Lagos, lagos, lagos

Puerto Varas was amazing, one of my favorite places so far. I only spent 2 nights there but went my 2nd days with two german girs from the hostel on a kayaking trip. Our amazing guide, Jorge, knows TONS about birds, plants and even gave me a book on Chilean medicinal herbs. we drove about 1.5 hours to get there, set off from a beach to the other side of the lake and hung out there for a bit. i went swimming, but nobody else wanted too .... i think they were missing out. the lake is beautiful, it´s called todos los santos (because missionaries discovered it on nov 1 - that was my theory and the next day on another trip to the same lake it was confirmed!) but also called Esmeralda because the water is crystal clear and beautiful. we stayed super lo ng and didn´t get back to the hostel until 1030 but jorge dropped us off to get the makings of a spaghetti dinner first, and then i met him for coffee later.

Thursday i got up early and ran down to get on the ¨cruce de lagos¨, an all day trip where you ride a bus, a boat, a bus, a boat, etc to get to bariloche. it was beautiful, but i was a bit underwhelmed, because the most beautiful lake was where we´d gone kayaking the day before and it was definitely nicer to see it from the kayak. but on the way there we stopped at a waterfall which was beautiful, and the guides talked more about the ecology of the area so it was nice to hear it twice and get more grounded. I met Veronica on the boat, who is also staying with Fede, a guy who hosts guests in el Bolson (where i´m heading next). Got to Bariloche late but luckily i had chosen the hostel only 500 m from the bus station and got in just in time to shower before a big asado (bbq) dinner and folk guitar concert where they sang lots of mexican songs for one of the other guests who´s also from mexico city.

also, one of my roommates, gabriella, is an argentinian girl who´s realy into birds, worked on the christmas censun in ecuador (this is cool - every country has a team that goes out on the the same day and records every bird they see). they came in 2nd to costa rica. it´s been really i nteresting to hear what it´s like trying to find work as an ecologist in argentina.

Today i´m not feeling great but i walked into town. Bariloche is really beautiful, right above a blue lake, and you can see mountains across the lake. it´s got a lot of german influence like puerto varas. the main downtown area has a big catherdral and the center square has a big clock tower. lots of timber houses so it looks a bit like switzerland. I had smoked venison sandwich and a coffee, but the best ice cream in town is jauja, which is based in el bolson, and i hear they have more selection there so i figured i will wait to get it from the source!

tomorrow i will head down to el bolson, and meet back up with veronica, who i met on the cruce de lagos, and also katie, who i worked with on vida´s farm. Hopefully also soon a chance to upload pictures, but this computer really isn´t cooperating well, so it´s not the place. Soon ! Ciao, monica