Foothills Hiking is located in Puente Negro, Chile. Puente Negro is approximately 17 km from San Fernando, the capital city of the province of Colchagua.
As a part of our package with Foothills Hiking , we stayed at Cabanas Puente Negro and the owners Eugenio and Paula were friendly, helpful and kind despite our not speaking Spanish! Communication was always a challenge wherever we went, but with Google translator, much laughter and frustration we managed.
The grounds are quite interesting with cows, horses, dogs, cats, bulls and hens. Quite often the cats would lie on our doorstep and the hens would fly up from the bushes as we walked up to the main house for our breakfast! The sunrise over the mountains was always spectacular and breakfast was delicious and soooo much fun! Meeting strangers at 7:30 am can be awkward but both Paula and Eugenio made us feel at home.
Lighting the heater in our cabin so we could shower, breakfast and a display of teapots to make me feel at home.
Eugenio, using many antics, made us mate tea ……. describing it as ‘donkey tea’…make you kick up your heels like a donkey!
It is made from steeping dried yerba mate leaves in hot water and is served in a cup with a straw, the straw was traditionally made of silver. Today it can be made of nickel silver, stainless steel or hollow stemmed cane. The cup is shared by everyone at the table. We laughed so much this morning that we barely had energy to hike.
Cabanas Puente Negro
Breakfast at 7:30 and then the morning hike began at 8:30.
Birds, espino trees, eucalyptus, an interesting fence, beautiful mountain peaks and sunshine are all a part of the hike today.
Bathing our feet in the Rio Claro
“I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between hill and river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests.” Pablo Neruda
Please click the link above for more information on Foothills Hiking and follow my blog for more posts on our adventure in Chile.
Treks Trails & Tales 
Trip of a lifetime. Can’t wait for part III.
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It sure was.
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It wasn’t on my bucket list but glad I was invited to tag along. An experience of a life time for sure.
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Carrying that backpack almost did me in, so who would have massaged my neck each morning, or cooked meals or made us laugh. So glad I didn’t veto your coming, lol, Lionel Fudge
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Ooooooo, love reading about your adventures….and the teacup tree is wonderful. Can’t wait to follow in your footsteps when I grow up! 😉 I feel blessed to have such great strong auntie role models.
I suggest Duolingo to learn some of the native language before future travels. It’s easy and fun and you can select how many minutes you’d like to practice per day.
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😊Thanks so much.
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