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It’s always been said that one never stops knowing Valparaiso. There are so many hills, sights to see, a labyrinth of streets that, inevitably everyone ends up getting lost. Valparaiso has always had the charm to vary, change, and at the same time surprise. And that bar is it new? This house wasn’t like this before, was it? Every time you visit Valparaiso you end up wondering about such things! Suddenly you realise that, even though only a few months have passed since your last visit you are confronted by a changed city.

Perhaps it’s because we only live and hour and a half away by car, from Valparaiso that we tend to forget it. Upon returning it’s almost like the first time you’ve been there. More now that this city is passing through a notable resurgence, now the Port is full new hotels, bars and restaurants that cause love for this city to resurge.

Three, four years ago, staying in Valparaiso was difficult. Apart from classic hotels such as Brighton and Prat – a hotel typical of a Raymond Chandler novel – there were many family hostels, the attractions of the city far outweighed its pitiable hotel choice. But things have changed! If one wants to have a fun filled weekend, something you can count on in Valparaiso it means, at least, two nights of drinks and parties. All of which should start in one of the warm friendly Bed & Breakfast hotels and then moves on to other places in the city.

People had told me about several hotels: the Ultramar, situated on Cárcel Hill (Tomás Perez 173) a small hotel with an 1900 Italian façade: a boutique hotel a few blocks away from the home of celebrity Pablo Nerudo -‘Sebastiana’– and the proud Baburizza Palace; a real jewel soberly decorated with small objects that are reminiscent of pop art. Another alternative is Casa Latina located on Concepción Hill (Papudo 462); everything is more or less minimalist, except for the awesome view of the bay. Complementing this list are places such as Puerto Natura, on Bellavista Hill, which is distinguished by its offer of reiki and mud baths. It’s also close to places such as the Open Air Museum with its beautiful murals and the amazing house of the Valparaiso Foundation, directed by the untiring Todd Tempkins, a North American who came to Chile to teach literature and who today manages the principal institution which is dedicated to the restoration and protection of the architecture of the city, which was recently declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

It was more or less like this that my weekend commenced at what, I believe, is one of the best alternatives: The Somerscales, a hotel in a restored home situated on Alegre Hill, where once lived a famous painter of seas and wildlife. This explains why there are so many paintings that touch your feelings. This is the effect that Valparaiso has on you; it inspires you to breath deeply, with your chest fully inflated, you feel like a marine that has just escaped with his life after sailing around Cape Horn and later arrives to. . . Valparaiso. . . The Paradise, something that, at least in the night, is not only a Myth.

Now let’s see. I am at my hotel, and the first item on my agenda is a satisfying aperitif, for this there are many places to go. Or better still several aperitifs to have. In my case, first on the list was a goblet of wine in the Vililo Café (Almirante Montt 448), a place in which you can choose which long play record you want to listen to. Yes, long play records! Another option is to taste the avocado pastry; a strange but delectable house specialty. This is only for those with strong stomachs. Other places to partake in a glass of wine are Café Turri on Conception Hill (Templeman 147); a large white hotel with gigantic pillars and an ancient bar. Here it’s just as easy to feel that you’re in Athens as Valparaiso.

Finally, end your tour just when the street lights are coming on, you must go to the Minicine-Bar, Valparaiso My Love, located on the same hill (Papudo 612). What is its charm? Well, drink some more wine! Watch 16mm movies generally old documentaries, impossible to see anywhere else. These films form part of the curious film archives of this local. These films have become the favorite of artists such as Raúl Ruiz, by far the best Chilean cinematographer.

Well then, with sufficient petrol in the body, it is time to search for a good mixture of combustibles. It is time to dine! Today it’s not easy to make such a decision in Valparaiso. If you listen to Carlos Reyes, an expert who has published a culinary guide for the city, you must go to The Caruso, a fish and sea food restaurant in which the consumé is on the house. Apart from this you can savour succulent crab pastry or a delicious tuna filet. On my first night I opted for the Filou de Montpellier, a restaurant that offers home cooked French meals. You must taste the Magellan Lamb. Keep in mind that there is also the Pasta and Wine Restaurant on Concepción Hill (Templeman 352) which in a short time has become one of the best eating places in Chile. How could I forget the Coco Loco, a rotating restaurant (Blanco 1781) that in 80 minutes gives you a complete panorama of Valparaiso. Possibly this is the best option for. . . the second and last night.

The point is that it’s still the first night. Now it is time to shake your bones, and Valparaiso has many places where you can do just that. It only depends on your likes, your energy, and how much seafood you have eaten. What was my choice? Well, as best as I can remember, first on the list was Piedra Feliz, a Pub on Echaurren Street, located across from a celebrated rock from which many port people have committed suicide. I don’t know Lisbon, but it has been said that both Lisbon and Valparaiso have the air of an eternal and intense melancholy. But listen, if there’s something that Valparaiso has too much of its joy! Apart from the dozens of discos and pubs along Echaurren, there is also Ecuador Street. This is a narrow and winding street that’s lined with discos such as Mr. Egg and The Locomotor, places in which you can dance to the rhythm of the most recent hits.

What else? The other places are more classical: La Playa, or J. Cruz, which is full of old dolls and thousands of trinkets that are worthy of the best Flea Markets. Of course there’s also The Cinzano in the Anibal Pinto Plaza. By this time, even if you do or don’t speak Spanish, you end up singing one after another classic of the city. For example, ‘The Jewel of the Pacific’, the famous Valparaiso hymn, a song that speaks of the eternity of this city and its addictiveness.

One thing is sure: in Valparaiso the night never ends, neither do two! It’s for this reason that one always wants to return to Valp, as the locals affectionately call it. More than money, what is most important is a good aspirin for your headache. You will not be able to forget.

First Act: discovery

I was asked to repair the offices of Ladeco airlines in Chile and as my partner didn’t enjoy flying, I had to visit all the sites on my own. I was returning from the Beagle Channel, where we had repaired a hostel, and passed by Torres del Paine. It was then that I realized that the park was practically abandoned. It was in early 1988 and everything was closed, or at the point of, being closed. I said “here there’s an extraordinary resource, this is a reserve of great beauty, but people cannot see all that is here”. It was then that I proposed to the manager of Ladeco, José Ibáñez, the establishment of a Chilean tourist project. He replied that I should do it by myself! And finally his brother, Pedro Ibañez, obtained the rights to build the hotel.

I remember that I was on board a small DAP airplane, flying between Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams, I wrote in my notebook the fundamental plans for The Explora. The article was called The Art of The Trip, I thought that it would be useful to define the spirit of the adventure.

According to my understanding, the Patagonia wasn’t as un-inhabited and virgin place, as it first seems to be. The attraction of Patagonia is that even though it’s been inhabited for thousands of years, and has immense pasturelands and haciendas, human intervention hasn’t been able to destroy anything important. That’s what distinguishes this wild wilderness and what moved me to develop a project to make use of a territory that continues to be uninhabited.

In general, Chilean parks have life due to this quality. In North American parks, if people see a spider, they exterminate it – they are like artificial parks. On the contrary, Chile is full of territories that one doesn’t have to own, but rather walk through, use, inhabit, without control. When somebody controls a territory the unexpected is lost. This is what, for me, is the most important part of a trip.

Second act: The Explora Hotel

The construction of a hotel is the result of a complex plan. My aim with The Explora was to lower expectation to the minimum possible. Imagine: visitors travel, I don’t know, between twelve and twenty hours to arrive to Santiago, then they have to fly another six hours to Punta Arenas. Besides that, six more hours by land, to Puerto Natales. After hours of driving on curvy and dusty roads, people begin to grumble profusely. When they arrive, in darkness, to the hotel they are confronted with a little place in the middle of gigantic surroundings. They see that the entrance is a little door, at that moment their expectation plummets to zero, anything else that may appear becomes extraordinary.

Suddenly they’re in the interior of the hotel: everything is covered with warm, well cared for, colorful native woods. The administrator is waiting with a drink, a pisco sour, and invites them to the bar, where visitors revive from the arduous trip, talking until around one in the morning.

The following morning they really see the hotel, situated in the middle of an exuberant wonderland of nature, which ignites the desire for adventure. Exploration signifies Sociedad del Sur de America, precisely because they propose leisure walks, and explorations. During such exploration one forgets daily life, its hassles, and all such things that cause one to become neurotic.

During the day, when one is soaked and frozen, you know that at seven p.m. the adventure terminates and waiting for you is a fantastic heated pool. It’s like the tale of the “Guard in the Centeno”; just as this child wanted to look after others, the hotel looks after its clients with only its presence. It’s a refuge that’s in harmony with the environment; as much with the earth as with the sky. Overhead are white fluffy clouds, under your feet is crystal-white snow, and in the midst of all of this the white hotel.

Conde Nast Traveller has been chosen as one of the best hotels in the world on various occasions. This makes me proud because it’s unique and unrepeatable. It’s an effort to create your own architecture, without sinning against the local people.

Third act. Remota Hotel

Here I was asked to create a hotel on the outskirts of Puerto Natales, with a view of Señoret channel. As is always the case with architecture there isn’t only one solution, and they all seem so great! What we did in respect of this new hotel was to try to forget all that we’d done for The Explora. By doing this importance was placed on other issues. The Explora is based on limitless luxuries, the Remota is based on more certain limited luxuries.

This isn’t Club Med, where friendly people invite you to dance. Here the luxury is silence, thick towels that are kept warm, and beds that make you feel sleepy by just looking at them.

The Remota is a hotel that has been established to serve people, to put its guests in contact with the areas nature. Backpackers don’t have the possibility to hike all day, they must be concerned about what they’ll eat and where they’ll sleep. Here, in exchange, daily living is the responsibility of the hotel: they bring you lunch, they load your things, they offer outings, and take you to the spa. The 120 rooms are spread out over 2 floors, with a common space where fireplaces are lit and streams flow. Everything is very simple and rustic, but everything is five stars.

I arrived at Futaleufú worn out and anxious after hours of traveling on an old bus. Finally I was at one of the most important areas of the Chilean Patagonia; a remote niche where Hollywood stars such as Antonio Banderas have purchased a property. I had arrived at one of the fastest and most heavily flowing rivers in the world. I could now understand why 20,000 tourists visit this place every summer with one, crazy, purpose in mind: risking their lives descending the river!

According to the rafters and kayakers, the Futaleufú River is among some of the top rivers in the world, such as the Colorado River in the U.S.A, the Zamezi in Zimbabwe, the Tsang Po in China and the Franklin in Australia. For this reason the 2000 Worldwide Championship of Rafting took place in this quiet and friendly south Chilean town. Due to the high frequency of tourists excursions and adventure weeks are charged in American dollars, not in local Chilean pesos.

The Futaleufú River begins in Argentina and by the end of summer reaches a peak width of 110 meters. It has several grade five rapids on a scale of difficulty established between one to six, which makes it almost humanly impossible to navigate – run, make an attempt, risk it!
Local inhabitants call the river The Futa, and in the last ten years they have seen the effect of the torrents have on life, claiming six in recent history. Normally intense turquoise and quiet, the Futa is not to be underestimated.

Today I’m at the Shangri La of Rivers. The staff at Chile Expeditions make the dangers of navigating this river very clear, with their years of experience and prestige it is advice to be heeded; There are other expedition companies; Earth River and Bio Bio Expeditions, but there’s one difference – Chile Expeditions belongs to Chris Spellius, an elderly Olympic medallist, who initiated tourism to the river by descending it in kayak alone, in the mid 1980’s.

Chris is ready for anything; his appearance is somewhat rugged, rough shaven and with hands like enormous paddles his resume is full of ‘grade fives’. There is nothing for it. I must join the group who are about to throw caution to the wind & really get to know the famous and feared Futa. The plan was to descend the most popular area, called ‘bridge to bridge’, a complex circuit that consists of at least nine rapids: eight of which are grade four and one of grade five, with graphic names like Shark and Cazuela!

The group that I’m with consists of a guy from Germany, four Americans (who have all completed a course on extreme nature adventures), and myself. Representing Chile Expeditions are, four Canadians, professional rescuers who will descend in kayak, an American who is in charge of our balsa, and a Chilean who will drive the cataraff, a giant balsa that is the latest and most modern rescue balsa. So, in total, 4 guides for 5 tourists – hopefully this helps you to understand what we are all getting into?!

- “Where are the places where one is most likely to fall out?” I asked Chris at the end of our first chat on security.

- “Ufff. In various places” he responded without a trace of sarcasm.

The river is at a high level and the section that we will navigate includes the Mundaca, an awesome grade five rapid that terminates at the base of a gigantic rock. The ‘line of security’ through which we must descend passes between various rocky places, at a decline of 30º – totally frightening! Here the river loses its turquoise color and becomes absolutely white. The river currents are chaotic, there is foaming water everywhere, the noise is deafening, it’s impossible to distinguish the supposed ‘path’ which we are to follow.

One of the kayakers descends first, for moments he disappears under the waves. The next kayaker follows, who, with precise movements, evades a tremendous rock that divides the river in two. Now it’s my turn. The rescuers in the cataraff keep a close eye on me and, in a matter of seconds, I am in the fight. And boy what a fight! I paddled with all my strength – I can hear the instructions “Right-ahead, left-ahead”, shouted to me from the guide at the top of his lungs. I, like the rest, paddle desperately to the right and ahead. Next he shouts “left-reverse, left-reverse” and we attempt to steer the balsa back and to the left. These movements are critical, especially when you know that it’s with these maneuvers that your life hangs.

Seconds feel like hours, there is water everywhere, I bounce forward and back, up and down, I feel like I’m inside a washing machine and if I don’t hang on desperately I’ll be ejected. Suddenly one of the group falls. Or almost! He loses control of one leg and then the other, his companion grabs him by the shoulders and shoves him back into place. He’s saved! Speedily, the Mundaca is behind us.

“Incredible! Incredible! I feel like I am breathing water” comments the American who almost fell overboard, soaked to the bones.
The guides demonstrate their military efficiency in picking up the balsa, loading kayaks, gathering the paddles and planning the next day’s descent. This adventure has a routine of it’s own and I feel like I’ve had my breath taken from me – then we’re told that there will be a chamamé championship, the typical dance of the Patagonia in the Futa discotheque, I suddenly feel refreshed.

- “And will there be beer?” I croaked.
- “Lot’s of beer, barbequed lamb, wine, women, rainbow trout, whatever you want” says Chris.

And believe me, it was true!

Useful information

The most direct way to reach Futaleufú is by car through Argentina. After crossing the Cardenal Samoré Pass, near Osorno Chile, stay in Villa Angostura or in Bariloche,and later drive to Esquel and then re-enter Chile, at least a 2 day trip from Santiago.
You can fly to Puerto Montt and then take a small plane to Chaitén and there take a bus to Chaitén-Futaleufú (3 – 4 hours).

Sleeping facilities

The El Barranco Hotel: an elegant fishing lodge qualified as ‘four fishing rods’ by clients. It has access for handicapped persons. O’ Higgins 172, Phone (65) 721 – 314. www.elbarrancochile.cl
Rio Grande Hostel: with double and triple rooms as well as family apartments. O’Higgins 397; Phone (65) 721320. www.pacchile.com

Eating facilities

Martín Pescador: the best restaurant in Futaleufú, Tatiana Villa Blanca is the Chef. Balmaceda 603. Phone.(65) 721279.
Restaurant Futaleufú: This restaurant offers abundant and low cost meals at all hours. Pedro Aguirre Cerda 407.

More information

www.fataleufu.cl

http://www.fledglingwine.com/index.html