Another great hike _ those little places in the middle are actually good sized cabanas

We decided to continue with the National Parks and next stop was Puerto Varas, a great little town(population 25,000) within a half hour drive of Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales and it is truly breathtaking!  Volcanoes, lakes, lagoons and waterfalls all of which were difficult to capture with an ipad but you know the drill…..google for more!  We also stayed in a great air bnb hosted by Raphael’s – it was excellent!

Amazing trees along the hike in Conquillo

We had considered rafting as we had done, and totally enjoyed, in Costa Rica but when I saw this I chickened out and Jim didn’t try to convince me!

Our air bnb in Puerto Varas was on this lake and what a view we had – although this isn’t the view, just the volcano

Next stop Nacional Parque Puyehue which is known as one of Chile’s most popular parks and is well known for its hot springs.  The hot springs was part of our plan but that didn’t materialize because it was just like an indoor swimming pool and was not impressive at all – a little disappointing actually because we were looking forward to it after hiking.

NP Conguillo or Puyehue – not sure which! You’ll have to visit and let me know

National Parque Conguillo is where we hiked Sendero Sierra Nevada which went straight up, or that’s the way my heart interpreted it.  This park is well known for one of Chile’s most explosive volcanoes, Volcan Llaima, which last erupted in 2008-09 and forced the evacuation of several villages including the one we stayed in.  It was kind of errie driving in there but so glad we did as the hike was fabulous and the view which was supposed to be stunning was dampened by the clouds and mist as we were so far up.  Nevertheless it was worth the journey!

Cloudcover and mist almost at the top

Volcano ash

Finally we were ready for a break and decided to spend our last few days at a beach town, Algarrobo, population 8,600.  Our first night I am skipping over quickly as it was not so pleasant and we met the first Chilean we didn’t like – don’t even want to talk about it or him!  Pretty good record I’d say for five weeks – great people.  The next three days, however, we stayed at Marco’s wonderful air bnb and enjoyed his condominium and pool area as well as the fabulous beaches close by.   There will be no pictures of bathing beauties because much to our surprise the water was too cold – a few people in the water, and a few with wetsuits!   Here we had some great beach walks where we stopped for cappuccinos and tortas along the way…………and then had to walk a little faster and longer to try and balance things out – don’t think it worked!  Also worth noting that there is a little hamburger joint there called Mc Trump with a picture of you know who!   Interesting from the reviews, which aren’t great, you can tell most people don’t know who he is but one reviewer who gave it a 1 out of 5 said “make hamburgers great again!”

Walking the beach

View from our condo in Algarrobo

McWho?????If you think I’m rushing this blog you’re right as last night the internet went down and I couldn’t finish my last post – hoping I didn’t mix up the pictures of the Nacional Parques!  Now we are at the airport in Santiago awaiting our flight to Toronto and I’m on my last 10% of energy on my iPad so gotta type fast and download a few pics.   I had mentioned previously that the we didn’t find the food in Chile that great but today on the way to the airport we stopped in the small town of Casablanca, pop. 24,000, in the heart of wine country.  Marilyn and I were walking along apparently looking a little stunned when a handsome young man stopped on his bike to chat and thank God he had pretty good English.  He told us he spoke better Dutch as he had lived in the Netherlands for 7 years and was curious about Canada so we filled him in on what a great country it is.   He knew we were looking for a place for lunch and he recommended a little place called El Patio and so glad we took his advice.  It was the neatest little place and the waitress/owner spoke pretty good English which always helps.   When we were finished Jim told her it was the best meal we had since we came to Chile and her smile was literally from ear to ear.  It started with a mini quinoa burger and a fresh fruit juice, followed by a small piece of steak and bean salad and topped off with what she referred to as a small  dessert that was topped with blueberries and a shot of pisco – delicious!

El patio…..excellent food and service

That’s it folks – down to 2% and people are starting to line up for the ten hour overnight flight to Toronto – the three of us will be a wreck tomorrow!   It was another great trip and, as always, we’re so looking forward to being home even with the snow.   Totally recommend Argentina and Chile as travel destinations – we had a wonderful holiday and looking forward to seeing you soon………….especially little Caroline, her parents and Auntie Andrea, and of course other family as well.   Can’t forget to mention O’Reilly who’s  been having fun with Duffy and Daisy – thanks Linda and Pierre!