Ty Caldwell Rio Gol Gol Photo: Bernie Engleman
- Ty Boof to Swim Photo: Jon Clark
It is coming up on two months that I have been traveling around Chile and what an unbelievable experience to say the least. Since watching the first Demshitz videos of Chile, it has always been a dream of mine to visit this magnificent land of waterfalls and Chile is just that… magnificent.
Ty on La Princesa Photo: Eric Mount
While the whitewater is amazing, the culture of the Chilean people is what truly blew me away. My first few weeks in Chile were occupied by homesteading just outside of Futaleufu. While I lived with a few Gringos, my only outside contact was that of rural Chileans. Viewing their lifestyles was similar to traveling back in time 100 years. It is truly amazing to see people living off of the land and tending to their livestock. After chopping wood to cook breakfast on the on the wood stove, most of my days were filled with climbing over cattle fences to reach the Rio Futaleufu. Oh man, what a river. With strong winds, whirlpools, and waves/holes the size of cars this river is fierce, but oh so fun. Kayaking can only get better with good places to fly fish on the trek downstream. The Futa is home to some beautiful trout and gorgeous mountains. Make sure not to only get views of the bottom of the river but also from the tops of the surrounding peaks.
Ty on top of the world Photo: Theresia Hinton
After spending a few weeks in Futaleufu, I headed North to help assist in showing the NOC Youth Paddling Team around the Country. Three very experienced paddlers from the Team made the flight down and spent their winter break in a warmer environment. Upon their arrival we met up in San Fabian to set off on an overnighter on the Rio Nuble. The overnighter ended on Christmas Eve where we were able to experience a traditional Chileans Christmas. With the festivities over we headed south to Pucon. David Hughes hosted us at the Pucon Kayak Hostel and we centralized ourselves for some amazing rivers. Near Pucon we paddled the Rio Trancura, Palguin, Llancahue, Fuy, San Pedro, and even made it a bit further south to the Rio Gol Gol. Each river is phenomenal in its own way. After two weeks of paddling the guys headed home and I found my self back on a bus to Futaleufu. Chile continues to amaze me each day and I now prepare to the next adventure of paddling from the Argentina border to the Pacific Ocean, crossing Chile in less than 24 hours.
Taylor and Bernie Brotraining Photo: Ty Caldwell
Bernie on the Palguin Photo: Ty Caldwell
Overnighter on the Rio Nuble Photo: Ty Caldwell
Waking up Photo: Ty Caldwell
Taylor Cofer on Rio Llancahue Photo: Ty Caldwell
Bernie checking out the cave Photo: Ty Caldwell
Theresia at the Pacific Photo: Ty Caldwell
Do yourself a favor and visit Chile, the adventures never end.