Patagonia

On November 13th at 2 am, 32 exchange students boarded a flight from Santiago, Chile to Punta Arenas, Patagonia, Chile. From there, I spent one of the best weeks of my life with a group of kids who have become my family. I saw incredible natural wonders that pictures cannot capture in words and I also slept less in that week that I do normally in one night.
After landing in Punta Arenas Saturday at 6 am, we began the long bus trip to Calafate, Argentina, the first stop on our trip. Crossing the border proved uneventful and I am now I am proud to say that I have traveled to 2 foreign countries.  We arrived in Calafate Sunday at 1am. That is a lot of time in a bus, listening to the same music on repeat. However, I was just happy to havehad  a shower. I fell asleep instantly because in the past 2 days I had slept around 5 hours.
In Argentina, I  had the pleasure of being able to visit Parque Nacional de los Glaciares. This was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. The ice rose so high and had the most beautiful colors, ranging from sparkling white to crystalline blue. It was not as cold as I would thought it would be but when the wind picked up you could really feel the chill. The park has winding wooden bridges that served as a path throughout the park's forest. It has multiple view points where countless photos were taken. When we were all finished on the bridges, Rotary treated us to a boat ride to get even closer to the glacier.

After spending many hours at the glacier, we made the trip back on the bus to go back to the hotel in Calafate. In Calafate, I was able to have some free time to wonder around the town and pick up souvenirs.
The next day we hopped back on the bus and went to Parque Nacional de los Glaciares for a second time and went on a few short hikes in the park. One lead to a waterfall and the other to the top of a bluff for amazing mountain viewing.

After a day full of hiking, I slept like a rock and the bus ride back to Chile the next day passed quickly because I did was sleep. Before the hotel, we stopped at probably my favorite place I have been so far this year in Chile. Torres del Paine. At the park we ate lunch in a beautiful restaurant looking over a lake with he mountains in the sitting behind a lake of the bluest water I have ever seen. After lunch, we hiked up a hill to get an ever better view. I felt so blessed in this moment standing at the top of this hill looking at the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and a place that even my photos can not fully describe.

The trip soon wrapped up after this. Two more days of travel time with stops of the way to stretch our legs. One of those stops was a surprise and so much fun! All of crammed on to a boat and rode 45 minutes out the sea to end up on an island of penguins!!! There were so many of them and it was nesting season so I got to see some mated pairs with their egg.

When this trip ended I was more tired that I had ever been in my entire life but I am more grateful to everyone who made it possible. I know my exchange e family better thank ever a every single one of them. I owe big thanks to my family, I wish you could have seen all of this with me, and to rotary both here in Chile and back in Oregon.

Until next time.