´Miles and mountains and I asked for the sea´

Rapid check out of the hotel and back into Daniel’s pick up truck for a drive to the lovely town of Pt Vares. Further driving along the lake at Pt Vares brought us to the Petrohue national park and some of the most spectacular scenery that I have so far seen in Chile. Right at the base of Volcano Osorno, the glacial river runs fast and cold and is a great place for photos and for feeling the true spirit of the Chilean natural environment and for the true scale of the Andes range.

Daniel thought it a good idea to get as far up the volcano as was possible in his pick up (before the roads become to icy and precipitous) so we proceeded to take the long windy road to a small café that sits perched on a snowy plateau high above the town of Pt Vares. Towards our destination, and as we began losing grip on icy road, Daniel thought it a good idea for me to get into the back of the pick up to add some weight over the back tyres….driving up the frozen volcano bouncing up and down over the back wheels to gather traction was a somewhat unnerving experience (and cold…especially wearing the sandals picked out by Pip in Dorchester for the Ecuadorian leg of the trip!). Health and safety was out of the window (literally) but I figured that if the truck did go over the edge, at least I would not be in it!! Hot chocolate and apple strudel in the log fire cabin at the plateau was a great way to end the adventure….

Back into Pt Montt and waiting for the plane to Santiago and La Serena. Time to head north to the warmth and to Cefas friend and colleague Karin Lohrmann at the Universidad Catolica del Norte. See you later.

The peak of Volcano Osorno in the Andes range.....spectacular!