In June 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, 4 women on 3 continents got on a call to comiserate on life in lockdown in different countries. These were not just ordinary women (says the narrator in a very TV-like voice)—they were 4 friends who met in September of 1988 at a language-focused high school/gymnazium in Prague. They decided that when this is over, they will plan a trip together to celebrate their 50th year on this Earth. Together, in some amazing place. So yes, a girls’ trip for the books.

Beginnings

First decision had to be the location —wasn’t that hard at all, actually. We contemplated a few countries that would fit this criteria: mutually inconvenient to get to from 3 continents, most of us have not visited before, has awesome nature. Chile it was as Sylva sent over gorgeous Torres del Paine picture and we were sold. I have already been but who would miss the chance to actually see the melting glaciers again – at least I could compare how bad the climate change is.

18 months later, we all landed in Santiago de Chile – from Auckland, Prague and Atlanta. Santiago itself is not super impressive, unfortunately. There are some interesting things but it was just the meeting point to get us going for the big things. Side note – my purse got stolen on Day 2 in the area of Bella Vista area – thankful to those awful QR codes on tables as my phone with all the credit cards was on the table and not in the purse over the chair. I was mad at myself but more mad at the restaurant that clearly was on it as they couldn’t care less even though they had cameras. Watch out for those tourist traps!

2 days later we were out of there to “really” start the adventure. First stop – Puerto Varas in the middle of the country noodle – which felt like we just walked across the border to Austria/Germany a little – very mountain-chalet vibe on the lake, of course, with the amazing Osorno volcano poking over it – which is where we were heading for our first experience.

Volcano with tabanos

We were ready at 630 am to get about an hour away to hike around the volcano. I was excited and yet nervous – this thing is high, it’s warm and there is snow on it. Didn’t help that on the way out, Maria, our very fit guide mentioned that this is where 3 years ago other volcano blew up so that’s why everything is scorched. My childhood fear of volcanoes was triggered – should we really poke the bear? We did, sort of.

What we didn’t expect though was “tabanos”. No, this is not a drink or some food – this is a bug; rather annoying bug as we were to quickly find out. Imagine the largest horsefly ever, now multiply it by 200, add a few decibels to it – and that’s your company on the hike up. We first thought it was just by the water, or they just like our lotion or that there is a nest over here – but no no no. They were with us the entire 3.5 hours of the hike – and I mean with us – on your hands, face, head, everywhere. Half the time we looked like insane patients fighting invisible ghosts, climbing up the hill with hands flying, trekking polls poking left and right to get them off of us. They are not supposed to bite but they sure did get through the layers which we didn’t shed, despite the increasing heat. The view of the lake and the volcano were amazing and who cared that I was counting how many of these bastards I killed, stepped on or just angrily beat to death with my cap.

And since there was hardly anyone around – we ended the hike skinny dipping in the lake Esmeralda, refreshing and the only place to escape the bugs. So we had the whole volcano and lake just for ourselves. Perfect start of an amazing trip!

Kayaking in the fjord

I have to admit that I woke up very nervous about this. The trip sounded great when we were booking it, but thoughts would sneak in on the probabilities of flipping over, unwelcome animal encounters, and embarrassing athletic moments. What exactly are we walking into here?

Chloe, French, very sporty, and dressed for the occasion, picked us up, and off we were to the fjords. The weather is in the high 20s (Celsius), so no ice here. At least we won’t be cold? First impression – lake or fjord is huge, gorgeous. Second – neopren on—hmm—this is serious stuff. Third – lots of instructions on how to move, not move, where to store stuff, how to coordinate strokes. Hmm, this sounds rather scientific. Thankfully, Iva and I paired up, Sylva and Pavla were the second kayak and sporty Chloe was all alone. Not surprisingly, she was out there ahead of us, leisurely waving the paddle immediately – while we were a little wobbly and testing the speed and our coordination skills.

We did see seals hanging around and while we initially panicked that they will jump in and could easily flip us over with one little wave or dive – they couldn’t care less about us. After about 90 mins we pulled the kayaks up and walked up to a small hut with chickens to have lunch. It looked like the old woman living there has barely enough to eat herself – judging by the surroundings – as we were literally in the middle of a nowhere – on a mountain, overlooking amazing fjord – but nothing around. If you can define untouched, this was it. We got out of sexy, stinky neoprens to dry out and lunch was served. Chicken, rice and pea puree tasted quite good after our workout.

All in all, the trip was amazing and the views! We weren’t even that tired so had plenty of time to explore the lake, the town, eat awesome ceviche, buy me a replacement purse, have awesome homemade ice cream – and get on the road even more south!