Sergio's House

After staying one night in a hostel in El Barrio Brasil in Santiago we met up with Sergio Juarez, a good friend that Eric and I met on our NOLS course a few years ago. Sergio is from Mexico and moved down to Santiago with his American wife Kara. They have a baby boy, Santi, who is just over a year old. Kara teaches science at an International school in Santiago and Sergio is a professional guide. He most recently was leading trips up Aconcagua but is now trying to only do local trips so that he can spend more time with his family. They live in a beautiful house in the hills outside of Santiago surrounded by trees and overlooking a small river in the backyard. It had been almost three years since Eric and I saw Sergio but as soon as we hopped into his green Nissan pickup truck it was as if we were back in Patagonia, laughing and carrying on like old times.

We came back to his house and made some delicious pizza, hung out, and when Kara got home from school we drove up the road ten minutes for a hike. Sergio put Santi in a special backpack built to carry babies and we walked along a river picking fresh blackberries. Santi fell asleep on the hike and was dreaming and drooling with blackberry juice smeared across his face as we admired the cacti and mountain views. At one point, Eric jumped about three feet straight into the air and screamed like a little girl. We turned around and saw a giant tarantula, or a pollito, scurrying across the trail. It was as big as my hand and had orange hairs all over its body. Sergio and Kara were not surprised as they said they see them around all the time, they have even found them in their bathroom before! With this, the three gringos were a bit unsettled but we got over it rather quickly with more great scenery and conversation. We hiked and talked for about an hour until we got to a gate that impeded our return to the car. Instead of a ten minute hike out we had to retrace our steps for about an hour. It was getting dark and Santi woke up from his nap, however, despite the dark and the coming cold he was content and starred wide-eyed the five experienced outdoorsmen stumbled through the dark looking for the trail. That night Eric cooked delicious Gado-gado pasta with fresh peppers and onions.

The next day we sat around in the morning. Eric and Jeremy tried to figure out their plans for the coming days while I played guitar and Santi ran around smiling and screaming. We drank lots of mate and hung around. Santi saw us all drinking mate and wanted to join. First he tried some cold mate and when we saw that he liked it so much we filled a gourd with water and let him drink out of the bombilla. Now he is a fiend and is chasing Sergio around for the mate right now. In the afternoon we hopped in the car and drove five minutes, walked for ten minutes, and arrived at some excellent rocks. After Sergio gave us a refresher course in belaying Sergio roped in and lead climbed to the top of the 5.10 route, setting it up for top roping. He flew up the rock with ease and style, as we in the business call: steaze. Once the route was set I threw on some shoes an barely made it up a fifth of the route before having to come down, my legs shaking and the veins in my arms stiff with blood. Jeremy gave it a try and got a bit higher than me before he had to come down as well. Unfortunately, Eric hurt his shoulder last year climbing and was not about to throw away eight months of physical therapy so he belayed us and watched, giving heckles and words of encouragement when necessary. After a few tries and many rest breaks in between, I made it to a nice ledge about halfway up the route, the farthest I was going to get this time around. We hiked out as it was getting dark and came back to Sergio's house. We started a fire on the grill, opened up a bottle of Chile's famous Carmenere and hung out, grilling amazing vegetables and steaks.

Today, Eric's twenty-first birthday, Sergio has been helping Jeremy and Eric get ready for their next adventure. They plan on summiting El Plomo, a mountain just outside Santiago at an altitude of 5400 meters, about 17800 ft. With their combined knowledge and Sergio's massive amounts of gear, they have been busy getting ready for a hard hike. While they went grocery shopping today I went to the Middlebury Abroad office in Santiago and met with Jeff Stevenson, the director. We chatted for a while and I told him that I would be staying at Sergio's again tonight as opposed to staying in the hotel. I want to spend another night here with Sergio and his family and tomorrow morning I will go to the hotel and meet up with the rest of the group before we get on the bus for Valparaiso, my final destination. Jeff said that we will be staying in a hostel for a few days for orientation and on Saturday I will move in with my family. Valpo is only a two hours away by bus and I will definitely be coming up to Santiago to hang out with Sergio and get outside for some adventures. Yesterday was my first time climbing outside on real rock and I am very excited to get outside more. With a friend like Sergio around, it would be crazy not to.

Sergio and I drove Eric and Jeremy to the drop off point at the base of El Plomo and I said good-bye to my compadres. The drive up was incredible, the narrowest switchbacks I have ever seen. After reaching the bases of all the ski mountains, including Valle Nevado, we jumped on a dirt road and zig-zagged up the mountain. I really want to see these mountains in the winter. Everything is above the tree line and up above the lifts there are giant bowls and chutes, all above 3500 meters. We got to the snowline and Sergio gave the boys some last minute advice and direction. It would have been great to get back out with Eric and Jeremy but unfortunately, reality calls; Its back to school for me. On second thought, it won't be any reality that I have experienced before. In any case, Sergio will pick them up on Thursday and hopefully they will get to summit, weather permitting. They will be studying in Montevideo, Uruguay, across the continent from Valpo and I will probably not see them for quite awhile. Eric will be down here for the year and hopefully we will be able to meet up in July for a few more adventures before I head back up north.

Pictures of my stay at Sergio's

If your interested…

Eric Harvey’ s blog

Jeremy Martin’s blog


Until Valpo...Chaio.