Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:28 pm

ReptilianKittenEater wrote:The campfires down there have been making the news up here. I am guessing you are south of Santiago - north of Santiago there was nothing to catch fine.


Yeh, it went crazy, all helicopters grounded for two days due to the smoke. Also saw some videos of protesters intentionally lighting fires. I think they were environmental activists. Maybe trying to heighten awareness of global warming??? I'll try to find it.

Cool sat image here. We were based 15 miles NE of Concepcion in a camp, right in the middle of the action, but got evacuated to a spot about 30 miles further South. Then that camp got smoked out too.

If anyone else knows how to embed the video..... I just have the Twitter link (I tried to embed the video with code but it didn't work):

https://twitter.com/ScottDuncanWX/status/1622161392500412421
Last edited by Darcy on Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Wed Mar 15, 2023 1:01 am

Update: Things got pretty nuts down here, visibility went to nil pretty much everywhere. We kept getting bumped to different camps and evacuating almost daily. We were going though Spanish translators at an alarming rate. I guess acceptable vis for a Canadian is far lower than a Spaniard. One guy only lasted one flight. Heard "crazy fucking Canucks" more than a few times.

Then the weather turned. Humidity went through the roof, fog rolled in, and the fires pretty much stopped. Standby 7 am to 9 pm daily throwing rocks, closest to the string gets the point. Replaced our cocky Spaniard translators with a cute as hell Chilean pilot. Her dad was flying water bombing Air Tractor AT-802s and his load didn't drop as he pulled up into a mountain and he smacked into the trees, flipping over repeatedly right in front of us. He's fine; broken ribs, sternum and vertebra, tough old goat is already up and around. Everyone loves her to death but there's not many fires now. Odd one I guess... Argentina is having a heat wave and burning up, but Chile have us under contract until mid-April.

Newest rumour is helo being shipped to Spain for their summer fire season. Fingers crossed. I'm in Santiago now, museum/art gallery day tomorrow then off to -15 in Winnipeg for annual recurrent training....

Loving my hat
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Russian Kamov picking up water in front of us
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Rock throwing game, there's a string across the middle of the end, closest gets the point. We're playing for money now
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Local cleaning lady made us a snack, and showed off the mask she wears when she feeds all the families that have lost their homes to fires, makes the kids laugh. Coolest person I have met in a very long time
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Damn humidity...
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Moody mechanic (aren't they all) in Tome, not far from our camp
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Damn feral beasts that keep us up all night barking and howling and chasing shit in the dark...
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Graffiti everywhere in Chile
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Everyone's favourite translator by a very large margin, she heads home most nights to care for her Dad
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:43 pm

Boarding back to Santiago.

So the helicopter has been sitting on the coast waiting to see if the company won a fire-fighting contract in Spain, and if it did, it
would be loaded on a ship in a port west of Santiago. If not it was to be flown back to Canada. So they gave me first crack, I said sure but offer it around in case someone else wants the trip, which a friend of mine and younger guy elected to take. I've been flying power line construction jobs way up North and keeping busy. These two guys have been kicking around Chile for a month on full salary, rented road bikes, been fishing, etc. etc... and now we find out NO SPAIN, so aircraft to be flown back to Canada. Day before departure, young guy (32) chickens out! All concerned about not speaking Spanish, mountains, bad weather, violence in Colombia/Nicaragua/wherever.... completely wigs out and gets on a flight back to Canada. Boss calls me in a panic.

Going to be fun!
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Kurt » Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:21 pm

Darcy wrote:Boarding back to Santiago.

So the helicopter has been sitting on the coast waiting to see if the company won a fire-fighting contract in Spain, and if it did, it
would be loaded on a ship in a port west of Santiago. If not it was to be flown back to Canada. So they gave me first crack, I said sure but offer it around in case someone else wants the trip, which a friend of mine and younger guy elected to take. I've been flying power line construction jobs way up North and keeping busy. These two guys have been kicking around Chile for a month on full salary, rented road bikes, been fishing, etc. etc... and now we find out NO SPAIN, so aircraft to be flown back to Canada. Day before departure, young guy (32) chickens out! All concerned about not speaking Spanish, mountains, bad weather, violence in Colombia/Nicaragua/wherever.... completely wigs out and gets on a flight back to Canada. Boss calls me in a panic.

Going to be fun!


Cool! More pics for us.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Fri Jun 02, 2023 4:31 pm

Anyone spent time in Papua New Guinea? I've got a solid job offer flying mineral exploration around Mt Wilhelm, all 200 foot longline, high mountain/deep jungle, probably be based in camps, 28/28 day rotations, pretty insane money. The company bought 3 of the Super Puma L2s that I've been flying in Northern Canada. Job is mine if I want it but..... Also, Trinidad & Tobago government just offered me my old job heading up their Air Guard SAR program (I flew for 4 years). I'm kinda siding with the Caribbean gig (beaches, night clubs, fishing, hot island girls) but wouldn't mind seeing PNG either.

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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Kurt » Fri Jun 02, 2023 4:37 pm

2Charlie did some time in PNG about 10 years ago.

He still drops by time to time but he may be summoned by a PM sent to him.

As I get older i would rather go to where I know I would enjoy my time. I cannot imagine how "insane" money would have to be before I would shuck everything and head out but so far no one has been kind enough to tempt me.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Sat Jun 03, 2023 2:54 am

PNG is a place I plan on heading to to bag a couple of peaks but that is at least a year away.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Kurt » Sat Jun 03, 2023 4:13 am

ReptilianKittenEater wrote:PNG is a place I plan on heading to to bag a couple of peaks but that is at least a year away.

Never been there but I have heard the most shocking thing about PNG is how cold it can get.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Sun Jun 04, 2023 5:24 pm

I’ll probably go with Trinidad & Tobago. Just trying to get back to Chile, missed my connection in Toronto due delays, spent 24 hours, then rerouted through San Paulo (hanging out here now for a day), then hopefully in Santiago in time tomorrow to fly up to the Peruvian border. I’m thinking travelling to PNG and back every 4 or 6 weeks isn’t worth it. Ten years ago sure but I’m definitely slowing down.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:41 am

Kurt wrote:
ReptilianKittenEater wrote:PNG is a place I plan on heading to to bag a couple of peaks but that is at least a year away.

Never been there but I have heard the most shocking thing about PNG is how cold it can get.


Good point, it is surprising how chilly equatorial highlands can get. The base of Mt Kinabalu was chilly with a biblical deluge of rain. Mountaintops are even colder with a damp kind of cold and you quickly get covered in frost.

Security wise sounds like PNG is a bit dodgy, though mainly street crime.
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Wed Jun 07, 2023 4:52 pm

Still in Santiago. The companies aircraft temporary import paperwork expired a few weeks ago and needs to be sorted before we can depart Chile. Meanwhile STILL waiting on my bags that never departed Toronto. They are in Bogota now and might arrive here today. Got a cool Half Face Blades custom knife in there I don't want to lose, something an ex-SEAL/#### buddy got for me as he is good friends with Andrew (owner of HFB).

Meanwhile exploring and drinking too much.

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If in Santiago, hit Bar Nacional Santiago, an iconic bar that has seen a lot of cool shit. This drunk young lady knocked the engineer's beer to the ground as she stumbled by, then took mine and drank it while sharing slurred stories we couldn't understand, then stood and vomited all over the guys in the table next to ours. Fun night!

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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Kurt » Wed Jun 07, 2023 4:55 pm

It has been a long time since I have been to a place where a drunk girl was stealing drinks and puking.

I dated a girl like that about 20 years ago. She was awesome.
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Postby el3so » Thu Jun 08, 2023 12:48 am

Darcy wrote:then took mine and drank it while sharing slurred stories we couldn't understand, then stood and vomited all over the guys in the table next to ours.
Did she get burned scoring drugs? Because that kinda sounds like how my BFC meetups went.
Kurt wrote:It has been a long time since I have been to a place where a drunk girl was stealing drinks and puking.
There are always more drinks, they are supposed to be drunk, no?
As long as she isn't puking because she is pregnant, it's none of anyone else's business.
skynet prompt: witty line, a bit offensive, medium levels of spelling error, Rastafy by 10 % or so
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Re: Winnipeg to Santiago Chile!

Postby Darcy » Sun Jun 11, 2023 3:04 am

Now in a northern Peruvian border town, Piura. Feels the most like Africa I've ever been in South America. Having fun. Flying with an old buddy I haven't flown with in ages. Weather has been on and off. Up in the big mountains around Ariquipa was the coolest. Tomorrow hopefully up to Quito, then on the Cali and an overnight and some old friends in Medellin.

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