Robert Currie, Personal Reflections
I was educated at British Schools in Santiago where I studied farming management. As a teenager I ran and administered my family's farm, which was located within the metropolitan area of Santiago. As farming began being displaced by housing, my wife Maria Luisa and I decided to run a small farm in the Chilean Lake district which had been purchased early in the century by my grandfather William. The farm was surrounded by native Mapuche Indian families in an area where life hadn't changed for centuries. The area was extremely isolated, accessable only by horse. We grew a variety of crops, had cattle, horses, swine, chickens and geese. Apart from the kerosene for the lamps we lived 100% self sufficiently. When the children got older it was necessary to move back to Santiago for their schooling.
I met Eric Hertz during this transition period on a train to Santiago. When I first saw him I thought he was a German from the south of Chile because he spoke English so well. I soon learned that he was a river guide on the Bio Bio River, which at the time seemed like an absurd and risky profession. I invited Eric to visit the farm at Caledonia and pointed it out on the map. With no vehicle roads to the farm I never imagined he would be able to find it. To my amazement, upon returning to the farm I found Eric there.
I took Eric around the area and as we spent time together, we realized that we had a lot in common. Eric invited me on a trip down the Bio Bio. Going down a wild river with rapids seemed insane but I agreed just to be polite. I suppose it was my English upbringing.
On the Bio Bio, Eric started to teach me the skills of rafting. The next year he formed his own rafting company and hired me to do the logistics. That same year I traveled to the United States and Canada for six months to train on the Grand Canyon and the Magpie. A couple of years later as the business began to grow Eric invited me to be his partner.
Over the years I have had the chance to work at something I really enjoy and feel extremely fortunate to have met so many wonderful people on our trips and locally from the area of Futaleufu.
A few years ago I was walking in the town of Futaleufu and was approached by a neighbor on a horse, Don Nico. We greeted each other. Even at eighty his grip was still firm.
“Don Roberto,” He said, “we need to fix the property you bought from me many years ago and make it right. ”
We had made the deal 15 years ago and the property had appreciated considerably. He handed me a tattered scrap of paper with our names scribbled on it worth no more than the ink.
“Someone else wants to buy it now for a lot of money” Don Nico said, “ I might get tempted and I don’t want to die a dishonest man.”
The following day we went together to the notary and made the transaction legal.
Recently I heard Don Nico was very sick and went to visit him in the hospital. You could see he was in pain but his handshake was as steady as ever -- stronger than a yoke of oxen pulling a cart of gold.
