Weeks Two and Three in Chile

Tome/Los Morros/Dechato/Pucon

The harbor, Los Morros

Our second week in Chile we headed from the cities to Los Morros outside the small town of Tome and near Dechato. Dechato is a beach town that was flattened by the tsunami that followed the earthquake here about two years ago. It killed more people than the earthquake and left many homeless. The reason we headed here was that my last Spanish teacher in Santa Cruz, Yolanda, has a sister and brother in law who live here part of the year and in Salinas the rest of the year. We stayed with them for a week. Roberto and Sonya were wonderful hosts and we fell right into the rhythm of their lives. We slowed down to the pace of a small fishing village. There are also second homes of quite a few Chileans here, as well as a group of expats.

Sonia and Bob's house

The beach in front of the house

Through Roberto and Sonia we met some of the people most effected by the tsunami. Many are still living in temporary housing on hills away from the coast. We helped one settlement cover their greenhouse so they can grow more of their own food. Anika and I did a beach clean up one day on the beach in front of Sonia and Roberto's house, collecting three huge bags of mostly plastic trash. Besides this volunteer work we listened to Sonia tell stories of her and her family's life in Chile, watched movies (Sonia is a big movie buff and they had Netflix. She picks the best movies!) relaxed a lot and explored the area a bit. We took a really nice walk one day with a group of expats living in the area and had dinner with them one night as well. It was a wonderful week off the tourist trail seeing another part of Chilean life.

This boat was moved to this spot by the tsunami. It is being refurbished so it can go fishing again

Dave in front of the finished green house

Scenes from the farmers market in Tome

Giant pumpkin/squash you buy by the chunk

Students of Baile Foklorico group performing in the street to raise money to go to a competition in another area.

 Pucon- The Lake District
We left Roberto and Sonia early one morning and headed to Pucon on a bus with broken air conditioning and a stinky bathroom. We stayed for a week in Pucon, a tourist destination on the side of a lake surrounded by mountains and with snow capped Volcano Villarica looming to one side. Although the town was full of Chilean's on vacation and adventure travelers passing through we had a great time. There were some really good restaurants, yoga classes and lots of possible excursions. Dave and I went rafting on a challenging river that included an unexpected 25 ft jump off a cliff at one point. (Into the river not the raft.)

Being tourists and driving by our hostel

Colorful flower made of wood

 The area has 25 natural hot springs and we went to two, Los Pozones and Las Geometricas. Geometricas was my favorite hot water so far (not including Japan which is in a category by itself and can not be compared to other countries when it comes to hot water.)

We did a short day trip to Curarrehue, a village that is 80% Mapuche, the largest indigenous community in Chile. There we had a fantastic lunch of Mapuche food which is very different from Chilean food.

Inside the Restaurant

Outside the restaurant

Eating in the restaurant

We also met some very nice people at the Hostel we stayed at in Pucon. Andy from New Zealand and Clare and Jordan from Oregon. We hope to meet up with Clare and Jordan later on our journey in Chile.

Mapuche Weaving

After Pucon we headed for Refugio Tinquilco, a hostel in the National Park Huerquehue. Here we are now in the pouring rain. I promise photos soon! We just need faster Internet.

Beautiful Landscape