Chilean Lakes District

One of the last things I did before I left Pucon was to go for a hike in the Huerquehue National Park. I went with fellow hostel-mate Anne (who hails from Holland). We had a great time:


The next day I left Pucon to continue my adventures south. We ended our day in Valdivia which has a number of old Spanish fortress relics around town:


And we stayed at yet another beautiful hostel:

but there wasn´t a ton to do in Valdivia so we left this morning.

We traveled through Puerto Montt where they had decent salmon and a really fun market where they sold cool things like this:


Now I´m in Puerto Varas and I´m here until tomorrow at which point I leave the whole country and head to Bariloche, Argentina.
Chile has been non-stop awesomeness. Let´s hope Argentina is more of the same.
-Katie

Pucon

Pachamama clients can stay in any of the towns we go to for as long as we want, so I decided to stay in Pucon for a few extra nights. It´s this cute little town nestled next to the Villarrica lake and under the Villarrica volcano:


One of the reasons I decided to stay in Pucon is the "La Posada del Embrujo" hostel:
It is pretty phenominal. Clean. Cozy. Comfortable. Everything you would want for about $12 a night.

Another reason I decided to stay in Pucon is because there are really fun things to do here, for instance, white water rafting on the Trancura River. Here´s the group I went rafting with (from L-R, me, Nikolas, Lorent, and Eric):


Don´t be fooled by the awkward smile. I hate wet suits:


The river was great. Mostly class IV rapids and great guides (thanks Yo-yo!). We jumped off rocks, swam in currents, and balanced on the side of the raft. Plus, it was pretty:


Then, today I flew around on cables in the tree canopy of a local forest. I figure if Pheonix lived in a tree for a year and a half I can swing around up there for an hour or two. Who´s a happy camper?


Needless to say, I´m having a ball.
-Katie

Pachamama

Okay, so the tour I´m on is totally perfect for:
1. Where I want to go and
2. My non-existant Spanish skills.
The name of the company is Pachamama. I did not know that it meant "Earth-Mother" when I signed up, but besides the name everything is great.

Here´s the van we drive around in (thankfully they didn´t paint pictures of trees or the wind or women giving birth, phew):


Before we left for our long drive yesterday, we enjoyed a sunset off the Chilean coast:


Then, early in the morning we hit the road and our only real stop was in Santa Cruz at the Museo de Colchagua. It´s the country´s biggest private museum built by Carlos Cardoen. Who is this guy? Um... an arms dealer who was on the US Government's 10 Most Wanted list for years. So, going to his museum was strange. Here was one of the exhibits:


I left Santa Cruz feeling confused. Fortunately I had pleasant views of Chile from the van window to get my mind off warfare:


Now we´re in Pucon which means "Entrance to the Mountain." I´m going to be here until Wednesday. I hope to get in some rafting and hiking. It´s possible to hike up a volcano, but that´s not my style. Somethings are better seen than experienced - like lava.
-Katie

Santiago and Environs

I was only in Santiago for a couple days, but I was told by the locals that that´s all you need to see the sights of the city. Pretty much as soon as I got off the plane a few days ago I started feeling not so great and yesterday the not so great feeling morphed into a fully formed illness. It´s not anything too exciting, no explosive diarrhea or anything, it´s just a headcold. I am pretty sure I got the cold because the air quality here sucks. But, I didn´t let that stop me. The only thing I had to skip was a gay night out with some locals which is a bummer, but I think I needed my 12 hours of sleep. Anyway, I saw Santiago! Here are the pics:

A sculpture garden:


I went on this long walk through a city park that was up on a hill. I was able to get a view of the city. What? You can´t really see it? Oh, that´s the smog that will clog your lungs and make you sick and snotty:


Here´s a fountain commemorating something (it was in Spanish):


And the capital:


So, that´s it for Santiago. I already left this morning on a tour, usually I wouldn´t splurge for something like that, but this one seemed pretty cool and I think I´ll get to see more of the country this way.

Our first stop was in Pomaire where the inhabitants are known for their pottery skills:


Next we stopped at Rapel Dam, but the pictures suck and a dam is a dam no matter what country. Our tour guide, Jorge, said Chile gets most of its energy through hydropower. Wow.

Now I´m in Pichilemu. It´s a touristy town on the coast. We´re staying at a cute hostel with an underwater theme, whoa...


We´ll be here for the night and then we´re off to Pucon tomorrow. Hopefully I´ll be over this cold by then.
-Katie

Valparaiso

Valparaiso is a great little city an hour away from Santiago. I had a totally fun time just wandering around for the day. Here´s the scoop: it has two levels, the normal ground level but then a higher level on a hill that is accessible by crazy long steps or cable car. For example:



It is a beautiful city for a number of reasons. First, it has cool, fun architecture and alleyways:



Second, it has really cool murals:


Third, there are beautiful parks through out the city, complete with statues commemorating things, fountains, nice trees, and stray dogs:


And fourth, it has kick-ass graffiti art:



So, I spent the day just basking in the beauty of the city. It was totally great. Look! I made a friend. Andreas (he´s from Oslo) and I decided to take the day trip together. Here he is catching his breath after our climb up those god awful stairs.


That was today. Tomorrow: Santiago.
-Katie

Time Warp

So... I landed in Santiago at 12:15pm on March 3rd which is weird because I left Auckland at 5:30pm on March 3rd. Whoa. So, the only acceptable explanation is that I went through a time warp. Here's what a time warp looks like:



Santiago is... small. I'm acutally only going to be here for a few days before I head south. My hostel is kind of ridiculous. Think: "The Real World." I know, sick. So, I'm avoiding in the drunk 18 year olds and trying to enjoy South America!
-Katie