Crystalline
Mystifying
Bursting
Pungent
Benevolent
Does that make things clear? I thought so.
We spent six days trekking in the Lakes District, a glacier-carved region with snowy volcanic peaks, trees larger than life, lakes, rainforests, mud, towering granite walls, rich volcanic soil, and jade-blue water that is crystal clear at amazing depths. I now understand why the term for fresh water in Spanish translates to ¨sweet water¨. It is!! The sun rises at about 6am and it doesn´t get dark until 10pm. Yes, 10pm (sun set at 9ish).
So here´s some pics to help, but as always, they never do justice...
Volcano Osorno on All Saint´s Lake. On the way to a trek with a hot springs at one of the camps. I think it was developed especially for me, no?
Approaching the rainforest through a ranching pasture.
I´ve never seen so many waterfalls - large and small - in my life. Not even in Hawaii.
OK, this pic is blurry, but I had to show it. The hot springs were two carved out tree trunks with the water pumped in from a tube running from the source. It was so unique, and of course, AWESOME!
Sorry, technical difficulty. The trees just BEG you to hug them.
Our record stream-crossing in one hike: 5. Water is everywhere. This was a pretty mellow one. 
There´s a ski resort behind that mountain.
Second trek: Cochamo Valley, dubbed the Little Yosemite of Chile. But that does not do this place justice. One of the most spectacular hikes we´ve ever been on. Trekking, fishing, climbing, kyaking - and almost unknown among tourists.
One river crossing was on a pulley system.
Beautiful u-shaped carved ¨hanging¨ galcier valley.
A natural rock slide. The video of the whole slide is below. Good times, good times.
We also had a very long conversation with a local rancher that piqued my interest, as I found threads that can be weaved throughout rancher/farmer society in all the world; and probably since the beginning of our sedentary way of life. It went something like this:
Us: So you own the land around here? (observing his ranch by a lake)
Rancher Sebastian: Yes but the Forest Service is always trying to pressure me and tell me what to do, and the government has forgotten us country men.
Us: What do you mean?
RS: My family has been here for generations, I have no income aside from what I can make the land produce. If I can´t make it produce it has no value to me, I have nothing. What do I have if I can´t make the land produce?
Us: Nothing...
RS: Exactly. Then come the capitalists, those large investors, and government, driving up the cost of the land so I can´t expand and telling me that now I´m bordering a National Forest and I can´t cut trees. So how then can I survive if I´m not allowed to clear land for my cattle and for firewood for cooking? We´re too isolated here (no roads, you can only arrive by road and then boat or horse) to get enough cattle to market to compete. And what does the government do to subsidize us ranchers? NOTHING. The government favors the international investors with the money. They squeeze us out of the market, and now I´m not allowed to cut the trees down.
Us: We saw lots of similar things happening in the mountains of Peru. The farmers cut the forest to make land for crops, but because they don´t have the knowledge base for sustainable land-use, they just have to cut more forest after their first plot stops producing. They have no native forest left, less water every uear, growing economic pressures, and are very isolated from a central government that favors large foreign investors.
RS: Forest conservation?? That´s easy, I clear the forest on all of the rich protions of land that produce good grass for my cattle, and leave the steep rocky places alone.
Us (clearly seeing the irony and not commenting): And what about the tourism brought by conservation efforts such as National Forests?
RS: I can´t make a living off of that. What can I do? Take some tourists to see a puma? Let them camp on my land? I get enough money for a few days. The tourists only come here a few months of the year. It is not a source of income for me.
Us: What do ranchers need then?
RS: Politicians who care about us and support what we need. They nitpick us about cutting trees, yet the city is a shithole. They give us nothing.
And the conversation continues...eventually ending on a ¨well you have to press on and be happy¨ note. The truth, a really friendly and smiley guy, but just fed up with the constant conflicts of interest.
The things he said are endemic problems with an agriculturist society. We need land to produce, to give us things. But in order to do that we must manipulate, control, and change what is naturally there for maximum production. Land no longer has value in itslef. Yes, there are sustainable ways to make money off of the land. But the structures needed for it to happen don´t exist in most places.
Environmentalism, capitalism, and globalization (among many other things, but sticking to the topic at hand) have all changed the world, and nobody feels it more than the impoverished and those who still depend directly on the land. Ultimately, our current system of government and economic structuring would have to be fundamentally changed for these conflicts to go away. And we don´t like change. We don´t like restrictions and pressures. People Who Have will always fight to keep it. The rancher saw the government as a puppet to the capitalists of the world and completely negligent to the needs of the small family ranchers and farmers. As for environmentalism, well, it just doesn´t make sense to him.
I understand why people protest the idea of globalization and the World Bank. I´ve seen how these processes can enslave and entrap less fortunate people – and governments – in vicious cycles that they can´t break out of. But I´ve also seen how attracting foreign investment and capital can change people´s lives for the better. Like everything, there´s a little bit of truth in all perspectives.
The rancher is doing what he knows how and sees any impediment or redirection as a personal attack on his ability to make a living. He´s not wrong and he´s not right. Will we all get it right someday??
