F: Lircay / Vilches

For three nights, we stayed in a cabin at the El Recodo campsite, right by the Rio Lircay river, in the National Park of the same name. It was an idyllic forest campsite right by the river. They had created a great bathing pool in one spot. The whole landscape strongly reminded me of Ticino. For example, the riverbed was full of rounded, smooth stones, the dry earth, the lizards, and the Mediterranean vegetation. It even smelled similar to Ticino.

The next day, we went on a hike to Cerro Peine. The hike first led through a magnificent forest: mighty deciduous trees with huge crowns and thick trunks, spanning thousands of hectares. The trees seemed to be close together, yet the forest was bright and had dense vegetation on the ground as well. With the river and the large boulders, it felt like being in a magical forest. The view at the spots where we emerged from the forest was gigantic: Like an infinitely huge Ticino. Simon didn't feel so fit and found a cozy shady spot about 200 meters below the summit to take a nap. Meanwhile, I continued climbing to the top. The upper part was rocky and steep, amazing!

In this cabin, we finally cooked for ourselves again. Now with the car, it's also easy to transport a basic food supply. It was just pasta with vegetables, but it seemed like a feast to us. We could even barbecue, and in the morning, I made myself some muesli - mmmmmmh!