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Published: December 30th 2013
Salto del Laja
AJ by the fallsWednesday 11
th December (Odyssey Day 33)
We departed Pucon this morning, heading northward again. The plan is a couple of one night camps before reaching Santiago for the weekend.
We made a stop today at a small waterfall just after lunch. Well, actually not really all that small. The Salto del Laja waterfall was quite beautiful although put me in mind a bit of a really poorly built dam, as the water fell over a fairly smooth and flat rock wall that almost looked man made. A few of the guys went swimming while the girls opted for just cooling their feet on the edge, though Emma also dunked her head in. It soon a little too hot though and we gathered together to get on our way.
Our camp today was just a few kilometres away. We weren’t really even sure it existed until we got there. It is, however, a stunning setting right by a river. The owners provided us with 4 kayaks free of charge which we all made good use of. The water was lovely and
Salto del Laja
Hannah & Ellie help Emma wash her hair it was nice to be able to cool down after a hot day. The current however was very strong, so everyone had to be careful not to get swept downstream. Fortunately there were quite a few trees growing from the banks and overhanging the water, creating still areas to swim for those not so confident in the water.
I took a kayak up the river a bit and it really is a beautiful area. The water is quite shallow and runs very fast, so it doesn’t take long to get back to the camp, no matter how long you go upstream for.
At dinner, Emma put it to the vote – should we do two one night camps as planned, or should we stay here a second night and then leave really early on the next day? Only a handful of people voted against staying, so it was decided we would have a relaxing day tomorrow. Late breakfast, no taking down the tent, no driving, no other people, no internet…
We do have just enough food to stay an
extra day here, so we can enjoy our leisure time. We had a fire going by the time the sun was setting and a few bottles of wine by firelight to keep us warm.
Thursday 12
th December (Odyssey Day 34)
So today is our unexpected but much appreciate free day at our beautiful riverside camp. Hannah and I took a couple of kayaks up the river mid-morning. Ellie and Danielle came with us but they only made it around one bend in the river before deciding it would be too much work and turning around. If they had come a bit further, they might have found it easier. So while they went back to camp to relax in the sunshine, Hannah and I went up river for about 2 ½ hours before turning around. At one point we had to get out and tow the kayaks over a shallow bit, as we just couldn’t dig the paddles in deep enough to get up the mini rapids there.
We made a brief
stop in a small calm branch of the river. It was very peaceful there and we could watch the birds and a few fish, while listening to the sounds of small animals we couldn’t see.
A bit further on we looked at another short branch of the river and discovered a rather interesting bird that seemed to run on the water. It was rather bizarre to watch it just running around in circles, flapping its wings but not actually flying so much as running over the surface of the water. There were also quite a few fish about the length of my hand in this area. They were silver and we could only see them because their shadows showed black against the sand below.
In some areas there were some huge concrete blocks under the water just piled there. No idea why or from where but that was just as far as we got up the river because around the next bend there was another shallow rapid that we just couldn’t get up.
We decided it was time to
turn around and head back as it was 1230 and we wanted to make it back for lunch and give others a chance to use the kayaks. By this point I could feel that the sun was very hot and my sunscreen had washed off with all the water in my kayak.
At one point Hannah got a scare as she floated over a tree stump that was upside down under the water and she thought it was a giant octopus.
It was much faster heading back due to the current and mostly we just had to steer rather than paddle. We saw a few birds on the way back as well as some cows taking a drink, and a couple of guys out in a little boat fishing.
We did indeed make it back to the camp for lunch and then spent the afternoon relaxing. I went to put my things away in my tent and put some sun gel on my legs, as I could feel the sunburn. Unfortunately I managed to fall asleep in the few
minutes I was in there and slept for a couple hours in the heat – not a good idea!
The sunburn is not good at all, but at least our delicious pork and apple dinner was enough to make me forget about it, at least temporarily. After dinner there was a bit of backyard cricket with the bat Maddie had whittled from a flat piece of wood. Unfortunately the two tennis balls we had didn’t manage to really survive the game intact.
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