One afternoon, just to get out of the hostel, I joined a wine tasting tour. I learnt that it was not just wine tasting we were doing but tasting other goodies. I got picked up from my hostel, later than the time they said but I have to remember I am in South America and not the UK, we picked up some more people from other hostels and we then began our tour. First of all, we stopped at Carmine Granata, a traditional bodega. We had a tour round and sampled some wine including Malbec. I bought some Malbec for home. The next bodega, we went to Cerchin where they produced organic wine. We sampled some red and white wine. I preferred the white wine and it reminded me of the homemade elderflower wine back home. ... read more

One afternoon, I joined a mini van tour around Trancura and Lincura valley. This, again, was part of my adventure package. There was Ricardo, from Brazil, who joined me and Mauricio, the driver/guide. The three of us began setting off stopping first at Saltos de Marimann and then Ojos de Carbargua. The waterfalls were stunning especially the Ojos de Carbargua. Afterwards, we stopped for a comfort break at Lago Carbargua. The lake was stunning but it is a place where I would not like to visit in the summer with the masses of tourists descending to the resort. After seeing the lake, we made out way to the Termas Quimey-co, which was a wonderful way to relax in the pools by the river and the jacuzzi was my highlight!! We spent around one and a half ... read more

One afternoon, I decided, reluctantly, to do some horse riding, I have not been horse riding for two to three years because of almost from having a serious accident on a horse whilst cantering in North Wales, UK. The experience affected my confidence (especially with cantering) and for a long time I had been put off doing the activity. However, the main reason, for choosing horse riding was to admire the great outdoors Pucon has to offer and I was not disappointed. I was picked up from my hostel and we made our way to the farm, crossing the Rio Trancura, where we did our trek. I rode with a New Zealand couple (Hamish & Norma), an American couple and a South African guy. Alejandra from Antilco, a horse trekking company, was our guide. It was ... read more

I booked an activity package with the language school in Pucon. This included a day out at Parque Nacional Huerquehue with a guide. My guide, Dominique, met me at my hostel at 8.00am and we made our way to the bus terminal to catch our bus to the National Park. It was a beautiful day and I knew I would be guaranteed seeing stunning views and scenery. It took approximately half an hour by bus to reach the park entrance. We began walking and slowly ascending when we reached the CONAF station, I realised it would be a very steep ascent to the top. I did not appreciate how steep it was so I struggled and had to make frequent stops. Dominique was very patient with me. I think my breathing was more the issue than ... read more

I felt sad during my stay in Barlioche. I saw these St Bernards dogs being presented for photo taking with tourists. No personal photos were allowed even when Alison insisted that she only wanted a photo of a dog and not with a dog! They did not listen to her plea nor were really interested. From mine, Alison´s and others´experiences, we were not encouraged to befriend the dogs without paying a price and the owners watched us like hawks. I am afraid this is something I feel uncomfortable with as I am a big dogs and cats lover. As this is bothering me, I wanted to share how I feel instead of bottling this up. My heart went out to those poor dogs who sat in the pouring rain and strong winds for hours on end ... read more