Where The Lava Meets The Snow

On the 26th we drove a few hours east from Valdivia to Pucon. It is located on Lago Villarrica and right at the entrance to the Trancura Valley. Volcan Villarrica stands as a  beuatiful backdrop to the small town known for it's adventure tourism. We had been told that hiking Volcan Villarrica is one of the best things to do in pucon - so hike we did.

We decided to attempt the hike the day after we arrived  just incase we had to reschedule the trek due to certain circumstances such as cloudy weather (you can't take any pictures our hardly see anything), if it's too windy or if the volcano is smoking too much...

Acorrding to the "Volcanic Alert Traffic Light" we had the green to go up the mountain early the following morning. It wouldn't erupt on us.

We lucked out. Sort of. We had beautiful weather with no clouds. But the wind was another story. There are two parts to the hike up Villarrica. First the scree field - which is a steep section of the volcano covered in loose rock. Once past that you begin hiking in the snow.

When we signed up for the hike there were two options. You can choose to take the chairlift over the scree field and start your trek in the snow. Or you can choose to hike an hour longer on the unstable rocks. Chair lift for me please!!!

But on that particular day no one was taking the chairlift -too much wind. They thought about postponing the hike altogether - but luckily we were able to trek on. I'd rather suffer through the scree and make it to the top than not go at all!

 The views were beautiful but all a little hazy due to the ash in the air from Volcan Puyehue not too far away.

The snowy part looked so close! Yet so far....  

 If you look closely through the haze you can see Lago Villarrica.

  

Happy to be outta the scree!

In total we hiked 5 hours to reach the top of the volcano. Whew it was tiring but of course beyond worth it. And I thought I was tired - Axel chose the option to ski down (instead of slide down on his butt like the rest of us) but this involved carrying not only his skis to the top but also ski boots in his backpack. (About 30 pounds of extra weight)

Only an hour and a half left from here! 

On the far left was one of our guides. He holds the record for one of the fastest times ascending the mountain in just an hour and a half! Crazy right?!

 You can see Axel just behind Henry with his skis strapped to his backpack. 

YAY! We made it!

From the top of Villarrica you can see 7 other volcanoes in the distance.

At the top we walked to the edge of the crater where you could only stand for about a minute before the fumes and toxic gases began to burn your nose and lungs. It is after all one of the most active volcanoes in Chile. 

 Yukon Cornelius. 

The hike up was a challenge but reaching the top leaves you with an incredible feeling of accomplishment. We were pinching ourselves at the realization that we just climbed a volcano in Chile. But my favorite part of all - going down on a little piece of plastic under my butt through chutes carved out the the snow. You have your feet and a small ice pick as a brake and down you go!

 Some parts were a bit steeper than others. The guides made us go down on just our butts without the plastic sometimes so that we wouldn't get going too fast. 

 Yahoooo! It felt a little bit like real life mario kart. 

Adjusting the foggy lens. 

 Walking over a little scree to get to the final chute. 

 We didn't want it to end!

John on the top left (with a slow lady in front of him) and Henry on the right. 

Then there was me. Thanks to Chris for wearing the gopro on his helmet and getting all the shots. 

Each of us were grinning ear to ear like children on this playground for adults. The ride down was a blast and my knees were saying thank you for not having to hike back down for 5 hours. 

If you ever go to Chile, go to Pucon and hike this volcano. It is incredible. 

Eat, Drink and be Merry!

Christmas at the Kunstmann Brewery. 

Christmas day was wonderful. We picked up Chris from the Valdivia airport and then we piled in the car and headed to the Kunstmann Brewery and restaurant for a big dinner and some delicious beer.

In usual fashion Chris told fishing stories... (but I don't think the fish was that big.)

Doesn't look like they believed him either.

In Chilean tradition - we ate massive sandwiches. 

And in German tradition we enjoyed spaetzle.

And of course we drank some delicious beer. My fav was the blueberry draft. 

Cheers to a very Merry Christmas!

Afterwards we took a walk in the park to try and walk off our giant sandwiches, spaetzle and beers. (Apparently this was the only picture I took there - woops!) Axel and Henry sitting on this lovely bench.. which didn't actually have a seat but they manage to make it look quite comfortable and enjoyable!

And then one last walk down by the water on our last afternoon in the capital of the river district.

We had a very Feliz Navidad in Valdivia.  

Next Stop - Pucon!

So long Puerto Varas - Hello Valdivia!

Foucault pendulum located along the river walk.

On Christmas eve we drove from the lakes region north to Valdivia, the capital of the rivers region. The city is located at the point where three different rivers join. The city was founded in 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia making it the southernmost Spanish settlement in the Americas at that time.


In the 1840's there was a large migration of German settlers to the city and the German characteristics are still present in the city today. The most notorious is the Kunstmann Brewery (which you will read about next.)

This pendulum was created to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. I still don't understand exactly how it works but you can ask Axel or Wikipedia. 

Valdivia has a beautiful fish and veggie market. Being so close to the Pacific they have great access to fresh seafood everyday.

Wonderful for us to see...

...and a delicious smell for the sea lions nostrils. They hang out by the market waiting for fisherman who are unloading their catch to drop a few morsels for them.

and in their down time.. they nap on the end of the old submarine docked along the river. 

In Spanish they call sea lions Lobos del Mar which translates to wolves of the sea. They call them this because of their famous position throwing their heads back as if to howl at the moon like a wolf.

Michelle loved the sea lions but there are strict rules against feeding them because they can become aggressive. So she tempted this guy. Too bad she only had all natural cashews - needless to say he was slightly disappointed. 

Next we headed over the bridge of one of the three rivers and hopped on a boat to visit the small town of Corral.  It was the headquarters of The Forts of Corral Bay. These were a series of forts built in 1645 to protect the city of Valdivia.

So we explored the forts and the town of Corral for the afternoon.

Here you can see the remains of the most intact fort on Corral. (Sorry for the hazy pictures -  there was a lot of ash in the air from a nearby volcano that was acting up)

We were happy to find warm and sunny weather here after windy and  rainy Puerto Varas. 

Valdivia is also home to one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded not only in Chile but in the entire world. It occurred in  1960 and was measured at 9.5. Turn's out Valdivia wasn't actually the closest city to the epicenter but it was the most greatly affected by the tsunami that followed. First a 26ft wave struck and ten minutes later a 33ft wave inundated Valdivia and  Corral and completely destroyed many of the old forts and the majority of the houses and buildings.

On a lighter note - So many cute little houses!

Happy Christmas Eve! Hooray for pinecone trees!!!

It was a cute and quaint little town but I must say my favorite moment was on the boat ride back. Michelle didn't realize exactly how small her life vest really was...  thankfully we didn't have to abandon ship! :)