Blue skies and canyons for a merry Christmas !

We'll start with the management summary: great pick from Bin to book the Cascades de las Animas (waterfalls of the spirits) for Christmas. Magnificent canyon, with the Maipo river running wildly at the bottom of it. Bit cloudy on arrival, but clear blue skies offsetting the canyon for the next 3 days.

Very quiet and comfy room, no facilities, so eating most meals at the restaurant overlooking the Maipo, and plenty of time to relax and take in the fresh air.

There was a pool, as the river was too wild, to sandy, and too cold to swim in. The pool was only 2 degrees above very cold, but on the hot days we were there, quite refreshing (once you managed to get into it). We spend 2 afternoons there just relaxing, the day in between the pool was being cleaned, refilled that is, so we entertained ourselves with a guided hike.

Chagual is in his mid teens, and is part of the family owning and running the eco resort we stayed at. Once we got going he was only too happy to chat along and practice his English. The whole family lived around the resort, and also had a big farm with goats, pigs, cows etc on a plateau. They also do horse treks into the Andes (and Argentina as well) for up to 12 days, which sounds challenging but the pictures looked phenominal!

Unfortunately Bin had a bit of altitude sickness, so the safer choice was to turn back and cut through to the other track with was lower and less steep. It led along the plateau (the Mecedas) out to a gorge with again great views.

At the end of the hike we headed down to the river and dipped our legs into the river. Dipped being the opparative word here, as the water was friggin cold. But very refreshing indeed.

The food in general was great, with good service. Maybe reception could have donned a bit of a smile, but the fun bit of all this was the fact that a public bus dropped us of at the front door, and a 2hour ride costing us a mere 3US$.... For both of us!

Same bus ride back, an even cheaper metro ride, and air-con comfort brought us to the next stop for new year's eve, Valparaiso!

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