Thanksgiving in the Valley

A few days ago, Matt, Eli and I were making dinner in the lodge for our latest guests (Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, his wonderful wife, Judy, their super duper and sweet assistant Clay and his lovely girlfriend Vanessa. Also, a group of three guys from Matador Travel doing a documentary). Kris Thompkins, the boss lady, wandered in to say hello to us while we were cooking dinner. She's got a wonderful way of interacting with people which really makes you feel like she's taking a deep interest in whatever it is you are doing, however unimportant. Anyway, probably due to her openness with us, we got up the nerve to ask about Thanksgiving plans... we were hoping to be able to invite all of the other interns (we are 10 currently) into the lodge to have Thanksgiving dinner with all of our guests that were staying at the lodge. She immediately got a twinkle in her eye and happily announced that we could definitely do that. I couldn't have been happier about it. We woke up the next morning and per usual Thanksgiving tradition, ran quickly to town to buy last minute supplies and came back and started cooking. Justin and Ryan helped me, Matt, and Eli and we cooked up a storm all day. It felt like having a family for sure and was so nice to be in the kitchen cracking up about burnt stuffing and not having room in the oven for everything and wondering if we were going to be able to feed all 35 people with the food we had prepared and then remembering that it was Thanksgiving, so it didn't really matter anyway. That evening was one of the most special evenings I have had in a long time. We lit candles in our big living room, everyone looking out on the Patagonia mountains of Valle Chacabuco. Watching all of our lodge guests, Kris and Doug, and the other interns I have come to care about so much getting food and all sitting down together was such a special moment. To top it all off, one of my closest friends, Laura Piraino and her boyfriend Michael Laut had been visiting me for the last week and they came back from a hike in time to participate in the festivities. (by the way, I had a FANTASTIC time exploring with them. we did a whole bunch of random stuff, went horseback riding and hiking in Cerro Castillo, hung out by the shores of Lago General Carrera and then picked up Justin and hauled down to the coast to a cool little town called Tortel. All in all they were amazing guests and the time with them was fabulous).

Anyway... after dinner, with our wine glasses in hand, we listened to several of the people read poems, give thanks, share from past speeches, and generally reflect on the holiday. Amory Lovins told a great story about "applied hope" and how we should all continue down the path that we have chosen with all the greatest hope. Then his wife sang Amazing Grace. This happened to come just before Kris asked me to speak in front of the group and I was so choked up that my entire speech was a mess of shaky voice. I did, however, get a couple of votes later in the evening for favorite speech, which made me feel a bit better about being so weepy. Dang.

Now I'm sitting in the lodge waiting for our next guests to arrive... we have them for a couple of days and they are just a couple of people so it should be easy. No big adventure planned for the moment, but every day here in a new and wonderful adventure. I can't believe it's almost been 3 months!

<3 <3 <3

Kate

Tranquilo-ing. A photo journal of relaxation.

Justin and Jordan on our sheep truck hitch ride.
Justin fishes. I lay in the sun. Seems like a good arrangement.
Justin fishing by Lago Esmeraldas in the evening sun... around 9pm!
Dinosaur flavored lichen!
Cutting across the ridge of Tamanguito on the Lagunas Altas hike with Josh, Justin, and Mark!
Justin packing up in the morning at high camp.
Ryan and Phil tranquilo-ing on the mountainside. We ran into them on our hike... they are usually out in the field for up to 10 days so it was awesome to see them!
Mark. I don't know how to describe this boy, but he provides about 85% of my daily entertainment in the form of laughter.

Driving in Patagonia!

The luckiest girl in the world...

The last two days have been phenomenal, to follow up two months of wonderfulness. Yesterday, I went with Justin and Jordan to Lago Esmeraldas near Cochrane. We didn't get up until 10:00 in the morning and figured we had lost our chance at a ride to town, which are definitely few and far between and at the good graces of whoever is going. After stopping leisurely by the cafeteria for some breakfast and coffee, I wandered down to the office to check and see if anybody was going to Cochrane and as luck would have it one of the administrators was headed there. We hopped in the car and arrived to Cochrane just in time to run to the bank, grab stuff to make sandwiches, and took a quick taxi ride out to the lake where the sun was shining hard enough that we all stripped down to our swimming suits and enjoyed a swim in the lake. I managed to stay in for quite some time. After spending a few hours there, we started walking down the road trying to hitch a ride the 10k or so back into Cochrane. We got passed by a couple of cars before a sheep truck stopped for us and we got to ride in the back. Ended up being one of the best hitch rides we've scored yet. Upon arriving back into Cochrane, we ran into two workers from the estancia in the plaza who gave us just enough time to grab a couple of snacks before taking us ALL THE WAY back to the estancia. Unless you visit here, you are not going to understand how amazing this is, but usually we get dropped off at a crossroads about 12 km from the estancia and you have to try for a second time that day to hitch a ride that is likely not to come. All in all, it was a lovely day... one of the loveliest.

AND THEN there was today! In which I was charged with the job of driving Kris Thompkins' car from the estancia to the airport in Coyhaique - about a 6 hour drive that is one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on. This coincided perfectly with my need to go to Coyhaique to pick up my friends Laura and Mike who are arriving on the 18th. I had the wonderful company of another intern, Mark, and we stopped to take tons of pictures on the way. It was incredible to drive through the landscape. I felt SO free. We stopped in Cerro Castillo and I got some things sorted out for Laura and Mike's stay which was wonderful and I think they'll have a great time. I did find out that a rental car is going to be around $900 for the 8 days they are here. HOLY MOLY. I still think it's worth it just for the drive down to the estancia. Driving up to Coyhaique was phenomenal and being able to stop whenever and take photos was perfect. I suppose I would pay $300 for a rental car for myself for a week and not think that was too bad, so that's where my head is at at this moment. We'll see what they think...?????

Tomorrow I'm running crazy errands and then going to a info fair with Paula Herrera, the woman in charge of the intern program. Should be a good day too!

Pictures coming soon since I've got a pretty good connection!

Abrazos a todos.

Put a face with a name.

Great Pyrenees puppies out at one of the sheep farms. These dogs are part of the protection program. That's a proud mama right there.
Sunset at Juanina, one of the volunteer camps, on an incredible mountain range that dips down in the Argentinian valley.
Family vacation to Argentina with the first volunteer group of the season.
Halloween at Valle Chacabuco... the ladies wearing mustaches. You've got me, then Lilly the volunteer coordinator, then Corrine who is visiting for 2 weeks to install smart meters on the energy systems, and then Karen who is one of the short term volunteers.
Asado with Cristian Rivera, a beloved gaucho in the area. Cristian is in charge of the herds that remain for now here at the estancia.
Luigi Solis on the shores of Lago Cochrane with his crazy dog Nato. After this picture was taken, we skidded down the side and went swimming in the freezing cold water. The estancia is all the way on the far side of the lake in this picture behind the white mountains you see.
Paula's son, Martin, on Halloween out in the fields. This picture seems really surreal to me. This is out on the eastern side of the park, which gets flatter as it gets towards Argentina.

Mota on the way home from the fields... she's a chubby little lamb now.

Hot Water, Fly Rods, and Hiking with the Babbits

It's been a pretty great week. Work schedule has been interesting. Let me lay it out for you...

Tuesday: 9am - the guests arrive with Kris and Doug Thompkins in two planes that are now parked outside of our cafeteria. They surprised us with asking for breakfast, at which Matt and I were pretty stoked on how quickly we wrangled one together and managed to somehow get everyone fed and watered despite a lack of sufficient materials. Picture us running from one end of the estancia to the other looking for eggs and bread while serving coffee, tea, fruit, etc... somebody needs to get us a golf cart! Fun though to be suddenly thrown into work. I, for one, am enjoying the pace... and yet looking forward to some rest at the end of it all.

Tuesday: 1am - wrap up the day after working pretty much solidly through. Bar women. That I am. 15 hour day. Whew!

Wednesday: At the lodge by 7am... packed lunches for a few, lunch to be served at the main house for the rest. I got lucky enough to go hiking in the morning with a few people, including Bruce Babbit and his lovely wife, Hattie. Bruce, despite having had knee replacement surgery in August, managed to go 6 kilometers straight up Tamanguito (a nearby peak) before he and I turned around to come back down. I had a wonderful conversation with him on the way down. It's great to be surrounded by so many heavy hitters in the conservation world. We ended up chatting about Amazon Conservation Association, which I had no idea he was involved in and with whom I have been chatting about bringing Broadreach groups to do community service work in Peru. What a small world. Sitting on the side of the mountain with him, chatting about the scenery, service work, and how the apples we were eating were a nice break from walking was an incredible way to spend a morning. The afternoon was filled with preparations for an asado (BBQ) and then the actual asado, which was spectacular. Two roasting sheep on the side of a fire over which chorizo was roasting made my mouth water... scarfed down a choripan and some lamb meat before realizing I forgot to bring the wine to the asado (DANG... sorry everyone) and then running back to the lodge to get ready for an evening chat with Bruce for everyone. Bruce is a captivating speaker and it was incredible to be in a room with him, Doug Thompkins, Hansjoerg Wyss, and so many other people who work so hard to protect the natural world. They definitely have differing perspectives, but in the end, are all trying to accomplish the same thing. Reverting back to a way of life that respects traditional uses of land but attempting to restore a much needed balance. Finished up last night around midnight again and went to bed feeling liked he luckiest girl in the world.

Thursday: Back at it at 7am. Breakfast. Check. Lunch. Check. Sitting here now getting ready to make a chocolate pie for dinner and run out to the greenhouses to collect micro greens (MMMM!!!!) for a salad.

In other news, I have a baby lamb named Mota to take care of. We found her in the middle of a field, abandoned last week, and she is a week old now. I'll try to throw up some pics of her soon. I don't think I've ever been in love like this. When Paula leaves on Sunday, hopefully I will retain full custody. Jim, one of the volunteers, says I'll last a week... HAH!

Love this place, these people, and these mountains.