Not So Idle Days in Chile

After arriving into Santiago we picked up our home for the next 7 weeks...a 2003Fiat Fiornio that has been converted into a mini-camper. Since we didn't want to deal with the hassle of buying/selling a vehicle we decided to rent for this last leg of our trip.

Anyone for another 7 weeks of living in a van?:

We got our van from Wicked Campers, an Aussie company known for their interesting paint jobs. They're just starting up in South America so we got a pretty good deal. Its received some looks, but most of it is out of curiosity. Usually, the Chileans want to know if we painted the van ourselves, why there are skulls on it, where we're going, and where we're from...just the typical questions one encounters while on a roadtrip. We're just hoping it gets us all the way to the bottom of South America in one piece...it has almost no suspension, a rumbling exhaust, a check engine light that comes on periodically (according to the guy from Wicked..."Just ignore that"), and a leaky roof (but only when it rains).

After stocking up on supplies in Santiago we managed to make our way south into wine country. Before leaving civilization completely, we figured some serious wine tasting was in order. After all, Chile is the up-and-coming wine country. We followed the wine trail to Santa Cruz tasting at several vineyards along the way, getting a little silly, and stocking our van full of cheap, tasty wine for our adventure south. Somehow we managed to pull ourselves away from the endless glasses of Carmenere, one of the most popular Chilean reds, and continue on our journey.

We swear that we'll start roughing it as soon as we finish this wine...:

Today we're in Puerto Montt which is basically as far south as you can drive before you have to hop on a ferry. We'll be boarding a vehicle ferry tonight for the ride to Chaiten, Chile which is where the real adventure will start. We're planning on driving about 600 miles south on the gravel Carretera Austral road before we pass over the Andes into Argentina. It'll be us, our Wicked van, and miles and miles of empty road.