Chile

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Hola Amigos

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the good weather back home. We made it to Chile after a bit of a monster flight from Auz and have been dossing around the Lake District for the past couple of weeks.

First impressions of Chile? Well, it is a lot colder than any of the other countries we have visited, wearing a pair of socks and long trousers again took a bit of getting used to but is definately the norm nowadays! It is good though and the people have been pretty friendly, especially the nice lady in Temuco who took in the two stray, bumbling kiddies from the UK after their near-death (Helen told me to write this!) experience on the plane from Santaigo to Puerto Montt. It was pretty scary as it was really windy and wet and after a couple of attempts to land the thing the pilot decided he had had enough and was turning round to go back north again. We were pretty relived when we eventually got back to land in Temuco.

Still in one piece we made it to Pucon to stay with a Chilean family for the week and to go to school to learn Spanish. It all came back to Helen and she can chat no problem with the locals. She is so good that she has trouble now speaking in English! I have about as much command of Spanish as the average premiership star has of English! So the Spanish language course was pretty intense but hopefully will become useful for our travels through SA.

I think we have probably hit this area a little too late in the season (it was hosing down for the first 4 days in Pucon) as most of the activities have been shut and they are preparing for winter. On one of the good days we managed to get to the hot springs which was a relaxed way to spend an afternoon. The scenery was great too with the countryside looking good and the nearby volcano, covered in snow set against the blue sky. Other activities in Pucon tended to include drinking good measures of red wine for just over 1 pound per glass or being followed round town by the local stray dogs! (they only follow the tourists, never the locals!)

Leaving Pucon, we have ventured down south, stopping off at Valdivia, Osorno and Puerto Varas. Again, many of the activities these places usually specialise in have tended to be shut for the winter so its just been a case of relaxing and practicing a bit of Spanish. Although one afternoon in Valdivia we came across a load of big fat sea lions which was pretty cool and then as it was a seaside town we thought we would treat ourselves to some seafood. After looking forward to it all day, it was cold and horrible and had conger eel in it!! eugh! It was such a waste, although the wine was good and the steak sandwich we had later on made up for it!

Puerto Varas was a good place to hang out for a few days. The weather stayed nice (although really cold and frosty) and we got out to walk to the nearby water falls and go mountain biking. After a couple of months being fairly inactive, to do a big bike ride had us pretty knackered but the huge slab of cake as a reward at the end made all the pain worthwhile!

So that's Chile done of a couple of months at least. We're armed with a wee bit of Spanish and are now heading off up north to join our trip from Quito back down to Santiago so it should be good. Hope you are all well, keep in touch.

Helen & Craig x

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Comments

[Alison]

Love the hats
Halo Love the hats the pair of you are wearing! Hope you have a great time on your big trip, and craig watch out for those snakes.....!