Trip to Chile Part 1, Patagonia

Pat at Condor Lookout

Patagonia is one of those dream hiking destinations for hikers. We signed up for a one-week trip to Patagonia with Amazonia Expeditions. We decided to extend the trip an extra week to the Lakes District of Chile on our own.

Magellanic Penguins (photo: A. Kramer)

We departed during the government shutdown, so flight delays and cancellations were more likely to occur. Fortunately, our flights departed mostly on time. We flew American Airlines from BWI to DFW and Santiago Chile. From here we flew to Punta Arenas. We arrived 31 hours after the start of the trip. 

Elephant Seal  (photo: A. Kramer)

On our first full day we took a very rough boat ride out to Los Pinguinos NM, an island in the Strait of Magellan. The winds were blowing about 95 kph, and many passengers got sick. For the rest of us it was a great roller coaster ride. There are 60,000 breeding pairs of penguins on this Island, but they had more sense than the visitors and almost all of the penguins were keeping warm in their underground burrows. With the wind so strong, it was difficult to walk around the island. We completed the circuit hike, but we were glad to return to the boat. Since the boat had extra barf bags, the captain continued the journey to another island where we could see sea lions and an elephant seal enjoying a wet, windy and cold beach day. 

Near Puerto Natales

Group hike from a lookout (photo: A Kramer)

                                        

Salto Grande Waterfall

Cordillera del Paine

Apes ruled the world and this was their Mt Rushmore

Vega Castillo Wetlands

We left Punta Arenas and travelled to Puerto Natales. On the way we spotted many flamingos in the distance and a few rheas roadside. The next morning, we entered Torres Del Paine NP and did a series of day hikes over the next several days. We also took a cruise out to Grey Glacier to see the blue ice. On our return from the boat trip, we saw 7 guanacos feeding in a field. We also took a hike around a wetland full of birds - many of these species are only found in South America. 

View from our room

Torres del Paine

Guanacos

                            

                                                                Enjoying Life

Puma finally gets up (photo: A. Kramer)

The guides didn’t want us to go home without seeing a puma (lion). Fortunately, they knew where to look, and they found one lying on the side of a hill. We waited a long time for the puma to get up so we could get a decent picture, but puma like to rest after eating. Just as almost everyone put their tripods, cameras and binoculars away and reboarded the bus, the puma rose, walked around a bit and settled into a new bed of grass. I bet he was smiling thinking he outsmarted us.

Our tour ended the next morning. Everyone headed home except for us - we flew two hours north to the Lake District of Chile. 

                    The elusive Condor captured on film (photo: A. Kramer)

Trip to Chile Part 2, The Lake District

 

Lake District from the plane one week prior

After our Patagonia trip, we flew to Puerto Montt Airport and drove to Puerto Varas, in Chile’s Lake District, where we stayed four nights. We had flown over this area on our trip south the previous week and we were very impressed with the snowcapped volcanic mountains and beautiful blue lakes. However, the weather changed and now the skies remained cloudy, blocking the view of the surrounding peaks.

Petrohue Waterfalls

Chilla Fox

The Petrohue Falls were a big attraction in the area. I wasn’t impressed with the pictures of it, but I figured it was worth a visit. There is something about waterfalls that just can’t be captured in a picture, and that was certainly true of the power of these falls. I left impressed. After doing a few hikes in the Vicente Perez Rosales NP, we drove up the Osorno Volcano. We were in the clouds when we arrived at the top, but the clouds were starting to lift. On the way back down, we saw a couple of Chilla foxes (Zorro Chilla).

The next day we decided to take it easy. We dropped off our laundry and toured around Puerto Varas and the German town, Fruitillar. We quickly got frustrated by major attractions not being open during posted hours. Our solution was to head out to another NP. 

Salto Rio Chaica

Black faced Ibis

Alerce Milenario Tree

The Alerce Andino NP was established to protect the legendary alerce (larch) trees, some of the oldest on the planet. This is a roadless park. Near the entrance, you park and explore the rest of the 39,000 hectares on foot. We hiked in and saw a couple of waterfalls. Pat climbed a series of staircases to see the Alerce Milenario tree, estimated to be 5,000 yrs old!

Humboldt Penguins

We checked out of our B&B and took a ferry to the Island of Chiloe. We drove to Punihuil on the Pacific Coast and took a boat trip to the offshore islands. This is the only place in the world where Magellanic and near-extinct Humboldt penguins nest side by side. We went out in fishing boats. Since there were no docks in the area, all the visitors were loaded into a large, elevated cart that was pushed out to the boats so that you could enter the boats without walking through the surf. In addition to the penguins, we saw sea birds, a sea lion, and illegal fishermen, who were chased away from the nature preserve  by our boat driver.

                                        

                                            Side Chapel in UNESCO Church

Castro's Estuary

In Ancud, we visited a museum on Chiloe’s UNESCO-listed churches. These 16 churches are famous for their intricate interior woodwork. We checked into our hotel in Castro for three nights. Our room was built on stilts on the edge of a bird filled estuary. 

Brown hooded Gull

Black-necked Swans

Dog Orchids

Wooden Church in Castro

From here we traveled to Chiloe NP and did some hiking. The next day we drove around the island, visiting 5 of the UNESCO churches, and the 180 ft Tocoihue Waterfall. We had to return to Puerto Montt to catch our flight to Santiago, Dallas/Ft Worth and BWI.

Pat at Tocoihue Falls

Fisherman's Grave

Overall, it was a good trip. We had better than expected weather during the first week, after the first day. We had a good group of travelers, some of whom we knew from previous trips, and excellent guides.  We were surprised that we could drink tap water during our trip. From our experience, I would say November is a good time to go to southern Chile (peak season is Dec & Jan). But there are no guarantees on the weather - just after we left Chile, a major blizzard with 125 MPH winds hit the Torres Del Paine NP and 5 backpackers on ice covered trails, got lost in the whiteout conditions and died from exposure. They did not have a guide.

Skies clear on last day- Osorno Volcano

Trip to Honduras Sept 2025

Randy flew in for his wedding, what a Angel!

The kids were excited to be here

After our time in OR, we flew from Portland to Ft Lauderdale. The next day we took Spirit to Honduras. Spirit check in was chaotic. After a long lunch in Comayagua, we were taken to Hyatt Place in Tegucigalpa. We hiked in La Tigra NP and had a tour of the National Museum followed by a great lunch at a Peruvian restaurant.

                                            

The hiking group at La Tigra NP

 

What a cute couple

Violet, Patrick, Randy, Jenn and Rhys

Here comes trouble, Linden and Violet marching in step.

The beautiful bride, Alba

The first dance

The wedding was well attended, and the reception reflected a lot of planning for food, music and photography.  The next day, some people headed home, while the rest flew to the Island of Roatan. We checked into the Naboo Resort and had dinner and drinks with the group at Paradise Beach. We took an all-day group tour which covered Myan Edan Zoo with monkeys and sloths, had lunch at a brewery, and visited a chocolate factory.

Our new friend

The following day we did a snorkeling boat trip with the group to two dive sites, with lots of fish and good coral. The following day, we said goodbyes to the Toppers (although Linden was not ready to leave the pool). We enjoyed being able to spend time with family. Pat and I went snorkeling off the beach where she saw a nurse shark. On our last day on the Island, we started with another from shore snorkel. We took the Ferry back to the mainland, and a cab to the airport on the other side of La Ceiba, Honduras’  third largest city.

It's a baby Linden sloth

Driving in Honduras is not for the faint of heart. Most people thought we were crazy to rent a car here. Our plan to avoid driving in big cities backfired on us. From the airport, we were taken back to the city to complete the paperwork. When we finally got on the road it was in the middle of rush hour, the sun was setting, and there was an accident which brought the traffic to a crawl. The turn off to the resort was not illuminated and we missed it. We circled back and drove two miles on a very dark and rough entrance road. With all the banging going on under the car, we didn’t know if we were about to lose our gas tank or transmission.

The grounds at Pico Bonita

 We checked in to the Pico Bonita Eco Resort, and the next day we went on a nature hike to their butterfly house, serpentarium and finished with a hike to a swimming hole. The landscaping around the resort was filled with beautiful tropical plants and flowers. The food and service were excellent. The next day we did a much harder hike up the mountain sweating off a few pounds. Luckily, they had a beautiful pool at the resort.

At the entrance to the gardens

From there we drove to Tela and had a beachfront room. A nice location, except for when the local Garifuna boys came by banging on their drums, on and off all day, to get donations. I considered paying them to leave. We visited the famous Jardin Botanical Lancetilla, but we were disappointed due to lack of maintenance in the gardens.

Cannon Ball fruit 9 pounds

Where Pat fell

We drove to Logo de Yojoa but couldn’t find the hotel we reserved. We ended up at D&D brewery in a small room without A/C. We hiked at Eco-Arqueologico Park and visited their museum. On the way out, Pat slipped on their slick walkways, and came down hard, hitting her head on a rock. Blood was running down her neck. We finally got the bleeding to stop and managed to get back to the car. After Pat consulted with Linda and Mimi, we decided to wait until we got home to get it checked out. We left D&D the next day and went to see the impressive Cataract Pulhapanzak. Upon leaving the park, the guard informed us that we had a flat tire. He installed the temporary spare, and we headed back to town to get the tire fixed. Turns out there were two nails in the tire, and the wheel was bent. The kid fixed the tire and wheel, and we were back on the road. We drove to Comayagua and took our scheduled flight out the next day to Fort Lauderdale.

Pulhapanzak Falls

The following day we flew back to Helena and landed during rush hour on Friday.  I called Lyft for a ride home, but nothing was available, so I called Uber, same result. I tried Lyft again, no luck. I called the local cab company, but no one answered. We tried a couple of our neighbors, but they were not home. Pat was ready to walk home, which would take an hour without suitcases.  I found an airport employee heading home and I convinced him to give us a ride. It turned out he lived nearby.

Pat went to Urgent Care the following day, and they said she was fine. Pat still had doubts, so she returned the following day for a CAT scan. The results were negative; no cats were found. I came down with a cold, likely as a result of exposure during the flights.

Trip to Oregon Sept 2025

Sahalie Falls in Willamette NF

This was our fourth trip to central OR (Bend/Redmond area). It was hot and smoky most of the week, but we were still able to get some good hiking in, mostly around Sisters, and Bend. This time we flew into Portland and drove from there. Portland was very quiet; they desperately need the National Guard out there to stir things up. We drove though Columbia Gorge and stopped at Lewis and Clark SP on our trip from the airport. After 5 days at the Eagle Crest Resort (timeshare) we packed up and drove to the coast and stayed at the Otter Crest Inn (timeshare).

Deschutes River

 

Elk staring at Pat

Tumalo Falls

Frog camouflage

Fog rolling in. Our building is right of center

It was great being right on the coast, we could seal and whale watch from our third story living room, once the fog lifted. Lots of interesting hikes and views as we traveled up and down the OR coast. After 5 days we had to pack up and return to the airport at Portland for our trip to Honduras for Randy and Alba’s wedding.

Devil's Punchbowl

OR coast

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Giant Spruce Tree

It's like hiking in Hawaii

Cape Perpetua

Sunset over the Pacific, view from our living room