By William Seligmann of University of Vermont
A fire blazes outside our quincho, bringing a yellow-orange glow to our somber faces. We each sit on a stump, destined to be firewood, or a fancy camp chair that we are proud we brought. A silence fills the air as we stare into the mesmerizing embers, pulsing black and orange. We didn’t know it quite yet, but this was our last night at Camp Aquasol. An unassuming plot of land, dotted with a few makeshift cabins and covered tables, right on the edge of the Río Cochrane. When we first bumped down that windy road and our instructor Matt pointed and said, “This is it!”, we all looked in bewilderment. This? A campground is our base of operations? It wasn’t what we expected, but it was what we got. A beautiful, rustic place that we grew to love and soon after became a home. When coming back from research trips, the campsites and vans were full of talk of going home; a funny thing that many of us questioned at first, but later realized why. It was a constant and something to come back to that was full of memories and laughs that we grew to appreciate more and more as the final days of our program raced by, faster and more unexpectedly than most.
The events of the weekend had gone by quickly and ramped up even quicker. Friday morning, our planned expedition was postponed until further notice and by mid-day, the program was canceled due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. Tears were shed and hugs were given. It was abrupt, but not completely over. We had some time before we all parted ways. Some planned to travel a bit while others organized flights home for the following Wednesday. Saturday was a free day, and although there were no planned activities, we made the most of our time at Camping Aquasol. We practiced partner yoga, which was full of great feats of strength and coordination for the more gifted and hilarious failures that left some of us rolling on the ground. We went swimming in the river, a basecamp tradition at this point, and threw a frisbee around. But underlying all of these activities was a strange feeling of discomfort and worry shared by all, most tangible as we sat by the fire that evening. However, we weren’t going to let that bring us down and we decided to recount our favorite basecamp memories. I’d like to share some of those with you all right now.
FOOD: At camping Aquasol, we had all of Cochrane at our disposal when it came to food… which frankly doesn’t have much variety, but we still were able to really go all out on meals, especially dinners. Every group wanted to outdo the last getting more and more elaborate. One especially notable one was woodfire pizza! The chefs made pizza dough and prepared tomato sauce, cheeses and an array of creative toppings. We got a fire going and each person grilled up their own pizza and with the extra dough, people were even able to get some calzones out of it. There were nights where we made burrito bowls, chicken tikka masala, lasagna, pumpkin ginger soup pad Thai and so much more. Even breakfast and dessert got crazy. Crepes were made and delivered to tents, eggs benedict was served as people woke up, and chocolate lava cake was made to order.
As they say, the way to a person’s heart is through the stomach, and the surefire way to lift people’s spirits is with a good meal. There was no shortage of that in Mate’s quincho.
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Along with the food we made, there was also the Asado nights, where Jolet, an absolute powerhouse of a woman who ran the show at Camping Aquasol, served up traditional Asado with a slew of delicious sides, including the sought after sopapilla. A fried pillow of dough that no one could resist. These nights always promised incredible food, dancing, and company that left everyone smiling.
ACTIVITIES: The only limit on activities was time and our imagination. If you could make it work, you could do it. We were able to download Forrest Gump and project it onto the side of the quincho and have an outdoor movie night. Everyone cuddled up in their sleeping bags, lounged under the stars and ate popcorn. The setup wasn’t perfect, and the screen fell from time to time, but it did its job and we all enjoyed it. The other notable activity shared in our circle were the soccer games we played both in camp and in a field in Cochrane. One of our instructors, Gabe, had no problem showing off his skills and dominating our games. When playing ultimate frisbee for the first time, he was a defensive and offensive nightmare. “This is too easy” he shouts. In Cochrane, we faced off against the other Round River team, Truco, which sparked some friendly competition, full of crazy plays, hilarious wipeouts and smiles all the way through. Swimming in the river as mentioned earlier was a tradition when at basecamp, something you almost had to do. Some waited weeks to shower in the traditional sense, preferring the ice-cold water of the river and good old Dr. Bronner’s. Although getting in never got easier, it was always refreshing and worth the pain in the end.
BUSINESS: Although this study abroad experience didn’t feel like school in the slightest, there was an academic component that was often dealt with while in Cochrane. Many hours were spent, spread all over camp, working on Grinnell’s, Midterms, blog posts and readings for classes. Our “Student Independence Day” the one truly free day we had had all semester was occupied by slaving over Grinnell Journals, getting the right spelling of species names and shouts across camp of, “Does anyone have the bird book?”. Although a lot of work at times, it was valuable and something cool to look back on and be proud of.
When in need of WIFI, Cochrane had a fantastic selection of the library, the ice cream shop, the plaza or Café Tamango. Although each has its merits, often the ice cream shop would be overrun with Round River students, enjoying an ice cream cone, watching the bubbles from the little machine outside and talking to friends and family, sending applications or catching up on news.
As we sat there by the fire, laughing and sharing, shooting off memorable moments as they came to mind, we realized how much happened here and what it meant to all of us. Camp Aquasol truly did become a home away from home. A place that spurs fond memories of better times. As a lull fell over our animated discussion, one of our instructors came over with a hung head and a deep sigh. He broke the news that we would be leaving the next morning, as things had escalated in the town to the south and we needed to get home as soon as we could. A melancholy tone descended on the group, as we all turned in for the night. The next morning, we made the most of our last few hours in this special place, taking one last dip in the river together, posing for pictures and carrying on before loading into the van one last time and driving out along that bumpy windy road.
As I sit at my desk in my house in New York, cooped up, practicing social distancing, writing this blog, I long to be at my other home, with my other family, laughing and sharing stories as we did by that fire. I can’t thank enough my instructors, fellow students and Chilean Patagonia for gifting me such an amazing experience that I won’t soon forget.