Pucón
Volcán Villarica
When booking our trip, Lara asked me what I wanted to do while in Chile. At the top of my list was "see a volcano."
She said "I can make that happen." She booked us a flight from Santiago to Temuco, and a bus from Temuco to Pucón, home
to one of Chile's most active volcanoes, Volcan Villarica.
We were only in Pucón for three days, and had to cross our fingers that the weather
would be nice enough to summit Villarica. Luckily, on our last day, after two days of storm clouds, the sun was shining!
We suited up in warm gear, crampons (for
the ice), and gas masks (for the sulfur), and made the long trek up the mountain. Our starting point was high up -
already above the clouds - but it still took several hours of hard work, during which time our guide, Claudio,
entertained us with stories of Pucón and of his life. It got snowier as we climbed, and we had to
walk in a zig zag pattern because it was so steep. Once we got towards the top, it got less snowy and more rocky,
as we were getting closer to the mouth of the volcano.
At the summit, it felt like we were on Mars. Here, we could see the sulfur rising from the volcano, but we couldn't quite see
the lava. The last eruption
in 2015 had lowered the lake, and it was just outside of our vision. Looking out on the landscape, you could see the
lasting effects of the 1971 eruption, which killed 15 people. There were charred ravines where the lava had flown,
permanently altering the landscape. On one side, you could see these ravines heading into Lago Villarica in the town
where we were staying. On the other side, you could see mountains for miles.
Our descent was much easier than our ascent. We slid down!
Pucón
Other than climbing Villarica, Pucón offers a lot of outdoorsy activities: hikes, caving, horseback riding, etc. Unfortunately, they were all booked by the time we inquired. We spent our time kayaking, wandering, and eating. We went to the grocery store, which is a mundane chore at home, but a new adventure while abroad! In Chile, you weigh all of your food before buying it, and provide your ruta, which is kind of like a social security number. We also went to restaurants for humitas, shrimp soup, seafood panqueques, ceviche, and cheese. Our wandering took us through several parks, where we saw the araucaria, Chile's national tree, which looks like a series of aloe plants on tentacles. We also were fortunate enough to be in town at the same time as a carnival, where we explored and shopped for books.
