The bus dropped us just beyond the square and we made our way to the faithful cafe restobar to check our mails and make sure that Marcello was prepared for us. Afterwards we made our way to his little home, a wooden structure positioned with a few others in the backyard of a restaurant. Interesting digs. Marcello struggled masterfully to communicate with us in English and we established an amicable relationship over our 2 days with him. I, of course, hit the shower before anything else and after doing the faithful excursion around the touristy part of the town square, we found a local supermarket and purchased supplies for our outing to the national park, which tourist info promised us would be a beautiful walk. Eventually, after help again from friendly locals we managed to get a taxi to take us the 5km distance there. The walk started as a really pretty forest pathway and then opened up into hades!!!!!!! Uphill in the sun all the way with only a few really good views. Then the horse flies joined the fray and buzzed around me for more than 2 thirds of the way. When the umpteenth one tried to drill a hole in my back I threw a 2 year old type haffy much to my husband's consternation. The uphill climb was killing my hips, there were not enough views to make me feel that the exercise was worth my effort and then the flipping creatures decided to do their best with me. Graeme stepped behind me and put his hands in the small of my back and applied enough horsepower to put a smile on my dial again. He convinced me to continue up the next hill with the promise that if we faced another we would turn back. It was the last and the walk became a really pleasant one for me as we descended. Graeme's knees objected to the decline, but after my suffering my sympathy was minimal. However, the views improved tenfold and made the ordeal absolutely worthwhile. We caught a lift back into town with some fellow travellers and made our way back to the roof over our heads.

Our host had planned an evening out to a local pizza place and we had a great time getting to know him and his girlfriend and being given advice as to how to spend the next day in the area. We left for home and crashed on that bed like it was the only one in the universe. Next day we were up bright and early to catch a bus to the Cascades Le Vergennes. Mmmmm, another day in 3rd world paradise. 9h00 is the Southern Chile what 6h00 is to South Africa. No open places for breakfast, coffee or business!!!! No busses to be seen anywhere. We checked the bus timetables and decided to go and do grocery shopping at the equivalent of PnP. Rushed out of there to get the next bus, only to find it didn't exist. Back to the roof over our heads we went to find that Marcello had prepared breakfast for us. We ate and then departed for the 12h30 bus.

This bus arrived at 13h40. Eventually, we made it to the waterfall. What a beautiful sight. Of course the only walk in the vicinity went absolutely up and nowhere else. With the help of a trusty reed it turned into a beautiful walk through lush foresty flora and of course, the rushing music of the nearby waterfall completed the romantic ambience. We climbed up to a second waterfall and picnicked on a moss covered log for a late lunch. After a long loll about we made our way down and I only did about 50 cm on my bum down a slippery slope (unintentionally, that is). We then crossed the road and followed the path of the river to a stunning spot where we sat and tossed logs etc, into the water to watch the white water raft towards the main stream. A truly lovely, relaxing day in a beautiful setting. All the frustration of the start of the day was forgotten.

We then made our way to the bus stop to await the next bus. We wiled the time away by trying to work out what time the bus would arrive. It was a long wait and when a minibus passed us I, very facetiously, waved it down. Surprise, surprise.......the driver stopped. I laughed all the way to the bus and we had our lift back to the roof over our heads. For supper, we were once again taken out. This time to a local dive where typical local food was served. We shared a platter of Pechanga - a bed of slappies, topped with deep fried meat of some sort, Vienna sausages, pickled veggies, olives and eggs. Interesting when combined with the good old ketchup and mustard sauces and accompanied with a local beer. Marcello turned out to be a wealth of assistance to us. He seems to have family, friends and acquaintances in every sector of the tourist business and he did everything in his power to make the final 10 days of our sojourn as pleasant as possible. We changed plans and decided to overnight in Rio Tranquilo and make a trip out to the marble caves in the lake, rather than catch the ferry to Chile Chico. We will catch a bus from Tranquilo to Chile Chico instead.