Although I am by no means an expert, I'd say that with travel, following the initial buzz of arrival, there comes the more difficult period of settling in. As lovely as my host family are, I think after just over a month living in Coyhaique- the realisation of "oh shit I really don't know anyone here" has hit me. This, paired with a nasty cough and cold, have made these past few weeks pretty trying; but, on the plus side, have showed me that when moving into a new town, integrating into the way of life isn't just going to happen overnight and it certainly isn't going to come to you. I've spend the last week or so moping about in bed, mostly because of my cough but I'll admit, not entirely.. Whether I like it or not, I will have to make an effort to find ties; even if the idea of turning up at the local university and seeking it out myself does make me cringe a little.

On the plus side, my last few weeks of moping have given me the time to plan a huge trip for the end of this month! Whilst it's advised that the volunteers take a week off to explore Chile, I left England proclaiming that I was not going to leave South America without seeing the salt flats in Bolivia and whilst I said it in the knowledge that it was probably a little ambitious and more a fantasy than a reality.... it is unbelievably happening! I've decided that rather than a week to explore Chile, I'm taking just under a month off (which I think has come as a bit of a surprise to most people, including myself!) and travelling around the North of Chile before crossing into the Bolivian border on one of the many long haul bus journeys.. First on my list is the colourful streets of Valparaíso, followed by the buzzing city of La Paz; both of which should make a refreshing change from the quiet town of Coyhaique. As I mentioned, the salt flats in Uyuni are what have always drawn me to Bolivia; I've booked an eye-wateringly expensive tour, which I will undoubtedly have to sacrifice a few meals to be able to afford once I'm out there, before arriving back in the North of Chile for my flight back.

 With all the flights and long bus journeys there's plenty of opportunities for disasters, so I'm a little apprehensive about going on my own and even more so about fitting 3 and a half weeks of clothes into a 55cm bag.. But if I do make it there alive, it should be an incredible experience with a mixture of bohemian cities, desert landscapes and Amazon rainforests. I cannot wait to visit a country with such a strong and alive indigenous culture, although I am dreading the altitude sickness that'll undoubtedly hit me when I arrive in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, at 3650 metres above sea level!

For now I'll be sleeping off the last of this cough, counting down the remaining 20 days before I jet off and making the most of these last 3 weeks with luxuries like clean clothes, freshly washed hair and lunches cooked by my host mum before I start my new budget, travel diet (ie. one meal a day and water from a plastic bag)..

It seems that Cerro Castillo, a national park just a few hours drive away from Coyhaique, is known as a quiet, unspoilt paradise unknown to most tourists visiting Patagonia. Whilst the mecca of hiking in the South of Chile, Torres del Paine, is closing campsites and limiting visitors, due to the ever growing swarms of tourists, Cerro Castillo remains a hidden and untouched haven of Patagonian wilderness. It was at the very top of my list of hikes to do in Chile, after seeing photos of the laguna and the incredible views at the summit. I tried to keep my expectations from soaring, thinking that it must be some tactical filtering that has made the laguna look so exquisitely blue but the view as I scrambled over the last few rocks to the top was breath-taking.

But the view as I scrambled over the rocks right at the top, the snow capped peaks of the mountains towering over us, was easily the most beautiful thing I've ever seen; the pictures don't quite show the magnitude of the mountains or the waterfalls running down from the glaciers. As the backdrop to the incredible turquoise blue of the lagoon, this was a truly majestic view and well worth the climb. Despite the beautiful weather which we thought would attract herds of fellow hikers, the only company we had at the very top was a collie panting in the heat, who then followed us down the whole way!

 I still can't quite believe that I've been lucky enough to see such a beautiful part of the world; my first hike in Patagonia without a doubt exceeded my expectations and has left my legs aching like never before.

Today marks my third week in Chile and I can say with pride that I now don't get lost every time I leave the house and I am finally starting to look less like a tourist. Walking around in circles with google maps under my nose wasn't doing me any favours, in case the ripped jeans and the backpack weren't bad enough..

 I've started teaching at a local primary school, which has proved again how loving and friendly the people here are. We, the volunteers, were all warned about how excited the children in the primary schools would be to meet us; but I still can't quite believe the reaction as I awkwardly introduced myself in front of the three classes throughout the week. They've been very forgiving for my struggling to understand their various questions; one of which turned out to be "in England, do you have to take your shoes off before you go into the house?" and another "is it true you have buses with two floors?".. Similarly to drunk Chileans in the smoking area of Piel Roja, at the mention of Alexis Sanchéz, they were all cheering and asking me questions about Arsenal that made me immediately regret bringing it up.
Despite the staring in the playground and the confused mutterings as a gringo walked through the school doors, I immediately felt welcome as the children called me "tía" (auntie), asked me for pictures at the end of class and for my signature in their exercise books before kissing me on the cheek as they left to go home.


My host family have been equally welcoming; evenings spent drinking wine, eating seconds and thirds of Chilean desserts and chatting with my host parents have been one of my favourite experiences so far. My fantasy of returning to the UK having lost a few pounds has been well and truly crushed, since discovering that Chileans have 4 meals a day instead of 3!


 Seeing the marble caves and the incredible San Rafael glaciers at the start of the trip has sent me into a restless frenzy of planning more trips; as pretty as Coyhaique is, it's proving quite difficult to sit quietly through English lessons and sip coffee in cafés when in the same country are some of the wonders of the natural world; Easter Island, the Atacama Desert and the vibrant city of Valparaíso in the North and the magnificent Torres del Paine national park in the South! I'm determined to make something of this weekend and of these coming months in general; I doubt I'll find myself in South America again so as of this weekend, I am taking every opportunity I can to travel. Chile is one of, if not the safest, country in South America for hitchhiking- so tomorrow morning I'll be stepping out of the classroom, sticking my walking boots on and my thumb out.

Lesson number one of travelling in South America; the vocabulary you've learnt from the age of 13 and 14 in school does not always set you up very well for Chile. Stepping off the plane and asking a member of staff "necesito coger mi equipaje antes de mi vuelo de conexión" may seem pretty harmless (and would be  in Spain!) but my first spoken sentence in South America happened to translate as "do I need to fuck my bags before my connecting flight or not?"........ Off to a good start. Even the very simple, how are you is a little hard to deduce when you first arrive- ¿cómo estás? becomes a jumbled ¿comesstttaiiii po? ¿Cachai? No, I don't get po either..

It's taken a few weeks for me to see that the stereotype about the South American concept of time is most definitely true. It takes 40 minutes of queuing at the very least to buy a beer and a pack of biscuits in the local supermarket. If you have a bus to catch, it's most likely that it will turn up 40 minutes late and getting everyone on and seated is an ordeal of at least half an hour. Prepare yourself for a lot of Reggaeton (think Enrique with more rap and less clothing) on the journey and on a daily basis in general . Piel Roja seems to be the extent to the nightlife scene here in Coyhaique, since El Club (seriously..) closed down before we arrived; and can only be described as a haven of dreaded Reggaeton, along with lethal piscolas- which I now know to go easy on. The bartenders here tend to go for a half and half measurement with spirits and mixers here!


 Despite monsoon-like weather, which left us all and the contents of our bags soaked through for the rest of the trip, visiting the San Rafael glaciers has got to have been one of the highlights so far. We took a terrifyingly small and feeble boat out from the docks to the camping site, once our guide had decided the wind was just within the safety mark for the boat to not capsize! We took a hike through the forest, which, despite the location, felt more like a tropical jungle, up to the viewing point to admire the glaciers on the lake.
 

 Despite the unusual nightlife and the supermarket with no aisles, the unbelievably friendly, hospitable people, peaceful cafés on every corner and snippets of graffiti and flowers on the streets, all overlooked by the surrounding mountains, make Coyhaique a beautiful little town. I've loved the experience so far of living as a local with my host family, even if I do stick out like a sore thumb with my pale skin and the fact that I do not know one word to Gasolina by Daddy Yankee.