South American Hostage Situation

After 3 days of hiking in Torres del Paine National Park, we learned that a protest had started in the  district of Chile that includes Patagonia (Magallenas). The government in Santiago announced a significant price increase for natural gas which sparked an outcry in the entire region where I happened to be hiking and camping. All roads in the region were blocked by strikers so we were told we needed to stay put in the National Park until the situation calmed down.

I suppose there are worse places to be held hostage than Torres del Paine. The views are amazing and we were camping near a lodge with heat and plenty of food. That said, due to the ever-changing situation, we weren’t able to go out and explore in the park – we needed to be ready to depart if the roads were temporarily opened. So for two days we just hung around the campground hoping for a settlement so we could depart.

Finally, we heard that the protestors were allowing 5 buses of tourists to leave the park and pass through the blockade. We wanted to be on those buses (there were 2000 tourists “trapped” in Torres del Paine). So, we took a boat across the lake (the last boat to go across the lake due to the lack of gasoline) to meet a bus to take us back to civilization. Crazy.

We passed through two blockades full of protestors and burning fires on our way to the nearest town (Puerto Natales). But,I should stress that the protests were peaceful and the entire situation seemed quite safe.

But, we weren’t free yet. . .our flight back to Santiago was supposed to be out of Punta Arenas (about 3 hours south) the next morning. And with the roads still blocked, we had no way to get to the airport. We spent two more days in Puerto Natales waiting for the protests to end. Most shops and restaurants were closed. Those that weren’t were on limited hours and some were getting their windows broken for remaining open. Everywhere were signs in support of the protest and black flags being flown – the flag flown in support of the strike.

Despite the inconvenience, we were lucky as we had rooms in a hotel with showers, food, and water (and wine). But, elsewhere, the situation was getting worse. On Sunday evening, the Chilean government declared martial law in the area since the strike had gone on nearly a week and there was no sign of an agreement.  Monday morning, however, roads were still closed and we had no idea how to get out of town (and out of the region). On past trips, this would have been incredibly stressful since I would have had a return flight and work to get back to. I have to admit, that with no timeline, nowhere to be, and on one expecting me, I was able to just take it in stride. There's certainly something to be said for having no commitments!

Day four of our hostage situation, at about 2pm, we got word that the Red Cross was working with the Chilean army to evacuate tourists from Puerto Natales. We had to get to the Red Cross staging area immediately as the next evacuation would not be for 6 days. So we rushed to the local school which was being used as a temporary shelter and the staging area for the evacuation. Some people had been sleeping on the gym floor and eating red cross meals for several days. This is when I first realized how lucky we had been throughout this situation.

We were loaded onto army vans and driven through the barricades to the small airport outside of town where we were greeted by the Chilean Air Force.

As an added bonus to an already incredible situation, one of my travelling companions and I were able to sit in the jumpseats in the cockpit for the flight down to Punta Arenas; that was an incredible experience! I have to give a special shout-out to Vincent y Rodrigo, the two Chilean Air Force pilots who flew us to safety!

Although I never felt that I was in any danger, I appreciate the efforts of everyone who was involved with airlifting us out of the region. This is the first time I've had an international aid organization and two branches of a foreign military involved in keeping me safe. And their efforts were much appreciated…and what an adventure for month one of my travels!

I'm also happy to report that several days after my evacuation, a settlement was reached between the two sides. The Chilean people of Patagonia were nothing but kind and sweet to us while we were there. Their issues were not with tourists. I was able to speak to several of the locals from the region, and admitedly I only have a rough understanding of the issues, but I truly hope that the settlement works out and there are no lasting negative ramifications from the strikes in the region. Although this makes for a great vacation story for me, it is a serious issue for the people of southern Chile.

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