Salta, North Argentina

After a few ticket hassles at the bus terminal in Mendoza, Nick, Flo and I boarded a bus for Salta. The 17 hour journey actually went very quickly. We treated ourselves to Cama class tickets (which is a slight upgrade from my usual Semi-Cama) and sat at the front of the top deck. If it were not for the Andes still following us to the west, I am sure I could be forgiven for saying the green, rolling countryside very much reminded me of home (England or New Zealand). Salta is the capital of Salta providence in North Argentina. The city itself is surrounded by mountains and so enjoys a relatively balmy climate, which we noticed very quickly as we stepped off the bus. It was considerably warmer than Mendoza and with humidity levels to match.

Salta is home to one of the most talked about tourist attractions in this area, Tren a las Nubes, which quite literally translates as Train in the Clouds and so matches its adventure. We were a little disappointed to find that it was closed almost a year ago and there is no hint of a re-opening soon. I was happy to find out that it was heller expensive and very touristy anyway and that we could quite happily follow that route by hiring a car.

After sorting out our bearings in Salta with a cable car ride up San Bernardo Hill where we were promised an unforgettable moment with some specially designed water falls in cement (and it really was quite something - sarcasm Broom), we decided that hiring a car to explore the area around Salta was the only way to experience this area and it saved us less than half the money on tours and obviously improved our photographic opportunities.

And so El Corre Caminos (The Road Runner) was born! Our little red 3 door car that quite literally did go ´Beep Beep!` before rounding every corner to warn on comers of our presence....

We headed southwest of Salta to a place called Cachi which took us through Quebrada de Escoipe before climbing into the hills where we were treated to roughly 20kms of some gnarly hairpin bends. The mountains around us were really quite beautiful though and the valley below was a pretty lush green. By the time we hit the open road into a desert valley covered in Cacti I had forgotten about my car sickness. We half expected to see a very peeved coyote setting a few traps here and there, but there were no flying anvils and ACME advertising here! Darn it! I was always on the coyotes´s side with that cartoon!

Yeeehah, I`m back on the Ruta 40! (photo left) From Cachi we planned to head to Cafayate further south before heading north again back to Salta. We split the journey by staying the night in Molinos as the roads were pretty rough going. After Cachi I was interested to get back onto the Ruta 40 again (see previous blog) and was delighted to see that although it was still a dirt track it was a lot smaller and twist and turned through some amazing landscapes.
We wanted to stay with some nuns at a convent in Molinos but were disappointed to fins that they had closed the building for renovations and so settled on a hospedaje instead. Molinos has only one restaurant with the choice of salad or meat. Hmmm? The salad was lovely.

More cacti viewing on the way to Cayafate through Quebrada de las Flechas and my first fox picture (about time they co-operated photo right)! It was interesting to see the way of life out this way. The locals live in little mudbrick abodes with outdoor ovens I presume they also use for kilning as they make a lot of pottery in this area. That and growing onions, sweet chilies and watching tourists go by is generally their way of life. Living off the land, the perfect way of life in my eyes!

From Cafayate we had a beautiful drive through multi coloured landscapes which reminded me of parts of Death Valley, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and the Badlands in the States. On return to Salta, Nick and Flo decided that they would head north to Bolivia. I was sad to say goodbye but I am sure I will see them again soon.
Just as Nick and Flo were packing I was thinking about heading north on a tour to see the area further north of Salta. That was when Lucas (from Czech Republic) and another Nick (from Scotland) walked into our dorm wanting to know if anyone was keen to hire a car and explore that area with them. Perfect! I knew there was I reason I changed my plans to head north as these opportunities don`t come around very often.

So back into another car with a forth recruit (Maria, from Barcelona) our multicultural transport set off for the northern circuit the following morning. We travelled through Quebrada del Toro to find more dramatically changing scenery full of multi-coloured rocks and more indigenous people, again living off the land with a very simple way of life. We headed towards San Antonio de los Cobres (a ghost mining village) which would have been the same route that the Tren a las Nubes, the highest railway in the world would have taken us. The train was originally built to service the borax mines in the salt flats which is where, little did I know, we were to spend the night. I had read that if you take the train ride they serve you tea made of the Coca plant to combat puna (altitude sickness). We learnt why first hand when we came up over the highest point at Abra Chorrillos. The air was immediately thinner and it was hard to walk around as climbing over rocks soon saw you heaving to catch your breath. Although we made sure we drank gallons of water the sudden rush of headaches between us all was amazing. On descending a few hundred metres we felt well again.
Hunger soon set in but we couldn´t find anywhere to eat. As we saw lots of goats and farms in the area we sort of assumed we might be able to buy some cheese from a local. We knocked on the door of a very pretty little farm to be greeting by a coca-chewing farmer who had no queso in sight. Instead of offering us food he offered us a little tour around his farmland which turned out to be quite fascinating. He showed us an old Inca settlement (which you could only just make out and was very hard to photograph) and dotted around his land were rocks with ancient etchings of llama and people. (photo right) We could tell it was an archaeological dream as they were all marked out. They think some of the etchings (of man and llamas) are over 6000 years old and I wasn´t going to argue with that.

Yes, so a little surprise from Lucas and Nick who had packed a tent, we found the Ruta 40 again and pitched camp, in the dark on what we thought were the Salt Flats. How do I explain one of the weirdest nights of my life...
We had stopped along the way to pick up supplies at the strangest village called Santa Rosa de Tastil. So strange, that it was hard to find anything edible. Once the tent was up, we feasted on cheese and crackers by candlelight (well, a makeshift candle made from my Maglite torch that Maz and Phil gave me, thanks guys). We were treated to a cloudless sky and when the stars came out it was a truly incredible site. Now I´ve seen some pretty amazing skies down here, but this one was quite outstanding. We had horizon to horizon stars and with no light pollution to be found. We all lay in our sleeping bags gazing up into yonder and three shooting stars later, shared a bottle of wine and made sure we drank plenty of water. We thought, at such high altitude we would probably freeze during the night, but it was actually quite pleasant. We all shared the same tent anyway and that´s when the strangeness began...

Although I was really tired when we set up camp, by the time it came to bunk up for the night, I felt more awake and energised than I´ve felt in a very long time. We had really similar experiences and that was when I started seeing strange lights everywhere. I was a bit confused as to where I was a lot of the time and didn´t want to mention anything to the others. It was when I couldn´t stop seeing the bright lights everywhere that I thought I might be starting to hallucinate that I mentioned something. Ha! I wasn´t the only one seeing them! The best way I can explain them is like when you see little phosphorescent sparks in the water when you´re out at sea or watching waves. The more we talked to each other the more we found them everywhere. In our hair, all over our skin, through or sleeping bags, over the tent walls.......we still have no idea what they were. All I can think is that they had something to do with the salt that we were lying on. If anyone can explain any of this, do write me an email as it`s really bugging me.
Every time I was almost asleep, memories from my past kept cropping up but completely distorted in a sense that it was quite disturbing. I was pleased to hear that Nick was having the same `problem´ so we (since the other two were more interested in each other), sat up most of the night talking. Once we did bunk down again I found sleep pretty quickly only to wake up an hour again in a mad panic and needing to exited the tent pretty swiftly. I walked around our little campsite and found that the moon had set which only highlighted the beautiful sky. I sat in my sleeping bag for a while and then slept in the back of the car so that I wouldn`t disturb the others.
I think we were all very thankful for daylight. Nick came and woke me up and we watched the sunrise to reveal that we were just on the edge of the main salt flats which were stunning in the distance. I´m glad we weren´t sleeping there. It would have been like sleeping on concrete and our little area was quite soft. As everyone breakfasted on yogurt and bananas I made friends with a burro who was obviously not a morning donkey!

Salt Flats checked out we headed north to Purmamarca and then beyond to Tilcara. This area is known as the Quebrada de Humahuaca which was a stunning gorge, again with multicoloured rock and indigenous tribes dotted around the place. After the restless night however we soon became tired little tourists and made our way slowly back to Salta. There were two routes to head home, one that was three times as long as the other but on the flat and one that was short and through a meandering track. I´m not sure if we took the one we wanted but we ended up on the ´short´ pass and managed to find ourselves in dense jungle high up in the clouds. A very steep zig-zag ascent to find the same on the descent. On return to Salta it was a long, hot shower for me and straight to bed! No strange dreams this time, but very much looking forward to travelling north and hopping over the border to Bolivia!

PS. It really hurts when you step on a cactus!

Mendoza, Argentinian Wine Country!

This Blog still to be written!

Pisco, Vallé de Elqui, Chile

This Blog still to be written...!

Valparaíso, Chile

I remember when I was studying my map of South America so many months ago on a kitchen table in Sandringham, Auckland, I tried to imagine what each place would hold for me just by looking at their name. Valaparaíso, like its name, sounds like a patch of paradise but I still had no idea what to expect and nothing prepared me for the sites of a truly remarkable place. Anyone coming to Chile? Valaparaíso is a must see.
Now I am not one for large cities or coastal resorts but Valparaíso has a certain charm to the place that disguises both of these things. With its unique history and charming architecture, I am not surprised that it was awarded UNESCO world heritage status. It was once populated by rich European merchants but even though it´s fortune has somehow diminished it still has a certain air of its former grandeur. Most noticeably is the Naval building in the main square (photo left) and the El Mercurio building which is the longest running daily newspaper in the Spanish Language (photo below). Grand old looking banks with majestic doorways also line the narrow stretch of land at the foot of the surrounding hills.

It´s hard to describe the rest of Valparaíso but I´ll try my best. Imagine if you will, 45 hills dotted around a coastline of a few kilometres. Add a bustling port full of containers (destination everywhere) and a small fleet of Naval ships belonging to the Chilean Navy (funnily enough). And then think about (and this is the hard part) covering every square inch of the hills with a labyrinth of cobbled stoned streets, brightly coloured houses spilling out from the horizon, almost falling on top of each other. Add a little hint of charming decay here and there, a few derelict warehouses and a sprinkle (actually 15) ascensiors (lifts, like cable cars) to the steeper hills. Now, on the street corners add a few budding artists for the Bohemian effect and you pretty much have Valparaíso summed up! I recently learnt that my Grandfather came here when he was working on the sugar liners. I didn´t know him very well, but if he was anything like my beloved grandmother, I reckon he would have loved it here too. Around the hills it´s a ramshackle of a place and I am sure I likened one area to a very upmarket part of a favela from Rio de Janeiro. I should also mention that it´s Chile´s second largest port. We spent our time walking around the maze of streets occasionally getting lost (which is very easy) and visited some great seafood restaurants. It was great to see Pelicans again too who pretty much ruled the roofs of the fish markets! Pelican Pelican can eat more than his belly-can!

We also spent some time walking around the old prison which, in its day, incarcerated a lot of political prisoners who were locked up for 16 hours each day. It was the sort of place that let your imagination run wild as most, if not all of it, was in ruins. We met a chap by the name of Papito there, who is an ex prisoner. I didn´t really take to the guy but he has opened up an exhibition in one of the old buildings which was quite interesting and probably the only reason the council doesn´t bulldoze the site to the ground!

However, one of my favorite sites of Valparaíso was to see the Tall Ship Esmerelda. If my information serves me correctly she is the longest sailing ship in the world and the second tallest. She was actually given to the Chilean people from the Spanish to help repay a debt that they had accumulated from the Spanish Civil War. She is used today by the Chilean Navy as a training ship for new cadets and she has to be one of the most beautiful ships I´ve seen. I was really keen to have a look on board but unfortunately there were not any tours during the time we were there. Vero rectified my disappointment by taking us to see one of the Naval ships instead which turned out to be quite the adventure in itself....

I spent two weekends in Valparaíso as Vero´s family (who we were staying with in Santiago) have an apartment there. Vero was a great tour guide and insisted we also took a tour of one of the Chilean Naval Ships. When we got to the entrance we found that only Chileans were allowed on board and that they needed to show their National ID. I wasn´t too fussed about visiting another Naval ship. I used to find it fascinating as a child to visit my father on board whoever it was at the time, but I was happy to sit this one out and since I´m not Chilean I considered it to be out of the question for a visit anyway. Not so! The rather dishy Military Policeman decided that as we were such pretty girls he would let us on board as long as I didn´t open my mouth and try and speak Spanish. Not wanting to be left out I joined the girls in a whirlwind tour of one of the Chilean Frigates (funnily enough which was bought from England, like the rest of the Chilean Fleet)! Once on board ´TT.Something or other´ we were asked again if there were any non-Chileans on board to which I looked blankly out to sea. That´s when the sinking feeling started, that I was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our Tour Guide, an Engineer, then made a point that they wouldn´t be too happy if they found any Peruvians or Bolivians in our group either as apparently the trouble between these countries are almost at boiling point again!
As we proceeded around the grey matter on deck, all I could think about was my father´s embarrassment if I got caught here. That´s if I survive the court martial! May be a photograph of my Papa in his Naval Uniform that I carry with me might smooth things over...hmmmm. Hoping things were still fine between Chile and the English we moved on to ´admire´ some more warheads (oh why can`t we all just love each other) and I made an effort to look approvingly in the direction that Liz and Vero were looking. Occasionally Liz would give me a dig in the ribs if I wasn´t looking in the right direction and we both looked at each other knowing darned well we were both feeling out of place and, we admitted later, rather nervous as getting caught here could cause great offense (and probably an MP´s job).
The highlight of the tour was a) obviously the end of it for me. After we were saluted (I wouldn´t expect anything else) on to the gangway and so to ashore I was able to talk again but b) as we were walking past the bow sprit of Esmerelda, Liz quite innocently pointed out how funny it was that she would have a turkey carved into the wood. ¨Er....Liz...I´m pretty sure that`s a Condor! You know, their National Emblem!¨ Vero was suitably offended and we all fell about laughing as we bade farewell to the lovely Military chaps at the front gate. Phew!

Pucon & Volcán Villaricca, Chile

Pucon, the adventurer´s capital of Chile cannot be complete without a summit of Volcán Villaricca. This depending on your patience and wallet of course...

We were met at the bus station by Monica who invited us to stay at her Hospedaje (cheap accommodation in her own home). It was overcast when we arrived so we weren’t entirely sure what all of the fuss was about, as apparently Pucón has lots of great views of a few volcanoes in the area, but we couldn’t see a thing! We had originally planned to stay for only a day to get a couple of views in and head on, but when we settled into our new digs, we met a lovely Aussie couple, Robz and Dan and we soon changed our minds.

There was a lot to do in the area adventure wise but after talking to our new friends I immediately had my heart on reaching the summit of the 2847m cone and Liz was only too happy just to get a glimpse of the thing! Poor visibility and bad weather had already seen Robz and Dan staying on a few more days than they had anticipated so I didn’t really fancy my chances on getting there before it was time to move on. Nevertheless we decided to wait for things to clear and have a little look around the area.
We hired a couple of bike for the day and took off with a very inaccurate map


I woke on the attempt of the third morning to find a very smilie Dan in the kitchen. Could this be we are climbing today? ¨Go and have a look outside Sophs,¨ he said. ¨Your kidding? Are we climbing today?¨ I ran out to the street and there she was. Dear old Volcán Villarrica in all her glory. Not a cloud in site and her cone was smoking away! Wicked!
We skipped our way down to the centre, past the green traffic lights that gave no imminent warning of eruption and got kitted up in all the gear. Third attempt for me, ninth for Camp Australia. We were off!
A little mini bus took us to the base and we caught a ski lift up to the half way mark. The hike was really easy. We went at a very steady pace, in single file, crunching our special boots into each step and steadying our balance with our little ice-axes. Every once in a while a whistle was blown and we all had to stop and look up towards the cone as another rock of lava was catapulted towards us. I felt like a very intrepid explorer and the views we got were just breath taking! And so to the top!

My word, the stench of the sulphuric gases really cut into the back of your throat. It was hard to see who you were standing next to you at times as another billow of smoke escaped the vent. We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t see the lava inside, but the pieces of lava that we saw shooting up from the depths of the fiery kingdom were good enough for me! We walked around the vent, had some lunch and then started our decent.

About 15 minutes down, we were asked to stop and put our ´nappies´ on! A funny little garment that was strapped around our thighs and waist so that we could literally slide down the volcano on our arses! It took us four hours to climb and I think only an hour to descend. The first run was fantastic. Dan and Robz decided we should go at the back of the group so that Dan could go first and film Robz and I coming down. Wow! It was so much fun. When it was our turn, Robz went first and I was close behind. We lifted our arms up above our heads with our axes and screamed our heads off as we ran over bumps and around corners down to the bottom. We would both collapse in fits of laughter at the bottom and were always looking forward to the next run.

And so to the third run. On reaching the third leg I looked down the course and suddenly thought out aloud ¨Er…..I´m not sure if I can do this one. It´s looks kinda gnarly down there babe!¨ Robz assured me everything would be fine and jumped on the run before me. When it was my turn, a group of very good looking guys had congregated at the top and could see I was feeling a little edgy. ¨Come on girl, this is the best part! It´s easy! Have fun. Just go with it!¨ Blimey, just my luck I get an audience and so as to not lose any pride I positioned myself at the top of the run and with the help of their countdown (which I think they all said rather too enthusiastically) I let myself go!

Blimey, I hadn’t expected the speeds to what I had just been thrown into. I could hear one of the guides shouting at me to brake (er HELLO! What do you think I’m trying to do here mister!). I dug my axe in as deep as I could into the ice beside me, but I just couldn’t find any friction. The ice had been so mashed up by the bums before me that I was left with a foot of fine powder on either side. My axe was carving it up like a hot knife through butter and with my heart pounding in my head I was beginning to wonder how this was all going to end. I tried sitting up to reduce my velocity but I just kept going faster. Times were in need of desperate measures and as my insurance policy flashed before my eyes, I decided to reach out a little further with my axe on one side of me to find harder ice. That was when it all went horribly wrong…

…no sooner had I found some ice to break in, my left shoulder was almost ripped from its socket and I felt I had little choice but to let go of the only thing that could possibly save me from an inevitable Bridget Jones disaster. BIG MISTAKE! I consoled myself with the fact that things were going to get messy from here on and at least we might be able to laugh about it later. Not only had I lost my brake, I had now lost the very thing that would steer me through this mess and the course was starting to look very much like the infamous Cresta Run of St. Moritz! The ice was banked up on either side of me now and I found myself in a very narrow, cork-screw gorge of sheer chaos. I don’t know how many groups had gone before me but the surface of ice was now covered in a thin layer of water and there was no stopping me. I tried to dig my finger nails in (you’re having a laugh now Sophs) to no avail. Come on, Sophie, think! No, absolutely no time for that. I thought what the hell, lets just go with this thing. I lay back, thought of Blighty, lay my arms on either side of me and tried to twist my body into each corner of the banks on either side. I aced the first couple of corners but my speed was starting to pick up again and it was starting to scare the nappy-pants off me and that was when I hit the third bank…

You know that feeling you get when things aren’t quite going your way? You know, it’s like when you’ve just misjudged a corner on your human bobsleigh run and you’re now airborne and hurtling through the air at break-neck speeds with your arms and legs frantically waving all over the place. Not only have your sunglasses been ripped off your face but you now have snow up your nose, in your eyes, you can’t see a thing and all you can taste is glacial melt water? Well, it was a very similar experience for me. I had no idea where I was. For a few seconds I couldn’t breathe for the millions upon millions of tiny ice shards that were now biting my face. I thought I may have caused an avalanche at one point and they’d have to dig me out of this mess. I had no idea if I was facing imminent injury by landing on the rocks and then a second or so later everything became clear. Ah yes, indeed, I am still airborne and I had been very clever enough to take a short cut by skipping three or four corners of the run (just as I had planned) and I could even see where I was about to land. Brilliant! I’m just about to go A over T into another very steep ice bank and this, this is going to really hurt! If I can just get my body at the right angle I might just be able to…..BANG! Ooooouccccccch! That was when I let go of all my fear and started screaming. Oh no, hang on, supposed to be having fun here and boys are watching. I changed my screams into squeals of ´delight´ to try and bring back any dignity that I might have left further up the mountain. This, of course, was thwarted again when I noticed the good looking bunch of lads that were waiting to do run the after me, had now caught up. Well, I just gave up at that point and let myself, covered completely in snow come to a very sedate stop at the foot of my fellow tour group who were looking on in disbelief that I had actually let my ice-axe go! I picked myself up, dusted myself off and with a smile still in tact I managed a ´Wow, that was grrrrrreat fun!´ One of the boys came over to me and handed me my glasses ¨Er, I think these are yours?¨ And then another one, ¨I think you might have left this up there?¨ to which he handed me my camera, followed by one of the guides who said ¨Never ever let go of your axe!¨ as he handed over the said thing. Bloody smart arse!!

Of course I admitted to Dan and Robz that I was a bit shaken up and may be I should just take the rest of the runs a little easier. I think there were two more after that which I managed to get myself down with half the fuss I made of the third one. And so it was hot showers, a catch up with Liz (who had a great day cycling) and then to the pub for a quiet celebration. Robz, Dan, we finally did it! Thanks for such a great adventure! I really enjoyed hanging out with you and hope to see you again either in Peru or London. Happy Travels!


I woke the next morning a little stiff but only slightly battered in a few places. Result! I have great memories of Pucón! And so to Santiago (via bus)!

Lago Ranco, The Lake District, Chile

As the Bentley purred its way across the Italian imported marble gravel to the solid 100yr old oak doors, the staff were standing to attention to welcome Miss Sophie and Miss Elizabeth to the stately home Los Ulnos…

…ok, so it wasn’t quite the Brideshead Revisited scene that most would imagine, the car wasn’t quite a Bentley and I don’t think the doors were oak, but we were welcomed by the maids and cook, before being introduced to our new family (the family of a friend of Liz’s in NZ). And what a treat it was too. For starters, a bed! Hmmmm, I guessed that it would be too rude to skip the introductions, forget about dinner and the small talk and just jump up and down on that thing, to check out the clean sheets, the fluffy, downy pillows (yes, pillows) and the duvet, my god the duvet (a duvet that wasn’t a sleeping bag no less, no brains lost there then)!! I couldn’t believe how excited I was to know I would be in a bed that night and when I did actually make it there, well, it wasn’t a tent either was it!?

We had a few hassles getting over the border to Lago Ranco but before all your imaginations run wild, it was only due to the lack of buses. It was a shame really as the family were leaving the house the following morning from their annual summer holiday in ´The Hamptons,´ so we missed out on water skiing and such. We were welcomed to stay on as long as we wanted though and the larder and fridge were filled especially for us. I had to convince Rosario (our host) that it wasn’t necessary to leave the cook behind as I was really looking forward to being back in a kitchen again after cooking such culinary delights on our tiny fold-away camp stove. She was quite surprised that I could prepare a certain type of bean too! The rich never cease to amaze me. Ah, you gotta love South American hospitality though!

After nothing but a ground sheet between me and the Earth for the last 50 consecutive nights, I couldn’t take that ridiculous cheesy grin off my face as I snuggled down to see what dreams would come. And then we woke to an empty house. Bliss….

I´ll be the first to admit we didn’t actually do an hell of a lot at Lago Ranco. Traveling sure does knock the socks off you every once in a while. When there’s no routine in your life and your usual diet is hard to find and being constantly on your guard all of the time, it’s hard to find some quality time to yourself to charge up the system and unwind. There were times, when trekking around Patagonia we would go without a shower for up to a week and now we had five bathrooms to chose from. I was missing being on the water and now I had the choice of kayak to mess about in on the lake (from the private jetty of course) AND they had a washing machine! I rest my case, our stay at Lago Ranco was perfect timing.
We spent our time, chilling in the sun (when it appeared), paddling on the lake, swimming in the clearest waters, eating lots of fresh food, drinking fine wine, chilling by the roaring fire in the evenings and catching up on sleep. The chauffer (a local taxi driver who our host paid to look after us) took us on a tour around the lake and occasionally Liz peeled me off the sofa to go into the local village, Futrono, to pick up more supplies.

One morning we even felt energetic enough to take a day trip into Valdivia which is also known as the City of Rivers, due to three of them meeting here; Río Calle Calle, Río Cau Cau and Río Valdivia. It is primarily an University town now but you can still walk around the large forts that once made up the biggest defense system in the Americas during the Spanish Colonisation.


Down on the waterfront we walked around the markets that were largely made up of sea food and other local produce. We were amused to find that smart sea lions have found an haven here. The markets run every morning from the time they set up until noon. During this time the fish mongers are gutting, filleting and throwing the remains away behind them into the river or directly into a sea lion’s mouth! Amusing to watch at first, but on a closer look it’s actually causing more harm than good. Without having to lift a flipper they laze about all day waiting for food to come to them and most of them are seriously overweight and in a bad way. It was sad to see and I was pretty upset to hear that this ´attraction´ is noted in guidebooks. I felt rather sorry for them.

In the afternoon we caught a bus to Niebla on the coast. Ah yes, to see the sea again! It was beautiful and the sun was doing that special little thing again with lots of sprinkled glittery bits on the water. It was great to walk along the beach and to feel black sand between my toes again. I had a few moments and breathed a sigh of relief. I´d missed the sea so much.

We then paid a brief visit to San Sebastián de la Cruz, one of the forts that was built to defend the entrance to Valdivia in 1645. If you are interested in this sort of history, read up here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdivian_Fort_System

Having rested up for almost a week, it was time to move on. Lago Ranco was a great break from being on the road and I am very grateful to our host family for allowing us to stay and enjoy their beautiful home so that we could explore places wwe would have otherwise missed.


Next stop, Pucón!
xx