A final update: Patagonia, tear gas, and coming home

Patagonia
Whats  a college spring break trip without things going very not according to plan? 
Our first flight from Quito to Lima was cancelled and we were booked on an later flight. Which all in all was not that bad because we still got to Punta Arenas on Sunday at the same time early in the morning and got on our bus to Puerto Natales. We spent the remainder of that day and the next (Sunday and Monday) in Puerto Natales taking in the views of the mountains from across the bay and getting ready to head into Torres del Paine, the national park that contains some of Patagonias most famous hikes and views. We watched the sun sets from the marina, made some fantastic food (it very quickly became apparent that Riley and I would be cooking most of the food on this trip). Despite not being in any park, the area was still incredible. The water was a stunning bright blue and the mountains were snow capped and reflected the sunsets in a bright orange and pink. We ate crepes and drank Chile’s famous wines. We went grocery shopping and also were able to get the travel agency to book us a campsite for a third night in the park. On Sunday night we drove out to a cave where they discovered the remains of a giant ground sloth. The cave was in a park that also had a trail to lookout that we hiked to. From the top we could see mountains in all directions over the water. We packed all of our food and our rented sleeping bags and stoves and then wasted the night away playing cards.
On Tuesday morning we woke up early to catch the bus in to Torres del Paine (~2ish hours). We got to the park at about nine, and checked in. For the first two nights we were there, we couldn’t get enough campsites in one campground for all 8 of us so we rented 2 sites in the central campground and 2 sites in the Seron campsite. Each group would stay at each site for one night and then we would flip flop to the other site. On the third night we would re group and all stay together. I was camping with Henry, Karli and Riley at the central campsite for the first night. After we set up our tents, we started the hike to the towers lookout–Torres del Paine’s most iconic attraction. The towers are these three tower like rocks that stand right next to a glacial lake at the top of the mountain in the middle of the park.  It takes about four hours and we started down in a valley where it was nice and warm but by they time we got to the top we were all in jackets and hats and gloves. The trail passed through meadows, temperate forests, mountain ridges, and large boulders we had to climb over. It runs along an ice cold river for part of the way and then snakes up the mountain. When we finally got the the top, it was too cloudy to even see the towers so we sat on a rock next to the lake for an hour and ate lunch while the clouds cleared. When they finally did, we could see all of the towers across the bright teal blue glacial lake. It was breath taking. The sun reflected off the lake and surrounding glaciers and the towers stood out against the bright blue sky. We hiked back down and made dinner in the rain and then ate and played cards in on of the tents. We all passed out by 9pm.
The weather her is weird. At night it is absolutely freezing and in the mornings everything is covered in dew and frost. As the day goes on and the sun starts shining in the valleys, it starts to warm up and get into the 70’s. We started almost everyday freezing and not wanting to get out of our sleeping bags but by the afternoon we have stripped down to t-shirts and pants and were sweating. 
On wednesday we woke up to discover that almost all of our sleeping bags had gotten wet in the night. Considering it was probably mid 30s out and still raining, we were freezing and not pleased. We packed everything up in the rain and began the 4 hour hike to the Seron campsite. We passed by the other group as they were coming back to the central campground. While they didn’t get wet the night before, they realized that all of the eating utensils somehow got packed with my group and they had nothing to eat with. We remedied that situation and kept on our way. We hiked up over a mountain and then down into a prairie. As soon as we made it to the peak of the mountain, we could see a bright blue river snaking through a valley with long green and brown grass. There were horses coming around too. The clouds cleared as we made our way through the valley and we soon found ourselves stripping off every layer possible. We got to camp around 2 and hung up our sleeping bags to dry. We then napped. Hard. Riley and I woke up around three and decided to walk down to the river. We ended up walking about 4 km down the trail along the  river before laying out on a sand bar in the sun. While we were gone, Henry and Karli discovered that the Camp store sells wine and they wasted no time taking advantage of that. Riley and I got back and made dinner. They four of us then took advantage of the cheap wine and layed in one of the tents paying cards. While such a simple innocent things, just being with friends camping that night was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. We played cards with our wet deck that was missing at least a dozen cards. We didn’t care that we were cold and tired but just enjoyed being with each other. 

Thursday was the day nothing started going as planned. The plan for the remainder of the trip was for my group to meet back at the central campground and then take for all of us to take a ferry to the other side of the park, camp there for the night, and then take the ferry back to central where we could catch the bus back to Puerto Natales. It is possible to walk to the other side along the W trek but it allegedly takes 10 hours and is usually done over two days, hence the reason for taking the ferry When my group got back around 12, we went to the ticket desk to get our tickets. In Puerto Natales the travel agent told us each one way ticket was about 3 thousand pesos but at the ticket desk they told us its actually 23 thousand pesos, and cash only. None of us were prepared for this and we didn’t have enough money to buy tickets for everyone for each way. The ferry was leaving soon and we didn’t know what to do because  our campsite was on the other side of the park but we couldn’t all get there. We pooled all of our money together and figured out that we had enough money to buy 12 tickets when we needed 16 (8 there, 8 back). The ferry was leaving soon and we were running out of time and desperate. We realized it boiled down to 4 people having to do the w trek today while the other four took the ferry and then all 8 of us could take it back the next day so we could still catch the bus to Puerto Natales. Myself, Connor, Will, and Tony, decided we would hike the trail so the other four could take the ferry (Riley’s shoes ripped and were giving her blisters and Karli slipped in the river the day before and her shoes were wet and frozen).  We gave them all of our backpacks except two with some food and water. We then began hiking the 10 hour section of the w trek . At some of the ranger stations on the trails, they actually close the trails at a certain time of day so people aren’t out hiking in the dark. We realized this very well could cause us issues since we started a 10 hour hike at 1 in the afternoon. (Sunset is around 8/9). We booked it. The whole way. We hiked fast but slow enough where we could still enjoy the views. This part of the trek works its way around the giant rock/glacier in the middle of the park and Lake Nordenskjold. We hiked on flat prairie, up near vertical mountains, through recently burned forests, and on beaches. Some how, we did this while hike in about 6 hours and made it to the campsite at 7. We all collapsed outside the tents. My feet felt like they had been beaten by a baseball bat and they were covered in blisters. My shoulders ached from carrying one of the packs most of the way. I was covered in now freezing sweat. Despite the inflated price, I bought a bottle of wine to celebrate. Henry and Karli made us dinner before 5 of squeezed in a 2 person tent so they could all play cards off my back while Karli massaged my legs. In total I hike 30 km that day, most of which was after 1 pm. It was brutal and pailful but I have no regrets about hiking. The views were incredible and we all suffered in pain together–the best kind of suffering and bonding. We laughed at how bad the situation was but were happy to spend the time together. On Friday Riley, Connor and I hiked about half a kilometer up the side of the mountain to watch the sunrise over the mountains on the other side of the lake. Again, no words could do it justice but the experience was euphoric. The glaciers lit up orange in the sunlight and the lake was a shade of blue that couldn’t possible have been real. We then all packed up our stuff and boarded the ferry. Once off on the other side of the lake, we sat on the beach while we waited for the bus. The wind off the lake was cool but the sun behind us was warm. We could see the mountains on the other side of this incredibly blue water.  We all sat there next to each other and took it all in. It was the most surreal thing I’ve ever felt. Nothing on this trip felt real-the glaciers were too blue or too big that they seemed impossible. The parries were too picture perfect amber. The sunrise and sunsets on the mountains and glaciers were too pretty. There really are no words or pictures I could use to describe it. I’ve been through the andes, the coast and the amazon and this was the only thing that really took my breath away.  We got on the bus to Puerto Natales where our blissful reality was shattered the second we got back to our hostel and had wifi. Our study abroad program had been canceled and we were to return home by the 22, as per UW.  We were devastated. Corona virus had also increased in intensity. We returned our rented camping gear and went out for pizza before our bus. We laughed and cried over food. We were tired, devastated and confused, but at least we were together. We got on our bus to Punta Arenas and got there around 9. This is where things REALLY stopped going according to plan.  We gathered our back packs and started walking the two blocks to the hostel. We rounded one corner and saw a bunch of people on the street and in this park. It was a little weird but maybe that was just the bar scene of maybe there was some event in the park(?). Then as we turned the next corner we noticed that something was definitely wrong. People were wearing bandanas over their faces and there was clearly something going on. No one was aggressive towards us so we started walking around the crowd to get the last few hundred feet to the hostel. And then all hell broke loose.  There were bangs and people started running towards where we came from. We all started running back to the bus stop though this crowd. The yelling and bangs continued. We rounded the corner and the bus stop was only 100 feet away. A big van with police lights came from the opposite direction. We were slightly relived to see the police in the middle of such chaos. We were wrong to feel this way. The van came straight at us on the side walk so we all ran in to the street. It swerved back into the street and white smoke started coming out of the back of it. We ran back to the sidewalk as we realized this smoke surrounding us was tear gas. I ducked up against the wall and pulled my quarter zip up as high as I could over my face but could only get my mouth covered. There was coughing, screaming, and frantic yells. My eyes instantly started burning and I couldn’t breathe. Any exposed skin started during. The smoke cleared but by eyes still burned and I had a hard time seeing. I could hear people yelling my name. I looked around for the other people in my group and we all stumbled in the bus station where they locked the doors behind us.  Those of us who got hit really bad went into the bathroom and flushed our eyes and washed our clothes. One thing I didn’t know about tear gas is that it doesnt just affect your eyes, it burns your skin, My face was on fire and my lungs burning. We ended up taking a taxi out of the city near the airport. We pieced together all of the information e could to figure out what just happened. Parts of Chile are protesting the government and we were unfortunate enough to get caught in a riot. We all showered and then once again celebrated with wine. 
On Saturday we walked along the beach before we had to catch our plane. We saw the sun rising and it was just the icing on the cake of our last two days. We sat there sad that we were all being sent home but were so grateful for the opportunities we had and for the people we met. Nothing from the last week seemed real to any of us–not the incredible beauty of Patagonia or  the news of corona virus or our program suspension, We were all at a loss for words.  We went to the airport and thus began three days of stressful travel. We continued getting emails from our program advisors, UW, USFQ and others about travel restrictions, UW policies, and airline cancellations. Ecuador put a travel restriction preventing any foreigners from entering the country starting at 11:59 on march 15, the day we were scheduled to get back. In Santiago they wouldn’t let us on the plant to Lima so we had to get USFQ and the Embassy involved before they agreed. We were advised to leave Ecuador before the 16th because airlines were pulling flights left and right and getting out would get harder and harder. We were all trying to frantically book flights home while still making sure we could get back to Ecuador. We were also all still confused and upset about everything that happened while we were gone. We were shaken by how abruptly the things and people we had come to know over the last 2 months were being taken from us.  We got back to Quito at 9am on the 15. I had a flight leaving at 8pm that night. I went home and hastily packed, and said good by to my host family. While they were glad to see me, they were not super thrilled to have me in their home after spending so much time traveling (USFQ also told host parents that if they didn’t want us back in their home they could pack our stuff and drop it off for us). I met Henry at the university at about 12:30 and we got one last meal together and had a few pitchers of beer. Karli joined us and we sat out under the palm trees eating and drinking. The air was heavy.  We took an uber to the airport at about 5. We waited together for our flights and watched all of the GoPro videos we took in Patagonia. My flight was delayed almost three hours but finally took off. Henry and Karli were on a later flight that also got delayed. We were all supposed to end up in Gauyaquill for a long layover together but with all of the delays, I barely had 60 seconds to say good bye to them before having to get on my flight. I felt like I had been robbed.  From Guayaquill I flew to Panama City and then to Chicago. From Chicago I got a ride from a friend to a hotel in Madison. Tonight I’m meeting Tony and Henry. We are spending the next week or so quarantined in Tony’s house in Madison. Our two classes we weren’t able to finish will resume online in two weeks so we can still get the credits.
The hardest part of the last few days was how quickly everything happened. We went from an adventure high in Patagonia to confusion, anger, frustration, fear and exhaustion. Nothing made sense. Every time we would get off a plane after having our phones on airplane mode for three hours, we would turn them on to a new slew of emails and messages about changing travel restrictions, new developments, and new things to worry about. Aside from the 7 people with me in Patagonia, there were no goodbyes. My 60 in Guayaquil to say goodbye to Henry and Karli seemed unfair and too short. There would be no more coffee at Juan Valdez, no more pool at Sabai, no more dancing at Malibu, and no more hiking through the Cumbaya valley. All of that was ripped away from us with no notice. Despite everything that happened, I have no regrets and am thankful for what we were able to do. I'm so grateful for the friends I've made and the all of the good memories.