After a day of rest, we were ready again for adventure. The girls were too young for any of the canopy tours, white water rafting or horse back rides to the volcano. Jason and I would have loved to put on our hiking shoes and hiked to the top of the volcano, but the girls aren't quite ready for that, so we opted for a river float and 10 minute hikes to a couple of waterfalls that required less that 30 minutes of driving on gravel.
We drove about 15 minutes from Pucon, got dropped off on the side of the road, pumped up the raft, and off we went. Our guide was a 21 year old from Colorado, so conversation flowed easily. The driver was a big/tall Chilean, who spoke almost no English, in a little van who would break out into song, singing "I'm a Barbie Girl" and referenced "Bay Watch." It was comical.
The river was very cold coming out of the mountain, so we suited up the girls in wet suits so they could occasionally jump in.
We got out part way through the rafting trip to view this little water fall. The water was torqouise and the river deep in this area. It was beautiful.
We landed in this eddy where Madelyn and Jason splashed for a bit then helped us get back in the main flow of the river.
The water was so clear and fresh. It only looks dark because of the dark volcanic rocks on the bottom. Areas without rocks and white sand allowed us to see the beauty of the color of the water and the depth of the river.
At this point, which we did not capture well, we could see a volcano rising from the horizon of each fork of the river. It was magnificent.
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| The people on the shore got a good laugh as the girls and Jason decided to jump out of the raft, flail a bit in the icy water and attempt to climb back in the raft. The girls were squealing so loudly. I'm sure these silly American's made quite a spectacle. |
After our rafting trip needed to eat again, of course.
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| Omelet: Jamon y queso. Always served with ensalada...A very traditional Chilean salad, simply sliced tomatoes and lettuce. Sometimes sliced onions or avocado accompany are also included. |
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| Crepes and pastries are also known to be delicious in Chile. Es Verdad! It's true. Yum. |
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| Salmon, egg, and papas fritas! |
Now that our bellies were full, we decided to take full advantage of our daylight again and went in search of the saltos-waterfalls. There were many to choose from.
A 5 minute hike. The bamboo like shoots made for a fun little hike. The log fences as barriers to keep little ones from plummeting into the valley below us, made me a little nervous.
Salto de Palgun
We drove about 10 minutes farther into the forest. Logging is a major industry in Chile.
Walking through this park we also found remnants of aqueducts that brought water from the river.
The Salto de La China was the most impressive waterfall we saw. Viewing it from the bottom was fun as we were misted and the roar of the double waterfall exemplified it's power. We caught this waterfall at about 8:45 at night, so the canyon had lost it's sun. It was interesting to see how the water had carved out this particular canyon and the plant growth on the walls of the canyon was awe-inspiring.
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| This is one of my favorite pictures of our whole trip this far! |
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| Looking away from the waterfall down the canyon. Other small waterfalls coming out of the side of the canyon walls could be seen. Hard to get pictures at dusk. |
When we got back to Pucon, we promised cotton candy to the girls. Clearly, feeding kids a pile of sugar at 9:30 pm is excellent parenting! If you ask them, this is the highlight of their trip.
This harbor was just a couple of blocks from our hotel, so we enjoyed the final light of the day by the water.
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