

5% off any cash purchase

10% OFF Glacier Grey Ice Hike

This coupon is redeemable for a 10% discount on Daily Ice Hikes on Glacier Grey.

Valid for 2006-07 season. Can be redeemed at Eberhard 302, Baquedano 719 in Puerto Natales or at the Operations Hut at Glacier

Grey in Torres del Paine National Park.

E b e r h a r d 1 6 1 - P u e r t o N a t a l e s , C h i l e - p h + 5 6 - 6 1

10% off TrekkersMassage

This coupon is redeemable for a 10% discount on a 1 hour mas-sage. Valid season 2006-07.

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Phone / Fax 56•61•415285Barros Arana 233, Puerto Natales

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This coupon is redeemable for a 10% discount on chocolate, coffee, ice cream & brownies.

Indian Adventure Travel

15% off rentals10% off other services

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50% off backpackers yoga session

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Discounts for Travellers

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8


January 1967

photo by Eiichi Fukushima

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haNd CraFtsdECoratioNs

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Carlos Bories 278 Puerto Natales, Chilephone 8 4649562

[email protected]

Two groups applied to the related authorities in 1964 to climb Mt. Vinson, the last unclimbed “continental peak”. In those days all travel and activity in Antarctica was through governmental agencies: the State Department, Defense Department, the Department of the Navy, National Science Foundation, and the US Antarctic Research Projects Office. Both the east and west coast groups that had applied to climb were turned down.

In September 1966 I returned from guiding climbs in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to find we were going in November. The details vary with who is doing the remem-bering, but it had to do with Japanese and Italian climbers wanting sup-port and transportation, Woodrow Wilson Sayre (Four Against Everest) supporting a private plan, and Secretary of the Defense, Robert McNamara and the State Department wanting American climbers to have the first chance. Anyhow, the American Alpine Club, with Nick Clinch in charge, put together a team of ten from the east and west coast contingents: Pete Schoening, Eiichi Fu-kushima, Dick Wahlstrom, John Evans, Charlie Hollister, Barry Corbet, Sam Silverstein, Bill Long, and me. Funding came as $25,000 from the National Geographic Society with donations from Eddie Bauer, Head skis, Rolex watches, and Motorola Radio. We had a science plan to do geology (three geologists in the group) and some medical research, but the main idea was to climb Vinson.

I left late November to get supplies and food in New Zealand. Everything went through Christchurch to McMurdo via Navy C-130s then. We went to the ice on December 3, 1966. After two days of organizing and repack-ing in McMurdo we were flown to the moun-tains via Byrd Station. They dropped us 20 plus miles from the base of Vinson. We were to use a motorized toboggan to ferry gear on Nanssen sleds. After several failed attempts to find the previously dropped fuel barrels and an effort to man-haul the sleds we finally got everything to the base of Vinson.

Over the next three weeks we put in camps and slowly moved up the mountain. We were very aware of the potential for vicious weather and supplied all camps with a week’s worth of food and fuel. By December 20 all members had climbed Vinson, and by December 24 all

had climbed Mt. Shinn.We then moved the camp below Mt. Gardiner and used it as an approach to Mt. Tyree. After several mis-starts John Evans and Barry Corbet got to the summit of Tyree on January 6, 1967. On January 12, with the party divided into various groups, we also climbed Long Gables and Mt. Ostenso. Vinson was not re-climbed until thirteen years later. Tyree has only seen four or five ascents.

Fast forward to January 2005: Damien Gilder, an Australian with the private OMEGA foundation, brought the now filled summit register down from Vinson. After a discussion with several others including Peter McDowell of ANI/ALE it was decided to send the register to the AAC museum in Boulder, Colorado. This action was the impetus for a 40th reunion climb of Vinson.

ALE searched out John Evans, who, as a part of his job with Raytheon Polar Ser-

vices, contracts with the National Science Foun-dation to coordinate Antarctic research projects. John suggested there might be others wanting to try the climb, and the idea took flight. Eventu-ally, our party consisted of John Evans, Eiichi Fukushima, Sam Silverstein, and me from the original 1966 group. We were joined by Bill Long’s son, Brooke; Pete Schoening’s daughter, Lisa Jertz, and Tony Puyols, a photographer from Los Angeles who was documenting “old guys still climbing.” Bill Straka from California was a late addition to our group.

With tremendous support from ALE we flew on December 15, 2006 from Punta Arenas to Patriot Hills in an Ilyushin 76. Over the next ten days we slowly moved up Mt. Vin-son. Allowing time to acclimate, we 60 and 70 year olds went from Vinson base camp to Half Camp, Low Camp and finally, to High Camp. Summit day was December 25. We left High Camp at 1100 and -20F. We slowly moved up onto the summit plateau and gradually moved around the mountain in clock-wise direction east to south and then the southwest side.

Suddenly, ALE guide Tim Hewette decided we were too slow and that the remain-ing “old guys” had to go down. What a shock! This was the first inkling that we wouldn’t make the summit. No arguing. It was only a 5-iron shot to the top, but we all figured we had given

it a good effort and started down about 100 vertical feet from our goal.

Getting off the mountain was easy. Getting out of Antarctica was something else. Clouds, fog, cross-winds, and broken plane parts delayed our leaving the ice until January 8. The end of a great trip.

After forty years the mountains have changed. Despite losing 800’ to increased ac-curacy in measurements, the mountain seems larger. Where 23 year old legs ran with abandon, 63 year old knees endure discomfort after a while. Distances between camps seem to have multiplied, and shoulders can’t take the strain of 75 pound packs so we’re more selective in what we carry. Instead of the sense of isolation we had in 1966 we now are part of an international community from Europe, Russia, New Zealand, and Australia among others, many completing the seven summit efforts or the seven summits plus two poles. The mountains seem more ac-

tive: ice falls actually drop ice, evidence of avalanches exist, wind slab fracture lines are apparent, some glaciers have “flushed” and dropped 50-100 feet, and there seems to be more fall-en snow, not just snow that has drifted. Global Warm-ing is having a noticeable effect here too, at least to us amateur observers.

Antarctica is no longer relegated to just the scientists that make use of its unique environments. Now anyone with money and time can see and enjoy this spectacular continent—and that’s a good thing. The more people who can appreciate the beauty and varied scenery of this vast and fragile place, the more support can be gained for the Antarctic Treaty (argu-

ably the most successful treaty ever between nations) and the great breadth of scientific endeavors that occur on the ice.

I have left a place that I’ll probably never see again. There’s a sadness in that, but there is also a sense of pride in beginning some-thing that many can now enjoy—a spectacular place and a beautiful mountain range.

Mt. Vinson 40th Anniversary Reunion Climb by Brian S. Marts, DVM

photo by Eiichi Fukushima

9

February 2007

torres del paine

Baquedano 622 Pto Natales, [email protected]

tested in patagonia

New clothing from the heart of Patagonia

+56-61 614310Susan Steiger galvarino 345 pto.natales tel: 413829

Private & group yoga sessions daily

www.susalatino.com

traditional Chilean lamb asados, grilled meat, seafood and shellfish.

Experience Chile...•Located across from Plaza de Armas•

Specializing in...

Carlos Bories 430 Puerto Natales, Chile ph +56-61 410999

LIVE MUSIC!Wednesday - Saturday in February!Every

Live Music February

Wednesday: Matafari & Johnny Salsa RockThursday:Matafari (Navimag reunion Reggae fest)Friday:Johnny Salsa (Jazz-Funk)Saturday:

Electonic Live DJ

Happy

Hour

9pm-11

pm

Only @

Café del Chill-e

‘Nuevo Café Cultural del Chill-e’

Bulnes 343 Puerto Natales, Chile

The Reggae band Matafari from Punta Arenas recently played for 2 nights in Chill-@ Restobar in Puerto Natales. If you weren’t there you missed a full night of incredible roots-reggae and a dance floor full of both locals and tourists. Matafari jammed out familiar roots-reggae rhythms mixed with their own Spanish lyrics creating a truly positive vibration. Matafari was formed by brothers Rodrigo and Miguel and their sister Ingrid Cinthia Matamala-Otey in 1999. The group got their name by combining their last name with Rastafari.

Matafari was the headliner at the BigRock festival last April in Puerto Natales. They plan to travel to Mexico soon with the intention of spreading their message via Reggae to many worldwide. Matafari tells the Black Sheep “If JAH provides we hope to make a reality of our ideas so we can fulfill the purpose of transforming our art of expression into a tool of SPIRITUAL HEALING.”

Matafari plays live shows every Thursday at Chill-E Restobar here in Puerto Natales.Cover charge is 1.000clp. Don’t miss out! Be sure to try the Pisco Sour!

Matafari - Reggae Austral

Big Rock Festival Coming in AprilThe second annual Big Rock Festival is coming again to Puerto Natales, Chile. Starting last season as a one day event, this year will span over a three day weekend. Dates yet to be an-nounced by the Big Rock planning commity, but days will be a scheduled mix of public outdoor compations and live music venues at varios locations throughout Puerto Natales. Competi-tions this year will include tri-athlons, relays

and mini-football. As a new addition to this year’s other competi-tions, this year the Big Rock Festival will be awarding a cash prize for the first annual Gar-bage Clean-Up Race. Teams of three will have 2 hours to fill as many garbage bags from the beaches as possible. Teams will be racing for a cash prize of 200.000clp.

[email protected]

In the beginning there was ice.Departing from the

Glacier Grey Operations Hut in Torres del Paine

- Daily Ice Hikes- 1, 2 & 3 Day Seminars

- 9 Day Expedition Primers

10


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Located on the main Plaza - Pto. Natales, Chile

Speciality foods available - organics, wheat free, dairy free,homemade soups, cakes & desserts, selection of coffees & teas,

and more...

High quality, vegetarian food...

for everybody!

Food served all day from 11am-11pm.

Hostal Francis Drake Phone & Fax +56-61 411553 [email protected] Phillipi 383 Pto Natales, Chile

Comfortable rooms, Continental breakfast, private bathrooms,

24 hour reception, cable tv, multilingual, telephone

Art Gallery & Jewelry 56 61 411461

Eberhard 318 Puerto Natales

Uno de los destinos más visitados en Chile por el turista extranjero es sin duda Torres del Paine. Un lugar donde los paisajes nunca se repiten, donde confluyen todas las nacionalidades, creencias, idiomas y costumbres. Donde se observan cientos de animales a la orilla del camino, donde se elevan desde las profundidades grandes formaciones de granito y roca sedimentaria, se encuentra esta reserva de la biosfera.Miles de personas llegan cada día para hacer del silbido del viento su única compañía en el siempre constante caminar de quienes siguen sus senderos. Aquí, enclavado a los pies de las torres nace y se desarrolla una agrupación de voluntarios motivados por la naturaleza, la conservación del medioambiente y la educación hacia todos quienes de algún modo se relacionan con este lugar.

HistoriaComenzaba el mes de noviembre, hace ya poco más de dos años, cuando algunos trabajadores de Fantástico Sur y Hostería Las Torres se reúnen en torno a un objetivo: formar la Agrupación Medio Ambiental Torres del Paine. La idea central era el Desarrollo, Investigación y Fomento de la Cultura Ambiental.El primer proyecto de la agrupación fueron

los trabajos de mantención de senderos y conservación. Con aportes de empresas privadas de la región se distribuye dentro de Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales y Punta Arenas material informativo con el objetivo de incentivar tanto en turistas como en personas residentes en el lugar, una conducta responsable respecto al medioambiente.Poco después se implementa el programa de Minimización de Impacto Humano orientado a la recolección y reciclaje de residuos generados por los visitantes, además de la programación rutinaria de esfuerzos de recolección de botellas de vidrio, latas y baterías.Con el correr de los días se comienzan a reclutar voluntarios para colaborar en el trabajo de los senderos y también en la conformación de las áreas de recuperación, que cierran el paso de peatones y caballos para permitir que la capa vegetal impactada se recupere.Durante el incendio forestal de febrero de 2005, AMA Torres del Paine agrupó alrededor de 140 voluntarios, entre turistas chilenos y extranjeros, personal de empresas regionales, habitantes de las ciudades de Puerto Natales y Punta Arenas, además de personal y equipos aportado por empresas de turismo, Estancias particulares de la región como Estancia Familia

Alvarez y Familia Hernández.PresenteDistintas iniciativas se han llevado a cabo bajo la coordinación de AMA. Hoy en día sus líneas principales se orientan hacia la Investigación y la Educación.El Liceo Juan Bautista Contradí, Colegio Charles Darwin, Universidad de Magallanes, INACAP, Liceo Politécnico de Puerto Natales, Liceo Politécnico de Punta Arenas, entre otros nos han visitado. A la fecha más de 160 alumnos han participado de jornadas acompañados por profesores en la cuales recibieron charlas educativas orientadas a entregar información de biodiversidad, hidrografía, manejo de desechos y reciclaje. Hace un año se creo la primera brigada de Combate de Incendios Forestales compuesta por voluntarios en Torres del Paine, los cuales en su momento recibieron capacitación teórica y practica. Los próximos meses se realizarán otras dos jornadas de capacitación para estos voluntarios y para aquellos que quieran formar parte de la iniciativa.Se han llevado a cabo también ciclos de Educación Ambiental, hasta la fecha llevamos 15 charlas dictadas por diversos científicos sobre biodiversidad, fauna, humedales y huemules orientadas a turistas y trabajadores.Este año logramos entregar 1000 sacos con botellas de vidrio a COANIQUEM (Institución que se preocupa de ayudar a niños quemados) para ser recicladas y obtener dinero para financiar su causa.Pero la línea más importante que atraviesa esta agrupación sigue siendo el voluntariado. Todas las actividades que se han llevado a cabo no habrían sido posibles sin la colaboración del equipo humano que día a día trabaja para desarrollar nuevos proyectos.Este año ha estado marcado por la presencia de estudiantes universitarios que desarrollan investigaciones. Una investigación que llega a sus etapas finales es aquella que realiza Alejandra Mora, Licenciada en Geografía de la Universidad de Chile, quien realiza su tesis de grado en una propuesta para el trazado de Senderos. Esta joven de 22 años llegó al Parque por iniciativa propia y a la agrupación a través de su interés en encontrar una entidad que se interesara en un estudio como el de ella.Así hoy ella ha logrado hacer una propuesta

concreta para mejorar los senderos que existen entre el albergue Torres a El Chileno, Los Cuernos y Serón. Ahora resta la tarea de AMA de buscar las mejores alternativas para la implementación de este estudio.Otra investigación que ha tenido lugar al alero de la Agrupación es la recolección de muestra de aguas en el sector. Dicho estudio fue realizado por una estudiante de biología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso y hoy forma parte de la Descripción zooplanctónica cualitativa en Lagos y Humedales de la Estancia Cerro Paine, que será presentado a comienzos de 2007.Hoy en día se finaliza el desarrollo de una memoria de título sobre energías renovables no convencionales como una manera de producir electricidad para los albergues.El pasado 28 de octubre en Hostería Las Torres, se llevó a cabo la inauguración conjunta del Centro y el Sendero Interpretativo entregados a AMA como herramienta para educar a la comunidad local. El evento contó con la presencia de autoridades y actores sociales claves en la gestión de la ONG puesto que se presentó en dicha oportunidad el Plan de Manejo para la sustentabilidad de la estancia Cerro Paine.

FuturoHoy se ha comenzado la ejecución del Plan de manejo que considera distintas etapas de investigación tomando como base la zonificación presentada en el proyecto, siendo nuestro mayor desafió.Además se encuentran disponibles vacantes para los trabajos voluntarios en senderos, para aquellos que quieran enseñar la lengua inglesa a la comunidad de Torres del Paine y diseñadores de websites que puedan aportar con sus conocimientos a la agrupación. La temporada va cobrando fuerza cada ves más y aumenta el flujo de visitantes a la Patagonia Chilena y así también sin lugar a dudas se irán incorporando más voluntarios a esta iniciativa que busca mantener viva e intacta la tierra y sus paisajes. Hoy disponemos de un sitio donde encontraras diversas alternativas para participar como voluntario en proyectos ambientales en Torres del Paine.Visitar www.amatorresdelpaine.org o solicita información a [email protected]

Agrupación Medio Ambiental Torres del Paine AMA by Claudia Paz Silva

Daily Rock Climbs in Torres del Paine

Puma ExploracionesTorres del PainePatagonia-ChileFono 360 360www.pumaexploraciones.com [email protected]

Daily DeparturesAM 9:00 to 13:00

PM 15:00 to 19:00

Looking for something extra while in Torres del Paine? A new company has begun daily outdoor rock climbing programs out of Hosteria las Torres. Puma Explorations is offering two de-parture times daily through April 2007. From beginner to advanced, these daily programs of-fer a great taste of rock climbing in Patagonia. The cost of these rock seminars are 19.000clp ($38USD).Aside from being easily accessible from Hosteria & Refugio Torres, these programs are all inclusive; ropes, climbing shoes, helmets, saftey equipment and instruction from the expe-rienced and ultra friendly Puma crew.The founder of Puma Exploration is second generation Torres climber, Tomas Marusic L’huissier. Tomas grew up climbing with his father, Pepe (Jose Marusic Fernandez), a local legend in Torres del Paine. A day out with the Puma crew will open your eyes to the history of climbing in the region as well as getting you that much better prepared for your next rock adventure.

11

BernarditaResidencial

Regular dorms & Private rooms with breakfast, hot showers, phone, private bathroom and cable TV - Tourist Information - Torres del Paine &

surrounding areasO´Higgins 765 - ph & fax (56-61) 411162

Puerto Natales, Chileemail [email protected]

Comfortable RoomsFully equiped Kitchen

Laundry ServiceInternet and Telephone

View of the Strait of MagellanPatagonian Drinks

Coffee shop

José Noguiera 1600+56-61 241357

[email protected] Arenas, Patagonia, Chile

INGENIERIA Y CONSTRUCCIONESEberhard 599 -Puerto Natales - fono 412592

[email protected]

21 de Mayo 1469 Punta Arenas +56-61 [email protected]

GuanacoÑandú

CentollaCaiquenCastorKrill

Cordero

Cocina Salvaje de la Patagonia

Black Sheep Review: Antarctica XXI

I had always heard of the flights headed to Antartica that couldn’t land. I always thought it sounded kind of exiting, part of the adventure. “The fierce climate of Antarctica not allowing us to land... blah, blah, blah...”. But when my flight was turned around in mid air, 30 minutes from King George Island, I didn’t see the ro-mance in it. I just wanted to land and board that converted research ship that would be home for 6 days. Then, I had to smile to myself a bit. I was just being spoiled. I had a good drink in my hand, the crew was making sure I was comfy and I had just spent a night in the 4 star José Nogueira downtown Punta Arenas with the others from my group. This trip was all about luxury. And I was enjoying every detail. But no matter how nice the plane, landing on Antarctica was Antarctica’s decision. Antarctica is more than just a far away vacation, there are bigger things going on down there. There is more history, nature and science there then I would ever be able to understand completely. Human beings tend to be strangely attracted to places where we don’t belong. We climb moun-tains into the death zone, we scuba dive into darkness, we go to the moon ...and we go to Antarctica. By any normal standard, we could never survive in these places without special training and equipment, yet we crave that feeling. It’s that feeling of insignificance combined with endless possibility. These are those out of the way places that you go on purpose. Patagonia and Antartica are not places you swing by on your way to somewhere else. They are the destinations.From the first moment we landed on King George Island, I got a very ‘scientific’ first impression. Directly after our Dash-7 landed we were wisked away for the proper footwear. We were schooled on the impor-tance of not tracking soil from one landing zone to the next. All of our time, while not on the ship, would be spent in these white rubber boots. It all added to the feeling that Antarctica really was a protected area and we were in the worlds largest clean room. The team took a small trek down to the zodiak launching area. A lone penguin watched us load in with instruction from

our Russian zodiak captain. The weather was patchy but the zodiak was smooth. The ship waited for us out in the bay. We boarded, got quickly settled, and were back in the zodiaks off to a near by penguin colony of Gentoos. This was only the beginning. Everyone had got-ten a taste of rapid weather changes in that first zodiak landing on Day 1. While we were on shore, the wind and waves picked up dramatically which made the return trip to the ship rough and gave us all a reality check. Saftey drills were preformed on deck to ensure everyones saftey for the following days. The Russian crew did their work with amazing percision and confi-dence. They were nothing less then force to be reckoned with and always good for a laugh. The Antarctica XXI staff on board the ship was a young, hip, high energy group. They were clearly having a lot of fun with the passengers, but seemed to have a lot of fun together as well. Diana, the Expedition Leader, was always full of information and always seemed like she was a second away from breaking into a laugh. Jordi, the ships biologist and photographer, was as cool and clean as Antartica itself; and Gariel, logistics manager, is a climber through and through. The entire staff had been hand

picked for specific skills they all brought to the program. Together it was a tight crew. They were all instantly liked by the group. They created an environment that helped all of us (who were in luxury mode) make the transition out of our digs, out into the reality of being in Antartica. No matter how good the food is, or how thorough the information, it is impossiible to fake saftey issues. The crews first priority was the saftey of the expedi-tion members.For the next few days, the crew filled our every moment with ‘Antarctica’. If we weren’t off the ship exploring historical sites and massive penguin colonies, we were able to attent infomation seminars in the ship’s common area. And if that wasn’t enough, there was an extensive library on board as well. Who acually goes on these next level, high end trips to Antarctica? Is it the silver lining that surrounds this program? Or is it the flight v/s the Drake? Most poeple sail over for two days on the Drake Passage. That is supposed to be a rough trip, with rough waters. Flying from Punta Arenas only takes 3 hours, this helped me have a worry free trip. Being prone to sea sick-ness, I loved the flight. This also gave us more time on Antarctica, another detail

that separates this program from the rest. And that is the answer to my own ques-tion, Who goes on these trips? The people that want something extra. Clients from all over the world, people I would never have otherwise met. Frank, a movie producer from Australia; Anthony, a hotel manager on Isla Navarino; Cecilia, a tour operator from Santiago, Jamie and Sarah, english diplomats living abroad and Richard (the only other man aboard who decided to take a swim with me in the Antarctic waters at Cuverville Island)... needless to say, there was no shortage of dinner conversation.For 5 days we navagated through the Bransfield Strait, down to Paradise Bay, then onto the Lemaire Channel. We visited Port Lockroy, the old English base. We were constantly on the go. Eating great meals while the ship took us to our next landing point. Zodiaks, small and manuver-able, wisking in and out of ice formations. We spent an afternoon floating around Leopard Seals, sunning themselves on ice bergs. We visited numerous penguin colonies: Gentoos, Adelies and Chinstraps. They walked amongst us fearlessly. I won-dered who was observing who.Other then the first day om King George, the weather was nothing less than perfect. Blue skies for days and days. Calm waters and a slight breeze just to remind you where you are. My time in Antarctica was everything I always hoped for. I always worried that maybe I was blowing it all up in my head larger then I should, as to not dissapoint myself when I finally got there. When talking about the white continent, you need not worry.

Antarctic XXI operates out of Punta Are-nas, Chile. You can find them on the web at www.antarcticaxxi.com or you can reach them by phone +65-(61) 228783.

by Rustyn Mesdag

photo by Jordi Plana

HOSTEL • GUIDE SERVICE • RENTAL CENTERerratic rock

We rent real gear.baquedano 719, puerto natales

1312


A N T A R C T I C A

Scheduled to officially begin in March 2007, the International Polar Year promises to advance our understanding of how the Earth’s remote polar regions impact global climate systems, to bring about fundamental advances in many areas of science, and to fire the enthusiasm of young men and women for future careers in science and engineering.

WHAT IS IPY? International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 will be an intense, coordinated campaign of polar observations, research, and analysis that will be multidisciplinary in scope and international in participation. IPY will use today’s powerful research tools to better understand the key roles of the polar regions

in global processes. IPY 2007-2008 will be fundamentally broader than the International Polar Years held in 1882-1883 or 1932-1933 or the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. This IPY will explicitly incorpo-rate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, including biological, ecological, and social science elements.The polar regions play key roles in our global environment. Many important broad and interlinked research challenges involving both polar regions exist today. To name just one example, how and why are the changes in polar regions occurring and how can we predict and mitigate the outcome? Changes in ice mass are linked with regional and global environment and atmospheric and oceanic

processes; implementing polar observation systems would help document the changes. Clues for understanding how and why similar changes occurred in the past remain stored in polar earth and ice; sediment and ice coring would help us understand past changes.

HOW DO I GET MOREINFORMATION? www.us-ipy.gov or www.ipy.org, General Questions to [email protected]

Did You Know..?The first International Polar Year was in 1881-1884 and now has a web site with data and images. These records offer a unique opportunity to study the Arctic as it existed

prior to the current era of environmental change. Meteorological data from the early IPY stations have been collected and are pre-sented on the site for the first time in digital format. www.arctic.noaa.gov

The International Polar “Year” actually will extend from March 1, 2007, until March 1, 2009, to allow researchers to conduct two annual observing cycles in each polar region, particularly in the isolated parts that are prohibitively cold and dark for roughly six months of the year.

I n t e r n a t i o n a l P o l a r Y e a r 2 0 0 7

• There are no Polar bears on Antarctica! No mat-ter what we have seen in children’s books, Polar bears and penguins never cross paths.

• No one owns Antarctica! No matter what you have heard or read, no country owns any pie

shaped piece of the white continent.

• Antarctica is not one big iceberg! There is actually a solid continent underneath all the ice.

Size•13,829,430 km25,339,543 miles21.4 times bigger than the USA, 58 times bigger than the UK•Antarctica´s largest ice shelf is the Ross ice shelf: (about the size of France)510,680 km2197,974 miles2

Ice•Antarctica has 70% of all the world’s fresh-water frozen as ice - and 90% of all the world’s ice.

Thickness•Mean ice thickness: 1,829 m / 6,000 ft•Maximum ice thickness: 4,776 m / 15,670 ft

Population•About 4,000 on scientific bases in the short summer 1,000 total in winter, around 25,000 summer tourists - and this place is 1.4 x bigger than the USA! There are NO permanent resi-dents and NO native population.

Discovery and Exploration•Antarctica was imagined by the ancient Greeks, but not even seen until 1820.•The first time anyone set foot on Antarctica was in 1821.

•The first year-round occupation - overwinter-ing - was in 1898.•The South Pole was first reached in 1911.

Climate•3 factors rule in Antarctica - cold, wind and altitude. Antarctica holds the a record for each of these things.

•If Antarctica’s ice sheets melted, the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65 metres (200 - 210ft) - everywhere.•Antarctica is the best place in the world to find meteorites. Dark meteorites show up against the white expanse of ice and snow and don’t get covered by vegetation. In some places, the way the ice flows concentrates meteorites there. The ice makes them gather in one place.

•The cold and dry conditions in the “Dry Val-leys” region of Antarctica are so close to those on Mars that NASA did testing there for the Viking mission. It has not rained in the dry val-

leys for at least 2 million years.

•The Antarctic ice cap has 29 million cubic kilometres of ice. This is 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 and 70 % of all of the world’s fresh water. Only about 0.4 percent of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

Animals•Many Antarctic sea creatures including fish have antifreeze in their blood, so they don´t ac-cidentally get frozen solid.•It has been estimated that during the feeding season in Antarctica, a full grown blue whale eats about 4 million www.coolantarctica.com (krill are small shrimp-like creatures), that’s 3600 kg or 4 tons - every day for 6 months. The daily intake would feed a human for about 4 years!

A n t a r c t i c a S t a t i s t i c s

Did you know:Melting of polar ice has a negative effect on global warmng. Surface without snow or ice absorbs more eat, about 80-90% & surface with snow and ice re-flects ore heat, around 85-90%. This way melting of ice is contribng to global warming which will results in further melting of ice.

Icebergs are simply pieces of ice, large and small, which have broken off of a sheet, ice shelves, or glaciers, and float out to sea. By definition however, an iceberg is suppose to measure more than 100 square meters in area, and stand more than five meters above the surface. Occasionally, huge pieces of floating shelf ice break loose and drift away in the currents. These pieces of ice are called Tabular icebergs, and can be enormous, perhaps hundreds of square liometers in surface area, and may drift for years before melting or becoming grounded. Icebergs between 20-30 meters are particularly common. Lengths of icebergs up to 20 km are not uncommon either. The total mass of Antarctic icebergs is estimated to be one million cubic yards per year.

A n t a r c t i c I c e b e r g s

A n t a r c t i c a f i r s t s1893, The expedition lead by Carl Anton Larsen made the first use of skis in Antarctica. He also discovered petrified wood on Seymour Island, east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

1898, Photography was first used on the expedi-tion lead by Adrien Victor Joseph de Garlache de Gomery. On this same voyage the three-masted whaling ship Belgica was imprisioned in the ice for 377 days, being the first time men wintered south of 60°S. This proved that bases could be set up on the continent itself, enabling a full-time program of exploration.

1898, The expedition lead by Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink took 90 sled dogs, the first dogs used in Antarctic work. The expedition also pioneered the use of kayaks foe seas travel, and was the first to bring to Antarctica the Primus stove, a lightwieght, portable pressure stove invented in Sweden six years before, that is still in use today. Unfortunately the expedition marked another first - when Norwegian zoolo-

gist died on Oct 14, 1899. The 10 men that this expedition left behind on Cape Adare for the winter proved that men could survive Antarcti-ca’s fierce, dark winet ashore, using a wooden hut as a base for travels along the coasts and inland towards the pole, and the two huts that were built atill stand today.

1908, Six men form an expedition lead by Er-nast Henry Shackleton ascended Mt Erebus for the first time, reaching the rim of the volcano’s crater on March 10. At the same time another three men went hiking towards the South Mag-netic Pole, reaching it on January 16, 1909, the first time it had been visited.

1928, The first powered flight in Antarctica was made by Wilkins and Ben Eielson on Novem-ber 16, who took off from Deception Island and flew for 20 minutes. On December 20 they took off again and flew for 11 hours across the Peninsula and along its eastern side, covering 2,100 km. In March the expedition suffered

Antarctica’s first plane crash.

1935, The first woman to set foot on the Ant-arctica continent landed at the Vestfold Hills on February 20.

1946, Helicopters and icebreakers were used for the first time in the Antarctic by the US Navy in what they called Operation “Highjump”, an expedition that was primarily a training exercise for the US forces and a massive effort to map Antarctica.

1957, The first commercial flight in Antarctica was made, a PanAm Stratocruiser that departed from Christchurch and landed at McMurdo on Octoner 15. Aboard this plane were the first women to see the South Pole, two stewardesses, Patricia Hepinstall and Ruth Kelly.

350 B.C. It was the ancient Greeks who first came up with the idea of Antarctica. They knew about the Arctic - named Ark-tos - The Bear, from the con-stellation the great bear and decided that in order to balance the world, there should be a similar cold Southern landmass that was the same but the opposite “Ant - Arktos” - opposite The Bear. They never actually went there, it was just a lucky guess!

A n t a r c t i c aM y t h s

February 2007

1312


A N T A R C T I C A

Scheduled to officially begin in March 2007, the International Polar Year promises to advance our understanding of how the Earth’s remote polar regions impact global climate systems, to bring about fundamental advances in many areas of science, and to fire the enthusiasm of young men and women for future careers in science and engineering.

WHAT IS IPY? International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 will be an intense, coordinated campaign of polar observations, research, and analysis that will be multidisciplinary in scope and international in participation. IPY will use today’s powerful research tools to better understand the key roles of the polar regions

in global processes. IPY 2007-2008 will be fundamentally broader than the International Polar Years held in 1882-1883 or 1932-1933 or the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. This IPY will explicitly incorpo-rate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies, including biological, ecological, and social science elements.The polar regions play key roles in our global environment. Many important broad and interlinked research challenges involving both polar regions exist today. To name just one example, how and why are the changes in polar regions occurring and how can we predict and mitigate the outcome? Changes in ice mass are linked with regional and global environment and atmospheric and oceanic

processes; implementing polar observation systems would help document the changes. Clues for understanding how and why similar changes occurred in the past remain stored in polar earth and ice; sediment and ice coring would help us understand past changes.

HOW DO I GET MOREINFORMATION? www.us-ipy.gov or www.ipy.org, General Questions to [email protected]

Did You Know..?The first International Polar Year was in 1881-1884 and now has a web site with data and images. These records offer a unique opportunity to study the Arctic as it existed

prior to the current era of environmental change. Meteorological data from the early IPY stations have been collected and are pre-sented on the site for the first time in digital format. www.arctic.noaa.gov

The International Polar “Year” actually will extend from March 1, 2007, until March 1, 2009, to allow researchers to conduct two annual observing cycles in each polar region, particularly in the isolated parts that are prohibitively cold and dark for roughly six months of the year.

I n t e r n a t i o n a l P o l a r Y e a r 2 0 0 7

• There are no Polar bears on Antarctica! No mat-ter what we have seen in children’s books, Polar bears and penguins never cross paths.

• No one owns Antarctica! No matter what you have heard or read, no country owns any pie

shaped piece of the white continent.

• Antarctica is not one big iceberg! There is actually a solid continent underneath all the ice.

Size•13,829,430 km25,339,543 miles21.4 times bigger than the USA, 58 times bigger than the UK•Antarctica´s largest ice shelf is the Ross ice shelf: (about the size of France)510,680 km2197,974 miles2

Ice•Antarctica has 70% of all the world’s fresh-water frozen as ice - and 90% of all the world’s ice.

Thickness•Mean ice thickness: 1,829 m / 6,000 ft•Maximum ice thickness: 4,776 m / 15,670 ft

Population•About 4,000 on scientific bases in the short summer 1,000 total in winter, around 25,000 summer tourists - and this place is 1.4 x bigger than the USA! There are NO permanent resi-dents and NO native population.

Discovery and Exploration•Antarctica was imagined by the ancient Greeks, but not even seen until 1820.•The first time anyone set foot on Antarctica was in 1821.

•The first year-round occupation - overwinter-ing - was in 1898.•The South Pole was first reached in 1911.

Climate•3 factors rule in Antarctica - cold, wind and altitude. Antarctica holds the a record for each of these things.

•If Antarctica’s ice sheets melted, the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65 metres (200 - 210ft) - everywhere.•Antarctica is the best place in the world to find meteorites. Dark meteorites show up against the white expanse of ice and snow and don’t get covered by vegetation. In some places, the way the ice flows concentrates meteorites there. The ice makes them gather in one place.

•The cold and dry conditions in the “Dry Val-leys” region of Antarctica are so close to those on Mars that NASA did testing there for the Viking mission. It has not rained in the dry val-

leys for at least 2 million years.

•The Antarctic ice cap has 29 million cubic kilometres of ice. This is 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 and 70 % of all of the world’s fresh water. Only about 0.4 percent of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

Animals•Many Antarctic sea creatures including fish have antifreeze in their blood, so they don´t ac-cidentally get frozen solid.•It has been estimated that during the feeding season in Antarctica, a full grown blue whale eats about 4 million www.coolantarctica.com (krill are small shrimp-like creatures), that’s 3600 kg or 4 tons - every day for 6 months. The daily intake would feed a human for about 4 years!

A n t a r c t i c a S t a t i s t i c s

Did you know:Melting of polar ice has a negative effect on global warmng. Surface without snow or ice absorbs more eat, about 80-90% & surface with snow and ice re-flects ore heat, around 85-90%. This way melting of ice is contribng to global warming which will results in further melting of ice.

Icebergs are simply pieces of ice, large and small, which have broken off of a sheet, ice shelves, or glaciers, and float out to sea. By definition however, an iceberg is suppose to measure more than 100 square meters in area, and stand more than five meters above the surface. Occasionally, huge pieces of floating shelf ice break loose and drift away in the currents. These pieces of ice are called Tabular icebergs, and can be enormous, perhaps hundreds of square liometers in surface area, and may drift for years before melting or becoming grounded. Icebergs between 20-30 meters are particularly common. Lengths of icebergs up to 20 km are not uncommon either. The total mass of Antarctic icebergs is estimated to be one million cubic yards per year.

A n t a r c t i c I c e b e r g s

A n t a r c t i c a f i r s t s1893, The expedition lead by Carl Anton Larsen made the first use of skis in Antarctica. He also discovered petrified wood on Seymour Island, east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

1898, Photography was first used on the expedi-tion lead by Adrien Victor Joseph de Garlache de Gomery. On this same voyage the three-masted whaling ship Belgica was imprisioned in the ice for 377 days, being the first time men wintered south of 60°S. This proved that bases could be set up on the continent itself, enabling a full-time program of exploration.

1898, The expedition lead by Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink took 90 sled dogs, the first dogs used in Antarctic work. The expedition also pioneered the use of kayaks foe seas travel, and was the first to bring to Antarctica the Primus stove, a lightwieght, portable pressure stove invented in Sweden six years before, that is still in use today. Unfortunately the expedition marked another first - when Norwegian zoolo-

gist died on Oct 14, 1899. The 10 men that this expedition left behind on Cape Adare for the winter proved that men could survive Antarcti-ca’s fierce, dark winet ashore, using a wooden hut as a base for travels along the coasts and inland towards the pole, and the two huts that were built atill stand today.

1908, Six men form an expedition lead by Er-nast Henry Shackleton ascended Mt Erebus for the first time, reaching the rim of the volcano’s crater on March 10. At the same time another three men went hiking towards the South Mag-netic Pole, reaching it on January 16, 1909, the first time it had been visited.

1928, The first powered flight in Antarctica was made by Wilkins and Ben Eielson on Novem-ber 16, who took off from Deception Island and flew for 20 minutes. On December 20 they took off again and flew for 11 hours across the Peninsula and along its eastern side, covering 2,100 km. In March the expedition suffered

Antarctica’s first plane crash.

1935, The first woman to set foot on the Ant-arctica continent landed at the Vestfold Hills on February 20.

1946, Helicopters and icebreakers were used for the first time in the Antarctic by the US Navy in what they called Operation “Highjump”, an expedition that was primarily a training exercise for the US forces and a massive effort to map Antarctica.

1957, The first commercial flight in Antarctica was made, a PanAm Stratocruiser that departed from Christchurch and landed at McMurdo on Octoner 15. Aboard this plane were the first women to see the South Pole, two stewardesses, Patricia Hepinstall and Ruth Kelly.

350 B.C. It was the ancient Greeks who first came up with the idea of Antarctica. They knew about the Arctic - named Ark-tos - The Bear, from the con-stellation the great bear and decided that in order to balance the world, there should be a similar cold Southern landmass that was the same but the opposite “Ant - Arktos” - opposite The Bear. They never actually went there, it was just a lucky guess!

A n t a r c t i c aM y t h s

February 2007

14


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Puerto Williams, Chile

How do I get to Puerto Williams? To get to Isla Navarino/Puerto Williams you have three main choices: The first is the slightly uncomfortable but adventurous ferry that takes 36 hours from Punta Arenas. The second is the twin otter that flies across the Darwin ranges and takes 1 hour and 15 minutes. The third is to go via Ushuaia and cross the Beagle Channel by zodiac. The choice is yours.Where is the downtown of Pto Willliams? It is strange to think that such a small place seems to have two centers. One is the centro commercial where you will find the post and DAP office, and then there are the supermarkets which are found facing each other along the road Piloto Pardo.Where can I sleep? There are actually quite few places to stay; some are cheaper than others. There is a luxury hotel which is pretty expensive, and then there is a range of hostels and residenciales around town. Are there any internet cafes on Isla Navarino? Yes! But the connection is not so good. The two cyber cafés are at the Akainij travel agency in the centro comercial and the other is up the hill and is called Cape Horn Net Cyber Café. Can I rent equipment on Isla Navarino? Turismo Shila in the Centro Comercial provides a range of camping equipment. Another possibility is to take a guide who provides the equipment.Where can I find camping gas? Turismo Shila as well as some hostels sell camping gas.What can I find to do in downtown Pto. Williams? Well….you´ll just have to come and find out.How old is this town? The town was established in 1953 as a naval base.Why is the town here? Geopolitics.Can I drink the water on Isla Navarino? Yes you can, but be careful with drinking the water from beaver dams.Are there any animals I need to worry about on Navarino? Not really, but sometimes the dogs can be an annoyance.Do I have to pay anything to trek on the Dientes? Nope, free!Where do I start my trek?At Pilot Pardo Street - the cops. You have to leave info about your itinerary and return date. From there you can head to either one of the two trailheads.

How do I get to Ushuaia from here?Ushuaia is NORTH (as in not south) from Williams. There is a Zodiac which has regular crossing from Isla Navarino to Ushuaia. It’s fairly pricey but still a good option if you don’t want to backtrack. Information for this can be found at Café Angelus at the Centro Comercial.Where can I find a Dientes map? Ooooohh... That’s a tough one. There are trekking guides available at the tourism agencies. As there are only a few printed they usually ask you to photocopy them. Why are half of the buildings white in Pto. Williams? The white buildings are the Armada (Navy) buildings which house their offices and families.Is there a money machine in Williams? Yep, and it’s 24hrs as well, located at the Banco de Chile.Can I rent a car in Pto. Williams? No.What time do the stores open? Usually between 10:00 and 13:00, and then from 16:00/17:00 to 20:00. The supermarkets are open from nine in the morning to twelve at night.How many people visit Williams in a season?Well, in a year there are about 8,000 visitors to the island. Of this about 6,000 are cruiseship passengers and 2,000 overnight tourists that usually go trekking. How big is Isla Navarino? 40 by 100KM.Why does everyone say that Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world? This has been a false rumor that has been circulating for years to draw people to Ushuaia. Some say there are differences between a city and a town, but whatever - there is no place to live further south then Puerto Willliams.How far is Cape Horn? It’s about 165km south of Puerto Williams.Can I get to Cape Horn or Antarctica from Puerto Williams?Yes you can, but it will cost ya. Several yachts leave Puerto Williams to these destinations during the summer season.Are there any other towns on Isla Navarino?Yes, but they are even smaller. Puerto Toro is truly the southernmost town in the world and is only reached by boat. Puerto Navarino is basically two families big and then there are some farms around.What is the population of Puerto Williams?2,262

The Municipality and the Puerto Williams Tourism Association Welcome you to Puerto Williams, Isla Navarino, Chile

Hostales/Hostels Fono/Phone Direccion/Adress e-mail addressAkainij 621173 Austral 22 [email protected] de Hornos 621067 Ricardo Maragaño 146 [email protected] 621033-621384 Patricio Capedeville 41 [email protected]ón 621227-621227 Ricardo Maragaño 168 [email protected] del Cab. de Hornos 621140-621359 Uspashun 64 [email protected] 621267 Villa Ukika [email protected] 621075 Yelcho 230 [email protected] 621116-621224 Piloto Pardo 222 [email protected] 621118-621334 Piloto Pardo 260 [email protected] Akainij 621173-621173 Austral 22 [email protected] Lakutaia 621733-621298 Seno Lauta s/n [email protected] El Padrino 621136 Costanera 276 [email protected]

Restaurantes/ Restaurants Albatros Restaurante 621317 Piloto Pardo 228Café Agelus 621080 Centro comercial norte 151 [email protected] naval de yates Micalvi 621042 Seno Lauta Costanera s/n [email protected] de Hornos 621067 Ricardo Maragaño 146 [email protected] 621033-621384 Patricio Capedeville 41 [email protected] de Navarino 621074 Centro comercial Sur 14 Patagonia 621267-621075 Yelcho 230 [email protected]

Agencias de turismo/ Tourist agenciesTurismo Akainij 621327-621173 Centro comercial Sur 156 [email protected] aventura Shila 621366 O´Higgins 322 [email protected] del Cab. de Hornos 621140-621359 Uspashun 64 [email protected] SIM 621150- 621225 Ricardo Maragaño 168 [email protected] Native tours 621183 Centro Comercial Sur 154b [email protected] Victory Cruises 621010-621092 Teniente Muñoz 118 www.victory.cruises.comDesierto Blanco 621452 Costanera 330

Café Internet/ Cyber CaféCape Horn Net cyber café 621010-621092 Teniente Muñoz 118 [email protected] Akainij 621327-621173 Centro comercial Sur 156 [email protected]

Tiendas de Souvenier/Giftshops55°Sur 621265 Centro comercial norte 147 Isla hornos souvenier 621734 Centro comercial sur 140b [email protected] Akar Artesanias Villa Ukika

Servicio de guias/guide servicesFuegia&CO 621251 Yelcho 232 [email protected], guia de trekking 621048 Yelcho 218 [email protected]

Transporte/TransportsServicio de taxi 621387 Mario Leal 145Servicios maritimos y turisticos 621015 Costanera 436 [email protected] DAP 621114-621051 Centro comercial sur 151 [email protected] boating 54 2901 436193 Gob.Godoy 190-Ususahia [email protected] peregrino austral 621015 Costanera 436 [email protected] Lancha Dep. 621294-621075 Yelcho 230 [email protected] agencia maritima 621049 Arturo Prat 35 [email protected]

Otros Servicios Cabalgatas el padrino 621136 Costanera 262 [email protected] Martin Gusinde 621043 Com.Aragay 1 esq.Gusinde [email protected] del Beagle 621136 costanera s/n [email protected], lavanderia 621358 Piloto Pardo342z

Puerto Williams & Isla Navarino Tourist Directory

Beyond the end of the world...

Puerto Williamson Isla Navarino

For information contact:Av. B. O’Higgins 189 - Phone 621011 - 621013 [email protected]

Listado elaborado por ENVIU

15

February 2007

Wasserscheu darf man nicht sein, wenn man sich zum „südlichsten Trekking der Welt“ auf der Isla Navarino am Beagle-Kanal aufmacht. Aber das Vorurteil, hier regne es 366 Tage im Jahr, auch wenn es kein Schaltjahr sei, ist eben genau das: Ein Vorurteil. Wir hatten vier Tage des besten Wetters, mit viel Sonne und ohne Wind, während wir Anfang Mai unsere Tour um die Dientes de Navarino, die Zähne der Insel, unternahmen.Gleich eine Warnung: Die Touren auf der ein-malig schönen Insel nur 120 Kilometer nördlich des Kaps Hoorn sind nichts für den gelegent-lichen Wochenendwanderer. Es gehört schon einige Trekking-Erfahrung dazu, Geländefestig-keit und die Bereitschaft, auch in Hochmooren und im Schnee das Einsinken bis zu den Knien zu akzeptieren und auch mit nassen Füßen vier bis sechs Stunden in einer menschenleeren Hochgebirgslandschaft akkumulierte Höhe-nunterschiede von täglich rund 1.000 Metern zu überwinden. Der Transport von Zelt und Verpflegung versteht sich von selbst.

Der Lohn sind einmalig schöne Ausblicke auf die von Menschen unberührte Landschaft, Zeltnächte unter einem atemberaubenden Sternenhimmel und alles, was das Trekker-Leben ansonsten lebenswert macht. Vorausge-setzt natürlich, es regnet nicht. Und schon in 400 Metern über nn muss man spätestens im April mit Schnee rechnen, Schnee, der auch im südlichen Sommer nicht verschwindet. Das Gelände gleicht schon ab rund 500 Metern den 3.000er-Gebieten der Alpen. Der Wind kann das Fortkommen erschweren. Der Volksmund weiss es: nicht jeder Tag ist ein Sonn(en)tag. Biber haben weite Teile der tieferen Landschaft geprägt, und man wird unwillkürlich an Bruce Chatns lakonische Feststellung erinnert: Dies ist es, was Biber einem Land antun können. Die vorgeschlagenen Trekking-Pfade, oder zu-mindest die Ahnungen derselben in den bis zur Baumgrenze dichten Südbuchenwäldern, sind zwar von dem dort lebenden Schweizer Denis Chevallay in jüngster Zeit markiert worden. Man kann aber auch abseits dieser Vorschläge das Land erkunden, sollte sich dann aber mit

dem Kompass auskennen und sich eine Karte besorgen.Die Insel ist von Punta Arenas aus leicht mit dem Flieger nach Puerto Williams zu erreichen. Auch der in Punta Arenas lebende Österreicher Christian Moser von moseractive ist ein exzel-lenter Kenner der Insel. Er spricht hervorragend Spanisch und bietet Begleitung in Deutsch an. Moser Active kann über das Internet kontaktiert werden. www.moseractive.cl

Isla Navarino, das südlichste Trekking der Welt. by Peter M. Gehrig

New Williams Infoby Marieke den Nijs

Finding tourist information on Chile’s most Southern town, Puerto Williams, is not an easy job. Especially information on the Internet is scarce. This is a pity, since Puerto Williams and its surroundings have much to offer for nature loving tourists. Enviu, a Chilean/ Dutch N.G.O., has currently been working on improving the information supply. Through a project directed towards the local entrepreneurs in the tourism sector, Enviu has facilitated the creation of various websites. During a two-month period Enviu carried out practical workshops, in which the entrepreneurs learned how to make and maintain a website. The result of this project is that recently, in addition to the websites that yet existed, four new websites have been put online.

For anyone interested, please check out the new websites and learn more about the various tourism products that Puerto Williams has to offer:www.turismoshila.com - guiding & tourswww.refugioelpadrino.com - Accomodationwww.hostalpusaki.com - Accomodationwww.albatrospub.com - Food

For more information on the work of Enviu, visit www.enviu.org.

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Puerto Williams, Chile The Isla Navarino Dientes Circuit by J Williams

Billed as the southernmost trekking opportunity in the world, the rugged Dientes circuit on the Isla Navarino is miles beyond an ordinary trekking experience. For 53 km the route winds through an other worldly landscape of mountains broken from the floor of the ocean, where the andes crumble into the antarctic plate, where tenuous passes from one valley to the next defy truly staggering winds and where spartan vegetation clings to a precarious existence between the punishing climate and the persistent manipula-tions of the introduced beaver. For the serious trekker, the five day Dientes circuit is a chance to experience a unique terrain at what is literally the last scrap of land before the legendary Cape Horn and Antarctic sea. And while the route offers many worthy experiences, like awesome vistas that stretch as far as the Cape Horn straits, it is also impressive for what it lacks, like crowded trails, clearly defined paths and over crowded refugios. In fact, there are no refugios on the route. there is no entrance fee to pay, trekkers are only required to check in with the carabineros in Puerto Williams. Then it is just 3 kms of road from the tiny village of Puerto Williams and a good possibility you will see no one else in the course of the circuit.The dientes circuit is relatively new, developed in the early 90´s by lonely planet trekking guide author Clem Lindemayer. For his efforts a few of the more prominent peaks along the circuit have been named after him. Cierro Clem in par-ticular makes an impressive profile and serves as

an important landmark. No doubt because of the difficulty of the route and the distance of Isla Navarino from the beaten path, the dientes circuit receives a fraction of the annual visitors of Chile´s better known treks. The route was marked with the Chilean numbered trail marker system in early 2001, but it is still far from a well marked path. The dientes trekker needs to be self reliant and good at route finding. The 38 trail points are spread over a 53 km route, with four significant passes to cross and a myriad maze of beaver ponds and dams to negotiate in the valleys between. It is also strongly advised to follow the route from Puerto Williams, as the markers are only painted on one side. Since the markers are cairns, or rock piles, individual trail markers are often difficult to distinguish from their surround-ings without the red signage painted on to mark the route. Weather is also a strong factor, particulary the strength of the winds that sweep up from the white continent and make the passes, especially the final pass to surmoun, Paso Virginia, very dangerous. Blasts of wind strong enough to knock a heavily loaded trekker from their feet are not uncommon and come without warning. The dientes circuit is broken into five stages, each stage requiring around five hours to com-plete.With the long daylight hours of the southern hemisphere summer, some trekkers might be tempted to combine two stages into one day. While it is possible to do the circuit in four

days, it would involve a day with two passes to surmount or a very long final day, descending from the nearly 900 meter Paso Virginia back to sea level over a distance of 23 kms. The route markers end more than 300 meters above sea level, looking down on Bahia Virginia, and from there the trekker must negotiate through the cow pastures and calafate bushes to the coastal road and final 8 km´s of pavement back to Puerto Williams. Passing trucks will often stop for trekkers on the final stretch, otherwise it is about a two hour walk back to Puerto Williams. Getting to Isla Navari-no is part of the adventure itself. The patagonian airline company DAP flies a 20 odd seat twin ot-ter from Punta Areanas to Puerto Williams daily in summer. The flight over Tierra del Fuego and the Straits of Magellan is incredibly scenic and oddly enough, the least expensive option. There are now however other options. Though more expensive than flying it is possible to travel by boat from Ushuaia across the Beagle channel to Puerto Navarino and then travel the 50 odd km´s of coastal road east to Puerto Williams. For the truly intrepid traveller, the Punta Arenas based Transbordadora Austral Broom operates a once a week passenger ferry to Puerto Williams, a 30 hour trip through the Straits of Magellan and along the Beagle Channel. Though spartan in accomodations and service, the passing scenery of hanging glaciers and mountains that float on water truly convey an end of the world sensation.

Hos

tel P

usak

i

Puerto Williams, Isla Navarino

Piloto Pardo 222 [email protected] 621116-621224

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Eusebio Lillo 1417 ph 412052Puerto Natales, Chile

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The one who started it all...

Son muchos los que arriban a estas costa en la siga del pueblo más austral del mundo. Miles de aventureros recorren sus calles y visitan sus atractivos. Pero probablemente es poco lo que alcanzan a conocer de la vida en Williams y de los sueños detrás de aquellas obras. Seguramente visitarán el circuito turístico de Navarino y recorreran sus calles y sitios de interes, pero probablemente no alcanzarán a conocer los rostros detrás de los sueños que hicieron

realidad. Mundo de marineros (yaganes, exploradores, Armada, pescadores, navegantes).Pueblo chico infierno grande. Clases sociales e integración. Hace unos minutos que sobrevuelo el canal beagle a bordo del twin otter de DAP rumbo al pueblo más austral del planeta, es mi primera visita y seguramente al igual que los lectores no tengo mucha información acerca de que esperar en mi destino, en mi cabeza solo caben imaginería y nombres llenos de aventura. Como no echar a volar la imaginación al nombrar Cabo de Hornos, Paso Drake, Darwin, la última mujer Yagan. Como, en mi posición de fotógrafo, no llenar estos instantes con imágenes asombrosas de estos parajes y su gente. Lo que si tengo son nombres que hablan de los atractivos turísticos de Navarino, pero que en estos minutos de vuelo sobre las espesas nubes también se llenan de ideas y fantasía. Ukika, Omora, Micalvi, Dientes de Navarino son seguramente los mismo nombres que cada visitante trae en su morral junto a sus sueños de fin de mundo. Pero a diferencia de la mayoría de los turistas en transito, yo hice patagonia mi hogar y el destino me ha permitido venir a este fin de mundo a transformar mi imaginería en imágenes. Probablemente al comenzar su recorrido por sus calles, Puerto Williams les podrán entran similares sensaciones a las que

yo experimente. El contraste entre la pulcritud del barrio naval y la efervescencia del barrio civil.

Ya ha pasado casi una semana desde que puse mi retina por primera vez en estas costas y su gente. He recorrido sus calles, he disfrutado su gente, he heredado algunas de sus historias y he conocido a muchos de los personajes que le dan identidad a este pueblo de fin de mundo. He podido ver como en un pueblo tan aislado como este y con una escala totalmente humana de estilo de vida, esta tiene otros ritmos, adquiere otro valor y te hace vivirla de forma diferente.

Aquí, más que en ningún lugar que

haya visitado, su realidad esta construida por la vida y los sueños de personajes.

Williams, Puerto de Sueños by Diego Araya

Most of us are familiar with Africa’s famous “big five”: the buffalo, elephant, rhinoceros, lion and leopard. However, few are familiar with the Patagonian Five (probably because I just came up with it to get published).Though they are not as big or dangerous as their counterparts in Africa, the P5 prove to be just as unique and even harder to observe (except for the guanacos!). A lot of luck is needed to ob-serve all five in the park. Hopefully, the descrip-tions that follow will help trekkers in Torres del Paine be aware of what to look for and where to look for them.

GUANACO: A South American cameloid relative of the llama and the alpaca. Sleek and strong, with brownish-white bodies and long necks. They are found in the steppe areas of La-guna Amarga, Laguna Azul, on the drive from the entrance to Lago Pehoe, and Laguna Verde. Guanacos feed on grasses, lichen, and shrubs. They breed once a year and give birth to their “chulengos” between November and February. In the winter months they congragate in herds

of up to 400 animals grazing in the Lago Pehoe area of the park.

HUEMUL: The Huemul or Andean deer is a small, compact deer, that measures on average just 1.5 meters in length. They can be found on the road between the Administration and Hostería Grey, near Western Bountries, around Lago Grey, and along the Pingo tram. The Hue-mul is on the brink of extinction. Due to man’s forest fires and encroachment on its habitat now they are strictly protected. They are very shy and difficult to observe. In 1834 it was incorpo-rated into the Chilean coat of arms.

PUMA: The largest of Patagonia’s predators, pumas are closely related to the North Ameri-can mountain lion. Pumas thrive in a variety of habitats from Alaska to the bottom of Tierra del Fuego. It has the largest range of any of the big cats. It can be found both inside and outside of the park, from steppe to dense forest. The puma’s only enemy is man, they are protected by law, but are still hunted by ranchers.

Trekkers will be lucky to see more than a track.

ÑANDU: Also known as the Rhea, the ñandu is a member of the ostrich family. They are found on the main entrance drive to the park, and along the road towards Laguna Verde. There is no visual difference between male and female ñandus. The Hareem of females lay all of their eggs in one nest and the male sits on the eggs and watches over the 30 to 40 “charitas” (chicks). They are noted for their speed and zig-zag escape patterns. The Ñandu is recognized as the Chilean symbol of the Magellan region.

CONDOR: The condor is the largest member of the Vultrine family. It nests on high cliff faces and soars over the entire park. The black “fingers” at the tips of the 2.5-meter wings, plus its bright white collar, are the trademarks of this symbol of Chile. They produce only one chick every other year. The Condor appears with the huemul on the Chilean national emblem.

Finding the Patagonia 5 by bill penhollow

17

February 2007

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Covering a beautiful and varied landscape filled with valleys, rivers, lakes and the high mountainous peaks of Torres del Paine, the territory of this province extends between approximately 50 and 53 degrees of southern latitude and between 72,15 and 73,30 of occidental longitude.

There were many events that shaped the progress of its occupation and settlement, the first being the expedition of Captain Juan Fernández de Ladrillero who in 1557 navigated a large part of the maritime area, including the fjord called “Last Hope.” After more than three centuries had passed, a colony was started for the purposes of raising sheep in early 1892 thanks to the pioneering activities of Captain Hermann Eberhard and other hardworking landowners.

Without a doubt there were three important moments in the first years of the twentieth century that had an important effect on Natales’ history: the so called “Laudo Arbitral” that defined the border with Argentina in 1902, the acquisition of lands at the beginning of 1905 and the construction of the infrastructure in order to industrialize the exportation of sheep livestock by the Operating Society of Tierra del Fuego and finally, the foundation of the city of Puerto Natales in 1911.

From the time of Ladrillero until the first two decades of the twentieth century, the period to which a great part of the province’s buildings originate, it was only possible to enter by horse or boat from Punta Arenas to the eastern coast of the Almirante Montt Gulf through the Señoret Canal or Last Hope Sound. Even this didn’t prevent the precarious formation of sheep herding that extended to the Sierra Baguales in the north, to the mountainous hills in the west and occupying towards the east the lands that after the Laudo of 1902 remained in Argentinian territory. This area, however, owing to the distant and coastal Atlantic, maintained strong commercial and social links with the province of Last Hope until the advance of the twentieth century.

In the beginning of 1905, the Operating Society of Tierra del Fuego (SETF), bought the better part of the 500,000 hectares designated for sheepherding in the province, taking the place of the first landowners that had occupied those lands. In one decade, the SETF planned and brought about the construction of the origins of towns in Cerro Castillo, Cerro Guido, and the Bories Estate as well as a new network of roads and a train that transported its workers to and from Puerto Natales. The industrial establishment of Port Bories, today partly demolished, was one of the best hierarchies constructed in Chile at the beginning of the twentieth century, with a mixed architectural style of brick, wood and corrugated iron and a productive technology comparable to the industrial projects in Europe at that time.

The old parts of Cerro Castillo and the Bories Estate (today involved in other activities) are also an important inheritance given that they

conserve with great measure their spatial organization and distant warehouses for living, dining, offices and storage etc., with an esthetic austerity that remains united as a whole. Although dispersed in rural Last Hope, and of small proportions, there are many older parts such as those of Amarga Lagoon, Cerro Guido, Tres Pasos and what remains of Port Consuelo which all form the predecessors of the architectural inheritance of Last Hope.

In the Señoret Canal, in the vicinity of the Natales River (where the city of Puerto Natales got its name), some corrals, homes and scattered warehouses were gradually constructed at the end of the nineteenth century. A hotel with a general store was built by the businessman Rudolfo Stubenrauch and another was constructed by the Spaniard José Iglesias. In order to regulate this spontaneous settlement, in 1900 the government established a 200 hectares reserve and then assumed a planned design for a new village with 77 sites, finally being decreed in 1911 by the Supreme Court that officially founded the city. From this time and from an amplification of the original nucleus that was carried out in 1935, this infrastructure is in its original form with its principal streets that head towards the water and that frequently head off the wind and rain.

As testimony to the violent protests of 1919 and until the 1950’s, the majority of the workers were sheepherders from the meat packing plants of Port Bories and Port Natales and those with temporary work in the Argentine and Chilean estates.

The urban landscape was therefore of a city with apple trees surrounding the plaza and buildings bordering it with a modest architecture made of wood and corrugated iron, similar to the peripheral neighborhoods of Punta Arenas, where they had in some areas buildings made up of two floors, such as that of the Municipal building in Puerto Natales. The parochial church was the only brick building of its time and it was the work of the Salesian priest Juan Bernabé (1930). However, the artistic capacity of its settlers coming from Chiloé succeeding in setting up social meeting places and commercial establishments with distinctive characteristics that are to this day maintained as a valuable inheritance that was extended and renovated in the last few years.

Despite the fiscal investments in service and equipment brought about through the creation of the Department of New Hope (1928), with architecture different from the regional traditions, Natales recovered its urban dynamism only two decades ago as a result of the fishing and tourism industries. Because of the natural beauty that Father Dagostini discovered in this area in 1917, the Torres del Paine National Park was formed and made popular in 1961.

The Province of Last Hope by Cristina Yañez

Now printable from ANYWHERE in the

world...



18

February 2007

As you pass from street to street, be it in Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas, navigating with your trusty street-map, do you ever wonder to yourself why most of the street names are surnames and who these people actually are? Well, names of past Chilean Presidents have provided some, but as well as these guys they also honour people and places with great signifi-cance in their historic development. Here are a few principal street names from Puerto Natales. . .

LADRILLEROS Juan Ladrilleros was a Spanish sailor who in 1557 was sent by the Spanish govern-ment to find a sea exit from the Magellan Straits, west to the Pacific. Due to lack of food, energy and the loss of many men he decided that the voyage into the body of water that sur-rounds Puerto Natales would be their last hope in reaching their goal; hence the name Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope). Incidentally the Spanish government kept this blunder a secret for over 300 years!

O´HIGGINS The Liberator Bernardo O´Higgins together with Jose de San Martin crossed from Argentina with a Chilean-Argentine army and finally drove out the Spanish. He restored Chile´s independence and became Chile´s first President in 1818.

BLANCO ENCALADA The first Commander of the Chilean Navy, Manuel Blanco Encalada was born in Buenos Aires (1790), but later chose the land of his Chilean mother as his home. A great political figure who was President of the Re-public for a mere two months in 1826.

BULNES Manuel Bulnes, His military victory over the Bolivian-Peruvian confederation in 1839, secured his personal victory of becoming President of the Republic (1841-1851).

ARTURO PRATT A valiant naval captain who died at the Battle of Iquique (1879), when he boarded a Peruvian Ironclad ship, accompanied by only one sergeant.

ESMERALDA The name of Capt Arturo Pratt´s ship in the Battle of Iquique.

TOMAS ROGERS Juan Tomas Rogers, an English Cap-tain serving in the Chilean Navy, was the first visitor to arrive at Perito Moreno Glaciar. On arrival he named it Francisco Gomaz in honour of the expedition patron. Many years later the Argentineans renamed it in honour of Perito Francisco P. Moreno, an Argentine hydrographer.

BAQUEDANO General Manuel Baquedano, defeated Peru at the Battle of Los Angeles

(March 1880), captured Arica (May 1880), and later captured Lima (Jan 1881).

CHORRILLOS The site of the first battle in the wave to take Lima, Peru (Jan 1881).

BALMACEDA José Balmaceda, leader of a liberal anticlerical group prevented Argentina entering the war of the Pacific in 1878. As President of the Republic (1886-91), he introduced a wide reform program which led to civil war. He later fled to Argentina where he committed suicide.

EBERHARD Captain Hermann Eberhard was an explorer and first settler of the Province of Ultima Esperanza. He named the hill that over-looks Puerto Natales after his first daughter, DOROTEA; And from his second daughter Sofia, he named Lago SOFIA. In 1892 was it was actually one of his workers who discov-ered the famous Milodon Cave, where remains of prehistoric animals were found including saber-toothed tigres, camels, deer and of course the Milodon. Today the Eberhard family still lives on their estancia at Puerto Consuelo.

KRUGER Ricardo Kruger was a government official posted at Puerto Consuelo when the Argentinian warship (The Azopardo) arrived in 1896 to claim the area in the name of Argen-tina. Kruger declined to lower the Chilean flag and the Argentinans left without a fuss. Due to this event the Chilean government populated Puerto Pratt as a warning station for future at-tempts by the Argentine navy.

PILOTO PARDOCaptain Luis Pardo was a sailor who risked his life, and those of his men to rescue the 22 castaways from the ENDURANCE (Shack-leton Expedition 1915-16). His tugboat “The Yelcho”, had no double hull, no heating, no electric light and no radio. Despite the coura-geous acts of this man and his crew, Shackle-ton mentioned Pardo´s name only once in his 386 page book, in the preface!

PEDRO MONTT Son of the President Manuel Montt Towers, and himself became President of the Republic between 1906-1910.

Patagonia Street Smarts by Thomas S. Daly

Kooch; el creador de la Patagonia by V. Irribarra

Entre los más hermosos relatos pertenecientes a la cosmovisión del pueblo Aónikenk o Tehuelche (pueblo nómade, cazador y recolector que habitaba la región a la llegada de los Europeos junto con los kaweskar y yamanas de los canales australes y los Selk’nam de Tierra del Fuego), se encuentra el relato de la creación de la Patagonia por manos de Kooch, al cual se debería la existencia de sus inconfundibles elementos... el mar, la luz, el sol, el viento, las nubes y la vida sobre la tierra... este relato nos habla también de la cercana relación de este pueblo con la Patagonia vasta y diversa, dependiendo para su subsistencia de los recursos naturales, animales y vegetales aquí existentes. “...Dicen los antiguos que hace muchísimo tiempo no había tierra, ni mar, ni sol..... Solamente existía la densa y húmeda oscuridad de las tinieblas...En medio de ella vivía, eterno Kòoch. Nadie sabe por que, un día Kòoch, que siempre había estado “bastado a si mismo”, se sintió muy solo y se puso a llorar, lloró tantas lagrimas, durante tanto tiempo que con su llanto formo el mar, el inmenso océano donde la vista se pierde... Cuando Kòoch se dio cuenta de que el agua crecía y que estaba a punto de cubrirlo todo, dejo de llorar y suspiro. Y ese suspiro tan hondo fue el primer viento, que empezó a soplar constantemente, abriéndose paso entre la niebla y la oscuridad, así Kooch creo la luz...Algunos dicen que fue así, por los empujones del viento, que la niebla se disipo, otros creen que en la oscuridad, Kooch levanto el brazo y con su gesto

hizo un enorme tajo en las tinieblas. Dicen también que el giro de su mano origino una chispa, y que esa chispa se convirtió en el sol, Xàleshen, como llamaban los tehuelches al gran astro, el cual se levanto sobre el mar e ilumino ese paisaje magnifico.A su vez, Xaleshen formo las nubes, que de allí en masa se pusieron a vagar, incansables, por el cielo matizando el agua con su sombra, pintándola con grandes manchones oscuros... Luego Kòoch se dedico a su obra maestra. Primero hizo surgir del agua una isla muy grande, y luego dispuso allí los animales, los pájaros, los insectos y los peces. Y el viento, el sol y las nubes encontraron tan hermosa la obra de Kòoch que se pusieron de acuerdo para hacerla perdurar: el sol iluminaba y calentaba la tierra, las nubes dejaban caer la lluvia bienhechora, el viento se moderaba para dejar crecer los pastos... la vida era dulce en la pacífica isla de Kòoch. Entonces el creador, satisfecho, se alejo cruzando el mar. A su paso hizo surgir otra tierra cercana y se marcho rumbo al horizonte, de donde nunca mas volvió...” Leyenda Popular del Pueblo AónikenkEste relato mágico es una invitación de los antiguos para que durante tu estadía en la Patagonia contemples sus hermosos paisajes donde los diferentes elementos se entremezclan caprichosos para entregarnos colores, luces y formas siempre cambiantes...y tal vez la próxima ves que observes la pampa, el mar o las montañas australes recordaras que detrás de ellos esta la benevola mano de Kooch...

ÑANDÚHand Crafts

Eberhard 301 Puerto Natales, Chile ph. 414382 - 415660 - 413360Cerro Castillo ph. 691932 - 413063 ANEXO 122

Books & MapsPostcards & Stamps

Souvenirs

19

February 2007

It sounds like common sense to those of us who grew up trekking and camping, but if you do the “W” or circuit or even a Photo Safari it’s soon apparent that the common sense rule isn’t always followed. Feeding local wild animals has hazardous side effects. The food that’s offered to animals is often processed or just plain “junk food”, this is unnatural for wild animals. After a generation or two of handouts, animals lose their hunting

edge and end up suffering during the long winter season without human intrusion. These wild animals become accustomed to people they end up becoming a nuisance or even a threat, this often results in relocation at best, at worst -death!So matter what you see people do in the park - Please keep your sandwich to yourself and DON”T FEED THE ANIMALS!

Where the Wild Things Are

Castores en Magallanes y daño ecológico

Hostal

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Noventa mil son los castores que invaden la región de Magallanes. Los castores provocan graves daños ecológicos y económicos al país. El Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG) decidió establecer un plan que, entre otras cosas, permite la caza de diez mil ejemplares por año, así como la venta de su carne y sus pieles. Esta exótica especie fue introducida a Tierra del Fuego en 1946 por productores de pieles, los que se encontraban instalados en la zona del Lago Fagnano, en territorio argentino. Al cerrar la fabrica decidio liberar las parejas de castores los que rapidamente se propagaron por Argentina y Chile. Los castores son roedores, pero no roedores comunes y corrientes. De hecho, son semi-acuáticos, y su anatomía está adaptada para la vida en el agua, ya que tienen pies palmeados y cola aplanada. Nativos de América del Norte y de Europa, son los únicos miembros de la familia Castoriade que contiene un sólo género: Castor. De color marrón, excepto por su cola que es negra, son grandes arquitectos: talan árboles y embalsan las corrientes de agua para hacer lagos, en los cuales se ponen a salvo. Los diques que son capaces de construir llegan a medir ¡más de 500 m. de largo!, y son tan resistentes que soportan el peso de una persona. Se alimentan de corteza de árboles y hojas, y almacenan ramas bajo el agua para el invierno. Duermen en un enorme montículo de ramas, que construyen justo al centro de este lago. Y son muy pillos: las entradas a estos lagos están justo bajo el agua, de tal forma que pueden entrar y salir sin ser vistos. Los castores son realmente inteligentes y traba-jadores!!. Abundan en el sur de Tierra del Fuego, cerca de Puerto Williams y en todas las islas del Canal Beagle, hasta tocar el mar de Drake, la po-blación de castores en Magallanes, se estima hoy en ¡90 mil ejemplares!, cuya mayor actividad se registra en primavera y verano.

La construcción de sus “represas”, causan graves alteraciones en el ecosistema natural, desviando los cursos de agua e inundando extensas áreas de bosques de lenga y coigüe. Así se han destruido milenarios bosques nativos en la región de Ma-gallanes y se han originado cuantiosas pérdidas económicas.Pero eso no es todo, ya que, al alterarse el curso de los ríos y esteros, se provoca un anega-miento que trae como consecuencia la pérdida de praderas para el ganado. Un castor adulto puede llegar a pesar hasta ¡27 kilos! y modificar, con sus hábitos de vida, el paisaje de cientos de hectáreas de bosques y ríos. A raíz de todos estos estragos, el Servicio Agrí-cola y Ganadero (SAG) decidió autorizar la caza de diez mil ejemplares por año, así como tam-bién la venta de su carne y sus pieles. La meta del gobierno es que en el plazo de tres años se eliminen 5.000 ejemplares de la dañina especie, pero las autoridades reconocen que exterminar-los a todos es casi imposible.Fuentes: Servicio Agrícola GanaderoRevista Familia: www.familia.cl

Lago Deseado , Tierra del Fuego, Chile


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ph +56 61 414317

Patagonia

If you’re here in Puerto Natales to visit the Torres del Paine National Park, you might be here just because it’s on the “must do” list of places to visit in South America. But it is more likely that you’re here to experience the natural beauty of the place – the breathtaking view of Los Cuernos towering above the turquoise waters of Lake Nordenskjöld, the simple majesty of Las Torres viewed from the Lookout point Las Torres, the imposing presence of Paine Grande crowned by an impossibly white glacier. And if you have that appreciation for the natural world, then maybe to a greater or lesser extent you share a concern for its well-being.

The Torres del Paine National Park, like all National Parks around the world, is an ambassador for our planet, a reminder of the untameable power and the raw beauty of nature; multi-faceted, simple yet at the same time impossibly complex and well beyond the ken of mankind. Parks such as this one also offer sanctuary to the natural world from the steady, unstoppable advance of man.

Pause for a minute and compare this place with your own hometown. If you’re a city dweller, your thoughts may well be of paved streets, tall buildings, traffic jams, rush and bustle – a life a world away from the clear, pristine landscapes of this enchanted Park, but part of the same planet, a planet in need of the care and protection of every one of us.

It is easy to look at the frightening pace of technological progress in the West and the newly awakening, insatiable appetite for development in the East, and throw our hands up in resignation. What can we do? What

impact can any one individual have? True, there are overwhelming forces at work which seriously threaten our natural world and over which we have little if any influence. But if the actions of each individual are combined with those of other individuals, they really can make a difference. This doesn’t mean changing your life – being conscious of the environmental impact of your day-to-day activities and making small changes to reduce that impact is a good place to start.

Here are some ideas for while you’re travelling as well as for the longer term:1…If the water supply is drinkable, refill your water bottle from the tap (or in the Park from any of the fast-flowing mountain streams), rather than buy new plastic bottles of mineral water each time. Plastics are derived from non-renewable resources, processed using extensive chemical treatments, so as well as being non- biodegradable, they are very environmentally-damaging to produce. Every plastic bottle you throw away is a waste of precious resources.

2…Dispose of used batteries responsibly. Discarded batteries, once they start to break down, leak metals and poisons which can enter watercourses and kill plants and wildlife. Even throwing your batteries in the bin means they end up in a landfill site or worse, disposed of offshore, and will have the same damaging effect there. Look for battery collection schemes, like the one run by Fundación Patagonia (www.fundacionpatagonia.cl) in Puerto Natales.

3…Avoid buying pre-packaged food in the supermarket, buy loose fruit, vegetables and meat to cut down on the packaging you consume. Packaging uses a lot of natural resources and generally goes straight into the bin once you get home.

4…Take your own bag to the supermarket so you don’t need to use the plastic bags provided. Plastic bags cannot be recycled and take hundreds of years to biodegrade, so every one you use is adding to the millions that exist already and are filling our landfill sites or worse, littering the countryside. And every one will still be here long after your lifetime.

And once you get back home…

1…Investigate insulating your home as efficiently as possible. This will not only save you money in reduced heating bills but means you will also use less of the planet’s resources. It’s worth checking to see if your government offers grants for home insulation and upgrades to boilers/ heating systems to help meet the emissions targets set by the Kyoto agreement and others.

2…Energy-saving light bulbs are a good step too, but admittedly rather ugly. You could always hide them with a funky lampshade…

3…Look into available sources of “green” energy for your home. The vast majority of household electricity-generation still uses scarce fossil fuels and generates harmful greenhouse gases. Other options include solar or wind power, which on a small, domestic scale can be very expensive. Alternatively in some countries “green” electricity providers, which generate some if not all of their power through renewable sources, are now entering the market.

4…Ideally the fewer resources you use the better, but obviously we all use some. So whatever you do use and throw out each week, try to recycle as much as possible, be it paper, glass, plastic, tin or any other material. Look for recycling services in your area, which will give you advice on how to incorporate recycling in your home.

5…Unfortunately one of the biggest culprits of environmental damage is travel, especially air

travel. As most of us here are far from home and will need to take at least one flight to get back to family and friends, we’ll avoid the guilt trip here. One way to make amends is to join a “carbon neutralisation” or “carbon-sink” scheme, in which you can pay for trees to be planted on your behalf to absorb carbon released into the environment as a result of your action. Have a look at www.futureforests.com or www.CO2.org for more information.

There are many ways to live a more environmentally aware life; the aim here is to simply to provide a good starting point, or at least to get you thinking. So as you continue on to your next destination, may you take with you vivid memories of all you have experienced in this magical place and may they inspire you to care for our fragile planet, on whose well-being this Park, the natural world and our own future depend.

The new age of responsible travel & living by Sarah Rutter

Trail Tips...

Fuel Efficiency

While trying to pack light, taking your fuel into consideration helps. Bringing more fuel then you really need just means more weight to carry. On the other side of the coin, not enough fuel can cause problems. Here are a few ideas to make the most of your fuel.1. Don´t over boil your water, it can only get so hot. Leaving the water boiling after its first moment is a waste. Lighting the stove before you are ready to start a boil is also only heating the fresh air.2. Use a lid on your pot. It holds the heat in and allows for a faster boil.3, Use a wind screen. Wind will carry your heat from under your pot and redirect it from your food. Using a wind shield will aim the heat up and under your pot. If you don´t have a aluminum wind screen, rock from your campsite will also help protect your heat.-4. Many outdoor manufactures (such as MSR) now make heat exchangers that fit around your pot as an insulation. Between this and a wind screen, you can cook in almost any conditions.

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February 2007

HOTEL ALCAZAR

M.Balmaceda 722 • 412889 [email protected]

...with all private bathrooms

Mountain Shelters : Grey - DicksonCampings: Grey - Dickson - Los Perros

Cama - Ducha - Comidas - Bar / Bed - Shower - Meals - Bar - Rental EquipmentReservas para todos los refugios y Programas con full servicio - Bus Regular al Parque

Reservations for all the shelters & Full Service Programs - Regular Bus to the Park

Torres del Paine National Park

[email protected] +56-61 412592

Phone / Fax 56•61•415285

Handmade ChocolateGourmet EspressoReal Hot Chocolate

Barros Arana 233, Puerto NatalesPatagonia, Chile

Mmmm...

How is the skiing and snowboarding here in South America? What is the snow like? Are there smaller ski centers that have fewer crowds? Where can I find backcountry access? I’ve guided ski tours in Chile and Argentina for years and have put together a few suggestions so that you can start planning your next winter vacation to South America.

The ski season in most of South America typi-cally runs from mid-June until mid-September. Many ski areas will open early if they have the snow, while others will end their season on a specific date not dependent on conditions.

To avoid long lift lines and bigger crowds aim to ski in August and September. Mid to late July is vacation time for most residents of South America resulting in long lift lines and heated ski pole fights among groups of kids in line.

South American powder is mostly light and fluffy. And, yes you will run into times when

it’ll dump up to a meter of snow over-night. You’ll be ripping fresh powder all day long and loving life. But be prepared for these conditions by car-rying some necessary items. First of all, you’ll need goggles that help you see better in flat light. Many of the ski areas here have no trees and during a white-out you can easily become disoriented.If you plan on doing backcountry skiing you should not go without a shovel, probe and beacon or transmit-ter. Also, have some knowledge of avalanche safety and if you do not feel comfortable please hire one of the many guiding services that are avail-able in Chile and Argentina.

Do you like access to huge ski areas that have hotels, bars, discotheques and other luxuries? Go to Las Lenas, Argentina; Portillo, Chile; Cerro Catedral outside of Bariloche, Argen-

tina; Valle Nevado, La Parva, and El Colorado outside of Santiago.Do you prefer a more off-the-beaten track type of area? Go to Termas de Chillan, Chile; Pucon and Antillanca, Chile; La Hoya, Cerro Bayo, and Chapelco in Argentina.

Ski PatagoniaWhy not ski at the bottom of the world? Go to the beautiful town of Ushuaia, Argentina and ski at Cerro Castor which is about a 30 minute bus ride from town. You will be amazed by the fantastic views and steep terrain. Half of the ski area is above the tree line and that’s where you’ll find some great off-piste backcountry stashes. If you are a bit more adventurous you can hire local guides to take you to untouched backcountry lines nearby - just be prepared to hike for a couple hours to get at it. Cerro Castor lays claim to the title of being open latest in the season until mid-October.

Down the road in Punta Arenas you can ski at the Club Andino de Punta Arenas. This ski area has great views of Punta Arenas and Strait of Magellan. There usually aren’t any crowds here, and you’ll enjoy skiing runs lined by lengua trees. At the top you can take off your board or skis and take in the panoramic view of the region.

Your first step to skiing in Chile and Argentina is to do an internet search under the same topic where you’ll encounter websites from guiding companies, ski centers and transport that want you experience this sprouting sector of winter tourism in South America.

Skiing in Chile photos & text by Brian Wiley


KAWESKAR

Blanco Encalada 754 · 414553Puerto Nartales, Chile

...and the backpackers shall inherit the earth...

HOSTEL NIKO’S IIA d v e n t u r e Tr a v e l A g e n c y

Phillipi 528 - Puerto Natales, Chile 56-61 413543www.nikostwoadventure.com

*Regular Daily buses to Torres del Paine*Regular One Day Tours to Torres del Paine

*Excursions to Torres Base

Km.38 norte, Comuna Torres del Payne Patagonia Chile

Hotel Posada Tres PasosYour country hotel...

Tel:(56) (2) 1969630 [email protected]

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Recycling takes place all over the world; in different ways and at very different levels. It is important, because it ensures using less sparse space in landfills, but even more because recycling puts less pressure on limited resources, mainly by the more energy friendly production process of for example glass, aluminum and plastic products. In Puerto Natales, recycling is a relatively new phenomenon. This is not only because of a lack of attention and awareness; an even more important factor has been the missing recycling infrastructure. Just separating your garbage does not take you that far if there is no service to collect separated items nor infrastructure to bring them to a recycling plant. Definitely, there have been a lot of initiatives that have formed the basis for the current achievements in the area of recycling. Fundación Patagonia has been collecting batteries for a couple of years know, Don Ramon Gomez helped making a start of glass recycling, by collecting glass bottles separately and using his terrain to store them. Other initiatives have been taken by Don Juan Navarro Guenten who collects aluminum cans and café/restaurant El Living that has been sending carton boxes for recycling to Santiago. All these good initiatives together and the apparent will of people and businesses in

Puerto Natales to help recycling become reality, has resulted in extending the separated collection of glass, to collection of plastic bottles, aluminum cans and tetra pak. From the 1st of February onwards, every Wednesday afternoon after 14:30, Don Ramon Gomez will make sure a truck makes a round through Puerto Natales to pick up these four separated items at over 25 places restaurants, bars and hostels. Furthermore, households or businesses along the route that want to join can put their glass, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and drink cartons outside to be picked up. If you’re not on the route, but want to join this initiative please contact Ramon Gomez 99189364 or [email protected] or Marjan Alkema 91408006 or [email protected]

Did you know..?.. there are more than 8 kinds of plastics that have to be separated from each other to be able to recycle them?.. Natales produces about 9 tons of plastic in waste every MONTH!?.. more than half of all waste we produce is organic and could be able to used as compost and produce fertilizer?

Recycling in Puerto Natales

Glas – This material can be used over and over again. Right now there are over 25 businesses in Puerto Natales, mostly restaurants, bars and hostels that participate in glass recycling. The glass is send to Foundation Coaniquem that sells it. The profit supports the foundation, that helps children with burns with their rehabilitation and works in the prevention of burns as well.

Aluminum Cans – There have been some initiatives to collect aluminum cans for recycling in Puerto Natales. Don Juan Navarro Guenten has been collecting them on Saturdays. The cans collected from restaurants are sent to Temuco via the Navimag boat for recycling into new cans. From February onwards it is also possible to put your cans at the side of the road, helping the re-use of aluminum.

Drink Cartons –With the recycling of drink cartons you are not only helping the environment, but also supporting the foundation

‘Un Techo Para Chile’. The material is recycled into panels that are used to build houses for families to improve their living conditions.

Plastic Bottles – Plastic is one of the most difficult products to recycle. To do so you have to separate the different kinds of plastic, which makes it much more complicated than recycling glass for example. Plastic bottles are one of the most easy to identify plastics. After reducing the plastic to powder it can be molded again into bottles or other type 1 plastics (PET).

Batteries – Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel, which are very contaminating for the environment. Make sure you dispose of all your batteries in the Fundacion Patagonia boxes located in the post office and in some travel agencies around town. Otherwise they will go to the landfill site with all the rest of the rubbish!

Where do our recycles go?

Local business Erratic rock wanted to make recycling visible. They wanted to find an easy wayto give their guests the possibility to participate without having to think about it. They want to recycle everything that is now possible in Puerto Natales; batteries, glass, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and drink cartons, but are confronted with limited space in the hostel kitchen to do so. With help from travellers on a sunny afternoon, efforts where joined and the ‘Recycle Center’ was born. An easy way to separate the recycles in the kitchen, without confusion or complications.

With the new possibilities for recycling present in Puerto Natales, we like to invite everybody; hostels, households and businesses to join this initiative for easy recycling. For more information on how to get your own recycle center contact erratic rock 410355 or Marjan Alkema 91408006

Hostel Recycling for Eco-friendly travelers

More than 20,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of aluminum foil. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.

Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute!

A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

Motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, re-refined and used again.

On average, each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. This adds up to almost a ton of trash per person, per year.

A typical family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gal-lons of juice, 104 gallons

26 recycled PET bottles equals a polyester suit. 5 recycled PET bottles make enough fiberfill to stuff a ski jacket.

About one-third of an average dump is made up of packaging material.

The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world’s people generate 40% of the world’s waste.

The highest point in Ohio State, USA is “Mount Rumpke,” which is actually a mountain of trash at the Rumpke sanitary landfill.

The US population discards each year 16,000,000,000 diapers, 1,600,000,000 pens,

2,000,000,000 razor blades, 220,000,000 car tires, and enough aluminum to rebuild the US commercial air fleet four times over.

The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.

A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it’s in the landfill.

Mining and transporting raw materials for glass pro-duces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.

An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!

There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can can be recycled.

Once an aluminum can is recycled, it can be part of a new can within six weeks.

Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

Recycling aluminum takes only 5% of the energy needed to manufacture it from raw material.

Miscellaneous Recycling Facts

Thinking Globally,Acting Locally.

-The Recycling Pages

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February 2007

These Puerto Natales businesses are

already helping, by recycling their glass:

Mandala AndinoRemota

IndigoAltiplano

TorreAquaterra

Asador PatagonicoHostel Natales

Emporio de la PampaEl Living

Parilla Don JorgeDon Pepe

La Ventana AzulOveja NegraLos Viajeros

Costa AustralisKaweskar

Erratic RockWeskar

Turismo 21 de MayoEl Ruperto

Chill-eAngelicas

Mesita GrandeLa Tranquera

Charles DarwinMilodon

Patagonia Dulce

The penguin connection.

Downtown Punta Arenaswww.aonikenk.com

Magallanes 619 Call 221982

Bories House in Patagonia but not

entirely of it. Go there to get away

without leaving it all behind.

* * * H o r s e R i d i n g Av a i l a b l e * * *

Reservations: (+56-61) 412221Puerto Bories 13b, Puerto Natales, Chile

www.borieshouse.com · [email protected] transfer service from Puerto Natales

Buy localIf you would like some vegetables go to the local markets on Angamos (leading on from Baquedano) next to the local handicraft market. The mainly female farmers are part of a government funded project to provide Natales with local produce instead of relying on shipments from the north. They sell fresh, mainly organic produce grown on their small plots or in greenhouses just outside Natales. On offer at present you can find lettuce, cabbage, beetroot, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, coriander, parsley, radishes, courgettes some strawberries and free range eggs as well as rhubarb jam. You can also donate your spare plastic bags to them. Open 10-1 and in the afternoons after 3. Only a few open on Sundays.

WaterYes you can drink the local water- it is safe and does not need to be boiled or treated. In restaurants ask for “agua de la llave”. Some tourists have reported that restaurants won´t serve tap water and insist on them buying agua mineral. Don´t let them get away with it!

Plastic bags Yes they are very useful for camping but if you don´t need them resist the double bagging that goes on in the supermarkets here. Often each product gets a new bag too. These bags usually end up in the trees here having been blown by the wind.

Other tips on using resources wisely:

Ban the Bags! If you weren’t sleeping when getting here by bus, then you have probably seen the horrific sight of the “plastic bag graveyards” of this small city with little environmental awareness. Every small bush, big enough to catch some wind, is decorated with a thin flapping bag from the size of a milk carton to shopping bag size. These plastic monsters are distributed with every single article you buy in Puerto Natales, their sizes adapting to the size of your purchase. Every piece of fruit, every toothbrush or every postcard you buy will be enveloped with plastic, as long as you don’t object. An average weekly visit to the supermarket will bring you home with an average of 8 plastic bags!! This and the view of the surroundings of the town makes me feel as if everybody makes a sport of getting as many as they can and

make them fly as far as possible…So the idea for a project to eliminate the plastic bags from the stores in Puerto Natales was easily born. The Enviu foundation together with the Fundación Patagonia is taking steps to imply

a system, in the largest supermarkets in town to start with firm reusable

plastic bags, with an environmental

educative message, that has to be paid a small amount of money for. This should eliminate a fair amount

of the plastic bags that are being

distributed every day and stimulate

other shops to join the club. And then it is only a

matter of cleaning up the graveyards in order to enjoy again the sight of yellow flowers en blue berries of the Calafate bushes surrounding Puerto Natales!

El calentamiento global de la Tierra ha comenzado a hacerse sentir en los hielos de la Antártica, donde se ha produ-cido un repliegue de la mayoría de sus grandes glaciares.

La investigación, realizada por científicos estadounidenses y británicos, indicó que de un total de 244 glaciares marinos, un 87 por ciento ha registrado una retracción en los últimos 50 años, periodo en el que la temperatura ha aumentado 2,5 grados centígrados. Según los científicos, ese repliegue o empequeñecimiento se ha debido principalmente a la pérdida de las plataformas de hielo flotantes en los extremos de cada uno de esos enormes ríos de agua dulce congelada que terminan en el mar. El estudio realizado por científicos del Consejo de Investiga-ciones del Ambiente del Instituto Antártico Británico y el Insti-tuto Geológico de EEUU constató que en los últimos años del siglo XX se han retirado al menos diez plataformas de hielo. “Debido a que sabemos que la pérdida de estas plataformas pu-ede causar una aceleración de los glaciares, las observaciones sugieren que la pérdida acumulativa en el frente de los glaci-ares puede conducir a un mayor drenaje de la Península Antár-tica que es mayor de lo que se pensaba hasta ahora”.Al igual que otros estudios sobre el calentamiento global, que han pronosticado que la causa principal es la acumulación de gases invernadero (particularmente dióxido de carbono), los científicos indicaron que el acelerado repliegue de los glaciares y su descenso sobre el océano podría aumentar el nivel de los mares. La desaparición de otras plataformas “podría incrementar más aún el desequilibrio y hacer con ello una contribución sustan-cial al aumento del nivel oceánico”, señalaron los científicos en el informe sobre su investigación. La retirada de los gla-ciares debida a la descongelación se ha generalizado después de comenzar en el extremo norte y el sector más cálido de la península Antártica para extenderse hacia la tierra firme del continente helado donde las temperaturas son más frías. La rapidez con que se ha producido el fenómeno sugiere que el calentamiento global no es el único factor que lo ha provo-cado y agregan que otro podría ser el cambio de temperatura marina.

Aun cuando ocurriría de manera gradual en el curso de varias décadas, un mayor nivel del mar despojaría de tierras costeras a muchos países y territorios, además de influir en la clima-tología de todo el planeta, han advertido los científicos.

Perjudicial efecto del calentamiento de la Tierra en la Antártica

Extracto de revista “Science”

...run by backpackers,

not buisness men.

Join the rucksack revolution.baquedano 719 Purto Natales, Chile


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The PATAGONIA EXPEDITION RACE is an

international sports event that combines the spirit of expedition and adventure. It´s a voyage to the faraway, to the unknown, to virgin and wild territories, which make teamwork essential. It´s a race characterized by the mystics of exploring, discovering and dealing with untamed nature. It´s the adventure at the end of the world. In every edition, there is a new route in the geographic area between 49º and 56º Southern Latitude. An extensive area where you can find the Southern Ice Field, Torres del Paine National

Park, the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego, the Darwin Range, the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. The race goes through very diverse landscapes with strong climatic contrasts.To compete, mixed groups of four are formed that have to find their way through mountains, glacial valleys, native forests, swamp areas, rivers, lakes and canals. Fundamental disciplines are: mountain biking, trekking, kayaking, orientation, rope management, team work and strategy. In the three summer editions (2004, 2005 and 2006) athletes from 16 different countries have raced: The United States, Canada, New

Zealand, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Spain, France, Germany, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.Next edition:The 11th of February 2007, the fourth edition of the PATAGONIA EXPEDITION RACE will start. In this new challenge athletes from Europe, North- and South America will race in the longest expedition in the history of expedition races. It will be 1.100 kilometres of adventure, up to 14 days of crossing the extreme south of Chilean Patagonia. For more information contact www.patagoniaexpeditionrace.com.

Patagonia Expedition RaceThe adventure at the end of the world

Documents

Black Sheep Feb 07