After nearly 35 km of peaceful paved road from Santa Barbara, after two cappuccinos and 2 delicious pieces of Manjar and walnut pie, after parting from one lovely Scottish couple, one Austrian duo, and one South Korean solo rider, we arrived to the cosy cabaña of El Amarillo.
To our surprise and our delight our new accommodations had a shower, a wood stove to keep warm at night, and an oven thanks to which we are like kings with biscuits and soup, pizzas, and roasted potatoes and warm rolls.
We were more than happy to earn our comfort in the beautiful gardens of Fundo de Las Lomas, the gardens of Parque Pumalin in El Amarillo. Greeted by Don Luis, we did our little part of setting up tresses for peas and fava beans and, of course, weeding. We had the lovey company of a German volunteer, Maya, with whom Spanish was our common languages so we pieced together a few lovely days of getting to know each other's favorite things about Chile and some of our Christmas traditions back at home.
The farm was beautiful and so was all of the Parque Pumalin - which spans from close to Hornoprien down to El Amarillo area. We first entered the park in Caleta Gonzalo after our day of ferry rides and explored their small fundo and gardens. The park ranger at that locations (from Texas!) explained to us about the vermiculture compost system, the relationship with the park cafe, and the general goals for aesthetics which are very apparent in the campsites impeccable paths and landscaping. The people we met who worked with the parks were very excited about the ongoing conservation projects and about the opportunities that the park brought to the area in terms of tourism and preservation.
In El Amarillo, we got a chance to explore the hiking trails that reach to the humongous Volcan Michimahuida, with its eleven glacial tongues, the park has trials that access both ground level and the glacier level viewing. Driving the 20kms up to the trailhead with Andres, who was working on building trails for the park, it was a beautiful and respectful infrastructure Parque Pumalin already had set up and they had plans for more growth. While we were amazed at the order in the cut grass and marked paths, it is clear that they have an amazing team of kind and dedicated local people who work very hard to preserve this wild, unique land. A huge thanks to the campo manager, Rodrigo - we were happy to meet his wife and their 3 month old golden retriever pup!!
Of course, we made one afternoon side trip to the hot springs of El Amarillo! But now as I sit in the rain of Villa Santa Lucia, waiting for a bus to take us to Pelena, my sunburn seems so far away! We crossed the Questa Moraga today with great strength and were only slowed down by the bitter cold upon descending. A warm meal and a lovely home to pass the day in in Villa Santa Lucia leaves us dry and warm now and ready to face out week, week + of rain on the farm in Palena!
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