Last semester I was lucky enough to be immersed in the many landscapes and cultures of Chile! The majority of my semester was spent in Arica, a small town on the coast in the desert about 11 miles from the border of Peru. In Arica I took classes on public health, did research about their privatized water system, and learned to surf.

I also spent time in the beautiful (and chilly!) mountains of Putre where we visited a flower farm, fed goats and visited el Lago Chungara, home to a volcano as well as many llamas, alpacas, and guanacos. We also hiked around the lake and planted Yareta, a traditional medicinal plant in an effort to increase biodiversity.

Later in the semester we visited Temuco (south of Santiago) and stayed with Mapuche families on rural farms learning about their beliefs, traditions, and chasing down their cows! I absolutely loved our time in the south, it was a completely different environment than Arica (much greener!) and really fun getting to know a different host family and way of life.

At the end of the semester a small group of us flew all the way down to the bottom of Chile and visited Patagonia. We explored Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales and spent lots of time in the Torres del Paine National Park. My favorite part of our trip was hiking to the base of the towers. It was a 13 mile (brutal) hike with amazing sections following a river, traversing through the forest, and climbing up big boulders.

I absolutely loved getting to know different people, environments, and ways of life, and hope that I can return to South America and explore more.

 

About the Author:

Name: Sarah Eazzetta

Year: Junior

Majors: Environmental Studies and Public Health

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

Favorite Outdoor Activity: backpacking, hammocking, hiking (and so much more)

Fav camp food: chewy granola bars

Ideal Outdoor Trip Destination: New Zealand

If you were stranded on an island, what would you bring: a book, my hammock, a surfboard, and some sunscreen