The time in San Martin de Los Andes

The intent was to do some hiking, kayaking, and zip-lining.  The reality was that we were having too much family time and needed a break.

On Monday morning, Rob, Jonathan, and Elisa headed out for a hike while Renee and I took some time off and searched for cats and read at a cafe.  I can't get them to blog so I just offer some pictures from the camera.  San Martin de Los Andes is next to  Parque Nacional Lanin named for the volcano.  The park staff suggested two not too difficult hikes for us.  The first one that they did started right in town and headed up a close by hill.

The first site that caught Rob's eye was a wastewater treatment plant ;-)

The friends they met this time.

A view of San Martin de Los Andes

I was hoping to do a canoe trip down a river but it turned out that you could only rent canoes on the lake and only for an hour at a time.  We went to the Mapuche town of Quila-Quina in the park to rent canoes.  Renee and Jonathan ended up in a double kayak and the rest of us in a canoe.  It was a bit windy so we had some challenges especially with an extreme novice in the front of the canoe ;-)

 

 For more action see:

Tuesday morning's forecast was volcanic ash from Volcan Puyehue, which had a violent eruption back in June 2011 and I guess continues to spew stuff:

Seeing that there were no respiratory warnings we headed for a longer hike this time as a family.  It was also in the park and included a very steep ascent.  Renee and I conked out after just an hour going up and the rest continued for 45 minutes almost making it up to the top.  In the afternoon we had a leisurely lunch (starting at 2:30 - we are going native) with a flan con dulce de leche y crema or a mousse chocolate for dessert and just hung out.

Our final stop was supposed to be at the campo of a colleague of Rob's.  Turns out that he had to head back to Santiago so we are working on a Plan B.  We may head to a national reserve in a different region in Chile, Reserva Nacional Malalcahuello-Nalcas, before heading back to Santiago.

1.5 days left in San Martin.  Rob is trying to figure out how to fit in at least four more cafes.