I just got back from my first big Rotary Trip, we went to the South of Chile. It was a long trip with lots of traveling by bus and by airplane as well. Every minute was worth it though. The trip was absolutely amazing and it was spent with awesome people. Seeing these incredible mountains, lakes, animals, and views in general reminded me of how grateful I am to be here and have the experience to travel to Patagonia. I was there for just a short week, but we fit a lot into the schedule!
It all started with a 9 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt where my district was all meeting. It was so great to see everyone again. It is always a good time when we are all back together again because we have all become pretty close in a short amount of time! From there we got on another bus all together and toured the city and went to see some monuments. After that we headed to Punta Areans by plane. It is very far south! When we arrived in Punta Areans we did more city exploring and stayed in a Hostal that night. Early the next morning we headed to a cemetery, it was actually gorgeous with these huge trees and each tomb had a "garden" of some sort. It was different than a regular cemetery in the States. From there we got on the bus for quite a long ride to one of the most southernmost points you can go to in the world to see wild penguins! It was extremely windy with a mix of snow and rain and it was freezing, but it was worth it to see the penguins! After seeing the penguins we experienced a sheep shaving, very interesting to say the least. The man did it in less than 5 minutes. I was impressed! The next day we went on a boat. It took a little more than 3 hours to get to the Balmaceda Glacier. But on our boat ride we saw another beautiful rainbow and more gorgeous mountains and more penguins as well! When you arrive to the glacier you walk up a little path and then it comes to a clearing and in the distance is this amazing glacier right in front of your eyes. I couldn't believe I was looking at it! It was amazing. I had never seen something even close to a glacier in my entire life. We then took the boat to another place to have lunch and then after lunch we took the boat back to the harbor where we started! It was a perfect day. We also went to Chiloe Island for part of a day. It is the second largest island in Chile. It is very different from where I live in Chile. But that is the best part of these trips, you get to experience more places in the country that you are living in. We went to a museum and did touring of the city!
I have to say though my second to last day on the trip was the most exciting. We got up bright and early that day to go to Torres Del Paine, the national park in the South of Chile. It is breathtaking as you are driving through and seeing these mountains, and these gorgeous lakes that are the perfect blues. Our first big stop in the park was another waterfall with these gigantic white cap mountains as the background. I'd pretty much say picture perfect. And of course the waterfall had a rainbow. Rainbows were a big trend this trip! From there we went to another glacier. It was also absolutely gorgeous. And went you walk all the way to the end there are parts of the glacier that have come to the shore and there is an important tradition. It's a very big attraction, the whiskey tradition. You bring whiskey with you and use the millennial ices directly from the lagoon where the glacier is and have a nice drink! So of course we all did! I learned that day that I am not a fan of whiskey at all! All for the experience!
Of course I didn't write about all of the other amazing sites that I saw on my trip to the South of Chile, but the trip in general was pretty unbelievable and incredible. I hope to return someday to Torres Del Paine and hike there. It is supposed to be amazing. But I highly recommend Torres Del Paine if you ever have the opportunity to travel far south, it should be a stop on your trip! The world that we live in is beautiful and incredible and I am so grateful I could experience an amazing place on it!
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