A Machete and a Bottle to Keep Me Warm: My Divinely Timed Trip South

A quick bike ride around Catemu with Yury 

Just another peek into life on the farm

This bridge was constructed by volunteers like me and I will be honest, I was a little nervous. 

The last week staying at the eco-village was an amazing experience. A new friend, Yury, from my classes in Santiago chose to come to Catemu and volunteer with me for a few days, which was a great shared experience and nice to have a bit of the "real world" with me there. We had the chance to make 2 eco bricks, which consists of a plastic 2 liter bottle filled completely with plastic recyclables. This surprisingly took about three hours to make only two bricks each. After that task I decided to ask if there was anything else we could do, and sure enough there was: open walnuts. For the last hour of our volunteer work we sat in front of a fire and opened walnuts with a rock; quite the day. We were both thrilled when we got to spend the next day working in the garden! I enjoyed the days on the farm very much and met some wonderful people, but am in no way ready to take on the life of a Hare Krishna monk. I may or may not have indulged in beers, burgers, and chocolate Saturday night when I got back into Santiago. :)

I woke up from a nap to peek out the window and see this!  WOW. Those are the Andes friends.  

The last week of my trip in Chile I am spending in the south. About 90% of the amazing photos that come from this place are taken in the south. I flew into Puerto Montt yesterday and boy was that one of the prettiest flights I've ever taken!! Unfortunately the only hostels in the area listed online were really expensive for hostel prices (about 40USD). While the first night cost a little more than planned, I managed to set something else up once I got here and am spending half the price for something in town and with my own bathroom. Although, I should share that when I arrived, I found my place easily (great change from the Santiago arrival shenanigans) and then went out for a stroll before sunset. Wow is this place gorgeous!!

Afterwards, I ducked into a shopping mall, honestly just to escape the cold for awhile before having to head back. I did buy a guatero, a hot water bottle to sleep with at night. Despite the pricey hostel, the room was freezing. I continued on, stopping at a grocery store I grabbed a few things to cook for dinner, and some red wine to try and keep warm (the recommendation of the woman at the front desk when I told her my room was cold). Then I headed back to the hostel, made some dinner, chatted it up with some people, and made a plan for the next day.

Today I headed into the Alerce Andino National Park. Like much of this trip, not a lot of pre-planning has gone on; so after waking up around 9, causally eating breakfast until almost 11 while talking with a nice Chilean couple, I decided to head to the bus station to see when the buses left for the park. On the way I dropped my bag at the new hostel and layered up (have I mentioned it's really cold here?). The bus station is real close, and I managed to walk up at about 12:25 to find out that the bus I needed was leaving at 12:30. This was the beginning of a well-timed day.
The bus ride was about an hour long, and I still am fascinated by the amount of bad 80s American music they play on buses and by the insane amount of personal stops that are made for passengers. Just imagine that the bus is stopped to let someone off, and your house is in about 30 feet; you may want to get off there, no? Nope.  Instead, people get off the bus whenever and wherever. Today I watched as a woman waited until the bus turned around in a small dirt road after stopping, she then had the bus driver stop on the other side, about 12 feet from the first stop, so she could get off. Enough of that, sorry.

Soooo, upon getting dropped in what looked like the middle of the road by some chickens and pigs, I wandered ahead the 500 meters the bus attendant told me to until I found the entrance to park. It was gorgeous! The first views alone were worth the journey. I then headed up the hill to look at the trail map. There I was greeted by a park ranger, Ivan Vargas. He was extremely helpful and took down my data in the guest book. He also let me know it had been a windy couple of days and he would have to come with me on the trail to make sure it was safe. I thought this was a bit strange, and also that it would be an inconvenience to him, and kinda mess with my " traveling sola" vibe. I quickly decided to make the best of it and be glad that I'd have an expert with me.

He suited up and then had me wait as he locked up the building. I didn't think too much of spending the day with this guy until he returned with a huge machete. "Seriously!?! This is how it's going to end for me?" I thought to myself. Option one: leave. Option two: hang in there and have a little faith that God has a better way for me to go. I went with option two.

It was a great hike!! Ivan shared along the way about the special trees and plants. He has been working there for 25 years and was willing to answer my questions. It was peculiar because when I arrived I shared that I was from the States, and he said that he spoke English, so for the rest of the day he spoke to me in English and I spoke to him in Spanish. At the end of the hike, he wrote down a few recommendations for me to do in the area, and a place where I could grab dinner before the bus headed out. I thanked him profusely and went on my way.

Leaving the forest wasn't quite as magical as arriving. I quickly remembered that I was in the middle of nowhere and that as the sun started to go down that this place is really cold. While I briskly headed up the hill into the town (if I can even call it that), I was looking out for the restaurant Ivan had told me about earlier. I walked about a mile or so, and passed a little store type place. I walked in and this store had everything: laundry soap, soda, WD-40, and hot rolls! I bought a hot roll for about a quarter and then found out the bus wasn't coming for another hour. In order to get on the bus in this town there are no stops I was told, you just wave at the driver in the street. We're not in Santiago anymore Todo.

I was surprised when a bus came down the road only 20 minutes later. I stopped him, and he told me that he had about 40 minutes of stops before he headed the direction I needed. I was really cold, so I asked if I could just ride along anyway. He said "sure", and I hopped aboard! This was a wonderful choice for multiple reasons: it let me stay warm, I was able to see some AMAZING views, and about ten minutes into the ride Ivan got on the bus. I didn't want to bother him when he was off work, so I just sat back and figured he'd say hi if he wanted to do so. Sure enough he not only said "hi", but called me up to sit with him. Our guided tour continued as he told me all about the peaks we were passing and about the area.

Sunset from the Bus Ride

We rode together about thirty minutes until we stopped at his house. He told the bus driver that he would get off in a few minutes and then he told me there was something he wanted to share with me. I ,of course, was really surprised. He shared that he had recently been in a relationship with a woman and lost her, and that her name was Patricia. He didn't tell me how he lost her, but seemed sad about it. He said when I walked into the office that morning he couldn't help but think about the coincidence of names. Then he shared that even though I didn't know it, I was an angel to him that day, and he appreciated me so much. He then hopped off and waved goodbye as the bus drove away. Wow.

A quick photo with Ivan before he headed off! :) 

Just when I am not sure if I am on the right path, or if this life is more meaningful that what we can see and do- moments like this happen to remind me it is. Today was beautiful for a lot of reasons and I'm looking forward to more unplanned divinely appointed ones ahead.