Reading a book on the plane by notorious grump Paul Theroux called ¨The Pillars of Hercules,¨where he travels from one end of Gibraltar to the other, the long way. After leaving the rock, he travels to Spain and has this to say. ¨The utterly blighted landscape of the Spanish coast–Europe´s […]

San Pedro de Atacama is a green oasis in the vast and arid northern sector of Chile, you can see the town miles away as you drive the rail-straight route from the airport at Calama. Calama is a mining town, the world´s biggest open-pit copper mine is here, and our […]

We flew back from the one-horse town of Balcameda tonight, leaving behind our driver Jaime who had to backtrack five hours over the one-lane Austral road to his house in the woods. As we approached Santiago, the highways signs overhead read ´good luck Chile,´and ´´ít is possible,´rooting in public for […]

We visited two hydroelectric plants today, both owned by entrepreneur lodge owners who needed a way to heat and light their ecolodges in remote national parks in Patagonia, Chile. Both hoteliers were eager to show me their handiwork. Heidi took me out in the rain (wearing the requisite ´wellies´or tall […]

We climbed a long hill up a rutty driveway up and up and around and up again to the top of a hill overlooking a beautiful lake and huge mountains on either side. We were here to have lunch with Theobaldo Doerno, the owner of a farm that offers ágrotourism´here […]

Here is a ´´nuevo entrar´´ written from El Pangue, an eco-lodge in the rainforest of Patagonia Chile. This is a rainy and wonderful place, outside it is very green and horses are grazing on the lawn. There is a small hydro plant on the grounds where they make their own […]

When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey, Peter Heller was my pal who lived in Brooklyn. He used to come out and visit us, and they called us ‘city mouse and country mouse.’ I have just reunited with this old friend, who I haven’t seen since 1980, […]

We have been in Chile for just a few days, and it seems like much longer. We flew this morning from Santiago to Balcameda, a tiny spot on the Argentinian border in the pampas. We then set out over windswept roads the entire width of this 104 km wide country […]