The Cabin in Conaripe

Dave did such a great job of making arrangements for our trip to southern Chile.  We were able to stay in this cabin near Conaripe for an entire week.  It was just perfect.  Everyone had their own room.  We had a nice kitchen.  I especially liked the down comforters on all the beds.  The kids had fun in the big yard.

Just outside our cabin we went hunting for Murta Berries.  Most of them had been picked by the locals here.  We were able to find a few bushes with enough berries left on them to come home with nice basket full.

 

Once home, we went through and made sure all the stems were off and rinsed them and then cooked them with a little bit of sugar to make a chutney to go along with our barbeque that we had planned for that evening.

 

We thought it was fun to enjoy a treat that can only be found in the southern part of Chile.

 

Dave basted the grilled chicken breasts with the murta berry chutney on the barbeque.  It turned out great.  Think...cranberry sauce but with the flavors of strawberry and pine.

 

While Dad cooked, the kids played with our neighbor's dog who had put up a permanent residence outside our front door.  I am sure that he loved all the attention that he was getting.  And as much as I am not a dog person, I was happy that my kids could have a little bit of an experience of what it would be like to have a dog.

 

A beautiful dinner of grilled chicken, sausage, and hot dogs for the kids.  We almost were able to eat out here on the big deck, but the wasps decided to join us for dinner.  So, we moved inside.

 

After dinner, BJ, Andrew and I went down to the lake to watch the sunset and to throw rocks in the water.

Later, toasted marshmallows!  Yum.  Everyone had a contest to see who could make the most perfect, golden-brown, toasted marshmallow. 

Then a round of Uno while enjoying the roasted chestnuts that we had collected on our hike the day before.  If you have never tried a roasted chestnut...they are pretty good.  The meat is soft and as you would expect nutty.

While dinner was cooking, Dave started the fire in the hot tub out back.  We had never seen a wood burning hot tub before and were excited to try in out.

 

BJ liked to stir the water, hoping that by doing so it would be ready sooner.

Evan was too excited to get in and quickly learned that it takes a long time for the fire to heat up all that water.  He only lasted a few minutes.

 

Finally after a  few hours, the water had reached a temperature of 82 degrees.  The kids were comfortable, but if they got cold, they would run around in circles to stir the water.

 

Great vacation, right?

 

One of Evan's favorite things in the cabin was this poster of local wildlife.  He had a great time all week trying to check off different animals that we would see on our hikes and outings.