Castro, Chiloé

When we got to Castro, Chiloé, we were looking for a hostel and then we bumped into 2 people that spoke English. They said that there was a good hostel called Hostel Ballvista. So we went there. At the hostel, there was a cat named Simón. Simón the cat was a white cat with black spots. There was also a boy named Josè Thomas. We played foosball and Mario Kart 8 with him and another boy. It was fun! We went to watch firefighters put out a fire in a store 2 blocks away.

Another day, we went on a hike. One part of the hike was at a beach. We used sticks to trace a house and then we put shells on the trace marks. We built bedrooms for me and Charlie, a fireplace, a bathroom, a table with food on it (crab bodies and legs), and even a doormat!

The Pacific Ocean!

Our house made of sea shells

Our fireplace

Our kitchen table

The next day,we were going to go kayaking but it was a really rainy day so we didn't go. When it was Christmas I got:
-chocolate bars
-water bottles
-gum
-dried cranberries
-and honey

The Farm

We went to a farm for a Workaway. A Workaway is when you go to someone’s place and stay for free because you work for them. On the farm there are: ducks, geese, chickens, a pig, a dog, and bunnies. The people on the farm are named Lori, Jim and Thomas. Lori is the mom, Jim is the dad, and Thomas is their son. They are from the United States but they moved here to start a small farm.

At the farm, we had jobs. My jobs were feeding and giving water to the bunnies, ducks, chickens and geese. I also made a mud puddle for the pig. I also got the eggs from the chicken coop. I liked my jobs because they were fun!

Me, Charlie and Thomas built a secret hideout in the woods. Our secret hideout had a bench, shelves, and more. We made bamboo swords. We had sword fights with them.

Me and Charlie found worms and slugs in the dirt and we gave them to the chickens. The rooster did not want them. I thought the rooster would eat them all! It was very funny when we fed them a big slug because when one of the chickens got it all of the rest came running after her!

Pucón, Chile

When we arrived at Pucón late at night, we got a random hostel. At our hostel my mom pulled my tooth out!!!! The tooth fairy came! And left me 1000 Chilean Pesos! We only stayed there for 1 night so we had to go to another hostel.

The other hostel was called Alma Nativa. The next morning we went rafting. It was really fun! There were commands that the guide said and we needed to follow. The commands were:

1. Forward paddle: when we had to paddle forward
2. Backwards paddle: when we had to paddle backwards
3. Stop: was when we stopped padding
4. Down: was when we sat down in the raft away from the edges
5. High five: was when we finished going down some rapids and we put our paddles together to celebrate

There were big waves and cold water. We had to wear wetsuits. I was not scared. It reminded me of tubing at the cabin.

Then after a couple of days we went zip lining. It was really fun! I was not scared. We were high above the ground. There were 6 zip lines. On the 4th zip line I got hit by some leaves!

Surfing in Pichilemu

I went surfing in Pichilemu. We had lessons with a man named Marcelo. We first put on our wetsuits. The wetsuits were thick. Mine was black with green arms and when I jumped it felt like the wetsuit had a spring and it made me feel like I was jumping really high! It kept me warm in the water. We did not go in the water first. We learned how to get up on the board. It was pretty hard. I am glad that we practiced. Daddy and Charlie had their own boards. I went on a board with Marcelo because he thought I was too small, it was fun! I stood up on the board! I was glad I went with Marcelo because I probably could not paddle back to where we were surfing after I caught a wave.

The Beach

One of the beaches was near a fish market. At the fish market, the people who work in the fish market threw parts of fish to the pelicans and seagulls.

We found fish heads on the beach and we fed them to the sea lions that were in the water under the pier. The sea lions are bigger than bears! When Charlie threw a fish head to a sea lion, the sea lion caught it in his mouth!

At the same beach, we met up with two Chilean girls who didn't speak English. Their names were Sophia and Connie. We found sand crabs with them and played with them in the big waves even though we didn't speak the same language. It was fun at the beach!

The Uyuni salt flats

On the way to the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia we stopped at a train graveyard. We took lots of pictures of the trains. The trains were really rusty and some parts were cut out.

When we got to a village where people processed salt,we had lunch on a salt table! After lunch, we gave the dogs some leftovers from lunch. I can tell that they liked it because they went to to the leftovers right away. We played frisbee while we were waiting for our tour to leave. Once, when my mom missed the frisbee, a dog tried to catch it!

When we got to the salt flats we took pictures. There was a picture of me stomping on my family! I wasn't really stomping on my family, it was a tricky picture where I was up front and my family was far away.

You can see our pictures on Instagram at @greatbigadventure and @vida_sabatica

Copacabana, Bolivia

When we got to Copacabana, we saw cars that were blessed. They put flowers on the cars. They put crosses and holy water on the cars. They poured champagne and Coca Cola on the cars.

After our lunch, we went in a tube you can roll in on the lake! One time, I did a summersault in it! My dad didn’t go in it because he was watching our belongings.

On our bus to La Paz,we watched a movie called Bedtime Stories and they severed us popcorn and water.

When we got to our hotel, the door was locked. Our guide was ringing the door bell. The man inside did not come for about ten minutes. Finally he came. I was glad our guide was there to help us!