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Published: January 29th 2007
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Puerto Varas
Ashley and I with the volcano in the background ¡Hola!
Over the weekend of January 18th through 21st, we traveled to southern Chile for 4 days! After taking a test in my literature class on that Thursday, we went back to the airport (it seems like I´ve been to the airport in Santiago more than the one in Charlotte!) and took a flight down south to Puerto Montt. From there, we took a bus to Puerto Varas, where we spent the next 4 days.
That afternoon, it was sooo hot and sunny, so Ashley and I went the beach! After laying out for a few hours (and not getting sunburned), we saw a guy renting double seater bikes that you could ride around the coastline. We decided to give it a try and found out it´s A LOT harder than it looks! We started out with me riding on the front, but I couldn´t steer it and we couldn´t keep our balance! Next, Ashley tried sitting in the front, and it was the same situation. Finally, the guy (Ricardo) got so fed up with us trying to ride and failing miserably, that he called over one of his friends from the beach, and he got on the front
canopying
Me on the zipline! of my bike and his friend took Ashley, and they chauffeured us around the city! Ricardo told me where to eat the best seafood in town, so they dropped us off at the restaurant after biking 😊 For dinner I had the most amazing salmon with seafood sauce, so good! That night, we went out to a few bars with our professors, and they bought us a round of drinks, haha! After that, we went to the bar where Ricardo works and got to talk with him for awhile as well.
Friday, January 19th, we took a bus tour around Lake Llanquihue, stopping at various ports around the lake. What makes the lake so beautiful is that it is surrounded by a few volcanos. The volcanoes are snow capped, making for an interesting scenario when you are in your bathing suit on the beach! We had lunch that day on a farm and got to try wild boar. It was....okay....the meat was a little fatty, so it isn´t something that I want to order again. After lunch, we went canopying! It was so much fun! Basically, canopying is ziplining. This canopying was not like any other though because we
Chiloe
We went to a fort at Chiloe, so this is a random picture of me with the canons there :) were ziplining over these HUGE gorges and at one point went over the lake as well 😊 I definitely want to do it again sometime!
Ashley got sick that night from eating the wild boar (we think, it might have been the water as well...) so I went out to dinner with some of the students from Delaware. On Saturday, we went to the island of Chiloe. We had to take a ferry across to this island, and we drove the bus onto the ferry! Chiloe was pretty, but I honestly wasn´t that impressed with the island. I thought the views around the lake were much prettier. I think Chiloe is a place where you have to spend more time to truly appreciate it.
Sunday morning we got up early to go whitewater rafting down a river about 45 minutes from our hotel. The rapids were between levels 3 and 4 (at least that's what our guide said) so there were rapids but no waterfalls, haha! They provided wetsuits for us to wear which were definitely necessary because the water was freezing! At one point, we were able to jump out of the boat and swim alongside. We
Concha y Toro wine tour
These are the grapes that they use in the wines! were all quoting the Titanic then because, even with wetsuits on, it still was pretty cold.
That afternoon we took a city tour of Puerto Montt before flying back to Santiago. On Monday we went on a wine tour of Concha y Toro, the biggest wine producer in Chile. I got to try a $100 bottle of wine as well! It was by far the best wine I´ve ever tasted 😊 Last Tuesday we went to Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, and then we left again Wednesday afternoon, this time to northern Chile. I really haven´t been in the city of Santiago very long. That probably is the biggest difference between this trip and my study abroad trip to Madrid last year. I was actually living in Madrid, and here I feel I am getting to do more traveling. There are benefits to both, and since my time in Chile is so limited anyway, I am enjoying traveling and seeing and doing as much as I can!
Chao a todos!
Laura
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