Bailey and I have returned to Cliffs in Northern Patagonia, also known as Parga! We are hoping for better weather and to see some of Bailey's friends who were taking their free days during our first visit. It was well worth the return trip!
During out first night back, we hung out in the kitchen during dinner time at the lodge. I loved watching the chefs Negra and Miguel cooking in the kitchen! It operated like a well-oiled machine, or controlled chaos as Bailey likes to say. I was fascinated by the roles that each of the chefs played- preparing the ingredients, cooking the food, and putting the final decorative touches on the plates for the waiters to deliver to the dining room. Literally fascinated with this process! Miguel had some leftover risotto that he let us try, ahhhhh was it yummy!
Later that night, the Cliffs staff had an asado and party for Enzo's birthday and Filipe's going away. Enzo is a baker (bread and desserts), and Filipe was a guide who went with us on the crazy Olivido trail during our first visit. Earlier in the day, Bailey and I had gone shopping with Poncho for all of the meat, beer, Pisco, and Coca-Cola for the party. Soooo basically there was a lot of eating, drinking, dancing, and all around good times. The Chileans are such good dancers :) Yay for salsa and cueca!
The next day we had better weather. It was a bit overcast, but low wind and not too cold. I made the hike again to Playa Ortiga, but this time along the beach instead of over the torn down trees. The weather was clearer, so I got so great pictures! Later in the day we hung out with Esteban in the muebleria, which is the wood shop where he makes stools, chairs, boxes, tables, mancala boards, etc. Esteban is a funny old man with crazy Einstein hair and missing teeth. He is very patient and loves teaching us about Chilean words and culture. Bailey said that she spent a lot of time hanging out with Esteban in his muebleria; he was a great teacher for her. Esteban served us coffee and gave us bookmarks that he had made, regalitos! That night we watched Cliffs play a soccer game against a local church. Cliffs won 3-2, and we had an asado afterward with the visiting team.
Our final full day at Cliffs started out rainy in the morning, but cleared up to perfection in the afternoon! Bailey and I did a small workout in the gym in the casino and visited a villa with Paola. It was cool to see the inside- I loved the sea creature themes and the decorations. After lunch, the rain cleared and we had blue sky! The air was warmer too! It was exactly what we had been praying/waiting for!
Since the weather was warm and the waves were smaller (still big for me, but not as menacing as earlier), Bailey and I went sea kayaking! Bailey and I shared a double kayak, and Arturo came with us, also on a double but by himself. Charlie was going to come, but he had an allergic reaction in his eye, so he just slept on the beach haha. Arturo and Charlie are both hilarious! Charlie washes dishes in the steward and wore sunglasses all day and night because of his eye, we started calling him the Terminator. Arturo is 23 and works as a lugero and also in the Cliffs kitchen. They call him Lobo del Mar, a sea lion!
I sea kayaked on Moreton Island, outside of Brisbane in Australia, but it was not like kayaking at Cliffs. The biggest difference was that there were no waves at Moreton Island, but there were big waves we had to get past at Cliffs. I was kinda nervous, but I trusted Bailey, the pro kayaker!she was the steerer, and was the power for the beginning. Haha I felt like i was going to bounce out of the kayak over the waves, but we made it to calm water on the first try without flipping, and boy was I glad we had our wetsuits on and that the sun was warm! I was impressed that Arturo made it out by himself on the big double boat.
It's hard to describe that perfection of our day kayaking... It was enjoyable and relaxing and thrilling and beautiful and entertaining all at the same time. We paddled over perfect turquoise water through floating seaweed and sea foam to the circle of rocks at the left of Playa Dos. The waves churning like a cauldron inside the circle, but we managed to get close to some of the towering rocks. We were able to see caves and archways in the rocks that I had no idea were there! We saw two sea lions napping on the rocks, and hundreds of birds circled around us as we paddled. It was lovely :)
As we paddled in the bright sun across to another set of rocks, we saw a group of four dolphins about 20 meters away! It was incredible! We watching them play and jump in the waves while we were kayaking, it was so beautiful! W also saw a little baby sea lion on another rock and watched him yawn and dive into the ocean. We then set up to paddle back into the beach, trying to time the waves correctly so one doesn't scoop you up from behind and dump you over. Haha we had a wave lift up the kayak from the back, but the front got pinned in the sand. We hung on and rode out the wave to the shore. Woooo crazy!
In the evening, Bailey and I went to the kitchen at the lodge to hang out and watch Miguel cook. It was so fun!! Miguel let us try a shrimp in a white wine and cilantro sauce, then he made a whole venison steak for us! Yuuuuum I want chef friends back home! I also got a whole piece of blueberry cheesecake and bites of a chocolate raspberry torte! Aaaaah heaven! Drake opened us a bottle of smooth white wine for us, and Lucho made us a pisco sour with ginger and honey. Haha things started getting crazy in the kitchen- Alberto and Freddie came in to share in the wine, Charlie was washing dishes with his sunglasses on, and Lucho lost the top to the tea, finding it later INSIDE the pot! So fun, so buzzed, lots of laughs!
Thanks to the clear day and low wind, we also had a clear sky at night! Ahhh finally! The nearest town is two hours away, and Cliffs is right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, so the heavens were literally laid out above us in perfect, minute detail! The stars were so close it felt like you could almost touch them. The sky was so clear and the night so dark that you could even see the stars low on the horizon and through the trees. It was a wonder, the universe on display above us at a hands reach. We wandered onto Playa Dos and watched the stars, seeing two shooting stars and the Milky Way with the Southern Cross right in the middle on the thick band of stars. I had my iPad with me and used it to look up some of the constellations, since it's probably the last time I'll be in the southern hemisphere for a while. It was absolutely wonderful :)
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