Alright ya´ll... I got yet another story for you blog-readers out there. I am currently in Puerto Varas in the part of Chile considered the Lakes District. Puerto Varas has a lot of character (as well as tourists) and may even be considered quaint. The past few days I have been wandering around, even visited the nearby town of Frutillar, and just enjoying life. And even missing home a little. ¿Por qué? Well, even though this region has a lot of German influence (reminds my German friend Falco of his native land just a smidge), I really think this region also has a lot of Iowa influence. Yes, that´s right, Iowa. The other day on the bus I looked out the window and saw the familiar sight of cornfields! Additionally, the countryside with its houses and trees draws an incredible resemblance to the great Mid-West. So without even leaving Chile, I feel as if I have been back to Germany and, above all, back to Iowa. Of course, the enormous mountains in the background as well as the volcano brought me back to reality as much as hearing the person next to me ramble on in Spanish. Nope, not exactly Iowa... or Germany for that matter.
Anyway, I digress...
So the BIG story... Well, add another notch to my belt of Chilean adventures because this afternoon I went CANYONING. Don´t worry, the first time I heard the word canyoning I didn´t have a clue either. And honestly I still really don´t have a clue of what exactly canyoning consists. But I´ll tell you of what my canyoning experience consisted. Lucky for me, my German friend Falco once again accompanied me on this little aventura.
After getting fitted for our special shoes, socks, and wetsuits, we loaded everything up in the vans and headed for the nearby national park. (Beautiful scenery by the way) About an hour to an hour and a half later, we had arrived. So we put on our gear (wetsuits definitely aren´t my favorite fashionwear but I was glad I had something to keep me warm in the icey water) and trekked up a ways, perhaps half an hour. Then, we arrive at the top of the river in order to work our way down it. First step? Jumping, oh, maybe three meters into the river. Three meters may not sound like a lot but even this gave me a little bit of fear. Is the water deep enough? Will I hit the rocks at the bottom? Heck, will I hit the rocks on the side of the cliff? JUST DO IT! SIN PENSAR! (Sin pensar = without thinking) Easier said than done, guys, believe me. Mind over matter and what not, it is hard to forgo your fears and just do it. However, I just did it... twice (for good measure).
Whew! That was fun. Then we worked our way down the river a bit more and did some tobogganing down some mini waterfalls. That was a rush! The water just sucks you down those things and you come up spitting water. (I still have some in my ears...) Ten minutes later we were yet again at another jump. This one, in my opinion, was worse. It wasn´t any higher but as you are standing there looking down, you see big rock jutting out from where you are jumping. It took the guides some smooth talking to convince me that I was not going to hit the rock when I jumped into the water... I didn´t. More tobogganing, more tobogganing, more tobogganing... Then we get to this little spot in the river with pooling water and what not. This is where we defy gravity and do some matrix moves off the walls of the cliff. My moves didn´t work out as nicely as some of the others, but falling into the water was nice. Literally, they wanted me to run sideways on the wall of this cliff... Are they crazy?! Well, yes, the answer is yes, because next we get to the biggest jump of the day, at least twenty (?) meters, maybe more but I´m bad at guesstimating. Oh. My. Goodness. Did that take some smooth talking or what? Finally, I just said to myself, Sarah, you are going to jump off this cliff into this water that they claim is deep. You are going to do it and you are going to do it in 3... 2... 1... *loud scream here* Even thinking about it right now makes me have to pee a little. (TMI?)
Okay, whew, that part is over, kinda. Now we are going to do some repelling down a forty meter waterfall... No big deal. Or so I thought. My logic was that this definitely would not be as scary as doing some free-falling into water because I would be hooking up to rope and my feet would be touching the side of the wall the whole time. Nope, not quite. After two meters down, the rocks disappear and you are just hanging as you let yourself down by rope. However, this went quite well for me. Nice views. Control over my speed. All is well. Of course, I had mental nightmares of the rope breaking, or me losing my grip, or the bolts in the rock above just coming unhinged. The guy hanging next to me even commented about how terrible it would be if there was an earthquake. Thanks, Tomás, thanks. But I made it, only to find out I had to jump fifteen meters or so into the water below. 3... 2... 1... Just do it! Sin pensar! *Kerplunk!*
As scary as all that was, it was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. And can we talk about that waterfall?! Amazing that I was just hanging in mid-air going down the side of that sucker. Once again, however, I am on solid ground thanking the Lord profusely for delivering me once again home safely. First the volcano and now this. I wonder if He is up there thinking Oh no, here goes Sarah again, is she out of her ever-loving mind? gotta go make sure she doesn´t kill herself. Haha. Anyway, just another day in the life of this lucky gringa travelling down to Patagonia...
¡Ciao!
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