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 delight
s 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 in
to 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
