The Trip Back!

The morning after the volcano, we were all pretty sore. But we got up, had hot milk and bread with avacado, and were off on another adventure. We set out for Futalefu at 9:30. As we got closer, we were really close to running out of gas. But there's not a gas station there, so we went in another direction to a town called Palena. We got gas and then found a restaurant. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes, sopaipillas, and empanadas. It was all so good.

From there, we drove back and enjoyed the pretty views.

We stopped and got out to look at the river. And there was a rafting expedition going out. So we watched them for a bit.

 Pictures a while later:

The next morning was leaving day. We woke up at 8:30 and ended up leaving town at 10. On the way, we found Santa Barbara beach, which we had looked for before, but hadn't found.

So we stopped there for a bit.

A sea lion I think.

 A boat!

 A pretty reflection :)

We drove for a while more and found the Sendero Alerce forest. We hiked around there for 45 minutes or so.

 These Alerce trees are supposedly 5,000 years old! 

 Spider web

Then, from there we drove to the dock. We got there at 1ish but didn't make it onto the 1:45 boat because it was full. And the next one was at 4. So we waited. And while we waited, Fernanda, Rafael, and I got hot chocolate. And we took our time because we had a few hours to kill. When we got back to the car, Roberto and Maricel said that while we were away, there had been another boat that had a few spots left. And they offered them, but they didn't know where we were... Whoops. So we slept in the car until 4. After a 45 minute boat ride, we got to the next dock to take the long ride. We were one of the first cars on at 5. It was supposed to leave at 6, but due to some parking difficulties, didn't leave until 7.

We bought sandwiches, cookies, and tea and ate those all before it started moving.

 All of the signs on the boat were in Russian. And some of them translated into English and some to Spanish.

 Maricel and I:

We pulled in at 10 and as we were going down the stairs a guy behind me said in english "I'm so tired!" really loudly. I thought to myself 'well that's weird...' but was too tired so kept walking. And then a few steps later, he tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I was an exchanges student. I said yes and he says me too! He and two other girls are students from my Rotary district here in Chile. 2 of them from the U.S. and one from Germany. So crazy! 4 exchange students on the same boat! They said that right when they saw the blonde with a Chilean family... that I had to be an exchange student. haha. So that was fun.

The plan was to drive 3 hours to Puerto Montt, but we were all too tired. So we found a cabaña in Hornopierén. (That's what the name was!) instead.

We found a cabaña once again in the middle of no where at 12. And we threw together a dinner of tomato soup, bread, scrambled eggs, honey, and tea. And then we watched some animal planet before we went to bed.

Volcano Time!

Alrighty everyone! I climbed a volcano!!

We woke up, left the house at 9, and went to the supermarket. We bought water, bananas, cookies, and chocolate for the hike.

And we started hiking at 10:45.

The fog made everything look cool. :)

During this trip with this lovely family, my camera was balanced on so many rocks, tree branches, logs, and other places and set on timer. Often leaning precariously over mud or from a height too high for a fragile camera. haha.

Pretty views

On another break

I really don't know why, but this reminds me of the bad part of the land in the Lion King. The place where the hyenas live.

Not so much in this one.

All of the trees were pretty dead looking. I suppose a volcano will do that to ya..

Banana and chocolate milk break time!

See?? You really never can have enough pictures on piles of wood.

By this time, we had been hiking for an hour and a half. This next part was by far the worst part. Super steep and with mud. UCK. It was such a relief walking through those two sticks sat the top.

I made it!! The actual volcano was on the other side of this valley thing. After 2 hours and 15 minutes we were there!

The view from the top. :)

Before heading down, we collected volcano rocks to take home for souvenirs. I put a few little ones in my pockets. And Roberto put about 25 pounds worth in his backpack. Crazy. hahaha.

Starting the trip down.

It took us an hour and a half to hike down. And we were tired! But luckily it wasn't very sunny so it wasn't overly hot during the hike.

We got driving back and Fernanda, Rafael, and I fell asleep fast. It was a half an hour drive, but my uncle made a detour to find Santa Barbara beach. An hour detour. haha. But we never did find it...

So we gave up and went back to Chaitén and picked up chicken and french fries and went back to the cabaña. We ate, and then took naps until 9. Then we got up, showered, and drank maté. They all love maté and I love it too! And drank it every day I was with them. We also watched the Simpsons and ate cake. We got to bed for real at about 12 or so.