Today we will be venturing to some hot springs on a Spanish tour and visiting the small towns of Frutillar and Puerto Octay. First, we have breakfast at Casa Perla; the meal was prepared the night before. One difference between Canada and Chile is that we refrigerate everything. Here, food is often left out for longer periods of time; eggs, cheese, yogurt and deli meat were left out over night. Needless to say, with my sensitive stomach and lack of willingness, I do not eat any of this.

On our tour, we find out that our guide speaks some English which makes instructions easier. He still performs the tour in Spanish, but we get the gist.

The first stop is Frutillar, located on South America's third largest lake. It is a German colonized town with German influenced infrastructure. We even grabbed coffee at a little cafe with gnomes guarding the entrance. There were big clocks on buildings, a beautiful pier reaching over the lake and quaint garden patios.

After passing dairy farms and other agricultural lands, we stopped for lunch. It seems like the lunch stop is some random kiosk on the side of the road. Or maybe the tourguide personally knows the owners. Either way, they were ready for the tour. However, Darren and I decided to bring our own lunch. My favorite sandwich right now is avocado, tomato and cheese; I just wish I could find green beans to add to this mixture!! As we eat, we notice that the stray dogs are also numerous in these small towns. The dogs especially like you when you are eating.

Back on the bus, we access what seems to be a short-cut, but on gravel roads. The mini-bus is full of dust as we cruise down the narrow roads.

We arrive at the hot springs to find a rainforest-type ecosystem. There are plenty of trees, bambo-like shrubs, lots of moss and some small flowers. There are even trees growing on trees!!

We first indulge in the outdoor hot spring in the Parque Nacional Puyehue. It is relaxing and beautiful. There is a creek that flows behind the hot spring and somewhere past the mist in the sky we know there is a volcano. The entire time we are in the pool, we watch our possessions. No lockers here, only boxes that you fill with your stuff and put on a shelf.

After the relaxation, we decide to wonder and explore. We hike down the creek to find people that have made mini baths along the sides of the creek. We walk past them and swat at these massive horsefly-like insect. They have an orange-red body and are big; they look like they bite.

As we walk further away from the creek, these insects slowly disappear and we really enjoy the scenic tour. Darren must have taken 100 pictures, it was so beautiful; the trees were tall and plentiful, the moss species were numerous and the spider webs were half orbs. We trek towards the sound of waterfalls and find the most picturesque view; big rocks were being shaped by the rapid water flow and you can barely see past the first 5 meters because the vegetation is so dense. Different shades of green invaded the slopes.

We hike for the remainder of our time at the hot springs. We enjoy the hilly landscape and the soothing sound of the flowing creek.

On our adventure back to Puerto Montt, we make another food stop at another random kiosk on the side of the road. All of these kiosks have homemade bread, jam, canned goods (including kiwi at this stop), cheese and fresh fruit such as raspberries, blueberries, nectarines and peaches. I wish there was more of this in Canada. Darren and I invest in some bread; one kind was tortilla bread, which is not like what we eat at home. This bread is round, but not flat; it is thick and heavy with a sweet taste.

We didn't see many volcanos today due to it being cloudy, but we knew they were there.

At Puerto Montt, we go to the information centre. We run into two Canadians from Quebec. They are biking from the southern tip of South America to Alaska. It will take them 22 months and lots of energy!!! I am amazed, but Darren says he won't do it with me. So, I guess I won't add that adventure to my bucket list.

For dinner, I try something new; a variety of Los Barros. It was okay, but I wouldn't order it again; it was smothered with a pound or two of cheese. I scrapped off half of it, but still felt like I ingested way too much!!!

At the hostel, we ran into our Canadian couple again! I was excited because they seem so interesting. Darren and I join them and another couple (American and Australian) outside overlooking the ocean with a bottle of wine. The American girl majored in Spanish and taught me some excellent tricks. Spanish is pronounced exactly how it is spelt; you pronounce each letter. She told me the double 'll' is a sh-sound in Chile and Argentina, but a y-sound everywhere else. These two couples we hung out with make us look unadventurous, but I love meeting people like this because it makes me want to do more!!!!!

After the bottle of wine, good conversations and cat snuggling, it is time for bed. Tomorrow we will be leaving Puerto Montt and traveling to Puerto Varas.