Michal Knitl

On the sOuth aMerican vibevolume 1: volunteering, couchsurfing and hiking in uruguay, argentina and chile

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

St. Augustine

Text © 2012 Michal KnitlPhotography © 2012 Michal KnitlTranslation of Preface: Ján KrištínTranslation of Text: Ivana KrekáňováTranslation of Appendix: Iveta Rohošková and Michal KnitlCorrection of Preface: Smith ThepvongsProof reading and copy editing: Markus Petz2nd English ebook edition

ISBN 978-80-971167-6-7

Copying or sharing the contents of this book without the author's permission is forbidden.If you did not buy this book, please send me a suitable donation.I will not be trying to find you, but it will help me and my friends, who did alot of work with this translation to continue to work on more travel writings. For more information please visit my website: http://www.michalknitl.com Thank You.

What’s new in the Second edition• New subchapters• Added appendices• Added author’s note• Proof reading and copy editing by Markus Petz

Michal Knitl

On the south american vibe

Volume 1: Volunteering, couchsurfing and hiking in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile

I would like to thank my family, friends and all those I have met during the most amazing time of my life for their support.

My thanks go also to the people who helped me with the preparation of this book. Jarmila Javorská, Michal Meško, Matúš Mládek and Ľubo Mäkký introduced me to the issues of printing and publishing of books. I would like to thank Rasťo Mikuláš, Soňa Mäkká, Tomáš Sabo and Matúš Klčo for their good advices and comments. My thanks go also to Peťo Netri for the first lesson on page make-up, with which the practical advice of Matteo Bre helped a lot. Tomáš Záhumenský, Hanka Šišková, Peťo Chrenka and Zuzka Čierna helped me with the selection of photographs for the book. I thank also Tomáš Pospíchal for his help with the creation of this publication. I am very thankful for the valuable advice gleaned from many years of experience by Ľuboš Minárik, which helped me with the final modifications.

The first part of the book was translated thanks to Ivana Krekáňová, a professional translator, who after reading the book wrote me an email with words saying that the book was worthy of translation and that she would like to do it. The preface was translated thanks to my grandfather Ján Krištín and most of the appendices by Iveta Rohošková. The rest of them and the text below the photos were prepared by the author.

The first grammar check of the preface and the first chapter was done by Smith Thepvongs, a friend, whom I had met in the Swiss mountains. Markus Petz from the United Kingdom did lots of work on the grammar and made a brilliant check of the whole text. He is a friend from the Eurizons campaign, without which the text would not have been paced as well as it is.

As I could not afford to pay them beforehand, they both worked hard for many hours and days for free and they will get paid only when the book is sold. I hope that the time they used was for a good purpose and after reading this book you will go on to discover new places as well.

To the glaciers, mountains, pampas, rainforests of South America and your inhabitants, without you this book would not have been possible.

Michal Knitl, October 2012

PrefaceIt is eight years now since I began travelling. It all started in San Diego, United States of America, where I went to work

and travel with a friend, during the summer holidays following my second year of study at university. The following summer, I took two trips around Europe and began participating in the activities organised by the youth organisation Plusko. Then came more university studies in Portugal, hitch-hiking across Europe (as part of the Eurizons campaign), followed by a nine-month voluntary work placement with youth in Finland and finally, travelling home through Norway. After graduation at university I became a snowboard instructor and after one winter season I decided to visit "my family" in Finland. During the visit there, my next project, aimed at working with young people, was approved and my "pilgrimage" across South America could begin.

Since leaving Uruguay, I started writing regular traveller notes, and the idea of the publishing of this journal as a book came to me during my visit to Mateo. I have tried to capture life’s moments, the habits and conventions of the people that I met, as well as information I thought would be useful to every traveller traversing this marvellous continent. From Tango up to Samba, from whales to pumas, from desert to jungle to glaciers: that is South America. And also the countries which I have visited: Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

I have visited many places popular with tourists, but always felt better in wild and unrestrained nature. In this part of the book I will focus on the first eight of fifteen months of travel, which, as a whole trip, could be divided into three large parts, with much overlapping.

More than half of the time I spent as a volunteer. The first three months I worked on a European Voluntary Service project focused on young children from poor families in the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. In Chile, I helped for two weeks around a house near the town Melipeuco and for three weeks I assisted Mateo, who had taken on a job of much loneliness in one remote fjord in Patagonia.

Several weeks I spent in a tent in the wonderful wilderness of the Patagonian national parks. When I imagine, that before leaving home I had never slept or hiked alone in nature with a tent, it is amazing, how easily I just bought a tent one day and another went off to the hills. In every following hiking trip I went to nature for longer and longer. I started slowly with short hikes with views of volcanoes and evergreen forests, in the areas of Pucon and Puerto Montt; later I hiked for a week near the pastel-coloured Fitz Roy; the glaciers and peaks of Torres del Paine; and one of the southern-most hikes on the Earth, Dientes del Pavarino.

The rest of the time I spent in towns and villages with locals, mostly with people from the CouchSurfing and HospitalityClub networks. Thanks to these websites, I had the possibility to meet local people, people with open minds that showed me how one lives in their country and what they do in every day life. This travelling mode I learned from a friend toward the end of 2005. At that time I became a member of the organisation Servas, which was founded in 1949 with the idea to spread tolerance and peace by means of travelling. At the turn of the century, Veit, a German student had had the idea to create an organisation with the same ideals, but with the Internet. As members of Servas are mostly older people, the core membership did not wish to circulate personal data on the Internet. That was one reason why www.hospitalityclub.org was founded as a separate organisation. Although www.couchsurfing.org was established some years later, it now is perhaps the most widely-used organisation of this kind, with more than three and a half million members worldwide. The formation of CouchSurfing began when one American named Casey, took a trip to Iceland, only because he had found a cheap air ticket there. He wrote to the students in the capital asking if he could stay on their "couch". He received a lot of answers, had a beautiful time, and so started what would later become the CouchSurfing we know nowadays. Every member has a profile. Security is ensured by three ways: by means of references based on a personal vis-à-vis meeting; name and address verification, after a voluntary financial contribution; and by vouching for a member by another member who has already been verified by at least three members. Since I became a member of this organisation, I could not imagine travelling without it. Although I took my first visit through CouchSurfing more because it was free accommodation, I found out very soon that the main idea was about something different.

Nothing better exists to meet local people, see their culture, habits, home life, and the conditions under which they live and views about their own country. They are familiar with places, which conventional tourists never reach, and so the experiences gained from travelling are remarkably deeper. While travelling across Europe, I was mostly received by young people renting privately; in South America I visited more than 60 people, mostly families.

This book is also about it. I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Table of ContentsEuropean Voluntary Service in Uruguay ................................................................................................................................11

Happy as a Clam ............................................................................................................................................................................. 14A True Belief .................................................................................................................................................................................... 18Leisure Time of the Casa Joven Children ......................................................................................................................................... 21Life in the Capital ............................................................................................................................................................................ 23Living in the Dream of Love ............................................................................................................................................................. 28

From Uruguay to Uruguay or 5 Months in Patagonia ............................................................................................................33Light Touch with Argentina ............................................................................................................................................................. 33Searching for Powder in a Valley of Snow ........................................................................................................................................ 38Miguel Angel’s Family ..................................................................................................................................................................... 41An Experience of Family Life ........................................................................................................................................................... 46Tremendous Araucarias ................................................................................................................................................................... 48Living on the Farm ........................................................................................................................................................................... 52Cordial Aboriginals .......................................................................................................................................................................... 54The Idea of a Self-sufficient Life ....................................................................................................................................................... 56Back to Civilization .......................................................................................................................................................................... 61Kayaking on the Ocean .................................................................................................................................................................... 62Big Roro .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 64Return to Nature .............................................................................................................................................................................. 67Captured by the Spirit of the Puma .................................................................................................................................................. 73A Simple Life on an Island ............................................................................................................................................................... 77Cliffs over the Pacific ....................................................................................................................................................................... 79Famous Palafitos ............................................................................................................................................................................. 85Living like Robinson Crusoe ............................................................................................................................................................ 88Mateo’s Perspective ......................................................................................................................................................................... 97A Unique Experience ....................................................................................................................................................................... 99Abrazos Gratis with Little Maximilian .......................................................................................................................................... 101Johnnie Walker with Ice from a Glacier .......................................................................................................................................... 103Dusty Careterra Austral ................................................................................................................................................................. 106Border-crossing in Heaven ............................................................................................................................................................ 108Pastel-colored Fitz Roy .................................................................................................................................................................. 110Cracking Glacier ............................................................................................................................................................................ 113Land of Fire ................................................................................................................................................................................... 116Jewel of Patagonia ......................................................................................................................................................................... 119Hitchhiking for Experience ............................................................................................................................................................ 123Hiking in the End of the World ...................................................................................................................................................... 126Sounds of Sailors ........................................................................................................................................................................... 129Whales and Chocolate ................................................................................................................................................................... 131Christmas on the Beach ................................................................................................................................................................. 136A Wild New Year’s Eve in the Streets ............................................................................................................................................. 140

Author’s Note ......................................................................................................................................................................144The Most... ...........................................................................................................................................................................145Travel Advice ........................................................................................................................................................................146Mapuche Language .............................................................................................................................................................157Travel Diary .........................................................................................................................................................................158Map .....................................................................................................................................................................................159National Parks Map .............................................................................................................................................................160Index ....................................................................................................................................................................................161

Lao Tzu

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step"

11

Uruguay means mate. In the street, in the car, during bike riding, all are sipping mate. Notices in the bus unmistakably tell you: MATE DRINKING FORBIDDEN. Yerba mate is a herb, which people infuse in hot water from a thermos flask they carry under their arm. People drink it from the calabash gourd with a special metal "straw" with a metal perforated sieve at the end called a bombilla. Some people add sugar to suppress bitterness, others deem it a sin and do not call it mate anymore.

Uruguay means football. The home team won the Olympic Games in the years 1924 and 1928. Two years later, the first World Football Championship took place in Uruguay, when the home team became the first winner. The Championship took place in the year 1930, on the centenary anniversary of the country’s independence. They have built the football stadium Estadio Centenario in honour of this event, meaning in English "stadium of the centenial anniversary". They managed to repeat a similar success only in the year 1950, when they defeated the home team

European Voluntary Service in Uruguay

Kids playing football on the field in front of Estadio Centenario.

of Brazil in the famous Maracana stadium. Football is on TV each minute of each day on at least one channel. The best current football player is Diego Forlan and probably all the girls are crazy for him.

I managed to get to the biggest derby. Peñarol vs. Nacional. The first and the second in the league-table, they are the two biggest teams. Estadio Centenario lived, jumped, the sound of drums spread throughout the whole stadium. Peñarol won 4:2. Nacional players got three red cards by the play’s close. The atmosphere of the match was amazing, but it was not even close to good football.

Uruguay means very much to me. Kind and friendly people, friends, love and the two most

beautiful months in my life. It is said that as much as 97% of the inhabitants have European ancestors. More than half of the three million inhabitants live in Montevideo, the capital and centre of almost everything that is going on in the country. The country is almost four times bigger than Slovakia. The average wage is estimated to be around 200 to 350 euro per month. The biggest surprise for me was the Uruguay peso, which equalled the Slovak crown 1:1.

I did meet many very nice people during my almost three wonderful months.

Coordinator Karen was waiting for me immediately after my arrival point. We went to see the place where I should live and work. I had never

Gabriela, a secondary school teacher, who lived in the same residence, and taught me the basics of Spanish a day after my arrival in Montevideo.

seen such a kind of living place before. There was one house entrance squeezed between houses in one of the alleys, half an hour by foot from the main square. As I saw it from outside, it seemed to me it had only one high floor and probably not many people living in it. It was in fact the residence of Javier and Adela. They lived with Adela’s father, some twenty students from all corners of the country and retired Jorge. Only Javier, Jorge and two students could speak English, and only a little bit at that, so the fun was provided for. Spanish attacking me from all sides! Until then, I had had time to study only some fifty pages from a book for self-learners. I had listened to Spanish during my Erasmus stay in Portugal, but couldn’t speak much. I couldn’t have wished for a better opportunity to learn. I lived with three local people in one room. Two 2-bunk beds, one large wardrobe. No window. People were changing rather quickly. The minimum duration of stay was two weeks. Often someone came; someone else left, or came back again. I got a room with a window after two weeks, but the window was only to the corridor. Nobody except the household had a window to the street. There were house walls on both sides, a yard at the back and laundry drying on the roof. However, the resident family was not all alone for everything. Maria, who was engaged for cleaning and cooking

"Sunday lunch."

"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend "

Robert Louis Stevenson

"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend "

Robert Louis Stevenson

33

The first stop in colonia del sacramento lasted only a few hours. This little town has beautiful historical houses and alleys. There is a typical restaurant with two ancient cars remade into a romantic place for lunch, on the main square, not far from the church and lighthouse. The town feels pleasant and welcoming; it is only a pity that there are more tourists than locals. It is only 60 kilometers to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, but it can be glimpsed only in very good weather. Smog from the city is huge.

Light Touch with Argentina

A few hours later I found myself on the other side of the Rio de la Plata, in buenos aires. I was awaited by Virginia. We lived half an hour by local rail from the center. You can go as long as an hour by car out of the center and the streets are still the same. Flats, shopping centers, banks. The city is huge. The entrance to the house is from the street and it wouldn’t occur to me that there would be another alley behind with flats on its left side. It has two floors

From Uruguay to Uruguay or 5 Months in Patagonia

One of the oldest houses of a slightly pink color from the times of Spanish colonization in Colonia del Sacramento.

and a terrace at the very top. The place is very quiet and calm. Virginia has an adolescent son and is slowly starting to look forward to the time, when she will be able to travel more. She teaches informatics at the local university and lives an active life. Something was happening here almost every day, especially thanks to the very active CouchSurfing life. Two German girls, departing for home after a year, gave a farewell party in one hostel bar. I did not meet them, but it was very interesting to meet and talk to people from all over the world: South Africa, Japan, Australia, Israel. Another day we went to a circus. It was a little thing with a stage and a pleasant atmosphere. Sometimes they talked rather quickly, but despite that there was a lot of fun, acrobatics, puppet theatre and excellent

cakes. The Día del amigo, Day of Friends, fell on a Sunday. Everybody takes blankets out and sits around in the park on this day.

And what about Buenos Aires itself? The city is divided into 48 city districts, where life goes on non-stop throughout the night. No visitor should miss visiting Recoleta with its church and cemetery, within which many famous and important people are having their eternal rest. Evita, or María Eva Duarte de Perón, to give her full name, among others. "After she died, her husband fled into exile. Her body was hidden for many years, first in the hospital under a false name, then abroad for a while, until it found its hiding place in the Vatican. Her remains could finally be returned after the change of régime and the onset of democracy.

Touristy yet still enchanting La Boca. There is pair dancing tango regularly in the square earning some money by taking photos with tourists.

35

One group of people claims that her body is situated here, in her tomb, 15 metres underground, paid for by a family member. Evita helped the poor, and the nation loved her, so this is the reason why another group of people claims that she is buried among ordinary people. Just as she wished to be. Her husband is buried in another cemetery. He remarried after her death and her family did not wish for them to share a joint grave," a tour guide told us, even the information from other sources can differ.

You can admire many interesting historical and architectural elements in the cemetery. Tombs are two to three meters tall and decorated with ornamentation. I visited also the football district La boca. Part of Boca Juniors, Diego Maradona. Yellow and Blue and the stadium and well-known

alley calle caminito are near to it. Colorful buildings, alleys full of tourists and restaurants with live music and tango dancers. This district is a must see, despite there being too much tourism around.

A new administrative city district with elegant greenery is situated near to the center, at the riverside. Buenos Aires with its eighteen million inhabitants, according to the locals, can offer something for everyone. Slovakia has its embassy here, one of few in South America. I applied for a new passport there, a procedure which takes two months.

During my short stay in Buenos Aires I met Vaco, who made a short trip, before attending a conference in São Paulo. I was with him when he made one of his dreams come true. A kilo steak! I was sick of meat

Diego Maradona, La Boca.

Trees emerging from under the water surface were young, fresh and full of life. The water was crystal clear, with hilltops all around. I could see one part, where it was possible to traverse into the next valley, from where it is only a few kilometers to the end of the other trail. The slope was very steep and it was immediately clear to me why the trail was closed. On my way up I saw a waterfall and one large Fitzroya. Fitzroya cupressoides is an evergreen tree, called alerce in Spanish which this park was named after. There are several of them in the park two to three thousand years old. The tree Roro talked about. "His" tree is in the northern part of the park. A majestic sight. It has a very high tree trunk, with branches starting high up. The whole hike with return took only six hours. After

I collected my things from the park warden I started on my way down. After a while a van full of wood took me down the trail and drove me a little further, to the turning on the main road.

From the back of the small truck I had an excellent vantage point to view the dusty road, some little houses, the sea and hills on both sides. Another hitchhiked car took me to the ferry across the fjord, which was for free. On the other side I waited for a bus to Hornopirén, the last one on that day.

Fifty kilometers and more than two hours ride. It drives each passenger to the house door. It was dark and I thought, "Where to go?" When I stayed on the bus as the last passenger, they asked me and I had no idea. The driver’s assistant mentioned a cheap

Overflowed lake in National Park Alerce Andino.

hospedaje for a good price near to the square. I went to ask. Four thousand pesos (5 euro), a hot shower after almost a week, as Roro did not have any gas left, bed and a drying of the wet shoes came in handy. What a surprise, when the guy who recommended it came in after twenty minutes, too. He lived there!

Captured by the Spirit of the Puma

It was a Saturday morning in September, the end of the winter season according to the calendar. Only with many difficulties did I manage to gather some information about tourist trails. I started my ascent in the national Park hornopirén. A volcano of the same name towers above the town. It is more than 1 500 meters high and its peak is covered with snow. The instructions I had had from two locals were simple: "You should go still straight 10 to 18 kilometers, 5 to 7 hours to the park gates." I hitchhiked a car for two kilometers from the village. We went by a sign that said that there are 12 kilometers left. After less than an hour of walking Juan caught up with me. He had gotten ahead of me even before I had stopped the car. He was currently doing military service. He went

Beautiful green forest.

Me with Mateo in the bay with his catamaran. As a youth he sailed lakes in the Netherlands, today a fjord in Chile. The wooden boat he uses in case of a strong wind or an emergency is tied-up to the right.

high heels, on which they won’t "even bring wood to the cottage."

We slowly went to a shop. He had not been in any for two months. The evening was coming close and so we stayed at Mauro and Meri’s.

Sailing inside the fjord, into one bay where Mateo lives, and was expecting us in the morning. We departed during the flow tide, which had blown us with a slight breeze home within an hour.

Catamaran sail, nature, hills, Melimoyu volcano in the background, beautiful.

When Mateo came to pick me up, a soft sideway breeze blew during the flow tide. He had to sail from one bank to the other and it took him three hours. The same time as it would have taken him if he went with a canoe, only much less effort.

When the wind blew more, we sailed with quite a speed.

He reacted to it: "Today the weather is calm, but a storm came one day and that was "veeeery" scary."

When we came home, to the place he calls "Cagalandia", place, where everything possible "fucks up", it was clear to me that I had never been to such a place. Mateo is trying to create a new home by himself. He likes to build, try to create things and when something is a success, he immediately makes two or three of them, as then it goes easier. He lives in a wooden house, wrapped on the sides in plastic. The roof is made from sheet-metal pieces to fend off the rain. As he says, he more camps than lives now.

The house is with a kitchen, living room but all the things burned down when he was not at home and two volunteers were taking care of it. He

Mateo’s shower system.

travelled a lot in the past. He met a friend who lived in this place. Fifteen years ago he bought from him 680-hectare plot for 15 000 dollars. A forest more than 6 kilometers into the valley and one kilometer wide. Wild nature and area, to the end of which he has never even been. There should be a lake, which goes from the other side directly to Tic Toc. There is no path. A neighbor made the way to the half point, but it is a jungle. A complete jungle. One neighbor offers today 500 hectares on the halfway to Raul Marin Balmaceda for three million dollars.

In the beginning he lived alternatively three months here and three in Japan. Later the time prolonged more and more and for the last five years he lives more or less still here.

Problems started when his friend moved away. He has to renew his visa every 3 months as does everybody from abroad. That can be done in any larger town for a fee of 100 dollars, or you can just go over the border to Argentina, have the passport stamped and return. As Raul Marin Balmaceda has a connection with the world only twice a week to Quellon and Puerto Chacabuca and once to La Junta, it always takes him around 10 days to travel to Argentina and to do shopping for another three months. When he is not at home, no-one can prevent fishers fishing in the surrounding or to walk around his place as in a supermarket and to rob him twice each year. Again and again. Always, also as he came to pick me up, he has nightmares from it. In the last few years he has paid to people or volunteers to take care of the place. Thus ended his house, from which only burned parts can be seen in the place it stood before. Locals took care of the place several times, but something always disappeared. Only once, the police returned a Japanese sword that was stolen

watched. The lagoon was discovered by westerners at the end of the 17th century, when the first seamen sailed through the fjord. The glacier did not reach to the sea at that time. Less than a hundred years later, another expedition found out that the glacier had grown at an unbelievable rate and covered most of the lagoon. Today, the glacier was receding by unbelievable 200 meters per year. We will maybe only remember these sightseeing routes in a few years.

It surprised me how many locals there were on the ship, especially retired. It is a great event for them and they save for it for many long years. The local retired boasted as soon as they got on the ship where they are and the entertainment was that real one of old people. I felt that my place was somewhere

completely elsewhere. I joined an international German-Hungarian-Italian-Mexican group. After arrival at the lagoon, we continued in small boats closer to the icebergs of various colors. Starting from white up to clear blue ice without a bubble of air. We went up to the place where the surface was strewn with glacier pieces. It was not possible to come closer from this side.

Johnnie Walker’s Whiskey, or as locals call it Juanito Caminador, on the rocks with ice directly from the floating glacier was served. I was disappointed a little. We were some three hundred meters from the glacier wall, if not farther. And, first of all, the crew of ship of another company found a way and sailed much closer. It was much more dangerous

Huge chunks of ice in the lagoon.

105

there, because when a large piece of ice breaks off the glacier, huge waves are formed and can overturn a small boat. Reputedly it had already happened to the ship of the other company. Before we left the lagoon, four adventurers joined us. They were two pairs mutually fixed on a rope. Three weeks ago they started their trek near to the village Rio Tranquilo, they crossed the el Pedregal lake and rode on horses for several kilometers. There started their 53-kilometre-long-as-the-crow-flies-trek on the glacier Campo Hielo Norte, with the aim to master the highest hill, St. Valentin. They were not successful in going to the peak due to almost constantly bad weather. One Mexican woman tried to explain to these adventurers that they should put their things away into a box so

that the smell won’t be sensed in the whole corridor, but I went to talk to them about something else. Except for backpacks, skis and climbing-irons they had also a sled. We talked about their trek. The coldest temperature in their tent was seven below zero. Well that is a nice cold, indeed. Due to safety reasons, they had with them a satellite phone and GPS. They were three locals and one Spaniard, living in the summer in the very North of Norway. He had a tourist agency and I would never guess that I should meet here a person who was in Ranua, the village in the North of Finland, where I worked as a volunteer before I graduated. What a small world.

He said about his colleague Pablo Besser that when he goes with him, they need no permits

Huge pieces of ice just a few metres from our boat.

Pastel-colored Fitz Roy

It was already seven in the evening and there will be no bus until the next midday. I was very lucky that suddenly a car came that went back after a while. They took me to a crossroads where the hike into the valley, from where they climb to the northern side of Fitz roy, starts. Only shortly before nightfall I found a place to sleep between the trees that lined this wide valley. The wind was getting stronger and blew through the whole width of the valley so strongly I did not experience it until that night.

It was a very long day. I fell asleep within few seconds. The weather is always beautiful after a storm. Sunny morning and breathtaking mountains around. As I went to have a look along the path, four locals with skis and backpacks were coming, returning from a two-week long expedition crossing the glacier.

After some two to three hours I came to the camping Piedra del Fraile. I met there Jana and Richard from New Zealand. They both have work which is more than interesting. Jana, whose mother came from the Czech Republic, greeted me with beautiful "ahoy". She knows also the beauty of our Tatras. She is a researcher in Antarctica, where New Zealand has also its base. After a week its visit waited for her and then a month-long voyage home. Richard is an ecologist and examines the impact of animals imported in the past from Europe to New Zealand’s ecosystem. He said that apart from millions of sheep the number of cows is growing recently. These cows are not good at all, they need much water, but the demand from developing Asia and especially China for milk is huge. That reminded me of Uruguay

Fitz Roy.

and the trip from the language school to a farm where they told us that they can triple the production of milk by a better distribution of water.

But, we were in mountains. They recommended me to go an hour up the hill along the path on the left side. Steep ascent, starting tiredness, snow and the higher the stronger the wind. The majestic Fitz Roy started to emerge from behind the clouds with an amazing pastel-like and even a little red-colored wall. Dream and destination for many mountain-climbers. Wind with speed of almost a hundred kilometers in an hour does not provide many opportunities for climbing. Expeditions often wait here weeks or even months to have a climb. Both Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre have their side walls around eight hundred meters long. As some local guys who were just putting away climbing things under a rock at Paso del Quadrado told me, it is a two-day climb, when one has to sleep hangingon to the rocky wall and the wind must not blow.

I did not get even close to Paso del Quadrado. It is a three-hour hike from the camp, last two hours in snow up to your knees. Later in summer it could be a very nice walk with view of adjacent glaciers. The path is not marked but it is well-trodden by mountain-climbers.

This was the first sunny day for them after two rainy days. Despite the fact that they are staying here for two weeks, they do not believe that they will be so lucky with the weather as to make it.

I went to look at Lago Electrico at the end of the valley, whose glacier is the entrance gate for week-long expedition on the glacier, before nightfall. As the camping there is charged for, I found a place in the forest next to a little stream. I slept well. I hiked for three hours in the morning to the camping Poincenot

Cerro Torre.

Polish sailboat "Nasha chata" took me to Puerto Williams.

as the flight with a small plane from Punta Arenas, which was sold out for the next two months. I considered it more reasonable to wait in the Yacht club than to go to sleep for a few hours. That happened to be fatal for Peet. He overslept and the alarm did not wake him. He was on the board ticket and the captain got really mad. We had to wait for him for two hours.

We started at around five in the morning, just as the sun started to rise. I watched my first ever birthday sunrise in my life. The wind was favorable, but weak. The voyage took us five hours. We waited for customs officers for two hours and so we were beguiled with wine. Peet had only two days off and so he quickly rushed forth to the mountains. Me and Jeff started to get to know beauties of the so far only little discovered tourist circuit a while later.

Hiking in the End of the World

The circuit Dientes de navarino, "Teeth of the Navarino Island", on the other side of the beagle channel enchanted us with the wilderness, unbound beauty and trails treaded by very few people until the present day. It is not very hard to get lost there. 53 kilometers and four mountain gaps are waiting for us. We registered ourselves at a police station and chose a trail through the valley. We did not feel like going to the ridge, from which one later descends to the upper

lake. We built our tents between the lower and upper lake after several hours of slight ascent.

I fell asleep within twenty seconds. a long day, the day of my twenty-fifth birthday.

We got up the next day in a South American way and so we started at around eleven. We met a group of Swedes aging from 45 to 50 years, same as Jeff, at the upper lake. We ascended to the gap on a few centimeters of snow and we walked around the frozen lake. I had a very nice talk with Jeff. We said goodbye to each other at reaching the first mountain gap. He had a flight ticket due in several days and chose a less demanding trail to the Laguna Windhond, without crossing gaps, walking at one level. I descended slowly and traversed. There is a blue sign occurring here and there on the stones. It can be seen that the trail, which was made accessible only a few years ago, is not well-trodden yet. Harsh nature reminds me of the North of Scandinavia. Trees are very small and there are mainly mosses and lichens. An hour or two later I camped probably at the Laguna la Escondida. I rested, filled some "vitamins" from semolina gruel with cacao and I couldn’t have enough of the view from the nearby hill south of the island, as well as to other islands nearby. I crossed another mountain gap. Beautiful view into the valley full of lakes, river system influenced by the life

Laguna la Escondida.

The story continues... In the second part of this book, for which I am looking for a translator now, I write about the days when I had left Uruguay and came to Brazil.

On my path I meet heart-warming people in Sao Paulo, hear Manu Chao, explore boiling Paraguay, get wet from the Iguaçu Falls and work a month and a half in human resources at an internship through the student organisation AIESEC in Santa Maria, in the outermost southern State of Brazil. In Easter I leave to discover North Argentina with the vibrant regions of Salta and Jujuy before I come to Bolivia and the salt desert of Uyuni with a trek to Vulcan Tunupa.

I fall in love with Sucre and the atmosphere in the town, just before the arrival of my parents, with whom I travelled to the ruins of the Incas, Machu Picchu. Hiking around Ausangate with Vlaďka, a friend from Slovakia, was one of the highlights of the whole trip. What could be better than a five day hike around a 6 000 metre high hill, with hot springs on the first and last day?

After two days of helping to build a temple, on a small island in Lake Titicaca, intended for Hare Krishna monks we climbed Huayana Potosi, 6 088 metres above sea level. Air was thin, and only the coca leaves in my mouth and in the tea gave me enough energy to climb without any problems.

Just thanks to the randomly met CouchSurfers I found one of the most heart-warming experiences, while helping people in the community of Villa Alcira, not far from the Bolivian primeval forest. A place where people live in tranquillity and peace. My plan to stay here a few days was changed, and I ended up staying for one month. More adventure follows on the high altiplano around the volcanoes Parinacota and Pomerape with more hikes in the area of Huaraz in Peru. Surely these gave the best end point, the pinnacle of the trip, before coming home, to Slovakia, after 15 wonderful months for my mother’s 50th birthday.

After staying almost two years at home, writing and promoting the printed version of this book in the Slovak language and teaching snowboarding in the winters, I put my travelling shoes on again. Since May 2011 I have travelled through Central Asia to India, Nepal and Bangladesh. But about that, next time…

Author’s Note

• The most beautiful memories: Montevideo (Uruguay), Villa Alcira (Bolivia)• The most beautiful city: Sucre (Bolivia)• The most beautiful trek: Dientes de Navarino (Chile) and Ausangate (Peru)• The longest treks: Torres del Paine (Chile), Alpamayo and Ausangate (Peru)• The most diverse nature: Choro Trek (Bolivia)• The most beautiful beach: 15 kilometres north of Cucaa, Chiloé Island (Chile)• The biggest fear: National Park Hornopirén and when I was walking

for a while in the forest near Mateo's place (both in Chile)• The most exotic experience: Volunteering in the community of Villa Alcira (Bolivia)• The highest point: Huayana Potosi – 6 088 metres above sea level (Bolivia)• The highest saddle: Ausangate – 5 200 metres above sea level (Peru)• The most beautiful volcano: Parinacota and Tunupa (both in Bolivia)• The driest place: Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)• The most beautiful lake: Lago O'Higgins (at the border between Chile and Argentina)• The best food: Rice with yucca and banana eaten every day in the community (Bolivia), Cebiche (Peru)• The best chocolate from country of origin: el Ceibo – chocolate with raisins (Bolivia)• Favourite fruit: Mango (Brazil)• Favourite alcohol: Grapamiel (Uruguay)• The best concerts: Los Rockadictos, 4 pesos de propina (Uruguay),

Meninos do Morumbi, Manu Chao (Brazil)• The most hippie place: el Bolson (Argentina), Valizas in summer (Uruguay)• The most surprising historical fact: Paraguay had the strongest army in South America• The smallest "couch": a 3x3 metre room shared with Dennis and Roro, Puerto Montt (Chile) • The biggest number of people on one "couch": 21, including

3 hosts, in a 3-room apartment, La Paz (Bolivia)• The most beautiful view from a "couch": at Izabela's and Patrik's

place at the foot of Torres del Paine (Chile)• The most beautiful souvenir: Memories• The approximate number of kilometres travelled in South America:

35 000 to 40 000 kilometres (30 000 to 35 000 kilometres by bus, 2 500 by hitchhiking, 1 000 by boat, more than 800 on foot and 300 by train)

The Most...

accommodationExcept volunteering, where I had accommodation

provided, almost half of the journey, I slept with people from http://www.couchsurfing.org and http://www.hospitalityclub.org networks and the other nearly half I was camping. I paid for hostels or camping places less than 25 times, mostly in the places where it was not possible or it was smarter than to put up a tent. Prices in Uyuni, Potosi and Sajama in Bolivia were around 20 bolivianos, equivalent of two euro at the time. Significantly more than 4 euro I paid only one night in the Valle Nevado ski resort.

Only four-star hotels have heating. It occurs very rarely in homes and hostels.

antarcticaThe price of a two week trip, from which only

three days are spent on the continent of ice and snow, is around 2 000 dollars per person. The majority of boats sail from Ushuaia and make a compulsory stop in Puerto Williams or at Cape Horn, where it is necessary to get a Chile passport stamp.

The Polish yacht "Nasha chata", which I hitched between Ushuaia and Puerto Williams, was also heading there. It was rented by two groups of friends who had had previous experience with sailing. They took turns to be on duty every two hours. The yacht rental cost 1 000 dollars per person, but it still sounds much better than a huge ship full of tourists.

In Puerto Williams we met an older yachting couple from Australia. They told us about their trip to Antarctica in 1994. They went with a Russian company, made three stops every day and had programme all the time. Today, when the tourism is booming, the people go on a nature trail at most.

ayahuascaAyahuasca, known as daime in Brazil, is a mixture

of two plants from the rainforest and, when served

properly, is one of the most powerful hallucinogens. Shamans have used it for the communication with the souls of humans for generations. You can read more about it on the webpage http://poliacik.blog.sme.sk under the section "Shaman’s primer" (in Slovak language). More information you can find also at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Daime

budgetI had provided accommodation and food for 6 out

of 15 months (3 months in Uruguay including flights), more than a month in two "farms" in Chile, a partial month in Brazil and a month in Bolivia). I traveled the remaining 9 months. The total cost was less than 5 000 euro. Insurance cost around 800, plane ticket home from Ecuador 520, tent and camping equipment 300, painting 250, repairs and losses 400. Other expenses includes transport, food, accommodation (less than 25 times), entrance fees and souvenirs. It is possible to travel also cheaper, even though most people travel more expensively. Bolivia is the cheapest country, and the the most expensive seemed to me Brazil (prices comparable with ours, some things cheaper and others more expensive), although for many people it is considered to be Chile. Prices in Patagonia are much higher than in the rest of Argentina and Chile.

For a quick survey of the exchange rate, I used the built-in search function at Google.com. When you enter the term "1 EUR in UYU" it calculates that 1 euro is worth 27 Uruguayan pesos. Abbreviations of names of countries that I have visited are: Uruguayan peso "UYU" Argentine peso "ARS" Chilean peso "CLP" Brazilian real "BRL" Paraguayan guarani "PYG" Bolivian boliviano "BOB", the Peruvian sol "PEN" and the official currency of Ecuador is the U.S. Dollar.

credit cards and atMsYou can pay by credit card only in exceptional

circumstances and in large cities. The best is to have cash in local currency. All countries have their own currencies except Ecuador, where the currency is the U.S. Dollar. ATMs operate reliably. Only

Travel Advice

24.4.2008 Montevideo (Uruguay)16.7.2008 Colonia del Sacramento 16.7.2008 Buenos Aires (Argentina) 22.7.2008 Mendoza 24.7.2008 Santiago (Chile) 25.7.2008 Valle Nevado 26.7.2008 Santiago 30.7.2008 Valparaiso31.7.2008 Concon, Viňa del Mar

1.8.2008 Iloca 4.8.2008 Curico 6.8.2008 Radal (Siete Tazas),

Parque Inglés8.8.2008 Molina (Viňa San Pedro),

Talca10.8.2008 National Reserve

Altos de Lircay, Chillán12.8.2008 Concepcion, Lota 15.8.2008 Pucón16.8.2008 National Park Huerquehue 18.8.2008 Los Pozones 20.8.2008 Temuco 21.8.2008 Melipeuco

1.9.2008 Valdivia 2.9.2008 Niebla 3.9.2008 Calbuco 7.9.2008 Puerto Montt 8.9.2008 National Park

Vicente Perez Rosales11.9.2008 National Park Alerce Andino 13.9.2008 National Park Hornopirén 16.9.2008 Puerto Montt 17.9.2008 Quellon, Isla Laitec 23.9.2008 National Park Chiloé (Cucao) 26.9.2008 Castro, Quellon 28.9.2008 Raul Marín Balmaceda

(Mateo)20.10.2008 Coyhaique 21.10.2008 National Reserve Coyhaique 22.10.2008 Balmaceda 23.10.2008 Coyhaique 26.10.2008 Laguna San Rafael 28.10.2008 Villa Cerro Castillo 29.10.2008 Puerto Rio Tranquilo 31.10.2008 Villa O’Higgins

1.11.2008 National Park Los Glaciares (Argentina)

6.11.2008 El Calafate 9.11.2008 Perito Moreno Glaciar

11.11.2008 Ushuaia, Martial Glaciar 12.11.2008 National Park Tierra del Fuego14.11.2008 Punta Arenas (Chile)18.11.2008 National Park Torres del Paine 28.11.2008 San Gregorio29.11.2008 Estancia Viamonte (Arg.)

1.12.2008 Ushuaia 2.12.2008 Puerto Williams (Chile) 2.12.2008 Dientes de Navarino 8.12.2008 Ushuaia (Argentina)

11.12.2008 Trelew 12.12.2008 Peninsula Valdez 13.12.2008 Playa Union 14.12.2008 El Bolson 15.12.2008 Piltriquitron, Bariloche 19.12.2008 Buenos Aires 20.12.2008 Montevideo (Uruguay)

4.1.2009 Valizas 7.1.2009 Cabo Polonio, Valizas

10.1.2009 Santa Tereza 11.1.2009 Punta del Diablo, Santa Tereza 13.1.2009 Chuy, Santa Vitoria do Palmar

(Brazil)14.1.2009 Porto Alegre 16.1.2009 Florianopolis 22.1.2009 Curitiba23.1.2009 Socorro25.1.2009 Sao Paulo29.1.2009 Paraty, Angra dos Reis30.1.2009 Ilha Grande31.1.2009 Rio de Janeiro

4.2.2009 Carancas 6.2.2009 Lavras

10.2.2009 Sao Paulo15.2.2009 Asuncion (Paraguay) 17.2.2009 Aragua 18.2.2009 Itacurubi de la Cordillera 19.2.2009 National Park Ybicuy 20.2.2009 Encarnacion 22.2.2009 Jesus a Trinidad 24.2.2009 Puerto Iguazzu (Argentina)

25.2.2009 Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), Ciudad del Este (Paraguay)

27.2.2009 Santa Maria (Brazil)11.4.2009 Capilla del Monte (Argentina) 12.4.2009 Cerro Uritorco, Cordoba 17.4.2009 Tafi del Valle18.4.2009 Amaicha 19.4.2009 Cafayate 20.4.2009 Salta 21.4.2009 Purmamarca, Salinas Grandes 22.4.2009 Iruya 24.4.2009 Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) 28.4.2009 Potosi 29.4.2009 Sucre

3.5.2009 La Paz 5.5.2009 Chacaltaya 6.5.2009 Cuzco (Peru)9.5.2009 Machu Picchu

11.5.2009 Ausangate 16.5.2009 Islas Flotantes de los Uros,

Isla Taquile, Puno17.5.2009 Isla del Sol (Bolivia) 20.5.2009 San Pedro de Tiquina

(Hare Krsna)21.5.2009 La Paz 22.5.2009 Choro trek 26.5.2009 Huayna Potosí (6088m) 29.5.2009 Rurrenabaque,

Comunidad Villa Alcira19.6.2009 Mashaquipe 24.6.2009 Comunidad Villa Alcira 30.6.2009 La Paz

1.7.2009 National Park Sajama 5.7.2009 Arequipa (Peru) 6.7.2009 Colca canyon9.7.2009 Lima

11.7.2009 Huaraz, Laguna 69,National Park Huascaran

14.7.2009 Alpamayo trek 18.7.2009 Cordillera Negra 20.7.2009 Trujillo, Chan Chan 21.7.2009 Machala (Ecuador) 22.7.2009 Guayaquil 24.7.2009 Guayaquil - Madrid -

Barcelona - Bratislava

Travel Diary

Map

argentinaBariloche 134Buenos Aires 33, 135Cerro Catedral 135Cerro Piltriquitrón 134El Bolsonu 134El Calafate 113El Chaltén 112Estancia Viamonte 124Fitz Roy 110Lago del Desierto 109Manantiales 36Martial Glaciar 116Mendoza 36National Park Los Glaciares 108National Park Tierra del Fuego 116Peninsula Valdez 131Perito Moreno Glaciar 114Playa Muñoz 135Playa Union 133Puerto Madryn 133Rio Gallegos 116Trelew 131Ushuaia 116, 125, 130Villa Potrerillos 36

chileAltos de Lircay 47Balmaceda 102Beagle channel 126Cajon del Maipo 40Calbuco 62Caleta Eugenia 129Castro 85Cochrane 108Concepción 47Concon 41Coyhaique 101Cucao 79Curico 41

Dientes de Navarino 126El Colorado 38Ensanada 69Farellones 39Hornopirén 77Chillan 47Chonchi 85Iloca 42Isla Helvecia 63Isla Laitec 77Isla Puluqui 62Lago General Carrera 107Laguna San Rafael 103Laguna Verde 70Los Pozones 51Lota 47National Park Alerce Andino 70National Park Hornopirén 73National Park Huerquehue 48National Park Chiloé 79National Park Torres del Paine 120National Park Vicente Perez R. 67National Reserve Coyhaique 102Niebla 61Parque Inglés 43Pucón 48Pueblita Rio Serano 119Puerto Chacabuco 103Puerto Montt 64, 77Puerto Natales 119Puerto Rio Tranquilo 107Puerto Williams 125Punta Arenas 117, 123Punta Delgada 124Quellon 77, 86Raul Marin Balmaceda 87Santiago de Chile 38Siete Tazas 43Talca 46Temuco 51Valdívia 61Valparaiso 41

Villa Cerro Castillo 106Villa O’Higgins 108Viña del Mar 41Viña San Pedro 45

uruguayCabo Polonio 28Colonia del Sacramento 33Montevideo 11, 135Punta del Este 29Valizas 29

Index

Michal Knitl

On the South American Vibe Volume 1: Volunteering, couchsurfing and hiking in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile

Second English ebook edition

No. of photographs: 134Photography: Michal Knitl (134) , Alejandra de Oliveira (1)Cover page photo: Traditional dances, Montevideo, UruguayBack cover photo: National Park Torres del Paine, ChileLayout and design: Michal Knitl

Translation of Preface: Ján KrištínTranslation of Text: Ivana KrekáňováTranslation of Appendix: Iveta Rohošková and Michal KnitlCorrection of Preface: Smith ThepvongsProof reading and copy editing: Markus Petz

Bratislava 2012http://www.michalknitl.comhttp://picasaweb.google.com/na.juhoamerickej.vlne michal.knitl@gmail.com

ISBN 978-80-971167-6-7

If you have read this book, I would be extremely glad for any comments or suggestions to my email.

This book is a translation of the first two chapters (8 months of travel) of the Slovak book "Na juhoamerickej vlne".The second part of the book, dedicated to my travels in Brazil, Paraguay, North Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and four days in Ecuador I am planning to publish straight after translation and correction from a native speaker. After finising my book about my last trip in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent in the Slovak language, this book will be available in English as well.

Currently I am looking for sponsors or a publisher who would like to print this book. If you would like to help me financially (to have a logo in this electronic version or/and in future in the printed version) or if you work or if you know someone in publishing, please let me know. I would be very glad. Thank you very much!

For more information please visit my website, join the newsletter or send me an email and I will inform you after publishing.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

"It is not down in any map; true places never are." herman Melville

"South America is for us a mostly unexplored and rather unknown part of the world –

for the majority it is probably football, rainforests and carnival. Michal went there to spend some time (and in the end he stayed for 15 months) and walked all around it. He did not travel according to a travel guide nor as according to Melville, but he walked through actual places and got to know real people and their customs. And he wrote everything down into his diary..."

rastislav Mikuláš (roadtripped around Europe with the author)

www.michalknitl.com