Lakes, volcanoes and.....rain (Lake District, Chile)

After a great weekend in Santiago, I headed south on an overnight bus to the Chilean Lake District, where I would be spending the next ten days or so exploring one of the most picturesque parts of Chile, an area full of snow capped volcanoes, huge lakes, thick forests and fast flowing rivers. My first stop was the small town of Pucon, which sits almost 500 miles south of Santiago on the shores of Lago Villarrica with the imposing Volcan Villarrica towering over it. The town is a great base for outdoors adventuring, with numerous tour companies offering climbs of the volcano, canyoning, white water rafting, kayaking, and mountain biking in the surrounding countryside, so I ended up spending a week here, staying at the fantastic Tree House Hostel in the centre of town.

Volcan Villarrica (2847m)

My first impressions of Pucon were that it was rather like a Swiss mountain ski resort with most of the buildings being attractive wooden chalet-like structures and lots of Germanic looking cafes and restaurants serving a mixture of Chilean and more central European fare. On wandering down to the lake, however, I also saw a slightly different side to the town when I was greeted by the sight of what felt more like a Mediterranean beach resort as sun bathers crammed on to the small rocky beach on the lake shore to soak up the sun and swim in the lake, while bars just back from the lake offered up happy hour drinks and loud music - quite a contrast to the sleepy mountain village feel of the rest of Pucon!

Pucon 'beach'

With the Volcan Villarrica looming over the town so prominently, I couldn't resist the temptation to get straight on with climbing it the following day, and booked an ascent with Summit Chile, one of the many companies which take groups to the summit every day. After an early rendez-vous at their office, our group of six climbers was driven to the start of the ascent, at the bottom of a series of chairlifts which serve a number of ski slopes during the winter months. Three of us eschewed the option of taking the chairlift up the first few hundred metres of the climb and preferred to walk the whole way, so our group split in to two and we set off up the climb. I was grateful that the company I'd booked with prided itself on keeping its groups small, as we saw some other groups with up to 30 climbers in them, which I imagine allowed for less of this sort of flexibility.

On the way up the climb, ice pick at the ready

After around two hours of climbing, we caught up with the rest of our group and continued on above the snow line, treading carefully on the thick snow given the steepness of the slope. Although we did not require crampons, we did each have an ice pick in our hands, ready to thrust it in to the snow should we slip and fall at any point (fortunately none of us did). It was tough going as you needed to concentrate hard on following the steps of the person in front of you and make sure you kept your balance despite the slippery surface underfoot, while towards the top I began to feel the altitude gain take effect so had to be sure to drink plenty of water. As we climbed, we began to get better and better views of the surrounding countryside and could see numerous lakes, rivers and at least five different volcanoes in the area, aided by the fact that it was a gloriously sunny day, something I took for granted at the time, but was very grateful for given the way the weather was to change in subsequent days.

A last rest before heading for the summit

The final ascent

Finally, after just over four hours of steady climbing, we reached the summit and were rewarded with a 360 degree view of the Lake District, not to mention the fact that we were now standing on the top of an active volcano! Once we stopped walking we quickly layered up as it was quite cold at the top once we had stopped moving, but we were able to spend over an hour at the top, eating our lunch and taking in the surrounding views and the volcano itself. Our excellent guide Claudio told us all about the volcano and walked us round the rim to get a better view down in to the crater. In places, the smell of sulphur emanating from the crater was almost unbearable, but that only served to bring home the fact that this was an active volcano. The last major eruption was in the 1970s, but on the way up we'd seen evidence of the destructive force of the lava flows (including the remains of a ski lift), while Claudio pointed out the sight of a former settlement on the other side of the volcano which had been completely flattened by that eruption.

Made it!

View to Volcan Llaima and Volcan Lonquimay

Covering up from the smell of sulphur

The crater

And then came the descent, which was fantastic! Not for us a steady trudge back down the mountain, instead we were given small sleds to sit on and were shown how to slide down the mountain with only our ice picks to use as a rudimentary braking system as and when we needed to stop! The snow covered section of the mountain which had taken around two hours to climb took only around twenty minutes to descend as we whizzed down on the snow. Given that it is now the height of the summer, the snow unfortunately stopped after a while and we had to resort to walking the rest of the way, but it was great fun to do at least some of the descent at such high speed.

The descent!

I had planned to spend the next few days of my time in Pucon doing a three day, two night trek in the Parc Nacional Huerquehue, and so had spent some time looking in to hiring a tent and some cooking equipment so I could set off on my own in to the park the day after the Villarrica climb. However, after getting chatting to a couple of Israeli travellers (Efi and Yaire) who were planning a similar length trek in another nearby national park, Parc Nacional Villarrica, I agreed to go with them instead, figuring that it would be more fun (and safer) to be trekking with a couple of other people rather than on my own. However, our plans clashed with a major 100km three day trail race that would be taking place in that park, so we decided to delay our trek for a couple of days rather than having to side step several thousand runners on the trail - while I resisted the temptation to see if I could snag a last minute entry to the race!

We therefore set off on a one day trek in Parc Nacional Huerquehue as a bit of a warm up for the longer trek, catching an early bus out to the park gates from Pucon and then walking for around eight hours along the Sendero Los Lagos, an 18km trail which took in five different lakes in the park, and offered great views back to the volcano I had climbed the previous day. Stopping for lunch at one of the lakes, we were able to have a quick swim and cook some steak on Efi's camping stove, before catching a bus back to Pucon in the early evening.

Lago Trinculo, Parc Nacional Huerquehue

Lago Los Patos, Parc Nacional Huerquehue

After spending the next day on my own mountain biking to a nearby waterfall (the Ojos de Caburga), we reconvened in the evening to buy supplies for the next three days and to sort out transport to the national park. Fortunately, Efi and Yaire had their own  tents and cooking equipment that I could share so I no longer needed to hire extra equipment, while splitting the cost of food and snacks three ways proved a lot more cost effective. The trek we would be doing would be a section of the Traversia Villarrica, a slightly longer six day trek that we would be picking up around half way along the route. 

We awoke the next morning to the sight of thick cloud and signs that the perfect weather of the last few days might have changed, as evidenced by the fact that Volcan Villarrica had now disappeared from view and the temperature seemed to have dropped by about 15 degrees. Undeterred, we caught our transfer to the national park and after a short wait at the park office to see if it would open up to charge us the park entry fees (it didn't) we set off.

Consulting the map at Parc Nacional Villarrica

The Traversia Villarrica was supposed to be a particularly good trail because of the great views it afforded walkers of both Volcan Villarrica and Volcan Quetrupillan, but we were to be denied by the increasingly heavy cloud that surrounded the hills around us. By the afternoon, the weather was getting steadily worse, and when we stumbled across a CONAF (the Chilean national park authorities) tent in the depths of the park shortly after lunch the resident park ranger warned us that the weather was only likely to get worse and that the forecast for the following day was for persistent rain. Despite this, we decided to press on as we were all loaded up with food and supplies for three days and felt hopeful that the weather might yet change. 

Walking the Traversia Villarrica

We continued to gain altitude during the afternoon as the path cut across the shoulder of the lower slopes of the Volcan Quetrupillan, and as we did see the weather continue to deteriorate. By now we were walking up in the clouds so the views of the surrounding landscape were close to zero, and we then began to be battered by increasingly heavy rain and strong winds. Fortunately, just as we were getting a little fed up with the conditions, the path began to descend down out of the clouds and we were greeted with the sight of Laguna Azul, a large lake where our first night's campsite was situated. Here we camped alongside several hikers also doing the trail (an English couple who were walking the full traverse and four Chileans from Antofagasta) and agreed to reassess our plans in the morning once we'd seen what the weather was doing. 

The viewpoint for Volcan Quetrupillan - oh well!

Laguna Azul, our camping spot on the first (and last!) night

with Yaire and Efi at the end of day one

When we awoke the next morning, the conditions initially looked favourable, but by the time we'd had breakfast and packed away our tents, persistent drizzle had begun to fall. I was quite keen to press on and try and complete the trek, but both Efi and Yaire were keen to double back and take a path out of the park that would mean we could be back in Pucon that evening (I don't think they're so used to rain in Israel!) so I slightly reluctantly agreed to head back with them.

As it turned out it did rain heavily all day (just as the park ranger had predicted) and so it was probably the right decision to cut our losses and head home that day. It was slightly disappointing to have to retrace our steps, but after around five hours walking in the rain we made it out of the national park. We were still some distance away from the main road and any means of getting back to Pucon, but we managed to find a friendly farmer who agreed to drive us back to the main road from where we could catch a bus back to Pucon. While it was annoying that the weather had thwarted us, I have been blessed with fantastic weather both in South America and in Africa over the last three and a half months, so I couldn't really complain too much, and it was quite nice to be back in the warm and dry of my hostel a day earlier than expected.

With the weather showing no signs of improving in Pucon, I decided to head further south in to the Lake District and caught a bus to Puerto Varas, another lake-side town about five hours south of Pucon, where I've been based for the last three days. The weather has been marginally better, although as I write this blog, there is torrential rain falling outside! Puerto Varas sits alongside the second largest lake in Chile, Lago Llanquihue, and is also overlooked by a huge volcano, Volcan Osorno, or at least I'm told it is - it's been shrouded in cloud since I arrived so hard to say for sure!

Volcan Osorno (probably)

On my first day in Puerto Varas, I visited Parc Nacional Vicent Perez Rosales to see Lago Todos Los Santos, a beautiful lake with towering hills on all sides, and Saltas de Petrohue, a set of impressive rapids along the Rio Petrohue, before catching a bus back to town. Yesterday then saw me get out on to the water with a day of sea kayaking in the Ralún Fjord, where the Rio Petrohue begins to flow out in to the Pacific Ocean. Along with five other English travellers, we kayaked for a couple of hours along the fjord in tandem kayaks taking in the views of the spectacular scenery on either side of the fjord. Unfortunately we were still dogged by cloud cover over the higher mountains so the views weren't quite as great as they might have been, but it was good fun nevertheless.

Ralún Fjord

We stopped for lunch at a remote farmhouse on the side of the fjord where we were given a warm welcome by a Chilean family and shown around their farm. The farm is an hour  away from the main road so visits to the nearest town are only undertaken once a month, with the family relying on wood from the surrounding forests for all their heating, while they were only connected to the electricity grid ten years ago. They also make their own cider with a very old looking contraption for crushing apples!

The farm where we stopped for lunch

After another couple of hours of kayaking down the fjord we reached the small village of Cochamó where our journey ended. Before getting on the coach back to Puerto Varas we all braved the icy cold waters of the fjord for a very quick and very cold swim! 

Our swimming spot

Later today, I'm heading down to Puerto Montt, my last stop in the Lake District, and the place from which I'm catching a flight much further south to Patagonia tomorrow lunchtime. I'm really looking forward to getting to Patagonia, not only because its supposed to be spectacular place to visit, but also because Alex and Rosanna, my brother and sister, are flying out from the UK to spend the next two weeks with me there. I've not seen them since October (other than via the wonders of Skype) so it will be great to see them again and share the next part of my adventure with them. 

Return to Chile (Santiago, Chile)

I arrived in Santiago late in the evening as the bus from Mendoza was held up by long delays getting through the border in to Chile meaning that the seven hour journey took closer to eleven. Although Santiago doesn't seem to have a great reputation with other travellers as a place to visit, I spent an enjoyable four days there, and found it to be much cleaner, greener and safer than Buenos Aires, the other South American city I've visited so far. The city was smaller than Buenos Aires, so despite having an efficient metro system I was able to do most of my exploring on foot, with my hostel in the trendy Barrio Bellavista district acting as my base.

As some of you know, I´d been to Santiago before as a 15 year old when I attended the World Scout Jamboree in 1998, and had always wanted to return to Chile. Suddenly fourteen years had slipped by and I returned to the country excited to be back again, but under rather different circumstances. In truth, the trip to Chile had been so long ago and our movements at the time limited to the Jamboree campsite and a single day visit to the surrounding area that it actually didn't feel very much like a return visit. Nevertheless, my previous visit had left me with an affinity for Chile and perhaps a greater interest in its history, culture and people than the other countries I will be visiting in South America. I was therefore really looking forward to coming back to Chile but also to seeing a lot more of the country.

On my first morning in Santiago, I joined a free walking tour which gave a fantastic overview of the city and taught me a lot about the history and culture of Santiago. Our guide Felipe was an enthusiastic, knowledgable guide and spent over four hours guiding us round the main sites in the centre of the city, including the main square, cathedral, presidential palace, opera house, several museums, and one of Pablo Neruda's houses. He also pointed out the best place in Santiago to get ice cream and recommended some great places to get a cheap lunch, which proved very useful over the next few days!

Plaza das Armas - central square in Santiago

La Moneda (presidential palace)

For me, one of the most interesting parts of the tour was when Felipe told us about Chile's recent political history and the military coup of 1973. The coup saw the overthrow of the socialist goverment led by the President, Salvador Allende, and instigated a period of 17 years of military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet. When I learned Spanish at university, our slightly eccentric Spanish teacher had often spoken to us about Allende (he was certainly a fan) and the events surrounding the 1973 coup so I knew some of the details, but my time in Santiago gave me an opportunity to find out more. In addition to the tour, I also visited the Museo de la Memoria, a fantastic museum dedicated to the events of 1973-1990 which gave a fascinating and moving insight in to the events surrounding the coup and the military dicatorship that followed.

Allende had become the first democratically elected Marxist president in the world in 1970 and moved quickly to implement a series of socialist policies to redistribute wealth in Chile, including the nationalisation of the copper and banking industries and a rapid expansion of social security. However, Allende´s victory had been a narrow one (he won 36.2% of the vote in a three-way split) and his policies were to prove divisive, with Allende facing constant battles with Congress and uproar from the business and land owners who were adversely affected by these policies. Allende´s bold socialist policies coupled with increasingly close ties with Cuba also attracted the interest of the USA and in particular the CIA, who have long been accused of interferring both in the Chilean economy and the coup that was to follow. After an aborted military coup in June 1973 and a series of strikes prompted by high inflation and opposition to further nationalisation of industries, events came to a head on 11 September 1973 when the navy seized control of the port of Valparaiso and the army began attacking the presidential palace.

The musuem included incredible video footage of the presidential palace being bombed while the president was still inside the building, as well as an audio recording of Allende's final radio broadcast to the Chilean people, given by Allende over a telephone while crouched underneath a desk as bombs rained down on the building. Allende could not bear the thought of living in exile and so refused offers of safe exit from the country, determined to remain in the position to which he had been elected. When the army finally entered the palace later that day, Allende was found dead from gunshot wounds. Conspiracy theories have abounded for years that he was shot by the army, although these were largely solved when Allende's body was exhumed and confirmation given that he had committed suicide. The museum also included the first television broadcast by the military junta at which they spoke (not particularly convincingly) of how difficult it had been to take this action and how hurt they were that it had been necessary for the good of Chile.

Statue of Salvador Allende in front of the presidential palace

Newspaper from the day after the coup

The museum also covered the period of the Pinochet dictatorship during which time the economy stabilised, but 3,000 political opponents were killed or ´disappeared´and many human rights abuses occured. The military junta had originally only intended to rule for a short period before holding free elections, but it was not until 1988 that a referendum was finally held, with Pinochet losing narrowly as the Chilean people voted for a return to democracy. Moving video footage showed evidence of the brutal suppression of protesters throughout the 1970s and 80s, as the country became increasingly divided, and it was strange to then walk out on to the streets of Santiago and consider how recently these events had taken place in what now feels like a relatively thriving, united country.

Another highlight of my time in Santiago was a visit to the Cerro San Cristobal, a viewpoint overlooking the city. While not quite as spectacular as Table Mountain in Cape Town, this hill just outside the city gave a great view across Santiago and out to the Andes mountains. The hill also contained a series of hiking trails so I spent a couple of afternoons walking above the city and also visited one of two huge open air public swimming pools on Cerro San Cristobal which seem to be very popular with Chilean families at this time of year. There was a free bus running to to the top of the hill, but I decided to get some practice in ahead of the trekking I´m planning to do in the south of Chile and walk to the top of the hill - twice!

View of Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal

A statue dedicated to the Boy Scouts of Chile which seemed apt given my previous visit to the country

One of the open air swimming pools

On my final day in Santiago I met up with my friend Andy from back home, who was coincidentally in Santiago for a business meeting with a Chilean airline. It was great to see a friendly face from back home and catch up over lunch, before quickly showing him round a part of the city before he had to head back to work. I´m obviously in the wrong job as business trips to Santiago sound like a pretty good perk to me!

I´ll be returning to Santiago again in a few weeks, but after four days of exploring the city it was time to move on and I caught an overnight coach south to Pucon to begin exploring the southern half of Chile.

Alta Montana (Mendoza, Argentina)

After my extended stay in Buenos Aires, my next stop in South America was the city of Mendoza, an attractive city of tree lined avenues and large public squares, which lies close to the foothills of the Andes and is primarily famous for producing wine, particularly Malbec. It is also the closest city to Aconcagua, the 6960m peak which is the highest mountain in the southern hemisphere, and so a regular stopover for those climbing the mountain. Despite my mountain scaling exploits in Tanzania, Aconcagua is a little beyond by mountaineering abilities, so instead I spent a great few days sampling the local wines and walking in the foothills below Aconcagua.

Aconcagua (6960m)

The overnight journey to Mendoza was long at 13 hours, but incredibly luxurious as I got my first taste of coach travel South American style. I had a fully reclining leather chair with its own TV in front, two meals during the journey and even the offer of tea, coffee, whiskey or champagne after dinner! Internal flights are relatively expensive and the railway network largely abandoned in South America so coach travel seems to be the predominant form of transport for both tourists and locals travelling long distances. As a result, the coaches in South America have been fitted up to allow you to travel in style, an approach that seems to have escaped National Express and Megabus in the UK. I therefore got a great night's sleep and arrived in Mendoza early the next morning, ready to explore a new city.

Coach travel South American style

I spent my first afternoon in Mendoza taking a walk through the huge Parque General San Martin at the other end of the city from my hostel. The park takes up nearly 1000 acres of land overlooking the city and includes a football stadium, velodrome, amphitheatre, rowing lake, zoo, and a botanical garden. Such is its size that it is criss-crossed with a series of roads to allow people to drive around the park, but I was ready to stretch my legs after thirteen hours on a coach and so set off for a long walk around the park. At the far end of the park, and up a steep hill, I came across a huge monument commemorating Argentina's independence from Spain. General Jose San Martin (who the park is named after) led the Argentine forces seeking independence from the Spanish crown at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and also played a key role in assisting Chile and Peru's struggles for independence, and so many buildings, roads and public spaces in Argentina are named after him. From the monument I could see right across the city so it was worth the tough climb, one which everyone else seemed to have avoided by driving to the top!

Statue in Parque General San Martin celebrating Argentina's independence

My wanderings around the park also led me to the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, a 45,000 seater stadium that had been built inside the park for the 1978 World Cup. With no sign of any security guards and the gates to the stadium wide open, I was able to walk in to the stadium to get a few photos, hoping not to get apprehended as a British tourist wandering around in a stadium named after the Argentinian name for the Falkland Islands! Later in the week the stadium hosted another pre-season friendly between Boca Juniors and River Plate, similar to the one I had attended in Mar del Plata - this time the match was a total sell out though so I had to make do with watching the game on TV

Estadio Malvinas Argentinas

That night, the hostel ran a free empanada making class, which gave me a chance to learn how to make what seems to be a staple part of the Argentinian diet. Empanadas are rather like small cornish pasties, but can be filled with either meat, chicken, cheese, ham or vegetables, although the traditional recipe we followed used beef, onions, a small amount of boiled egg, and some fresh herbs. They are very common across Argentina and also very cheap, making for a handy snack or starter. Following the lesson, I sat chatting for a couple of hours with an Argentinian couple who had also taken part, which with neither of them speaking much English gave me a great chance to use my improved Spanish skills!

My first attempt at an empanada

Fresh from the oven

My two empanadas!

During my stay at the hostel, they also laid on a wine tasting evening and a fantastic asado (Argentinian bbq) at which we were treated to some absolutely amazing steak and plenty of red wine. However, although I was keen to try Argentinian food and sample their wines, my main reason for visiting Mendoza had been to get in to the mountains, which I managed to do on three occasions during my stay here.

For some incredible pictures of the mountains around Mendoza and an idea of some of the adventures that can be had there, I'd recommend checking out the blog of my friends Paul and Kirsty who travelled here last year. In my case, as a solo traveller and with little in the way of mountaineering equipment, I had to set my sights a little lower and go on a few organised trips with local tour companies, but I did get to see some spectacular scenery and some local wildlife.

First up I took a scenic drive along the Alta Montana route, an organised tour along Route 7, the main highway between Buenos Aires and Santiago, which crosses the Andes to pass from Argentina into Chile. The highlight of this trip was the drive up to the original border crossing (dating from before a tunnel through the highest point of the Andes was built), which involved driving up a gravel road with several tortuous switchbacks as snow began to fall around us. The border crossing sits at around 4000m above sea level and is marked by a huge statue called Christ the Redeemer of the Andes, which was installed in 1904 to acknowledge resolution of a long running border dispute between the two countries.

The Alta Montana route

The road up to the statue

The Christ the Redeemer statue

Unfortunately the weather was too bad for us to stop at a viewpoint for Aconcagua, but we did stop at Puente del Inca, a natural bridge over the Vacas River, which has been created by the minerals coming up from nearby hot springs. The bridge has an illustrious history having been visited by Charles Darwin in 1835 and having also been the site of resort and spa in the early twentieth century which could be accessed by rail. Sadly, the resort closed after being badly damaged by a landslide and the train line, though still visible in places no longer functions, though it did once pass through the Andes and go all the way to Chile. The bridge itself is also now too unstable to walk over and so has been closed to the public since the mid 1990s

Puente del Inca (the stone building is part of the remains of the spa)

After spending most of that day cooped up in a minibus, I was itching to get out walking in the mountains and so spent the next two days doing just that. The first of these was a relatively short trek to a waterfall where we abseiled off a large rock next to the waterfall. It had been billed as a 'half-day trek', but with only an hour and a half worth of walking and one 18m abseil I was left a little disappointed, particularly as we then had to wait another ninety minutes for a bus back to Mendoza!

Half way down the abseil

A cat gets acquainted with my bag while I wait for a bus back to Mendoza

Fortunately, the following day I was able to do a longer trek in the Cordon del Plata, a group of mountains forming part of the long chain of mountains that make up the Andes. Along with a guide from Colanguil and two other walkers, we headed to the summit of Cerro Arenales, a 3376 metre peak surrounded by a number of much higher snow covered peaks. As well as getting a great view of some of the surrounding mountains (others were obscured by thick cloud), we were also lucky enough to spot some Andean wildlife as a large condor flew directly above us for several minutes and we then saw three guanaco ahead of us on the trail who stopped to look at us.

Cordon del Plata

Walking in the Cordon del Plata

View of Cerro Vallecitos - a mountain my friends Paul and Kirsty climbed last year

A condor flies overhead

Lunch at the summit of Cerro Arenales

A guanaco says hello

At the conclusion of the walk we met a Norwegian couple who had had to turn back 100m metres from the summit of Cerros Vallecitos (5500m) the night before due to a heavy snow storm, having attempted to reach the top during the early hours of the morning. Despite feeling ashamed that our mountain climbing exploits were a little tame compared to theirs, we had a good chat about our relative experiences of travelling in South America before we said our goodbyes and headed back to Mendoza.

After a further day in Mendoza, I then caught a bus to Santiago in Chile, which luckily afforded me another drive through the same mountain roads, and this time, a much better view of Aconcagua. The four hour wait to get through the Chilean border crossing was less enjoyable, but there can't be many border crossings that are as spectacular so I can think of worse places to be stuck. More about my first few days in Chile in the next blog - watch this space.....