Port Hopping

With a week free until my second job, I got back to travelling. I had to pass through the city of Puerto Montt which is kind of the last easily accessible place South

. As a jumping off point for Patagonia it is great; other than that there is nothing that interesting about the city. From here I went to Puerto Varas which is only about 20 minutes inland but much more beautiful. The German influence in this lakeside city is evident at every corner. It has a gorgeous beach that looks across the large lake to 2 snow-covered volcanoes.

With the warm, sunny weather, I took my towel to beach to soak up some rays. When I returned to my hostel, I had a terrific surprise waiting for me. Will McNiel, a fellow student from my Carpe Diem Semester this past fall, was staying in the same hostel while travelling with his father. It was a shock for both us! I made us tasty pizzas for dinner and we talked and talked and talked about everything we have done since the program ended in mid December.

During my 1 full day there, I decided to invest and go canyoning! It’s an adventure sport I had never really heard of before or had the opportunity to do so I thought “What the heck! Why not?” They suited me up in a wetsuit, helmets, gloves, and sneakers. We spent about 4 hours working our way down this pristine river in the center of a national park about an hour outside the city. The water had carved out lots of tiny rushing slides for us to go down, tons of waterfalls to float off of, and many high rock ledges to jump from. The highest one was about 14 meters or 46 feet; it was so much fun. With the wetsuits on, I never felt the sting of my skin hitting the water. To finish off the afternoon we all rappelled down the side of a 35 meter waterfall. I was surprised how much fun I had. If there was something like that around where I lived, I would be ecstatic.

The next morning we slept in before we headed up north about 4 hours to spend the weekend in Valdivia where they were having their yearly “Night of Valdivia” festival. Valdivia is located where 3 rivers converge before emptying out into the Pacific. The fish market is home to families of sea lions. They just come right up to railing to bathe on the warm cement or linger nearby waiting for fish to be tossed over to them. It is like paradise for these guys.We spent our day on this boat tour exploring the rivers which use to act as a base for the Spaniards when theyheld power here. We made two stops to explore ruins and watch a re-enactment of when the Chileans reclaimed their land. We didn’t learn much from the guide because his Spanish was so difficult to understand and we were the only foreigners there so we just goofed around the fortresses while he talked.

The festival was so much fun! Will and I spent our evening roaming around the fair trying all the different types of street food. It was delicious! When it got really dark there was a parade of river boats. They were all decorated with strings of lights and had music playing. Some people went all out and had large floats constructed around their boats. The festivities finished off with a great firework show over the thousands of people that lined the riverside. It was a great ending to a great weekend. In the early morning hours Will had to head back to Puerto Montt for a flight and I had leave midday to the island of Chiloe where I am going to be based for the next month.

The organization that I now plan to be working with as a social work volunteer is called ELI Abroad. They have arranged for me to work on a project involving sustainability education in local communities around the island with a focus on the women who collect algae. Going into it, the details that I have are limited but I have high hopes for this job. I will be staying with a family on the outskirts of town in my own private house! My first house! I am really excited for this placement also because I would love to have the opportunity to explore the mystic island of Chiloe.