I slept in a little today and am feeling a bit worn out from yesterday's volcano hike.  I also have some bug bites.  Michelle is wondering if they are from the snow suit I wore yesterday.  I am worried that they are from the bed since I woke up with a couple yesterday, too.  Hhhm, no idea.

Fei has already left to do the volcano trek and Michelle and Eduardo are getting ready to go to Parque Nacional Huerquehue on the 8:30 am bus.  Michelle and I are concerned because the sky is very overcast and we are wanting clear skies for Fei.

I have a leisurely breakfast and meet more people who are staying at the hostel.  Simon (late 20's, from France) and Mickael (33, originally from France, but living in Martinique) met in Patagonia a few weeks ago and are traveling together until they leave Pucón.  They are also hanging out in Pucón with another French speaking couple (whose names I don't remember).

Manuel (Manú) is from France and is a volunteer worker at the hostel for 2 months.  Back in France, Manú is an adventure tour guide, taking people rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, etc.  So, although he is sad to leave South America in 2 weeks, he is excited to go back to his job.

Manú and me


I check the Internet at the hostel and confirm that my flights are changed.  I also do laundry since they have a washing machine that we can use for US $5.00.  It's raining outside so I hang my laundry on racks above the wood stove (the underwear goes into the room).

Since my legs are tired, I'm in search of a low key activity today.  I head over to Sierra Nevada and talk to Rodrigo about the options.  The canyoning only goes in the morning so that's not an option today.  I try to go white water rafting, but nothing's going this afternoon because there aren't enough people.  The summer season is winding down and the town of Pucón is rather quiet and empty compared to high season in January and February.  I love this town as it is now and hate to imagine it overwhelmed by tourists.  There's a canopy tour (rip line) that leaves in about an hour so I sign up for that.

Canopying
At 3:00 we head out to the rip line location.  There are four of us who will be doing the rip lines.  Myself, Ibo from Israel, and a father and son (about 8 years old).  Ibo is 21 and traveling with a couple of friends who are doing the volcano trek today.  He was unable to go with them because his knee started bothering him after 3 months of trekking.  He's been in Patagonia since January 1.  The volcano trek was to be his last trek, so he's really disappointed that he couldn’t do it.  He’s never been on a rip line before so he is excited to try it.  I did some last year when I went to the Manu jungle in Peru and it was a blast!  Though it wasn’t enough with only 5 rides.  Today we will go on 10.  We get geared up, get instructions, and get started.

Ibo and me


It is sooo much fun!  Ibo is beside himself he loves it so much.  He feels a lot better about missing the volcano trek now.  The canopying is so much fun and the 10 rides go by way to fast.  I try to talk the guides into letting us go another round, but it's not an option.  They had a photographer with us so I have more pictures on one of those CDs that are still in Chile, so I'll get those on here later.

When I picked up my canopy photo CD, I asked the photographer where to go for a good, traditional Chilean meal and he and another Chilean customer recommended El Reconocito.  I've mostly been preparing my own food while in Chile and I want to try Chilean food while I'm here.  It's about 6:00 and most restaurants here don't open until 7:30 so I wander around town to see more of it.  It's a lot larger than I thought with more than one tourist street.  Some of the smaller town have just the one.  As I walk past one restaurant, I see Felix and Kat who I met in Torres del Paine a couple weeks ago.  I chat with them for a while then head off to dinner.

Kat, Felix, me


The woman at the restaurant recommends cazuela de ave, a traditional soup with chicken, potatoes, rice, choclo (corn on the cob with huge, pale corn kernels), onions, and green pepper.  I eat it with the traditional aji, a spicy sauce that is found all over South America  The soup itself is somewhat bland, but very good.  I have the traditional dessert of flan which is to die for!

Back at the hostel, I catch up with Michelle, Eduardo, and Fey.  Michelle is looking for something to do tomorrow and I tell her about Reserva Cañi.  She reads about it in her travel book and decides she wants to go there with me.  Eduardo went to Parque Nacional Huerquehue with Michelle today and is now following her around like a puppy dog so he wants to go, too.  That makes three of us which is enough to reserve a tour complete with transportation, a guide, and park entry.

Fei tells us that her group made it to the summit of Villarrica but that she was really disappointed because the day was cloudy and overcast so the views weren’t that great.  It was hard for her to take because Michelle had a beautiful day up there and I had great views.  She says she's going to be really pissed if the weather is better tomorrow because she could have done the trek then.

Michelle, Fei, Eduardo and I hang out and talk and we all get along so great that everyone else in the hostel thinks we are friends traveling together.