¡Buenos Dias! So we made it to Pucon, the sun is shining the weather is eeeasy. Its much much warmer here than down south and there is a beautiful blue sky and the sun is shining right across Volcan Villarica highlighting the smoke plumes jetting from its crater. It´s ok though, there is a volcano alert system here so we will be warned for earthquakes and pyroclastic flows.
The ferry trip was interesting, it was very overcast so the view wasn´t as spectacular as we had anticipated and it rained a lot but we got to see some lovely things all the same. It was like watching a Micheal Palin travel show where he just spends days on a boat trying to get somewhere. We saw hundreds of waterfalls and many glaciers. A few of the waterfalls were frozen which looked quite surreal, as if time itself had just stopped for a moment. On the last day we saw some seals leaping out of the waves and diving back in again. We also sailed past the errupting volcano that has been in the news. It was nighttime so all we could see was an orange glow in the dark sky and it wasn´t until we got to Pucon we saw the news and realised how big it was. I believe the gas cloud has gone right over argentina and has started to travel across the Atlantic! We met some really great people on the boat too. We had stayed with them in a hostel previously so it was nice to have a proper group of friends around with us.
The food on the boat was interesting to say the least, it was very salty and there was A LOT of it. The eggs in the morning were watery and the soups tasted as though they were made from sea water but we were well fed and rarely felt hungry.
There was one day where we went out of the channels and in to the Pacific and it was very wavey. Apparently we had the wrst waves for seasickness and that night at dinner it was like a ghost ship. I had taken some Mareamin (marea means seasickness and the min is just min) so I didn´t feel too bad and we slept for most of it. You couldn´t stand up without falling in to something. Toby being the big man didn´t take a mareamin and came down to dinner only to turn sheet white and have to run upstairs, at which point I convinced him to take a pill and he went to sleep.
I got a bit ill on the boat, another stomch upset, I think i must be sensitive to water or something, im not drinking it but it still seems to get me. The gland in my throat was up yesterday and was painfull to touch but its feeling a little better now.
As soon as we got off the boat we got a bus to Pucon which took 6 hours but the sceneary was lovely. It was weird comming from Patagonia up north because it was so barren down south with just tundra whereas here it actually looks (in places) much like England with willow trees dipping their brances in to gently running rivers and Hydrangia bushes by the side of the road. Fuschias grow wild here in the woodland areas and there is some wonderful wildlife. We saw some funny birds with very long beaks that taperd down to the ground like an overgrown nail. There are Pumas on the mountains and little possum style things that are just sooo cute.
There are alot of puppies on the street and in Puerto Natales we found a mummy with 3 pups that must have been about 4 weeks old if that and one of them jumped up on to us and we could hold its paws and tickle his belly. Its amazing to me that people don´t just take them home, im sure in England if anyone saw a puppy on the street it would get taken home.
Pucon is a beautiful town with a lake that is so peacefull you could spend hours just sitting by it. The volcano gently smoulders in the background. The atmosphere here is much quieter. Its a much richer area with big houses and well kept gardens. There are even garden centers!
We are hoping to climb the volcano and to a half day horse trek but we will have to see how my stomach is.

I hope everyone is well back home
Lots of love, tegan xxxx