17/11/2019 – Canyoning, Pucon, Chile

We got woken up by Nea and Straughny jumping on us to wake us up and tell us we had been booked on the canyoning excursion! This was great news as it was something we had really wanted to do. We had a coffee in bed before realising we needed to sort a few things out quickly before we left. We had to sort our withdrawing a load of USD to take to Argentina with us tomorrow, get some lunch in to us, and speak to James and Kris our managers who have been away for a few weeks until today! We managed to sort all that out before bundling into a bus in our swimming gear. There were 2 guides and 7 guests in total. We drove for about 20 – 30 minutes. We got out of the van and stood in the rain for our safety briefing and were given our kit – wetsuits, wetsuit socks and boots, gloves, helmets, splash tops and harnesses. We got kitted up – it is quite amusing watching people who have never put wetsuits on attempt it! Then we were lead on a rapid hike along some volcanic rock and through the trees, all a bit nervous and excited as to what was ahead of us. We crossed some rapids and then got to our first safety zone where we were told not to move. The guides set up some sort of rope/pully system and then without much warning one by one were told to hang off a cliff on our tummy, hands free, feet dangling! Then we were lowered rapidly on a rope down through a waterfall into a plunge pool of freezing cold glacial water. It was so much fun and absolutely exhilarating! I think most of us were up for it but there was definitely a more nervous boy and girl in the group. It isn’t an activity for the faint hearted! We continued over the next couple of hours climbing, abseiling, jumping, climbing, crawling, sliding, diving, zip lining and swimming in and through rapids, waterfalls and plunge pools. It was so so so much fun! Even more fun than I could have anticipated! The time passed too quickly and before long we were back at the van, absolutely freezing, and changing into our dry clothes. One of the guides had taken a handful of photos on his iphone which he sent across to us all. We drove back in the van, and ended up in Chilli Kiwi hostel for our final night! We warmed up with a hot shower, had some dinner, and put laundry on, before playing some cards and hanging out with some others in the hostel. It feels a bit weird to be aying goodbye, but at the same time I definitely feel ready for a change!