Waterfalls vs Penguins

Photo from Roy Pequeno.

Monday, we had the opportunity - because we are so far south - to go to a near island and look at the penguin colonies. But after asking around about the prices realized that trip could not happen on our stipend. So instead today we went to a national park.

In order to get to Parque Nacional Alerce Andino, we had to wake up at early and take a bus to a city about 45 minutes away. Once we got to the drop off point, we had to hike 7 Km just to get to the entrance of the park. Then from there another 3 Km to the waterfalls. The scereny was beautiful (and for some great pictures check out Ryan´s flickr account - my camera batteries were dying so I don't have many pics). I got to see some cool sites and some nice waterfalls and had a nice picnic lunch under the sky in the cold wet rain. Oh I must have forgot to mention our hike - from drop off point to waterfalls and back - took 8 hours. 6 of those 8 hours were in the rain and most of us were not prepared. Now reflecting on the experience I stand affirmed that we should have gone to see the penguins.