Villarrica

On this day we decided to visit the town of Villarrica on the other side of the lake.

BJ is so cute.  He is always willing to explore with his dad.  Many times he would say, "Dad, this would be a good place to take a picture."  Then, he would pose with a great big smile.

It was BJ's idea to find a nice spot where we could take a family picture. 

There go the explorers.

Dave found a bunch of these crabs underneath the rocks around the shoreline.

This was one of the bigger ones we saw.

And look!  It's a mommy crab.

Isn't that color amazing.

We found more of those pink and purple mushrooms.

And for the first time, we saw this beautiful flower which is the Lapageria rosea or more commonly called the Copihue.  It looks very delicate, but the petals are stiff.

This flower is actually pictured on Chilean pesos.

We were amazed at the beautiful weather that we were having.  (Everyone told us that is would be cold and rainy in southern Chile)  And we were amazed at how clear the lake water was.

You can see a little better here how clear the water was.  We could see all the way to the bottom.

As we hiked around the lake, we were joined by a "guide dog"  who either followed us or showed us the way.  The little boys have fun with these adopted pets that we seem to find. 

Our guide dog led us to a patch of chestnut trees.

There were quite a few that had fallen to the ground.  We had fun trying to pry open their spiny casings to get to the nuts.

Dave threw some rocks up into the tree so that the ripest ones would fall down.  He filled his pockets with the chestnuts that we collected.

Later, down in town, we went to see all the wooden souveniers that were for sale.

This store had a beautiful collection of lana (yarn).  These balls of yarn are larger than my head.

We also liked the crayons that were set inside sticks.

You will always find earrings for sale.  All of these are less than $2 a pair.

This is a sculpture of a Mapuchen woman (native Chilean indian) with her baby in a papooch.

We were introduced to this berry called Murta.  It grows only in southern Chile.  The inside tastes like strawberry and the skins taste like pine.  It is a very interesting combination.

On a side note...we saw this oxen team pulling logs for their owners.  Chile has an interesting mix of the modern and the antique.  It is very common to see a horse and cart going down the street in these parts.  At the same time, everyone also has a cell phone.