chepu adventures - sendero de chile

[jules, rachael, natalie, fernando, me, keelin, catalina, roshel]

when we arrived i met with the owner. at first he seemed very guarded and hesitant to have 7 rambunctious college kids but he warmed up very fast and was a super cool guy. when we left, he thanked me and said it was nice having so many young people around because we brought a lot of good energy. if you are ever in Chiloe, you MUST stay at Chepu Adventures because it was absolutely incredible. you will soon see how awesome it is..

 we didn't waste any time when we got there, as we immediately set up our tents and joined a few others to go on a day hike (6 hours) to the Ahuenco Penguin Colony along el sendero de Chile

to get to the beginning of the trail, we had to take a motor boat along the river which was SO COOL. it was a bit windy but the scenery was unlike anything i had ever seen. the river was formed about 50 years ago after a massive flood covered a forest, so now there are thousands of dead trees standing in the water

before i realized my lifejacket was on upside down.

after i realized my lifejacket was on upside down.

"hey rach, you need to go get your neck pillow because they're out of life vests"

 

a few short video  clips...

the boat ride became even more incredible when we discovered that COWS LIVE ON THE BEACH

apparently these cows eat seaweed!

after about 20 minutes on the water in this broken boat, we disembarked and were ready to go find some penguins! none of us had any idea what the next few hours would bring, but everything surpassed any expectations i could have had

a shipwrecked boat on the beach, which we later discovered was from the Philippines. in 1992, the Philippines chose this beach to turn into a tourist destination but the plan somehow failed - either the ship tanked or something else happened, i'm not sure, but i think they received insurance money from their government. to me it sounded like a scam - but it did provide for some quality photo ops!

obviously there were some titanic references

las chicas

the trail was full of surprises. we hiked through sand dunes, beaches (and therefore passed some cows along the way), forests, and TONS of mud. thanks to my super intense hiking boots, my feet remained clean and dry. the following pictures don't even come close to how breathtaking the views really were.

 

our new friends Harlee and Janet from Boston - they've been together for 37 years! and have hiked all around the world. Harlee studies toxic waste and Janet is a family doctor 

after about 3 hours of hiking, we made it to the penguin reserve and the most beautiful beach i have ever been on

 

while walking along the beach we were approached by a guy on a horse named Alvaro. he was in charge of the penguin reserve, which is a protected area due to the declining penguin population. we had to split up into small groups and hide in this little hut in order to not disturb these pinguinitos

they were so cute!