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Futaleufú, Chile
43° 10' S 71° 50' W
Jan 10, 2006 20:02
Distance 53km

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the futa!

Text written in: English

hot damn, made it to the futaleufu! yesterday was a little sketchy: got into the town of futa, its raining, there are no more buses taht day, I still have 25 km left to go. do I pay $30 for a cab (no!!!), stay the night to catch the next bus, or hitch hike? easy decision & nothing better to do, so I stood in the rain with my thumb out.

the second to go by (in and hour) picked me up. Its 2 guys - Juan and Miguel - from buenos aires driving to ushuia with camping gear, fishing poles and a bow ("chile is so expensive, were only catching our food from here out"). Im saved from the down pour!! but while they described how to make rabbit stew, we missed the sign and turn off to bio bio expeditions, my home for the next 9 days (www.bbxrafting.com). drove an extra 10km before we figured it out....ugh. I tried to be extra sweet to encourage them to drive me to camp, not just leave me on the road side in the rain. But wonderful Miguel said it best: "if youre driving all the way to ushuia, whats 10 more kilometers". Im so lucky for these 2 angels!

We find camp, load the argentinians up with more hot water for their mate, they leave and Im finally "home" for the next 9 days (it was a long haul from pucon...). I meet all the GREAT people here and learn what Im actually going to be doing here. the futa is HUGE -running 9 times higher than normal, the 3 steps they use to guage water height are all under water, my tent/platform hang over the raging river (mental note, dont get too drunk at night...). so we arent doing the futa.

BUT, this palce is surrounded by great rivers so fun will still be had. today we rafted for 2 hours towards town (and internet - hee hee). mostly class 2, some 3. this is only my second raft trip and maybe I think Im hooked more than I thought possible... its a combination water slide, horse ride, roller coaster, work out - four really great things that combined are magical! and today was just the warm-up to see how our group of 6 + guide perform. tomorrow is supposed to be faster rapids with less break in between. and I guess at some point we ride horses up a canyon then raft back down the river. bring it on. bring it ALL on. even if its raining (which is still is, which is sort of a bummer, but we have a hot tub, sauna, and free booze to help forget about that tiny detail).

so.....ummm....how did I get SO lucky to end up here?? oh yeah, cause I have great friends (thanks again brendan, frank & marc!!) who know great friends (hola to everyone at camp!) and the world is a magical place!