Chile Forum

StevenDC wrote: I owe Patagoniax a cold one.

Not to worry -- Patagoniax is nasty with everyone. I am just pleased that this gave admin the chance to lay it out much more completely and eloquently. It is a good thing to recalibrate the Bullshit Meter from time to time.

As far as the cold one, it may have to wait until you get down to southern Patagonia, but it's worth the effort to make the trip. I am about 45 minutes from the premier (and emblematic) national park of the country, Torres del Paine. There is a microbrewery in the town near me, called Baguales. In the local language (which differs from usage in other parts of the world) a bagual is a wild horse, rather like "mustangs" in the US. The Baguales region is north of here, up against the frontier with Argentina, maybe 40 km from the icecap. Before the area was totally fenced for sheep estancias, the mountains and valleys of the Baguales range held a huge number of wild horses. The baqueanos and arrieros would stage roundups there to collect wild horses, baguales, to be tamed. The area still has the cachet of a sort of "Superstition Mountains" and there are tales of the disappearances of people. Lots of condors up there, too.

Southern Patagonia may not be your cup of tea, since it's cold and windy and pretty much the ragged edge. But I do guiding and translation and buy and sell and build houses here, amongst other things, and other things includes annoying everyone on allchile dot net. If you're trying to put some distance between you and Washington, in more ways than one, this is one of those places. I know a very successful American here who got Chilean citizenship on an amnesty program.

Use PM for messages of other than public-forum discussion.

Picture of the Baguales.



Views from the current house project. Sort of like Wyoming with seacoast.

. .

px, you're now killing me. When you first time posted this photo -- it brought tears to my eyes!..

Now again.. I mean, the picture of the Baguales.

Who on earth do you call, when you just can't stop crying?..

-A

araucaniax wrote: Who on earth do you call....

Sky Airlines.

Service to Pto Natales, Wednesdays. Then call px. I am about 2 km from the airport. From airport, Baguales is about an hour north, just past Estancia Guido.

Mention of Sierra Baguales is appropriate in a thread entitled What is right with this country....

Images of others, of the Baguales range:


.

Singular Hotels is building a new place in our village. This image of the Sierra Baguales area is from their website



....Al sur del lago Argentino, .... se extiende una sierra árida y baja, sobre cuya cresta pasa el límite entre Argentina y Chile. Desde el siglo XIX se la llamó Sierra Baguales y entonces esta denominación se extendía también a los cerros más imponentes del grupo del Paine. Los baguales son caballos ariscos, difíciles de capturar y que viven sin ser domados. Actualmente allá arriba no hay paso habilitado pero durante mucho tiempo, quien desde el Lago Argentino quería conducirse a la zona del Paine y a Puerto Natales, superaba una de las varias incisiones de arista de aquella sierra.....El riquísimo libro de Lady Florence Dixie, titulado "Across Patagonia" apareció en 1880. En él se habla de baguales pero no de estancias.

---

un saludo

I just read that Simon Black blog. Yes, of course the two right-wing heavyweights of the last 20 years (Piñera and Lavin) are investing their political capital behind education reform only to then abolish the ministry of education because, you know, homeschooling would work wonders in the poblacions. That way, 17-year old mums can teach their kids how to use their cell phone to multiply 4 by 3.

Then once they're done dissolving the ministry of education they'll get a quorum in parliament to revise the constitution and privatize Codelco.

Yeah right.

.
Condor that flew low over the house a moment ago ( Fjordlands, Southern Chile).

Now back to our regular politiks.

Damn, that is a fine shot of a condor.

John Hyre

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:.There is talk of forming some kind of "Galt's Gulch" in Chile. Having been involved in Laissez Faire City, Costa Rica (circa. 2000-2002) and a watcher of other so-called English speaking "freedom" communities and their (failed, if not scam filled) histories, this immediately drew my attention.

Being from South Western Ohio, I have seen the sustainable communities created by the Amish. In modern times, even they integrate (somewhat) and depend (to a minor level) on the rest of society. These "gult gulches", are they supposed to be completely self-sustaining? Will they make their own golf balls and distill their own malt? If they really close the doors, won't this lead to in-breeding?

At least the Amish make outstanding furniture.

What’s right with Chile?

The people the wine, fresh fruit and veggies, great seafood, cheap real estate and the greatest diversity of climates in any single country and if climate change types are right the deserts of the north should get regular rain in 10-20 years time.

Now back to Canada vs Russia Gold medal Junior Hockey Championship game from the terrace, great Sav Blanc at hand. Oh USA got the Bronze.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:.I just hope these non-integrated into Chile newbie yahoos don't give the rest of us who have been here for years a bad name.

Let me count the ways it could turn out good... I'll get back to ya.

(first edit)
Maybe a bunch of them would be bankers and mortgage specialists and could bring Chile into the "new" 21st century financial practices? Oh wait, they're the rich idiot bastards that stole every freakin penny and crashed the system where they now want to run from.... Never mind. I'll get back to ya.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:. the many kinks patiently worked out and the relations with the local community carefully nurtured and solidified.

.

Isn't that what it is all about, or at least SHOULD be all about? New country, new people, new friends, new life? Learn how to fit in, learn what you can contribute, learn how to live with what you apparently liked enough about the place to relocate there? Not making it like what you left, because what you left was apparently bad enough to leave.

Interesting thought, if a certain writer of a certain expat website were to tell the hundreds of his followers about this site, he could really help people learn about the true Chile and how to best relocate. Oh yeah, then his followers would find they wouldn't need to send their cash to him anymore for all this "inside" "expert" advice. So, truth must be it is all about raking in the dough from the suckers that are looking for the easy answer, the easy way out, and it is not about actually helping people. And this is what they want to transplant to whatever country they decide they can drop in to and "fix"? No thanks.