After catching some really fun waves in Pichi, we took the road less travelled south in hopes to reach Argentina the next day. The road went from a flat, wide, paved highway to a steep, sandy, narrow logging road which was impassible without 4x4. It was inevitable--we were lost. A couple hours later we found a 'useful' sign
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| Not so useful sign |
and broke free of the loose sand and ended up on a highway again. We camped down another logging road, made dinner with our new stainless steel appliances and had our first cozy/claustrophobic sleep in the Trooper
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| First night in the Trooper |
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| Our Chileno parents, Emeterio & Iris |
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| Kitchen Reno |
. We woke up, made breakfast and turned east for Argentina. A few ours into the drive our Trooper started running hot due to a hole in a small thin metal plug which helps contain the antifreeze around the cylinders. We limped back to the nearest town (San Clemente) and pulled over at an abastible (propane shop). We asked the shop owners if they knew of a good mechanic, but it was Sunday so we would have to wait a day for repairs. We soon found out that Emeterio, Iris, Peralita and Sammy had taken us under their wing
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| Peralita |
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| Sammy |
and were willing to do all they could to get us back on
the road as quickly as possible as well as showing us what San Clemente had to offer. We slept in our vehicle (which we have named Darwin who is ironically not so fit) and spent the next day repairing Darwin, fixing roof racks, renovating our kitchen, learning Spanish and playing with Bovi. The repairs cost $35CAN which included new parts, labour, and a re wired winch! Ready to leave for Argentina, Emeterio & Iris informed us that the road had been closed for some time and would be reopened in 2012. This route was just not meant to be, but seeing as we had come this far Emeterio & Iris
recommended we check out their 'back yard' aka Rio (river) Vilches which was an hour up the road. We didn't really know what was up there, but we decided to drive as far up the river road as possible. The road ended at a national park surrounded by
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| Megan's nemesis |
snow capped mountains. We paid $12CAN for two days in the park, hiked to Laguna Alto and El Enladrillado, camped in our tent beside a creek
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| Camping by creek |
and didn't see anyone else. A nice change from Santiago.
the road as quickly as possible as well as showing us what San Clemente had to offer. We slept in our vehicle (which we have named Darwin who is ironically not so fit) and spent the next day repairing Darwin, fixing roof racks, renovating our kitchen, learning Spanish and playing with Bovi. The repairs cost $35CAN which included new parts, labour, and a re wired winch! Ready to leave for Argentina, Emeterio & Iris informed us that the road had been closed for some time and would be reopened in 2012. This route was just not meant to be, but seeing as we had come this far Emeterio & Iris recommended we check out their 'back yard' aka Rio (river) Vilches which was an hour up the road. We didn't really know what was up there, but we decided to drive as far up the river road as possible. The road ended at a national park surrounded by 
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