by Dylan Kelemen
This summer, we did a bunch of things as a family. But, the biggest thing we did was traveling down to the south of Chile for a week and visiting new places and beautiful landmarks known all around the world. The first landmark we visited was called the Ventisquero Colgante. It is a huge glacier in the mountains forming a v-shape and is as blue as the lake below it. Also, coming off to the left side of the glacier there is a beautiful waterfall which feeds into the lake below. There are 2 vistas of the Ventisquero, one, a – minute walk up to the lake where you can also go take a boat up to the waterfall and the other a 90-minute hike up into the forest. This glacier in preserved in a national park with enormous trees and other wild/plant life.
The second landmark we visited was called the Rio Futaleufú, a river known worldwide for its great water activities and gorgeous landscape. My dad and I got to spend a day rafting down part of the river and learning about the valley and town as well as the river itself. This river is a common destination for professional kayakers and rafters to train in the off season, but also for tourists to drop in for a day of fun hardcore activity. With many adventures and surprises, we enjoyed a day in one of the most remote and beautiful places in the world.
Finally, the last landmark we visited was Parque Pumalin, which covers land bought up by Doug Tompkins (owner of North Face) and given back to the Chilean government with a deal to preserve the land. We spent one night camping in Parque Pumalin on a windy Lago Negro with views of the breathtaking mountains of many different shapes and sizes.
In all, this world has many amazing places and I feel privileged to be able to visit and experience a few of these incredible landmarks during our time down in the South of Chile.