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Published: April 30th 2008
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Plagued by strays..........
So the first night in Chile didn´t go all that well. Our first campsite was lacking in hot water and flushing toilets, and there were little frogs hopping all about the showers. Its only redeeming feature was that the trees there smelt like mulled wine :-) The next day we found another campsite which had all the essentials: hot water, laundry service, lights, table and chairs, barbecue and stray cats and dogs. The cats weren´t really a problem, just scrounging for food, that was until they actually stole our cooked chicken (I couldn´t believe the little b@ggers; it was even wrapped up in plastic!) from the table in the 3 or 4 minutes it took me to walk to the sink and back. Little thieves......not happy. Though you have to give them credit I suppose. There was one poor little kitten who didn´t seem to get much of a look-in as far as the food was concerned and I woke up one morning to find him asleep on my rucksack, bless. The stray dog only adopted us for one night; the main advantage being that he kept the cats away. He was pretty minging, but clearly very
hungry and starved of affection; all he wanted was food and a bit of love, the simple things. Couldn´t help but give him some leftovers (don´t tell Harry!) and a little pat with one finger, but he was too minging for a proper pat. As a result he decided to snooze outside the tent for the night....aaaahhhh.
Anyway, back to Pucon. It seemed to be a place of activity, so our first activity was to climb the Villaricca volcano which dominates the town. It didn´t start well when we arrived for our 7am start at 5.45am, not having realised that the clocks had changed when we crossed from Argentina to Chile. I did make friends with another stray dog though (who kept popping up throughout the next few days every time we sat down for a drink) whilst we sat outside the shop wondering where everyone was. Oh dear. I made it halfway up the volcano, and would´ve gotten to the top it if hadn´t been for the vomiting :-( My first South American illness, well timed. Russell made it up there and brought me back some lava, and apparently there were no hot pools of violently bubbling lava
up there, so I didn´t feel too disappointed.
Continuing with the theme of activities, I decided to fulfil my ambition of doing a sky dive (tandem), and I have to say, it was brilliant. I had 27 seconds of free fall, whch wasn´t nearly enough - it was all over far too quickly. The guy who was in charge of pulling the cord was on his 2508th jump so I felt quite safe. The plane was really quite tiny - just enough room for the pilot, me and the man in charge - and had no door, so ´twas a little breezy! Had a little fly over the top of the volcano first, which was good, but only served to make me more nervous by the time it came to take the plunge! Would love to do another one, but unfortunately they´re not cheap........
The last activity was hydrospeeding, which is kind of a bit like white water rafting, except you are actually in the water. You get an extra think wetsuit, though it is still pretty chilly, and a sort of giant float which is about a metre long which you put your hands into, and use
to navigate through the rapids; not as easy as it sounds. I seemed to have great difficulty controlling my giant float, mind of its own I tell you, so the guide made sure I stayed right behind him and didn´t go drifting off down a giant waterfall. Apparently being the end of summer the river levels were low and the rapids are usually more exciting, but they were plenty rapid enough for me. Unfortunately the CD of photos I got from this isn´t working so I am a little feeling ripped off :-(
Chilean lakes - Cochamo
From Pucon we caught a bus to Puerto Varas, which didn´t seem all that exciting, so we caught another bus to Cochamo. We camped at an Eco-lodge, right next to the river and a little beach, though unfortunately it was definitely not beach weather. Felt like the middle of nowhere. The best thing about the lodge though, apart from the lovely hot shower, was that they served afternoon tea and cake! So civilised......
Had a wander into the little village of Cochamo - very isolated, but with all the essentials: little restaurant, cafe, church, a couple of not very
super mercados and houses selling freshly caught seafood. The houses were all beautifully located along the shore of the lake with cute little ornaments in all the windows visible beneath the net curtains. Couldn´t help thinking it would be an extremely quiet life to live here - not sure it´d be for me!
Into Patagonia
Stayed one night in Puerto Montt in a room in someone´s house, which meant joining the family queue for the bathroom in the morning! Not the most picturesque of places, a greater than average number of stray dogs and felt a bit seedy at night. There was a nice little fishing market called Angelmo where we ate some very tasty fish and I sampled my first ´Pisco Sour´- pisco being a Chilean spirit made from grapes - looks nicer than it tastes!
The Navimag ferry then took us from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, over 3 nights, through the Patagonian fjords, passing glaciers and dolphins along the way. The little cabins reminded me of those childhood holidays in caravans - cosy and compact - though it was good to have an actual bed for 3 nights, to not have to cook and
to chill out with a book gazing at the scenery. The only trouble was, the slightly dodgy music in the lounge area kept putting me in mind of Celine Dion, my heart will go on, King of the world and all that (lucky it was only 3 nights....). Was getting pretty cold by now so had to go gloves and hat shopping (I do like shopping) in Puerto Natales, followed by a yummy lunch in a little vegetarian cafe (El living), before preparing ourselves for the next 7 days of hell, sorry, I mean trekking, in the Torres del Paine national park............
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Caroline
non-member comment
Hahhahaha
Your dog patting comment made laugh for a good 20 seconds straight! Poor doggy