Pan de Azucar

Hey guys.
I have returned from my trip into the desert. I tell you it was amazing.

We rocked up in Chañaral and looked around for a way to get to the Nacional Park. We ended up getting a colectivo with a really friendly guy. He told us all about the park and drove us to three different campsites until we found the best one. We pitched our tent literally on the beach. We had sugarloaf island right in front of us and red/brown dry hills all around us.

Isla Pan de Azucar

We went for a walk into the desert one day and it was so hot. We were by the coast so there was still a bit of moisture in the air, but the ground was dry. There were a few brave plants struggling for survival, and we saw a desert fox wandering around. There were loads of lizards that you could only see once they were running away from you. They were so fast! We could see where there had once been a river and the ground was all dry and cracked. The hills were incredile. Giant and jagged but covered in little rocks that would crumble as soon as you touched them.

We went swimming in the ocean and the waves were so strong. It was insane. You'd get pushed forward with the tide and then pulled backwards and then forward again. Amina said at one point she was doing a forward roll while trying to pull on her clothes that the waves had pulled off. I did a lot of reading on the beach and Amina played her drum a lot. We chatted to the other campers. Chilenos from Santiago that were road tripping the beaches of the North before going to university in March. Me and Amina made a Western film in the desert but it's on Amina's camera so I can't upload it.

The desert was so empty and silent. It was eerie. And there was no shade anywhere. We had to alternate between boiling in our tent and frying in the sun. I used a lot of suncream!

La Serena

Hey guys.
Well we arrived in La Serena at quarter past five this morning. We waited around with a lot of other bleary-eyed people, until seven o'clock when we judged it to be a reasonable enough hour to look for our hostel. Found it without difficulty and before long we had pitched our tent like we'd been doing it for years.

success!

After breakfasting we went out to explore this place. It's much calmer and smaller than Valparaiso. And definitley cleaner! Really pretty. We visited the catherdral which was really lovely.

Then we walked to the beach, which is quite a way out of town but not too far. Lovely soft sand and quite cold water. There was a lighthouse which we thought looked like a lego building. I ended up lying on the sand having a nap because I was so tired. Amina ran up and down the beach as per usual. 

la playa

the Lego building

the water was freezing!

We had some funky Chilean food which was like a sausage roll but with more pastry and a hot dog sausage inside. They really like hot dog sausages here. I really miss normal sausages. It's either hot dog sausage, choripan which is kind of like chorizo, or some horrible thing that has big lumps of fat in it. 

In the afternoon we were walking around a market and you'll never guess what Amina bought. A drum. Yep. My peaceful summer is gone. I did tell her if she playedit  too much I'd hit her over the head with it. 

The people in our hostel are really friendly and we have had some great chat with them. Learned so much about Chile and Bolivia too.

Off to Chañaral tomorrow and then the parque Nacional Pan de Azucar. Camping for four nights. Should be fun :)

New Year In Valpo

Hey everyone!

Well me and Amina arrived in Valparaiso after a night bus from Temuco. It was alright, although at times the bus seemed to randomly speed up and the lady across from me had a fit which was a bit freaky, but we arrived eventually.
Valparaiso is really lovely. I love the random mixture of houses. They're on top of each other and next to each other and they're such a good mixture of colours.
We've walked around a lot in Valpo and gone up a few of the many, many hills. Local folklore is that you can tell how far up a hill a woman lives on a hill, because the further up they live, the fatter their bums are. We walked through the streets on our first morning here and found saw loads of vegetables all over the street. There was barely enough room to walk.
Valpo is very smelly and dirty. Vina del Mar is much cleaner. We went there today for a while and it's much more touristy.

We're hanging out with some of the other volunteers while we're here. Sammy and Finlay live here so they've been showing us around. New Year here was really fun. Most tourists go to the port but we were told it's better to go up a hill so we went up one and got a great view. We could see all along the coast that had all the fireworks going off. There were so many fireworks of all different types. There were the traditional circles, then there were hearts, smiley faces and loads more. It was great. There were loads of Chileans on the hill that were very friendly and we partied with them a bit. On the walk down the hill we shouted Happy New Year to everyone and the all shouted it back. Got lots of beeps back. It was lots of fun.

In a bit of a rush because we're going out again for another wander. I'll just add some pics and write again when I can.

Evie, Hannah and Me up a hill at a viewpoint

Sorry tilt your head for some chilean street art

Amina and Me in Vina

Christmas And Travels In Chile

Hey guys! Last post before I go off travelling. More on that at the end though.

Christmas

Christmas here was really nice. The real day of celebrations here is Christmas Eve (Noche Buena). As the meat was cooking on the asado (what else?) me and Amina kept Augustin entertained with football. It felt very strange to be outside on Christmas Eve, in the sun, playing football. We had pre-dinner drinks of piscosours and nibbles. Then we had plata (avocado) and lechuga (lettuce) for starter. Main was a huge portion of meat and potatoes. I think I nearly died from all the meat. Eli's parents in law were here for the day so the table was full. Her father in law is German and doesn't speak a word of Spanish. It was really funny when Sergio was talking rapid Spanish to him anyway and one of us had to translate into either English (he spoke a little) or German. After all the food we were somehow expected to stuff down some pan de pasqua.

Christmas table

Us with the parents

We met Santa!

At midnight the presents were brought out for the children although they were all asleep so didn't open them. Ruth and Sergio liked the presents that my family had sent them and they liked the chocolates and flowers that we gave them. As we went to bed we were given a little present by Ruth and Lili. They were towels to take travelling. But they were awesome. Mine has crocodiles on it!

My towel is awesome

Christmas morning I opened my stocking (mum was cute enough to wrap my present in my stocking and send it to me). I was so confused to receive a toy horse and a toy dog from my dad. Crazy man. We just chilled all day really. I got some more holiday planning done and we played football with Augustin again.

~ Enter one day to finish holiday planning (yey!) and get a haircut ~ 

Licon Ray

On Thursday (Happy Birthday Dylan!) we went to Licon Ray which is 30km South of Villarrica and is next to Lago Calafquén. We went with two friends and had a really nice time. We walked on the beach, through the forest, swam/pladdled in the water and just generally chilled. It was also really sunny which was nice. We stayed in a nice little cabaña which we managed to keep much cleaner than the last one. It may have been a bad idea to get the guys water guns for Christmas though. We cooked rice for lunch and I ended up with fish in my hair (because what's a holiday with friends, without a food fight?) The moon was really bright when we went out for a night walk along the beach.

Lago Calafquén

Yesterday we took the bus back to Temuco and had a capoeira lesson in the plaza. Our last before travelling. It was really relaxed and fun. I am so tired now though. 

Travelling

Well we've finished our travel planning. Here's the low down.

We're leaving on the 30th to head up to Valparaiso for New Year. There we'll meet up with the other Chile volunteers. On the 3rd we're heading to La Serena for a couple of days then going to Chañaral. Here we're going to camp in Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar for a few days. Then we're going to San Pedro de Atacama and all the tour wonders there like salt lakes, geysers, hot springs, deserts etc. Our last stop in Chile is Arica, the Northern most city in Chile. From there we move onto La Paz in Bolivia, the highest capital city in the world. Then it's Cochabamba, Sucre and Uyuni. Here we're hoping to go on a tour of the salt flat and hopefully climb a volcano while we're at it. It'll be the rainy season so it's a good thing my rucksack has a rain cover. After that we're crossing into Argentina. Salta and Cordoba for four days each, Buenos Aires for five, Bahia Blanca for three then Bariloche for a relaxing end to our travels. Should be back in Lautaro on the 1st March. 

It's a good thing that me and Amina get on well because it's just going to be the two of us until Bariloche, where we're meeting up with one of the English teachers of Lautaro. I'm really excited. A little anxious that something will go wrong but not too bad. We've done our final clothes wash. I just need to pack now. I hope there's enough room.

I still plan on blogging as often as possible while I'm away. Stay tuned for news about my crazy journey around this amazing country.

Caburgua

Yesterday I went with the campo school Vega Larga on un paseo. Amina had a capoeira event so she didn't go. The bus journey was about three hours long and it was through the Lake District so there was lots of pretty things to look at out the window. Caburgua is a small place 23kn northeast of Pucon. The lake is huge. We set up on playa negra which is really big. The director told the kids that they could go anywhere on that beach and into town. It was really relaxed which was quite nice. The three Kinder kids did have to stick a bit closer to a watching eye though.

Playa Negra

Lago Caburgua

Had some nice conversations with staff and kids. They loved playing in the lake. The water was really nice and warm. It was nice and sunny as well which made a nice change from the non-stop rain we've had all week. Apparently the reason for the rain is because of El Niño. After lunch I went for a walk with a teacher and her son along playa blanca. The sand was white and the water was much clearer. It was really nice. We passed sun-whitened trees crawling with lizards, rocks that used to be lava, and rocks with shapes carved into them.

The breakfast queue 

Lava rock

Playa blanca

Dinosaur head and bird in rock (thought of you Dylan)

More rock carvings

It felt like being in the Caribbean

We took the bus back at around six. Didn't get back to Lautaro until half ten because we had to drop off the kids at their homes in the campo. Returned to see Ruth holding a sleeping Pancha. Ruth's daughter Eli arrived with her family on Thursday. So the house is now full of children. Augustin (7 years old), Fernandito (2 years old) and Pancha (5 months!). I sent of my uni application on Wednesday. 

One Third Down, Two More To Go

Did a mega shop last Friday getting things for the summer. I bought a sleeping bag but then discovered that it was way too thin and would only keep me warm in temperatures around 15 degrees. Not very helpful for night times in the desert! So I took it back yesterday and I now have a much squashier, warmer one. I just have to figure out how to attach it to my backpack. Amina suggested getting some rope.

I'm getting excited for the summer but I think I will be more excited after we've finished planning. Not much more to go. We just have to plan Argentina now. I will put up details when we're done. It's really weird to think that I'm going to be completely responsible for my own safety while I'm away. Lautaro feels very safe, I'm never really that worried here. But going out into a land of strangers and unexplored places... freaky. But exciting!

I was musing about the fact that if I wanted to I could go home. It's just weird to think that I can. Because I just never think of it was an option. And I don't even want to go home. Like, I do a little so that I can see friends and family, but it never even occurred to me that I could give all this up and go home. I don't see why anyone would. You only get really homesick if you wallow in your feelings. You just have to do things and it's fine. And everyday I'm learning something new and experiencing something new. I can't believe that I've been here for four months. I realised I had been when I saw that it was time to fill in the first boxes on the My Experience sheet PT gave me. And then the two months travelling are going to pass so quickly. Then I would have been here for 6 months! That is half my time here gone. How quickly does time fly!

On Monday we had Christmas parties with our classes in Vega Larga. We had sweets, Christmas music and chocolate prizes. Had a great time.

We turned up at school today and there were no kids around. Some were on school trips and some just didn't come in because it was the last week of school. Me, Amina and Danay watched the end of Home Alone because after seeing the first half about seven times last week we really wanted to see the end. Then we went out for lunch with all the English teachers in Lautaro to celebrate Margot retiring. Had a really lovely lunch sipping on piscosours and eating empanaditos.

The weather has been so rubbish recently. I can't even pretend to be enjoying it any more. I want summer! Enough of this wind and rain. I might as well be in Scotland!

Fuimos para un asado en el parque

Amina doing her typical 'I will not smile' pose