We tried to finish the last blog of our time at Wincarayen before checking out but because the two previous blogs did not display properly on fb and the editing of the GoPro video takes quite some time and drains the battery we eventually gave up on that idea and packed up to leave this wonderful place and our lovely hosts – they have created a wonderful nature oasis and their joy and warmth welcoming people was a wonderful experience. We set off after lunch knowing we only had a few km to the next little town of Coñaripe where we wanted to camp for 4 nights over the Easter weekend. We had identified 2 campsites that were on the water and had good reviews. It was a warm sunny day and the ride along the lake was beautiful. We stopped at mirador Lago Calafquén where we caught a glimpse of volcano Villarrica and saw a lizard on the fence. We then stopped at Mirador Pilinhue where the volcano was almost completely behind another mountain peak and I placed one of our stickers on the back of the mirador sign. We arrived at the first campground and everything was closed and looked shut for the season. We rode to the second campground at the end of town and it was also completely abandoned and nobody was around. We continued the dirt road on the lake shore past many campgrounds but not one was open – none of them had WhatsApp and we can’t call local numbers without being charged roaming fees and our Spanish would probably not be good enough to hold a conversation on the phone – we had seen a tourist information place in town and decided to head back to it to see if they could call or arrange some camping for us. As we headed back an older lady waved us down and asked us to help get their bogged car out of the sand. We parked the bikes and headed over to them – the entire family was there and the car was deeply stuck in the black lava sand – they had put the rubber foot mats in front of the tyres and we tried to push it out but it was too deeply bogged – we got more sand out from underneath the car with our hands and I told the guy to lower his tyre pressure which he did – we were just about to try it again when another car arrived with a rope and towed them out. While all that was going on, I asked the younger lady of the family whether they could help us to call some of the campgrounds – the lady rang every one we gave her the number for but either there was no answer at all or closed for the season – they then kindly gave us the details and address of the cabanas they stated in where there was still availability. We thanked them and headed off to the centre of town trying the tourist information place – we parked right in front of the main park in town where market stalls were set up and people were selling hand made art and craft items and food. The tourist information place was also closed and no sign indicated the opening hours – it was probably siesta time but with everything else closed for the season, we tried to find any campground on the lake between Coñaripe and the next town that we could contact via WhatsApp – I also messaged Valentina from Wincarayen who had been so kind and helpful and asked her if she knew any open campground – as we were on our phones searching, one lady from a market stall came up to us and asked if we were looking for camping – we said yes and she told us her friend had a campground and we can go there – she showed us on the map where to go – it was only just out of town a bit further than we had gone before – she said her friend would be waiting for us – so we set off to where she had told us to go – another rough dirt road following the lake shore. We stopped at the place she had told us and an older lady waved at us to go through a metal gate – we rode up accompanied by her black dog and she showed us the place talking only Spanish (lots of it we did not quite get 😂) – her place had also been closed for the off season already, but she was prepared to let us stay for the 4 nights for a very good price. She opened one of the 3 men’s toilets for us to use and one of the showers and then pointed at a pile that was covered with plastic and tied down and said something and also told us that she will put a light bulb back into the fitting on the site we choose to camp – we had the entire campground for ourselves again – we chose a site in the afternoon sun and right at the fence with a view over the lake. After we had set up our tent and I took care of Andrew’s injured thumbs (one had an open blister from kayaking and the other a cut from digging the car out), we walked to the nearby shops on the main road and bought more milk and avocado and marzipan fruits (an Easter treat for me) and then continued into town for dinner. I tried a new type of Sour called “Maqui Sour” made with local berries and it was a lot better than Calafate Sour. On our walk back, we heard lovely gospel songs from a Pentecostal church right next to our campground. When we came back to our campsite, the light was on and the lady’s son brought over a picnic table which he got out from under the plastic covered pile just for us. We had an early night as it got cool quickly and had a wonderful sleep in our cozy tent with temperatures down to single digits over night.

We only got up after lunch the next day when the sun finally came out and the temperature inside the tent reached double digits. We had a very late breakfast and headed to town in the late afternoon taking pictures of a monument of the people who died in the last volcano eruption in 1964. We went past the markets in town and I bought an Easter egg filled with nuts and cream and decorated with “Felix pascua” and Andrew bought me a necklace of my favourite colibri bird handmade and silver plated by Mapuche. I not only love to watch the hummingbirds but the spiritual meaning of the hummingbirds also resonated with me and I enjoy wearing a necklace that means a lot to me again. We walked all the way to the end of town and had an ice cream – I chose “Pisco Sour” flavoured ice cream which was very nice and Andrew had plain Vanilla. We walked past the Catholic Church in town but could not see any advertised times of service for Easter. We had dinner and another Maqui Sour at the same place as the day before, before returning to our campsite for another good night’s sleep in our tent.

On Easter Saturday we had an earlier breakfast and noticed the pontoon from the main beach had come lose and was floating away on the lake. We decided to ride to Fortin Mapuche – a restaurant and museum of the Mapuche tribe just 11km further on Ruta 201. When we arrived the gates were closed and nobody was prepared to welcome us in – we returned back to our campsite, and watched the pontoon being driven back to shore. While watching the activities on the lake, a car drove past our campsite and it turned out to be the family who was bogged the first day we arrived – they stopped and said hello and they were happy we had found a place to camp. We had an early pasta dinner and heard the church bells ring at 7:30pm and after taking some sunset pictures, walked into town to see if an Easter vigil mass was held and we just arrived in time for communion and joined the ceremony. We walked back to our campsite and had half a bottle of red wine and took some pictures of the moon before calling it a night.

On Easter Sunday, we woke up earlier after daylight saving had changed back, had breakfast and got ready to ride to the termas El Rincon 18 km away for which we had booked tickets for the day. The last 10km was a dirt road again and we arrived at noon and spent ~3 hours in the natural pools of the hot springs with a view of the impressive waterfall. We found the spot where the hot water came out between the rocks and enjoyed the warm water and the natural setting amongst ferns. By the time we were all wrinkled and started to get cold, we got changed and enjoyed nice food and a hot drink at the cafe. Afterwards we explored the hiking trail and walked up a lot of steps through a steep gully and then followed the trail through forests and fallen leaves to a spectacular lookout on an open meadow. If it was not for the low hanging clouds, we should have seen the volcano Villarrica from the lookout. We waited until 5:00pm in the hope to get a glimpse of the volcano but the clouds did not lift enough to reveal the volcano. We returned through the forest path with fallen leaves on the ground and that characteristic autumn smell to the exit of the termas and our bikes. We rode back down on the dirt road and I cooked dinner at our campsite while Andrew talked to a work colleague. Later that night some locals walked past quite inebriated and they mentioned that we were the ones on “motocicletas”- somehow the whole town seemed to know about us crazy campers on motorcycles 😂😉🏍🏍