Map: This is a map of the southern cone of South America. The yellow area is Chile. We started our trip from Santiago, and went all the way to Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chiloé Island. You can click on the map to see it better.Sarah, Dad, Mom, my mom's friend Judy, and Joe, Melinda, John, Amelie, and I, started our trip from Santiago the afternoon we drove to the town of Chillán, where we stayed in our friends Catherine and Dan's house. The next day we got up and going bright and early, 11 o'clock! We went to a market, where we stayed and shopped for a while. We bought a lot of cool little trinkets and things from the market. While some of us stayed back and ate empanaditas, the others went and bought veggies and meat in the market, then went back to the house and Melinda, John and Dad made una comida deliciosa. The next day, we went and first visited a mural at the Escuela México. The school was donated to Chillán from the people of Mexico, after a huge earthquake killed many people there. Inside of the school is a beautiful mural, painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros, a very famous Mexican muralist. After seeing the mural, we went and saw a famous church in Chillán, next to which was a giant cross, in memory of the people who died in the 1939 earthquake. The cross is 30 meters tall, each meter stands for 1,000 people who died. We also went into the church, it really reminded me of the St. Louis arch, because the church had a series of arches. Some photos are at the end of this post.
After Chillán we went to an area with cabins, near Parque Conquillío. After the extremely long journey on a bumpy road we got to "La Baita". It is an ecological resort out in the woods with nice cabins. We first went and saw a Mapuche dance, then went on a little hike, where we found a beautiful waterfall and drank delicious water right out of the river. After going on the hike we went and played in the lava field which was from the last eruption in 1994. That night we had a wonderful meal. After dinner w
e saw the beautiful stars, and I saw my first shooting star!! We were only supposed to stay one night in Conguillío, but we liked it so much that we decided to stay one extra night. The next day a lady took us on a trail hike in Parque Conguillío, it was really beautiful. The picture to the right is from inside the park. The tall and spiny-like trees are called Araucaria, a tree native to Chile, You can't see it here, but the male trees have orange flowers and the female usually have big round balls. The trees take a very long time to grow, the oldest in Parque Conguillío is around 2,500 years old! After La Baita we went to a beautiful house between Pucón and Villarrica. They also had a dog there, which Sarah was deathly afraid of, and some baby kittens!!!! The next day we went to Pucón, and there was a triathlon going on. We figured out that someone we knew was in the triathlon. It was lots of fun cheering him on, and Pucón was a really pretty town. When you look at the pictures at the end of this post, you will see some flowers, they are made out of wood. It is amazing how they make them!!
After Pucón John, Melinda, and Amelie left to go back up to Santiago, we went to Ensenada, where we stayed in a great cabin that was on a lake and had a swimming pool. We ate at an awesome German restaurant. I highly suggest their lomo (steak) and honeydew juice. The next day we went to a town called Frutillar, where we visited a really cool German Museum and did a little shopping, then came back and went swimming!! We also looked around one of my favorite cities, Puerto Varas. The day we left Ensenada we got to visit Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales, where we went on a boat ride across the lake, before we headed to our next destination.
Our next stop was the island of Chiloé. We boarded the ferry and when we were about five minutes away we spotted hundreds of pelicans, it was an awesome site. We got there and finally found the town that we were going to stay in for the night. When we arrived at the hotel, it was not at all like we expected, so we went to a different hotel, it was sooo beautiful. It was a very old house with lots of antiques, it was gorgeous! That night we had a horrible meal at El Trebol, everyone except my mom and dad who ordered fish. So we all learned, when in a fishing village, order fish! Then we went to an internet cafe until 12 in the morning.
The next day we went to the end of the Pan American Highway!! In Quellón, Chiloé! After visiting the end of the highway we went to the beach, and then up to a town called Castro where we went shopping and exploring the city. Next we went up to Ancud, where we stayed at a nice hotel right on the bay. That night the owner of the hotel said to my dad, "I've been seeing a comet in the sky lately", so we got our binoculars and got to see the brightest comet in over 40 years, Comet McNaught. The next day we went to a museum and then explored Ancud, looking for Granny, which we did end up finding. By the way, Granny is my dear, sweet Granny doll, she's a granny in a rocking chair, knitting, made in Ancud. The next day we got on the ferry, this time we saw sea lions, swimming near the ferry, coming up for breath and say hi!!!
We then went to Valdivia (back on the mainland) to meet John, Melinda, Amelie, Melinda's parents, and their friends. We got to the hotel where we were all staying, and they had already left for the annual German beer fest. So we hopped in a taxi and headed over there. Sadly, the taxi drivers took us to the wrong place, a very low-key brewery and restaurant. The food there was the worst. Then we went back to the hotel, we found out then that we had gone to the wrong place and were very disappointed. We decided to take our van to the right place and see if we could catch them. We ended up getting there just in time, they were just coming out and had a great time! The next day we all headed over to the market in Valdivia, there were lots of vegetables and fruits and also there was a lot of fish. At one section you could watch the people cut the fish, then they would throw the heads and guts into the water and birds and sea lions would go after them. There was a mom and baby, and a huge sea lion laying on the stones! Then with everyone we went on a boat ride around the lake.
After that we headed back toward Santiago, stopping for lunch at a beautiful Spanish restaurant where three university guys (known as a tuna) came around singing and dancing.
The whole trip was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some facts on the Pan American Highway:
The Pan American highway is 25,750 km (16,000 mi) long. It starts in Fairbanks, Alaska, and goes to Quellón, Chile. The highway passes through Canada, US, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. There is one big gap between the Panama Canal, in Panama, and the Columbian border, called the Darien Gap. It is a stretch of rainforest with some very rough conditions making it impossible to continue by land. The best part of all of this, is that we went to the very end and saw the anchor
at el Hito Cero (the zero milestone)! 
Someday I would like to go to Alaska and see where the road starts. I'd even like to travel the entire highway someday.
Someday I would like to go to Alaska and see where the road starts. I'd even like to travel the entire highway someday.
Links to photos of my trip:
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