The Lakes - Chile

It has been an eventful last week. We arrived in Puerto Varas after a cheap flight from which we could see the Andes mountains and the Perito Moreno Glacier! Puerto Varas was lovley but the weather was mixed, it is a lovely town on a lake in the shadow of a two Volcanoes. A highlight was on a very sunny day taking the local bus to Lake Petrohue. This was a much more isolated lake and we spent the afternoon kyaking and swimming.




Next stop was Pucon. We loved Pucon so much we spent four jam packed day here. On our first day we went on a cycle ride to local waterfalls and beach called Playa Blanca. The sand was white and the water fresh and blue.


The best day was when we climbed Volcan Villarica. This took us 3 hours to reach the summit, including almost 2 hours of climbing up the glacier in crampons with an ice axe. It was pretty tough going and very very steep, but we made it and the crater was amazing! There were also great panoramic views across the surrounding lake district. We felt like we were on top of the world! The guide walked us round the crater, during which we walked right across a vent which was pumping out sulphur, which the guide later told us was 'muy peligroso' (very dangerous!)
On the way down we were able to slide down the natural crevases in the ice on our bums, using the ice axe as a break. Although we nearly slid off the edge about 15 times, we made it to the bottom safe and sound (and to James' satisfaction, we were one of the quickest groups up and down!)

Other activities in Pucon involved visiting a local national park and hot springs with some hostel pals. On our final night we checked out the sunset over the lake which we heard was spectaclar, and it was: