Today is Sunday and it's a beautiful sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. I'm sitting in my cabin looking out at Osorno Volcano, a perfect cone shaped mountain topped with snow. The cabins are on a large lake called Lago Llanquihue (sounds somewhat like Yankee Way). It's a huge lake -- about 330 square miles. It's the end of the tourist season here, with fall approaching and school starting, so it's quiet, but normally these cabins are packed and there are kids playing soccer on the home made soccer field and swinging on the wooden swings. Temperature today is in the mid to high 60s.
The rest of the group went for a bicycle ride today, but I passed. Wasn't sure whether I'd go because of my knee, although I probably would have started in any case and just switched to the truck that was trailing the group if my knee was too bad. However, I ended up with a rather unhappy stomach last night and it has persisted into today, and I thought I should not stray too far from a bathroom.
Yesterday we flew up from Puerto Arenas to Puerto Montt, then drove to Ensenada. We dropped our things and headed off for our raft trip down the river. First step was the safety briefing. We learned what to do if we got knocked out of the boat and what to do if the boat tipped over. For some reason, the group was very quiet after that. I was wondering if I really wanted to do this. But the trip was actually quite tame. The rapids were theoretically Class 3, but the water level was low and they were barely that, according to someone who had done some rafting before. However, the chance to spend the time on the Petrohue river was wonderful. It was cloudy and misty and the river cut through black volcanic rocky soil of the Vicente Perez Rosales national park, winding through volcanoes and mountains amid a beautiful forest. The rocks on shore were covered with moss in different colors. The tops of the mountains were covered with clouds, and it was a bit like a Japanese wood cut print. The water was gray green glacier water. It was raining/misting, which didn't really matter since we were wearing wet suits, and two of us jumped into the water anyway. All in all it was a wonderful chance to see the countryside.
Ensenada seems a bit more prosperous than Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales. Fewer houses badly in need of paint; more houses having a sense of tidiness.
Tonight and tomorrow night we have a barbecue. Tomorrow is the kayak day and it's supposed to be another lovely day.
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