Futaleufú lies only a 10 minute drive from the border with Argentina. It's a small town along the river of the same name, Rio Futaleufú, a rafting and kayaking mecca with category 4 and 5 rapids. We had to stay here 5 nights due to the infrequency of buses, such a hassle!

After crossing the border and switching buses we arrived in town, then walked to our hostel about a 10 minute walk away. Built on the top of a small hill the hostel offered views through the valley. Our room, in the loft area, was at the top of a ladder we became very skilled at climbing by the end of our 5 night stay.

Once settled we returned to town to do some grocery shopping, a task that proved far more difficult than it should be! Of course we managed to time our expedition right at the start of siesta, so we had some lunch at a café and soaked up the sun in the square waiting for the supermarkets to reopen.

When they did, it took us nearly 2 hours to buy a few simple ingredients! We ended up visiting about 6 small supermarkets in the end, some more than once, managing to find 2 or 3 items we needed in each one. Apparently even the locals go through this rigmarole each time they shop, never knowing which tienda will stock particular items on any particular day. Fresh produce is barely existent.

We had a fairly relaxed day the next day as well. There were 2 lookout points near town so we climbed to the top of each one. The first, Mirador Torre de Agua, was on the eastern side of town. It wasn't a long walk but there was a lot of stairs to get there! From the top we had a nice view of Laguna Espejo and the town.

The other point, Mirador La Bandera, was about an hour walk on the western side of town. The path through scrub and forest was a nice walk, passing by a nice waterfall and reaching a Chilean flag at the lookout point. A bit higher than the first, we could see parts of the blue Río Espelon and the Futaleufú Valley.

In the afternoon we visited some rafting tour operators and booked in for the following afternoon, then returned to the hostel for dinner and a 1.5 litre box of quality Chilean wine. Turns out the goon here is pretty good!

Soon after dinner 3 families who were staying in the hostel arrived. They were supposed to get in earlier but one of the families had an accident on the way, with their car ending up on its side in a ditch. Fortunately they had been wearing seatbelts (not particularly common) and everyone was completely ok other than being a bit shaken.

They all sat down to dinner and wine, and were getting pretty stuck into it perhaps due to the days events. They insisted we join them and how could we decline? More wine! One more glass! Fortunately rafting the next day wasn't until 3pm which suited our hangovers rather well.

When we were about to leave the hostel to go to the office of our rafting company, they called and said the trip was cancelled since the rest of the group we were supposed to go with had cancelled. We were really keen to still go so we went into town and found another company that had space for us.

After driving to the shores of the Futaleufú river about an hour from town, we were given our gear (wetsuit, helmet, jacket and shoes) and given a fairly lengthy safety talk and demonstration, including how to fish people out of the water if they fall in. So much time was spent on this we were sure the chances of ending up in the drink were high!

And off we went! Down the nicely flowing blue blue waters of the Futa. We hit the first of the rapids and were covered in water before too long. Our guide would call out forward, or back, or left or right, and we would paddle furiously accordingly, though we doubt our paddling really did much.

Each rapid was a category 4 so pretty decent in size, but each was different and our guide would explain the plan of attack before each one. We stopped part way down the river and were given the opportunity to jump off a rock into the river, about a 3m jump. After Lindsay's last effort jumping into water she thought twice about doing in, but this was only 3m. The last jump was 10m so this was a good follow up. Fortunately this one didn't result in any injuries!

Back in the boat, now freezing cold since we were saturated inside our water protection, we carried on down the river. After each rapid we would have a little celebration that we had made it through, then prepare for the next. It was really good fun, and such a beautiful river to be rafting on. The colours of the water as it churned and swirled were beautiful, and in the calmer spots it was so clear we could see the stones on the bottom of the river.

Near the end we were given the option to get out, or carry on for 2 more rapids, one of which was a category 5. We of course chose to continue! When we climbed out of the boat we were freezing cold but warmed up quickly once dry and dressed again. We stopped on the way back to town as the sun was setting with a view of the river from a bridge and The Three Nuns mountain in the background. An excellent afternoon!

That night a big BBQ was planned at the hostel. Seafood and lamb. We were to contribute wine, so we picked up a few bottles after rafting and arrived at the hostel around 9 hoping we weren't going to be late.

When we got back we were told the lamb would be saved for the next day, since by the time the fire got started it was too late to cook it. We would be eating potatoes and mariscos (muscles and clams). Poor Ferg hates shellfish! His saving grace, a locally hunted hare that a guest had brought along, and a salad made from a local plant similar to rhubarb, or perhaps more like really tough celery that we had painfully helped cut up.

The food ended up being ready around midnight, and we all sat in the dark around the fire to eat it. The texture of some of the muscles and clams was questionable but Lindsay ate some anyway, and we both ended up eating some of the hare which was very gamey but pretty good. The company was also good fun. We practiced our Spanish with the families, and their older children practiced their English with us. We didn't even remotely come close to finishing the 20kgs of mariscos!

The next day we went for a good walk, along the Espelon River for a while, then up a steep, windy road that lead us to a place called Piedra del Aguila, or Eagle Rock. It was well worth the effort. At the top from the grey coloured Eagle Rock that stuck out the side of the hill was a fantastic view of the Futa Valley, nearby Lagunas and the mountains around us. It was all so green.

Back at the hostel it was lamb day! Lamb (Cordero) is a popular meal in Patagonia, eaten on special occasions mostly. The whole sheep had been bought from a local farmer. Still very disorganised, the families still hadn't done much about improving their timing. By around 8 the hostel owner Nathaniel took over, knowing all too well that the lamb would need at least 4 hours to cook.

When there were sufficient coals from the fire the boys had built, they began to cook, staking the flattened lamb almost vertically next to the heat. Lots of male bonding went on while the women sat inside. They had said they would prepare a salad but that never happened between vinos.

We had a lot of lentils left over from soup we had made a few nights earlier so our contribution that night was some lentils cooked up with some other veggies. When Lindsay told the ladies what she would make they were less than impressed. Lentils don't go with lamb, apparently.

When the lamb was finally ready at around 1am, it was put on a table and we all attacked it. Armed with a knife each, we hacked away and devoured the delicious, tender meat. It was amazing, which was fortunate since we waited so long to eat it!

When the eating of the lamb started to slow, Lindsay ducked back inside to reheat the lentils and brought them outside with a few spoons stuck in the pot to eat it with. At least we would get some veggies, even if the rest of the party wouldn't eat it. Unfortunately we only got a few mouthfuls each before the hungry mob decided they actually tasted pretty good, and we were left fighting for the last spoonfuls that went around!

At about 3, with full stomachs, we excused ourselves and went to bed. We had done all the dishes the night before, but tonight there was no water in the hostel so everyone got out of it.

The next day Lindsay woke up feeling pretty average. The hostel owners Mum Susanne had been sick the day before, and said there was something going around town. Hoping some fresh air and a little activity would fend off the illness, we decided to still go on the bike ride we had planned for the day. We farewelled the families who were soon to leave and thanked them for a great few days and their generosity and set off.

We rode out of town, then turned onto a dirt road, crossing a bridge over the Futa river, as blue as always. This is where the ride got less pleasant. The road was quite hilly, and Lindsay found herself really struggling for breath on the uphills, though the downhills were a nice break.

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful spot, eating on a suspension bridge over the river. For a moment, Lindsay forgot how awful she was starting to feel. The road from here was even very pleasant and flat for a few kms, but then we reached the huge uphill. Our bikes didn't cope well with the steep gravelly road, and we had to push them the whole way up.

Back downhill again, we decided to take the short cut back to town, cutting about 3kms off the end of the ride as Lindsay was now feeling even worse. Luckily the hostel was now nice and quiet, so were able to do absolutely nothing the rest of the day and prepare for the bus back to Argentina.

LAPFWT