So there I was in Chile...(Trip Report)

[goschbrandon]

A high school buddy and I just returned to the States from a month long trip to Chile and Argentina. Before we headed down, I sent a message to mud member TEPUI asking about highlights in Chile, and he wrote back at first saying maybe we could meet up in Santiago. My friend and I were making our way through 3/4 of Chile's length, starting and ending in Santiago, so I kept in loose contact with Eduardo (TEPUI) throughout the trip. As we returned to Santiago with a few days left in Chile, I gave Eduardo a call, and, to my surprise, I found myself invited on a wheeling trip that Saturday!

Eduardo was going out to some sand dunes north of Viña del Mar on Saturday, and my friend Dave and I were invited to ride along! We met Eduardo in the morning (picked up by the side of the main thoroughfare in Santiago- apparently my friend I stick out pretty badly in Chile, haha), and went off to meet some other wheelers at a gas station/McDonalds outside of town. The Chilean version of the Egg McMuffin is very delicious, I must say. We set off for the dunes a short while later, now 1 Land Cruiser Prado, 1 Jeep Wrangler, 1 Jeep Cherokee, and 1 Land Rover D90. About an hour drive to the dunes, then a stop for some tasty empanadas was made. A Toyota Hilux had joined us during the drive, and another Wrangler met us at the dune entrance, where everyone aired down. The drive into the dunes was uneventful- and then came the first hill. I´ve never wheeled on dunes before, so the sudden burst of speed was surprising, as Eduardo revved up the Prado and we took off up a huge sand hill. We drove around the dunes for a few hours, up, down, across. It sounds boring but there´s a lot of excitement involved, and a lot of standing around bullshitting as the difficult hills are attempted one at a time. Luckily quite a few of the Chilean wheelers spoke English as I don't speak any.

A short distance into the dunes we took part in the first recovery operation. A family of 4 had gotten their Chevy pickup stuck in a sand hole, burned the clutch up, and couldn´t get out. After trying to tow it out with one of the jeeps, the truck was finally freed under its own power by one of the Jeep drivers, and the family went on home. The next recovery occured when another Wrangler, this one driven by the American called ¨El Gringo,¨ got stuck just as it caught up with the group. A quick pull from a Hilux yanked him free, and he proceeded on in his sand-paddled Wrangler flying the American flag the rest of the day, a pretty funny sight to see. A few more additions to the group were made in the dunes: a supercharged Hilux, another Wrangler, and my favorite, a WWII era Dodge Powerwagon (M37?) ambulance now powered by a Chevy 454. Another highlight recovery occured when El Gringo decided to attempt a ridiculously sized sand hill, making it about 1/3 of the way up on his first try. Backing down was dangerous with a dropoff next to the route, so 4 or 5 snatch straps and a winch were used to safely guide the Jeep down for the second attempt, which only resulted in the Jeep making it halfway up the hill. This time El Gringo was winched up and out with little incident. Sometimes the dunes are a bit on the scary side- we almost went over sideways in the Prado once, got high centered once, and saw a few folks come damn near to flipping. It was especially unnerving at night when we couldn't read the dunes as well and when you can´t see what you´re going down until the headlights reach the angle of the slope. Nonetheless, we made it out safely at dusk, aired up at a nearby gas station, and headed back to Santiago.

I have to say that this day trip was one of the highlights of my month long journey. Eduardo (TEPUI) was a great host and tour guide. Not to mention that he invited us to ride along with him without even meeting us beforehand! I have ih8mud to thank for that one.

I can also give a short review on the Prado: though the FJ Cruiser is based on the Prado chassis, I like the Prado 2 door RZJ90 a lot better- it looks better, comes with the 2.7L 4-cyl, and has 10 times the visibility of the FJ. With a small OME lift (and stock Warn winch!), it's quite capable and kept up with the heavily modded jeeps we were with for the most part. The approach/departure angles are superior to an unlifted 80 series as well.

I have some pics that I will post as soon as I hook my laptop back up to the external drive they're on.

[Blue77FJ40]

No sandrunning in Valpariso?

[Skillet]

That sounds outstanding!

I too have met and talked with Eduardo down in Santiago, and he is a great guy.

He gave me a ride to the airport in his Prado, unfortunately, there were no 4x trips when I was there. However, I go down every year so hopefully next time.

Thanks for the writeup!

Jeb

[TEPUI]

Wow! Great writeup!

It was great to meet you guys. I'm very glad that you experienced the locals' side of things after being a tourist for a few weeks , and it makes me feel even better when you say that it was one of the highlights of your trip.

I've saved you the work and posted your photos here: Ritoque Sand Dunes, Chile

Below is a Google sat pic of Ritoque and our GPS track:


Jeb, you're next

[Tapage]

looks like plenty of fun !

[TEPUI]

Originally Posted by Tapage

looks like plenty of fun !

David, you should try to make it to the Twisted Andes Jamboree this year!