Chile

Pucon: we spent 3 nights in Pucon which is a resort town surrounded by 4 volcanos.. one active one! we had the most comfortable hostal ever! We made friends with about 5 stray dogs, one that looked like a stray Kuba.. and they followed us around the entire day.. even waiting outside of the cafes that we went to. It was raining for 2 days.. but we managed a horseback riding trip up to this 80 meter waterfall which was incredible!! My horse and Nick´s horse didnt really get along which was kind of funny... Our last day was beautiful, the sun was shining and we were able to see the Vallarica which is the active volacano... smoke was coming out of the top! We went on a tour of the area which took us to some great locations around pucon, including some hotsprings... where we had to wear swim caps! that night we took a bus to Valapariso..

Valapariso: What a cool city!! There is a really young vibe here and very "artsy". The city is covered in amazing graffiti.. which is not vandalism here. We stayed at a great colorful hostal with some wonderful people!! We took a day to walk around and at night we decided, along with our other housemates, to have a mexican themed food night!!! we cooked and hung out and two of the volunteers at the hostal played music and sang out in the courtyard into the wee hours of the night! We had a beautiful day the next day and spent it walking along one of the main roads that offers some great views down to the port and of all the beautiful colorful houses that make up valpo. We loved the city so much we are going back tonight!! We are going to watch the Chile vs Venezuela game tonight with two people from the hostel that we met.

On friday we took a bus to La Serena, which is a coast town. Our main mission was to make it out to Humbolt Island which is a national park that protects penguins and other sea animals, no one can go on the island. We got up at 8am on friday and took a tour with 7 other people to a town where we got on tiny little motor boats and headed out to sea! it was wild... the waves were huge!!! luckily no one got sea sick! we saw sea lions (so many of them.. they are hilarious) and penguins and lots of sea birds!! we cruised around the island taking pictures and riding the waves... then we headed out further to the otherside of the island where the waves were bigger! it felt like a perfect storm.... well sort of.. it was exciting! within a few minutes of being on the other side 3 or 4 dolphins started jumping up around us.. infront of the boat and on the side!!! it was so cool! they played with our boats for about 25 minutes while we cruised... we continued around to one of the smaller islands and got off the boat and stayed there for about an hour.. just hiking around and enjoying the views!! it felt good to be on land. We hoped back on the boat for a quick trip back to the town we started from.. docked and had a really great seafood lunch!! It was a really awesome tour! we got back to la serena around 630 and just got some cheese wine and bread at a local market and had a nice evening in playing cards and meeting some of the other guests at the hostal!

Today (the 5th) we are about to get on a bus back to Valpo! we will spend the night there and then tomorrow we are heading to Santiago. We are hoping to go to a vineyard and also do some skiing and one of the resorts.. we have heard it´s a great time to hit the slopes!

in about 5 days we will be back in Cusco... and my parents arrive the next morning! we are really looking forward to having them in Cusco and to show them around!!!

we hope all is well!!!

LOVE