By Cisco DelliQuadri from SUNY ESF
If you have ever tried to learn the language of Spanish as a native English speaker or vice-versa you have most likely encountered/learned the language of Spanglish. Throughout our two months wandering about in Patagonian Chile we have used an abundance of Spanglish words, but the epitome of our Spanglish learning was the three days we spent backpacking near Villa O’Higgins. Our latest project within Round River Conservation Studies (RRCS) was an environmental education program with the local school, Liceo Pioneros del Sur, in Parque Bien Nacional Protegido El Mosco (BNP El Mosco).
This trip consisted of three days of backpacking in BNP El Mosco with six local high school students, ages 14 – 16; the local gym teacher, Raul; a Chilean Leave No Trace (LNT) instructor from Rio Tranquilo, Gabi; a local Villa O’Higgins guide, Pancho; and our posse of 4 RRCS instructors and 11 gringo students, from places scattered all over the U.S. Prior to leaving our basecamp in Cochrane RRCS students had split into six groups, each creating a lesson plan for the students. These plans were refined and translated for use during our backpacking trips. These lesson plans ranged from a spiritual sense of place activity, to a rap battle that needed to include local species, to a birding class. Each one was supposed to be fun, but also to help teach the local students about aspects of environmental education and the importance of local conservation.
There were many goals for this trip. For us as RRCS students the main goal was to learn a little about the local culture and kids and possibly pass some of our knowledge, the little we may have, on. Round River´s were to build a relationship with the local community and to help to ensure future protection for BNP El Mosco. The local students goals hopefully mirrored the RRCS students goals in coming to Patagonia: to get exposed to something new and possibly further their knowledge of the natural world and help to conserve it.
The day we traveled to Villa O’Higgins was a long drive south on the Carretera Austral, through beautiful, snowcapped mountain ranges, over countless magical rivers, next to cliffs with Disney worthy waterfalls cascading down them, over a fjord via ferry, and finally into the sleepy town of Villa O’Higgins. Greeted by the barks of dogs we set up our tents, outside Hostel El Mosco and busied ourselves with cooking dinner and annoying the other hostel guests.
Our first full day in town was a scrumptious breakfast and preparation for meeting the local students and instructors. After a busy morning of planning a trip for people we know nothing about and a quick lunch we walked the couple of blocks to the local school. As our troupe walked through the gates surrounding the school we looked more out of place than a wooly mammoth in the Sahara Desert, and the looks we received mirrored that. A few more courageous kids said “Hola” or even a “Hello, how are you?” We passed the colorful lockers and were ushered into a back room containing a couple rollie white-boards and lots of folding chairs. Here we cracked nervous jokes and set up a circle of chairs to do a little introduction. The local students entered the room and sat down as a nervous energy settled over the room Claudia, our head RRCS instructor, broke into a rapid Spanish introduction. Those of us who could understand a little Spanish knew what was happening, but others, like myself were lost in the flow of words till the English explanation came. The ice was quickly broken as two very social groups of kids began introducing ourselves and broke into a tag-like game in a small patch of grass and dirt outside the tiny classroom. Despite the language barrier the group slowly became one and by the end of our meeting, back inside the classroom, the nervous energy was gone replaced by excitement for the coming weekend.
Back at camp we once again refined our lesson plans with the new knowledge of the students, played the classic cards, and turned in for bed. The following day was filled with boring tasks such as trip prep, planning backpacking food for 24 people is harder than it seems, even more boring, we had a couple classes, and a nature walk to learn some new species. The excitement for the day was a tent being shredded by some local dogs and a treasure hunt for a hiking shoe stolen by the dogs. We awoke early the next day from our hostel beds, courtesy of the local dogs, and shouldered our packs. We walked the three or four blocks to the trailhead and met up with the local students and instructors. Here is where our Spanglish really took off as we set off up the valley towards Refugio Puesto Rivera. With a string of 24 people, a few being brand new backpackers, we had a slow pace, but this made time for us to practice our Spanglish and learn lots of things about our newfound travel buddies. After hiking a full day we set up camp.
In order to be able to cook for such a large group of people we divided ourselves into three cook groups. I was paired with three other RRCS students, the one and only Jose, a RRCS instructor, and Pancho, the local guide, and two local girls, Marla and Cata. These cooking groups allowed us to get to know those within our smaller groups very well. Through many repeated sentences and confused stares we formed friendship with people we may never see again, but we will never forget. The full day we spent at the Refugio was filled with the preplanned classes, ranging from a birding class in the morning to a rap battle, while including plant and animal species, after dinner. The forest was filled with a mix of laughs and an array of Spanish and English as the stars blanketed the night sky.
Our last day was a quick pack up of camp and the long walk out back to the trailhead. The walk back was filled with more laughs and new words/phrases as we headed down, one student even showing use his house in Villa O’Higgins from a lookout point. We finished the hike with a little shortcut, shown to us by one of the locals, and goodbyes and nice to meet yous from everybody in the group. With this we walked back to the hostel showered, gorged ourselves on pizza at the local Cerveceria, and ended a wonderful trip with a wood-fired hottub and sauna.
