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Published: December 27th 2011
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Pucon
Crystal clear blue river water seen on our cycle route It has been while since we last wrote and we have moved along quite swiftly.
From Santiago, we went to the surfing town of Pichilemu. We expected a JBay kind of town, with fancy holiday houses and surf shops. What we saw was quite the opposite - a pokey town with run down houses and overgrown verges. Pichilemu is known to have some of the best waves in the world, hosting one of the big surf competitions.
Marco hired a board and enjoyed the Pacific water for a day. Unfortunately, his lack of surfing fitness let him down despite the good waves, but he enjoyed the surf in Pichilemu and Los Lobos (while Phillipa read a good book, hence, no photos). We had a nervous laugh at the sign painted on the beach road stating this is a tsunami zone. Now what exactly is one supposed to do with that piece of information??
From here, we took the very long way round to Pucon (central Chile), going via Concepcion and then deciding we did not have time to do the hike we planned so caught the next bus out. Pucon is a quaint town with a huge, smouldering
Pucon
The three lakes hike (this lake was not one of the three) volcano whose cinder cone is covered in snow, creating a dramatic backdrop. We hired bikes and explored the area, not finding the main attraction we set out to see, but stumbled on some other amazing sites instead. We also visited the national park close by where we did a hike in the pouring rain to check out three lakes (hence this area being called the Lake District). It is a beautiful area, but far more pleasant in the sunshine.
Leaving Pucon behind, we bussed south to Puerto Montt for a stopover en route to our next hike: Laguna Fria at the Alerce Andino National Park. Despite knowing that it would be raining on day 1, we decided to grit our teeth and do it anyway. It was terrible!!! The path had turned into a river, which meant we had to maneuvre our way around. The path was also overgrown in sections, Phil had leeches on her legs and it was freezing. So cold, that our clothes outside froze overnight and our tent had ice on it in the morning. We also started our second day of hiking in cold, wet clothes and wet shoes.
We never made it
Pucon
Multi layered waterfall en route up to the Three Lakes to Laguna Fria due to the terrible conditions and the fact that we now had no time as Phil´s watch battery froze and died. But the second day was good, with glorious sunshine and we could finally enjoy the scenery despite the waterlogged route. Marco spotted a treasure when he found a hummingbird´s nest with 2 teeny tiny hatchlings (eyes still closed)!
We decided to spend Christmas on the Island of Chiloe, in Ancud. We found a campsite with spectacular views of the sea and the mainland. We stayed here 3 nights, strolling through the town, eating the local dish and braaing for XMas dinner. The weather was magnificent: radiant sunshine with a slight breeze.
We now make our way back across to Argentina to the tourist town of Bariloche where we hope to do some more hiking.
We hope you all had a super Christmas with family! Thanks for the good wishes. We really hope your new year will start off wonderfully!
What we miss most:
Marco - XMas without family
Phil - a washing machine and the convenience of home washing!
Highlight:
Marco and Phil - enjoying the amazing
Pucon
Lago Chico scenery on Chiloe and the stretch of snowcapped mountains seen from the ferry ride to Chiloe
Lowlight:
Phil & Marco - the Laguna Fria hike day 1!!
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African Amy
non-member comment
keep going!
Hey guys! you're doing some serious zigzagging, from Chile to Argentina and back and forth etc etc vice versa. The leech story freaked me out, and I want to see one of the lakes that is one of the three lakes, not one that's not one =). Had a really wonderful Christmas with the extended family (sorry Marco) and living at home with my folks who do my laundry (sorry phil)... Sara just left now back to the UK, and am feeling the gap already. Has truly been a blessed time. Probably going to pop in at my cousins this evening for a bit of a new years party with table tennis... went back to work on Thurs, but think my brain will only kick in on Tues (hopefully!!). And then it;s full swing ahead with the news year, can you believe it?? Happy new year, guys!! May 2012 be as full and exciting and blessed as 2011. love A