Resumen 3: Coyhaique

In mid-January, Fulbright Chile sent us to Coyhaique in the very south of chile (the XI región) in the heart of Patagonia to present our mid-term research reports (in Spanish). Because three of the five Chilean Fulbrighters were researching in the south of Chile, it was easier to send us to the south than to send them up north to Santiago (and an awesome excuse to spend a week in a beautiful place!).


The city of Coyhaique is nestled between stunning mountain peaks in the very south of Chile.


We had sunny, clear weather for almost our entire trip.

In all we spent a week touring the XI region of Chile (and presenting our research). Highlights of the trip were seeing Cerro Castillo, a towering snow-capped string of mountain peaks, Lago General Carrera, the second-largest lake in South America which was carved by glacers, is 1000 feet deep, and has a gorgeous blue-green color, Laguna San Rafael, a lake that is fed by a 300-foot high, receding glacier, and finally an archeological site in which researchers have discovered 10 of the 20 oldest human skeletons in the Americas!!! I could probably go on and on about the amazing experiences we had down there and how cool it was to become good friends with the other U.S. Fulbrighers in Chile. Plus, we had great weather for the entire trip, something very rare in those parts of Chile.

Enjoy the pictures!


This is one of the only places east of the Andes in all of Chile. It's known as the steppe, and is very reminiscent of the high-flat lands of Argentina.


More of the Chilean steppe. Windy, cold, big beautiful skies...


...and 10,000 year-old skeletons! This is one of the oldest skeletons found in all of the Americas. And he's also the 10th one found in this one cave!! For some unknown reason, they were all buried in this tucked position.


A gaucho helped us with directions when we took a wrong turn.


Cerro Castillo (Castle Mountian). Sure did remind me of some sort of castle from some fairy tale...or perhaps some alien-robot creature...


A farm at the base of Cerro Castillo. Amazing how green it was..and the people friendly enough to let a bunch of gringo tourists trespass!


One of many caves on Lake General Carrera. These caves are all over the shores of the lake. The cave walls are smooth and glossy like marble.


La Capilla (The Chapel), a spectacular formation on Lago General Carrera.


And, yeah, we went swimming! According to our guide, this was one of three sunny days the entire year! We took advantage of the good weather...and as long as you kept your entire body close to the surface, the water actually wasn't too frigid!


In Southern Chile, dogs go toe-to-toe with cows!


The glacer at Laguna San Rafael. It's only reachable by a 5-hour boat ride through some of the most sparsely-inhabited land in all of Chile.


The glacier is receding...not necesarily due to global warming, but because we are still coming out of the last ice age (although the rate of warming is probably accelerated by global warming!). Here is the splash of a chunk of ice that fell off the glacier.


They took us on a raft as close as possible to the glacier.




And finally, they treated us to whiskey with 1000-year-old ice! All in all an unforgettible week.