Parque Nacional La Campana

Last weekend, we went on a short camping trip to Parque Nacional La Campana, which is about an hour and a half outside of Santiago. We went up Friday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We mainly wanted to test out some of the fixes and alterations made by Drew and his Dad in the van over the last few weeks. We were also meeting a Dad friend and his two kids, who joined us on Saturday and camped in a tent Saturday night. We went for a nice hike on Saturday, which was decently long, about 8 miles, a new record for the boys. It had very moderate elevation gain and ended in a waterfall. 

The National Park is known for having enormous palm trees in it, the biggest I had ever seen for sure. Below is the AI explanation about why the trees are special. 

The palm trees in Parque Nacional La Campana are particularly special because they constitute one of the last and largest natural forests (palmares) of the Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis) left in the world.

This species has several unique characteristics and ecological significance:

1. The Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis)

• Endemic and Vulnerable: The palm is endemic to the Mediterranean zone of central Chile, meaning it grows nowhere else naturally. It is currently classified as Vulnerable due to threats like forest fires, herbivory in its early stages, and the historical commercial exploitation of its sap and fruits (known as coquitos).

• A "Living Fossil" and Megafauna Survivor: The Chilean Palm is considered a "living fossil" that has survived for over 10,000 years, dating back to a time when mastodons roamed the area. It is believed that the seeds were once dispersed by these giant animals.

• Impressive Size and Longevity: It is one of the largest palm species in the world, capable of reaching heights of up to 30 meters. It also has a remarkably long lifespan, with some individuals estimated to live for over 500 years.

• The Most Austral Continental Palm: It holds the distinction of being the most southern continental palm species in the world.

The waterfall at the end of the hike wasn't super spectacular, but the rocks that formed the cliff that it went over were very interesting. Very jagged and stair-steppy. 

View of the valley with the large palm tree grove. The terrain felt very similar to Colorado except with these giant palm trees!

Because our friends were sleeping in a tent, we actually camped at a private campground just outside the park. These private campgrounds are very common throughout Chile, more common than official government run ones. Imagine a mom and pop KOA campground. This one actually had three pools of various depths, a playground, a soccer field, lots of tables and grills for cookouts, bathrooms with showers, and a few cabañas available for rent. Very family friendly space, and the boys and their friends had a blast. And the view was lovely. The largest mountain in the picture below is why the National Park is called "La Campana," aka The Bell!

5 stars. Would camp here again. 

Kermesse and Halloween

Back at the end of October, the boys' school held their annual Kermesse, which means a charity fair. They were raising money to put into a scholarship fund for families who experience unexpected changes in circumstance and need assistance with tuition. The fair was a ton of fun. It had alot of the same games as the Fonda we went to for Fiestas de Patrias, except it was much cheaper. Each game was like $0.50, compared to $2/game at the Fonda. The boys had a blast. Drew's Dad was also visiting during this, so he got to experience the fun too.  Brian came down for two weeks to work with Drew on Don Diego and Poquito Tito. He and Karen will be back in a month, and then we're off on our big adventure!

Some of the games were quite hard, like throwing the dart to pop a balloon, but you had to get two out of three! Not a high probability of winning, but the boys loved it anyways. 

Knocking over the duckies with a water gun, in contrast, was absurdly easy. Prizes for everyone!

They also had jumpy houses, and this inflated ring with a rotating high and low bar that the kids had to clear. They loved it, despite getting thumped a few times.

Local vendors were selling food as well, so we had to partake in a mote con huesillo, which is a stewed peach with husked wheat at the bottom. It's better than it sounds. But a bit awkward to eat/drink. A drinkable edible. An edible drink. 

The following week was Halloween, so we got to see how they celebrate down in Chile. The honest truth is Halloween is a US tradition that is only just starting to take off here, probably due to larger grocery stores like Lider (Walmart) marketing to it. We did find pumpkins, although we were the only people I know who carved them.  Our neighborhood had a block party on that Wednesday, which was fun, and mostly involved treats and costumes. The boys actually had the Halloween Friday off from school because it's technically All Saints Day, and is a Holiday in Chile. The boy's school did not celebrate Halloween whatsoever. No class party, no costumes to school, nada. 

We did go trick-or-treating with some of Emerson's classmates, or as they say here "Dulce o Truco!" Avery was a police officer, and Emerson was a ninja. The most popular Halloween costume by far was some character from K-Pop Demon Hunters. If you haven't heard the songs or watched the movie, just wait; the catchy tunes will find you. Damn you, addictive K-Pop. 

My favorite costume of the night was the inflatable Capybara! 

Trick-or-treating is strange here for a couple reasons. 1. Most home have fences. And not like dainty picket fences, but industrial fences you can't see through. So it's hard to know who is participating. Some people hung Halloween decor on their fence, which was immensely helpful. If you're trying to trick-or-treat in an apartment building, you're going up and down stairs all night?? 

2. It's springtime time here. Flowers are in bloom, butterflies are flying, and sunset is at 8:30pm. So we're trick-or-treating in the daylight (which I don't mind, but definitely doesn't have the same vibes), with beautiful things all around us. No death and darkness here. Drew and I dressed up like stereotypical gringo explorers, which is not at all far from the truth. 

Before and after trick-or-treating, we had an asado (BBQ) at the house of one of Emerson's classmates. This dad has a proper Quincho (grill setup) in his backyard, making it a fun time. This is what every asado looks like. The guys stand around the parilla (grill), and grill meat, and shoot the shit. The women sit somewhere else, in this case on some outdoor patio furniture, and drink wine, and gossip, and eat cheese and crackers. A handful of times they mix up, but not a lot.  When the meat is pulled off the grill, it's sliced into thin, bite-sized strips on a cutting board, and one man passes it around like a cater waiter, with everyone grabbing one little bite at a time. There is no giant steak for each person. There is no sitting down at a formal table. There are no plates! "Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! Talk a lot, pick a little more....."

I'd give Halloween here a C+. Until next year, little skeleton puppy and black cat. 

Bahai Temple and Quebrada de Macul

Last Thursday, the boys were off of school as it was "Teacher's Day." We decided to use the day off to explore a side of town called Peñalolén, which is about 30 min southeast of us with no traffic. The first place we explored was called the Bahá'í Temple. The temple is a house of worship for the Bahá'í Faith, which "teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people." The temple is open to all faiths and backgrounds and was inaugurated in 2016 as the continental temple for the Bahá'í Faith in South America. There are many other temples around the world. 

When you're visiting the temple, inside you're supposed to be completely silent. Of course, that's not the case when they have their pray services, which I think they hold every Sunday. But, apparently musical instruments are never allowed. No idea why. 

All Bahá'í Temples are circular and nine-sided. This one has nine entrances as well as nine spiraling paths outwards into nature. It's almost like a lotus flower and evokes this really lovely, nature filled feeling. The founder of this faith wrote "O people of the world! Build ye houses of worship throughout the lands in the name of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make them as perfect as is possible in the world of being, and adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and effigies. Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate." Nice. The writing at the apex of the building says "O Thou Glory of the Most Glorious" in Arabic and is the only iconography in the whole place.

View of the temple from above with the lovely spiral paths and gardens. 

After the Bahá'í Temple, we went to the Parque Natural Quebrada de Macul. A quebrada is like a ravine, and the Macul is the name of a creek. It was a nice nature area where you can hike to a few nice creek access points. It is also the trailhead for a few other much longer hikes. Our main goal was to find bugs for Rosie to eat, so we were going slow, turning over rocks. We met another dad and son with a similar mission, bug finding, and the boys quickly became fast friends. The dad was super knowledgeable as well, which was useful as some of the bugs we found we had never seen before and looked prehistoric. 

Itty bitty scorpion! No, we did not take this home.

Can't say I have ever seen a bug like this before. Doesn't bite, just looks bizarre.

The boys had a great time playing around in the river. We also saw a fox right in this same area. Super cool.

They blend in pretty well, but look right in the middle of the photo below, and you'll see 5 friends totally submerged except for their heads in a little pool in the river. The water is pretty cold though, no thermal pools here! 

On a side bar, Drew has decided to grow out his hair into a man bun, since he has no corporate obligations at the moment. He still needs to use bobby pins but he's close. No time like the present!

Just a cute picture of Avery at a recent asado we hosted. 

Camping Chivato and Rosie

October 10-12, so Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, we went on a camping trip with other families from Avery's Kinder class. The classes are VERY intentional about spending time together, as the kids will be with each other all the way through 12th grade, more or less, so it's very important to the parents that the kids are close, and the parents as well. The friendships made in "colegio" (K-12) are friendships that will last the rest of a Chilean kid's life. So many of our friend of a friend of a friend connections here are from colegio friendships. They are even more important than university friends, because most kids live at home during university, so the bond there doesn't grow as strong. But it is apparently unusual for a class to bond via camping. Our particular Kinder class parents are just a bit more outdoorsy than most, and they like camping. Well, we were all about it. 

Getting to the campsite was a bit of an adventure. Drew had taken the van into the Mercedes dealership three days prior to get the 300km full maintenance done, which, kudos to him for being proactive about that. But 40 min into driving, the oil warning light came on with the message "Hi" being displayed on the dash. We were actually right next to the Mercedes Dealership where the work was done when the light came on, so we took it there and asked what was up. They tested the oil level, said it was fine, took it for another test drive, said everything was fine, and declared it must be a faulty sensor. Drew rightly didn't believe them, so we began using Gemini to figure out what was wrong. Apparently it is a very common problem for Mercedes Sprinters to get a smidge too much oil after an oil change, and the engines are very sensitive to the level being just right. So after another while, when the light came back on after the engine was warmed up again and the oil had expanded, we made our way to another mechanic shop we found on the way, which, at this point we were outside the city, and there were no bigger towns on our way to our camping location, so this meant the mechanic shop was really a guy working out of his house. But, he had legit tools to do the job, meaning a code reader, blocks, and a bucket, jajaja, so we had him drain out a half liter or so of oil and voilá! Problem solved. But it turned our 2.5 hour drive into a 5 hour one. But it was a good practice in patience for both us and the boys, as, undoubtedly, this sort of thing is going to happen on our trip down south this summer. And we need to be able to adapt and relax and enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Because ultimately, we're getting to spend time with each other regardless, and isn't that the whole point anyways? 

This is the view from our campsite (Drew actually took it from the top of the van). You can see the ocean, as well as a fence surrounding the entire property. Chileans are serious about the ocean being dangerous, and they definitely don't allow kids to play there unattended, hence the fence. Each campsite had its own quincho (charcoal/wood grill) as well as a picnic table, electricity, and a shade structure. Behind our site was a bath house with running water, sinks for washing dishes, and showers. This is apparently the preferred way to camp in Chile: tent camping, but at a site with amenities.  We were the only family out of probably a dozen that was sleeping not in a tent. One family did rent a cabaña that was up the hill to sleep in a real bed. It was a very fun weekend, as the kids could run amuck, and we took up an entire row of campsites, so we had an entire section of the campsite to ourselves. There was one main site, the one closest to the water, that was our main cooksite for the group. You were on your own for breakfasts, but each lunch and dinner was a communal asado (BBQ) with all the food provided. Our plug in cooler definitely came in handy for this, as we were the keeper of all the meats.

 

Going to the beach in Chile is definitely a different experience than in other parts of the world. It was a bit windy on Saturday, so between the wind, the springtime temperatures, and the cold water, I was FREEZING, hence why Avery and I are cuddled up under some towels. I haven't actually been to a Chilean beach yet where it was hot enough that I wanted to layout and sunbathe. But I suppose my skin will thank me when I'm older. And the kids still love it, as all they really care about is playing in the sand. 

Obligatory football matches.

Asado. Always salchichas (hotdogs) for the kids, chorizo for choripan, and beef in large chunks for sharing between the adults. 

Friday night we stayed up later than normal for a couple of reasons. One, we didn't arrive til 7pm due to our fun oil level adventure, and they didn't have food coming off the grill until 8pm. 9pm was marshmallow time, which is funny for us, because the concept of a complete s'more doesn't exist here. It's just roasted marshmallows and that's it. By 10pm, we were hauling the kids to bed, the first family to do so. Bedtimes here in Chile are very optional. They don't seem to place the same emphasis on sleep routines as we do in the States. I guess I should clarify; they don't place the same emphasis on sleep routines as I do, because I will admit, I am much stricter than most. Anyways, the boys were for sure grouchy the next day, so we cut out early on Saturday night and had the boys in bed by 9pm. But many parents said the next day they didn't go to bed til 11pm or 12am, and the kids stayed up with them the whole time. To each their own, I guess. 

The final highlight of the trip was that on Friday night, Drew saw a tarantula making its way across the main campsite, so he, of course, captured it in a cup, then transferred it to a box we had, and it became the mascot of the trip. All the kids wanted to see it, and Emerson took great pride in keeping her safe. Well, in a family vote, I lost 1-3 to keep it as a pet, so now we have a pet tarantula named Rosie in the apartment. Welcome Rosie! No, we will not be taking her on the trip South. No, she will not come with us back to the States. She will be a short term pet, and then she will be released back into her natural habitat.