Lakes and Volcanos in Pucón

[13-16 de Febrero, 2014] Finally headed in the right direction for Patagonia, Eli and I took a 14 hour bus ride south to the Lakes Region of Chile. We woke up to this beautiful site in Pucón, Chile:

Pucón 
This is the Villarrica Volcano. It's an active and perfectly cone shaped volcano that hovers over Pucón and its neighboring towns. The large Lago Villarrica is a typical Chilean lake in this area in that it has many resort towns around it, is full of sunbathers and boaters, and is pristine and gorgeous. Pucón sits on the western side of the lake and is an extremely popular tourist destination, but not just for foreigners. This is one place where we saw many Chileans out on vacation, enjoying their summer and their beautiful National parks.

Parque Nacional Huerquehue
With far too many options to choose from, we settled on a nice hike to see some alpine lakes. This hike was in the Parque Nacional Huerquehue. A minibus from town dropped us off at the trail head, how cool is that? I'm constantly impressed with public transit in foreign countries.

Lakes on the hike in Parque Nacional Huerquehue

Monkey Puzzle Trees

In this park there are some interesting trees. They only grow at higher altitudes and even though they are evergreens, the branches only form at the top. All along the mountain horizon you see what look like umbrellas sticking up, but up close you see branches like thick ropes. The Chileans call them "Monkey Puzzle" Trees, and according to Wikipedia, they are on the endangered list. They are native only to Chile and Argentina. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana) 

Hiking Villarrica Volcano 
One of the coolest things I have ever done was climb up to the top of Volcano Villarrica. After looking at all of the outdoor excursions offered in Pucón, we knew this was the one we had to try. It is an all day excursion and takes 5 hours to hike to the top. Not being in great shape I was somewhat worried, I mean you can see how large it is from outside on the street, but the tour guides didn't ask a thing about physical shape or stamina, so how bad could it be right? Right?! You decide... but all I can say is, I was very happy when we reached the top because I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it.

So how do you climb a volcano? Pretty much walk straight up it.

Sitting at the top of the chairlift climb with only 4 hrs left to go

We started underneath the chairlift which was not working on the day we climbed. It was a miserable hike up that ravine you sometimes see between two ski slopes: rocky and steep. The chairlift is an optional way up which cuts an hour off of the 5 hour hike, when it is working. It is not free and an incredible way for the mountain to make money, $16 per person for a one way ride x 3000 hikers that day, but no, no one wanted to turn it on that day (the guides say they never know), so we climbed.

First half of the climb was rocky scree

Then we moved onto snow

And then more snow, did we really pay for this?

Fortunately there were rest stops

and at every stop I was smiling

Plus those views... the hike was incredible when you could stop and enjoy it.

But always there was more climbing.

Finally we made it to the top!

Eli at the summit

The crater

Standing on the edge of a volcano

Eli capturing the above photo, and the endless views we had behind him

Ready to start our decent

Standing on the rim of a fuming volcano is something you will always remember. The hike was difficult and it has been a long time since I accomplished something I really didn't know if I was capable of doing, but it was the opportunity to stare into a volcano crater that really made this trip memorable. I never felt so happy as I did when we made it to the top. Everything about the summit- the views, the rim, the crater- was our reward. 

From the top of the volcano we still had a long way down. It took 5 hours to climb up but was supposed to take only 1.5 hours to get back down. How? See the fancy green and yellow outfits they gave us for the hike? We put on all waterproof gear (though by claim only, it was terrible), strapped a pad to our butts, and slid down the volcano.

Picture a luge track formed from hundreds of people doing this trick everyday. Some runs were 'with plastic' and some were without. The plastic was an additional sled we sat on when it wasn't so steep. The first few legs were 'without plastic'! Your ice ax was your break. There was little guidance and little control but we couldn't have had more fun.

Happy and safe and sound at the bottom

After all was said and done Eli and I somehow managed to cap off the day with a trip to the Pucón Beer Festival. We look pretty beat.

Villarrica, Chile

We had one day left in the area and decided to spend it in the town of Villarrica on the other side of the lake. A town not written up much in guide books, Villarrica was actually a great little stop. The view of the Villarrica volcano across the lake was much better then it was from Pucón, where the volcano was behind you and the lake in front. We swam in the lake and then shopped in a large cultural center in town. I can't think of a better way to spend a day. 

Villarrica Volcano from Villarrica, Chile

Roughing it in Tongoy

[8-12 de Febrero, 2014]

We couldn't have asked for a better first impression of Chile. Eli's childhood NY neighbors are from South America and have a summer home in Chile. Our timing overlapped and we were invited to come stay with them as soon as we arrived in Chile.

Mochileros

The Gonzalezes live in Tongoy, a cute little beach town 5 hours north of Santiago. When we arrived they gave us such a warm welcome. Mrs. Gonzalez sent a message off to Eli's mom, a message any parent of a traveling child likes to hear, "the Mochileros have arrived!" (Mochila = backpack)
For the 5 days we stayed there they treated us like family. We were spoiled with fresh seafood, delicious home cooked meals, cold wine and our own personal tour guides every day.

Tongoy view north

Eli and Hernan on our "tour"

The view from the church patio right in front of the Gonzalez's house

The cute little hillside church

Eli and Hernan relaxing on the front porch

Nilce's Garden

Sunset over Tongoy

Our favorite things in Tongoy, aside from our hosts, were the fresh baked Chilean bread, the Cerveza Artesnal brand beer Hernan introduced us to, eating seafood straight from the ocean, and our daily porch lunches. These lunches weren't just a beach day snack, they were full 4 course meals topped off with a platter of fruit for dessert. Both Hernan and Nilce cooked up their favorite meals for us. They were tremendous hosts.

Chilean breakfast

The best spot in the house

Fresh fruit including Chirimoya, a local Chilean tropical fruit

Crab stuffed avocados (paltas)

Twice a week there is a Feria (market) in town. We perused the stands and found out were were missing out on some great new US sports team. I wonder what else we might be missing out on living in the US?! 

Boston Raider vs Chicago Deers

Market Stands

Chirimoya Smoothies

My fisherman friend and my piure

We took a walk with Hernan one day past the fisherman's huts and the locals had us come right in. Our Spanish, especially Chilean Spanish, was still bad so Hernan had to mostly translate for us. When they put a big orange slop of seafood in my hand and told me to eat it, I really needed him. He said it was piure and it was edible but I didn't have to eat it if I didn't want to. That wasn't a wild sell! However, both Eli and I took the orange goop in our hands and we took a bite. Not -half- bad. The fact that they gave us a shot of wine to chase it down probably didn't hurt. I smiled and told them, in non-verbal communication, "it's good." Well what did that warrant? A second even bigger plop of piure. Lesson learned.

In town there is one ATM and no bank. Not having spent any time in Chile yet, Eli and I had little cash on us. We tried the ATM almost every day and it was never filled with money. How does this happen? Asking all of the local shop keepers, when do they fill the ATM, we got a different answer every day. Some people say that it is emptied out for the feria, some say for the weekend, some think it gets filled every night, and some say mid-day. No matter how we timed it we could not come up with a way to get cash. With a backup plan in place, to go with the Gonzalezes to the next biggest town, Coquimbo, we tried the ATM one more time and found money in it. Now with cash available, it was time to think about leaving, but we kind of wished the ATM had stayed empty so we could have stayed for longer.

We took a hike up to the top of Tongoy's hill:

See the church? Then you can see where we were staying.

One last connection that our trip to visit the Gonzalezes did for us was an introduction to Hernan's brother Patricio. Patricio's son travels to Patagonia every summer, where he and his wife and son own a house. They hoped that we could see them if our trips overlapped. I can't get over the generosity and friendliness the Chileans we met so far- how could we possibly say no to meeting more?! So we hoped we might see them and thanked both Hernan and Patricio's family for being so kind to us.

Eli and Patricio emerging from a cold swim

Dining out in Tongoy to say goodbye

Time to move on :(

We Love Geography: Argentina

Argentina is huge. It extends from the Atlantic Coast to the Andes and takes close to 20 hours to cross it by bus. In the middle there isn't much more then desert but there are coastal towns, mountain towns, ranches and big cities scattered, sparingly, around the country. There is plenty for a tourist to do and no shortage of hours to drive around the country, eating, sleeping and breathing in the landscape.

Iguazu Falls is located at the top of the hook that juts into Brazil.

Our Cross Argentina trip- from Buenos Aires to Santiago