Squeaking and tilting

We are now staying at a campsite in the lakes region of Chile, in Panguipulli. The campsite is overlooking a sparkling blue lake with a snow-capped volcano in the background. We can see fumes coming out of the volcano from time to time. Simply gorgeous. We are going to stay for a couple of days here, to enjoy the scenery and the nice weather. We have been quite lucky with the weather so far, almost no raining, but I reckon this will change soon as we go further south.

This campsite has absolutely everything we need: fast internet, hot showers, barbecues, even a terrace on the lake. The only problem is that the ground is gently tilting towards the lake. We tried to park the camper in several different ways last night, to no avail. Unfortunately, we have no props to put under the wheels to level it; we could possibly use planks or boards, but there are none here. So we slept slanted, not much, maybe by only 5°, but this is enough to feel it and it is not exactly the most comfortable way to rest. We could sleep all the same, but I woke up this morning pegged to the side of the camper.

Yesterday, on our way to Panguipulli, we heard some squeaking sounds from underneath the camper, it had started the day before actually, but it was now becoming louder. We thought oh no… not again… we took it to the first mechanic we could find. Actually, the joints just needed some greasing, this was done in no time, together with a checking of oil, transmission fluid and engine coolant. The mechanic told us we were good until Fireland, let’s hope he is right!

The sun sets a little before 9pm here, and there is day light until at least half past nine. We have no idea when the sun raises because we are always asleep at that time. Chile is our first country in Latin America where is it safe to drive at night. By safe, I mean the roads are in good shape, properly marked, there are no weird vehicles such as donkey carts and the like or broken down trucks in the middle of the way. It is quite ironic that there is day light until very late in the only country where we could actually drive at night!