Blog a Lot Blog a Little More - My South American Travel Blog: Pucon

In Chile there is a summer tradition where everybody vacations in the South. Southern Chile is a beautiful region with lots of lakes, volcanoes (some still active), and rivers. If you journey far enough south into Patagonia, you find the kind of beauty you'd expect to find near the southern pole...glaciers, etc.

In our first trip South last March, we journeyed as far as Pucon. Pucon is about 800 kilometers south of Santiago. It reminded me a lot of Jackson Hole, Wyoming in terms of geography, as well as the variety of outdoor activities you can do. One of the coolest things to do is climb Villarica Volcano, which you can do on a guided tour, complete with crampons and ice axes. As this was more of a family trip, that hike will have to wait until next time.

This was the view from our hotel 'Hosteria La Colina.' Great little hotel owned & operated by an American couple. We had our own little private bungalow with a deck overlooking lake Villarica. The food (especially the American-style breakfast) and the service were great, and they had a cool old-fashioned, wood-fired hot tub. It looked like a giant wood barrel. Anyway, I highly recommend the place: http://www.hosteriadelacolina.com/
or this one if you prefer to stay in Pucon
http://www.monteverdepucon.cl/

Hanging out at a local pizza joint in the town of Pucon.

Horseback riding in the hills of above Pucon. Hailey and Mya loved it, Jake got a little bored after 3+ hours.

Jake is 100% daddy's boy...a real man's man. Notice that I am the one holding him in almost every photo...my faithful sidekick.

THERMAL POOLS

This place is cool. They call them the 'Termas Geometricas' (geometric thermal pools). Basically its a series of pools heated by natural spring water piped down a canyon from above. Each pool offers varying degrees of heat, some scorching, some lukewarm. At the top of the canyon there is an ICE COLD waterfall. The only ones to brave the waterfall were the gringos...that's us and our gringo friends the Walkers.
Getting to this place was part of the adventure. It's about 50 miles or so from Pucon, but the last 10 miles are up a windy dirt road with one lane, rickety wooden bridges. It's the kind of road you would only attempt in a 4x4 (which fortunately we have)...unless you are Chilean. It that case you see all kinds of vehicles making the attempt and most seemed to make it there.

Tiffany and I taking in the icy refreshment

My buddy Nathan Walker and I getting the full icy waterfall experience

The Davis Family soaks it up in the warm mineral waters...probably some kid urine in there too!

Hydrospeed

Hydrospeed is sport that would never be done commercially in the US, for liability reasons. It is basically whitewater rafting on a hard plastic, sled-like apparatus. Our guide was a chilean dude who spoke very little English. He basically leads the way, shouting instructions to help you avoid the rocks. My group consisted of me and 4 Israeli dudes. They spoke no Spanish and limited English, so I served as the relay man for the guide's instructions. On the very first rapid we encountered, I hit my left thigh on a rock...hard. It hurt at the time, but the cold water and the adrenaline made me forget the pain. Not until the next day did I realize how nasty it was. Even though I limped for a week, it was worth it.

all geared up...wetsuit (smelled like 40 day old urine), flippers, chest protector, helmet, and lots of bravado.