Two of my favorite countries suffered tragedies within the last month. Peru was struck by massive flooding in the beginning of February and Chile just experienced a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami.
The flooding in Peru was in the news mostly because almost 1000 travelers were stranded at Machu Picchu due to washing out of the train line. The travelers were rescued, the train is under repair, and the Inca Trail was untouched. The real tragedy, however, was the devastation to villages and fields in the Sacred Valley, which is low-lying land along the Urubamba River.
In Chile, a massive 8.8 earthquake hit off the coast of southern Chile. This was followed by a tsunami that wiped out several villages along the coast. The death toll as of this writing has reached 799 people and the economic cost of reconstruction will be staggering. Luckily, none of our Chilean tour areas were affected much and our local guide and other partners are all safe.
Including Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake, that makes three big disasters this year. We all want to help and those of us at Zephyr received a personal plea from our Peruvian partners to help the small native village of Cachiccata, located in the Sacred Valley and the home of most of our porters and cooks on the Inca Trail. It turns out their water system was destroyed and their crops are now in peril. For $1500, we can purchase a new electric water system that will be a vast improvement on the old, destroyed one. Want to help? We will match your donations up to $750. For full details, see our new blog at www.IncaTrailHiking.com/blog.
When I write blog entries trying to summarize one of our tours, I usually try to focus on one angle that gives readers a good idea of the overall picture. I find myself struggling to do that with our Chile & Argentina Wine Adventure, which I just completed two days ago. I found this trip to be so immense that using just one angle isn’t sufficient. The wine was excellent, the activities fun, the people in our group engaging, and the local cultures enchanting.
Day 2: We had a typical Zephyr Adventures moment. Hiking to the top of 
Mendoza area of Argentina is dry, the people are chic, and the economy is struggling. Compare that to Chile where the economy is rocking, the people are friendly and competent, and everything works as it should. It’s truly hard not to love both countries.
My impression now that I am back a few weeks: Patagonia is a land of mystery! I’d like to use this post to clear up some of the mystery, at least as far as our trekking trip goes, so those of you have thought about Patagonia as a travel destination will know better if it is right for you.
The average high temperature ranges from 38 degrees in the middle of winter (July) – making it warmer than winters in my home of Boulder, Colorado – to 56 degrees during December when we visited. We had periods of intense rain (none while we hiked), high winds (mostly near the glaciers), sunny skies, and moderate temperatures. The weather was excellent for hiking and better than most of us expected.
This allows trekkers to reach amazing areas of the world burdened only by a small day pack containing lunch, a camera, a rain jacket, and a few other necessities. In Patagonia, we achieved this in a number of ways. First, we limited our gear by staying and eating in backcountry refugios, or mountain hostels. Second, what gear we did need (change of clothes, toiletries, etc) was transported for us either by human porter or Zodiac boat.
Also a surprise was that much of the hiking was quite moderate, with only the occasional foray (always optional) up a glacial-carved canyon requiring serious effort. One can make the hiking quite strenuous or relatively mild as one chooses.
And for you? Is Patagonia the right place for your next vacation?