It’s been a wildly busy week in Santiago as I prepared to begin my journey south to Patagonia. I’ll be leaving Santiago on January 11th, this coming Wednesday, and as my departure date creeps closer, more and more details crawl out of the woodwork. Regional bus schedules, rescheduled zoom meetings, tripod hunting and a million other details refuse to be pinned down as I attempt coordinate the next few months of my fellowship. Nervous, anxious and hesitant are all words that fittingly describe this lead up to departure. Of course, I am also very excited. I’m finally starting my journey to Patagonia, a place I’ve dreamed of visiting for years. As stressful as the days have been, I’m constantly reminding myself that this trip is the trip of a lifetime and the moment I’ve been waiting for has almost arrived. Despite the uncertainty that accompanies starting over in an unfamiliar place, I am confident that the lessons I’ve learned over the past months in Santiago, from Spanish skills to traveling on my own, are going to help me settle in quickly.
Despite the challenge of planning this ambitious endeavor, I’ve also found some time to have fun this week. On Tuesday I accompanied my friend Omar to the coastal city of Viña del Mar (literally "vineyard of/by the sea”) about an hour and a half north west of Santiago. Omar had planned a photoshoot with a friend of his and I decided to tag along just for the opportunity to see something outside of Santiago. I had been told Viña del Mar was like Chile’s Miami, and although it did have a beach, it definitely was not Miami. It is a mid-sized city situated north of Valparaiso with just over 300,000 people. The beaches lined with luxury high-rise condos are made famous by towering sand dunes known as the Dunas de Concon. After exploring the city’s old downtown architecture, we hopped on a bus to the dunes where Omar had planned to do the photoshoot. His friend Romina met us at a strip mall behind the Dunes where we had lunch and filled up our water bottles. By the time we climbed to the top of the dunes, the sun was directly overhead, beating down on us. Luckily, a cooling breeze from the ocean kept us feeling good as we clambered across the exposed the dunes.
I wandered around the dunes taking photos and videos with my camera and drone while Omar and Romina did their photoshoot. I learned a very important lesson that day that sand is the ultimate enemy of cameras and other expensive electronic equipment. I kept my camera in its bag for most of the time and with the drone in the air, it avoided most of the sand, but sadly, Omar’s lens was damaged by the sand that found its way into the focus ring. I did not know sand could be so damaging, so if there are any photographers reading this, I would love to know what precautions you take to keep your equipment safe in places like sand dunes. Even though Omar’s lens was damaged he was still able to take some great photos, and we had a great time exploring.
I threw together a very serious, highly intellectual vlog, in which I only speak in broken Spanish, of our trip to Viña del Mar. This is the first time I’ve ever done a vlog in Spanish and it was a challenge, but it was super fun to make and I’ve included it below with subtitles. I’ve got the humor of a misguided 14-year-old so do not get your hopes up! Regardless, I am looking forward to using my camera and drone in Patagonia, where I will be able to capture some beautiful shots in just a few days!