Let's go to Chile

So far we have only passed through Chile briefly to get to Ushuaia. Now we are really going to Chile - at least for a few days. Our route will be alternating between the two countries in the coming weeks, as we have not yet decided whether we should mainly take Ruta 40 or the Carretera Austral north. But first, we are curious about Chile, supposedly the most European country in South America. Chile has close relations with Germany and many Chileans have German ancestors. Let's see what we find of that in everyday life.

Our first stop on the mainland of Chile is Punta Arenas. Maybe it's because we found it hard to say goodbye to Tierra del Fuego, maybe it's because of the gray sky, or maybe because it's Sunday and the city seems a bit deserted; we don't really like it here. Due to customs regulations, we hardly have any food left and can't find a supermarket either. We satisfy our first hunger in a restaurant with a sandwich and are surprised to find that an obligatory 10% service charge is added to the already high price. At the cash register, there is only a casual question of whether it's okay. Our Spanish is not good enough to discuss the slow and unfriendly service. We spend the night outside the city in a large park with barbecue areas, picnic tables, and lots of trees. It's actually quite nice, but incredibly littered. Well, it will do for one night and the next day we will take a closer look at the city. We visit the Monument Cemetery, which has been declared a national monument, and go to the Zona Franca, the duty-free zone, to get fresh food and a few adapters and charging cables. But the city is gloomy even on Monday, the cemetery is oppressive and overcrowded with tourists, and the duty-free zone is a disappointment. The supermarket has no fruits or vegetables, no wine, and not even beer. So why are we here??😉

Therefore, we quickly head to our next destination Puerto Natales, the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. We spend the night outside by the water with a great view and next to the tourist information office, whose staff is visibly annoyed by our request for a city map. But other than that, it's nice here, quite peaceful, and only a 15-minute walk to the city center. In the evening, Sibylle's suspicion that the onboard battery is at the end of its life is sadly confirmed. It's just old and can no longer hold the required voltage. So far, we only notice it from the performance of the water pump and the blinking when we turn on the heating. We don't want to wait until it completely fails us in the wilderness, so we hope that Puerto Natales is civilized enough to provide us with a new onboard battery. The next morning, we set off to find a suitable workshop. The still grumpy staff at the tourist information office has recommended a workshop that might be able to help us. The master understands our problem at least, but doesn't give us much hope that we will find a suitable battery in the city. Maybe in Punta Arenas, in the duty-free zone. Our mood sinks, that would be a 250 km drive back. Our distressed faces prompt the helpful man to write down exactly what we need in Spanish and give us an address in the city where we can try again after the lunch break at 4:00 pm. So we wander around the city a bit, which consists almost exclusively of hostels, outdoor shops, specialty stores for mountaineering, camping, and power food. We are surrounded by incredibly athletic people, the men with hipster beards, and the matching women with dreadlocks or buns or both. They are all either dressed in baggy pants or trendy outdoor brand clothes. Since there is hardly anything else to buy, we suspect that even the residents of the city must dress like this out of necessity. Even the ladies and gentlemen who charge us parking fees down to the minute, no matter where we park, wear this attire under their yellow vests.

At 4:00 p.m., we are punctually at the auto parts store and take our waiting number. And indeed, there is a suitable battery in stock. Yay!!! However, it has different dimensions than our battery and won't fit easily. Damn!!! We give up on the idea of having a workshop install it and will try to do it ourselves. The heavy battery needs to be raised, the cover needs to be removed, and a few hoses need to be rerouted. Luckily, we have plenty of tools and all kinds of screwdriver bits (thanks to Christa's miracle box 😉) with us. After a few hours, everything is done, the new battery fits and works perfectly. Now, as a reward, we take a walk through the city, eat a bland but expensive pizza, and have a Pisco Sour, the Chilean cocktail.

The next morning, we finally head towards Torres del Paine, the largest and most famous national park in Chile. That's where we meet all the cool hikers again. We are more of the 'knickerbockers-plaid shirt-German low mountain range' faction and don't do any of the multi-day hiking routes, but rather enjoy the scenic drive and a few small hikes in the park. There is a lot of beauty here, and we can take many great photos without climbing mountains.