Chile
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Pucón
We arrived in Pucón, adventure capital of Chile, shortly after sunrise. Pucón is known for its stunning natural landscape, with volcanos, lakes, waterfalls, and thermal springs. The national park containing it is at the north end of the Patagonia region of southern South America. It’s a ski town in winter. The area is dominated by the Villarrica volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Latin America. My view of it from the bathroom window of my room was the best! National Park tour We hopped in a van for a tour of the area. First stop was at the top of a waterfall, where we had to hike down to…
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Valparaiso
Valparaiso, a major port, is just 100 km or so from Santiago. It should only take an hour or so to get there, right? We went there by public bus. Buses in South America are generally very comfortable, and so was this one, except for one thing – the air conditioning was broken down. The bus driver told our tour leader that it had cooled off a bit, from 40C to now only 33C. We were in the top of the two level bus, and it was suffocating. And we hit a 2 hour traffic jam, caused by a traffic accident, and holidayers from Santiago late in the afternoon on…
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Santiago
Santiago to Buenos Aires I’m finally going on this trip with G Adventures. Check it out at Highlights of Chile & Argentina in Chile, South America – G Adventures. I had it booked for spring 2020, and we all know what happened then. Cancelled due to covid! When rebooking as soon as I could in early 2021, I switched to a trip to Italy. Europe started their covid adventure months before South America, and so came out of it much earlier, and I made the right call. So now it was time to get back to the original plan. The trip starts in Santiago, Chile, and ends in Buenos Aires,…
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The End of the Earth
Leaving Torres del Paine behind, we set out for Punta Arenas, a port city, where we visited a Magellan penguin colony. They are so cute! If they can’t see their mate they howl out for them. This seems like a cool city but we didn’t have much time to explore, but went straight to bed in out nice hostal just a block away from a seedy area where port workers hang out. The next day we set off by bus, then ferry across the Magellan strait, then back on the bus, across the Chilean border back to Argentina, to reach the End of the Earth – Ushuaia. It’s the southernmost city…
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Torres del Paine
Our guide, Mariano, an Italian guy who also dives under ice for fun, held a meeting with us to make sure we are prepared for the 3 day 2 night trek. He predicted fabulous conditions and we had them! We were all prepared for wind and rain, but instead had sun, 25 degrees, and no wind. The first day was the longest and toughest trek, 22 km over 10 hours, the toughest part bringing us to the base of the granite Towers of Paine. Views can often be obscured by clouds but we had perfect photo ops. Our tour leader carried a bottle of champagne to the top so we…
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End of the Earth
Leaving in a few days for Patagonia. Reviews say the wind is “like nothing you’ve ever experienced” and I think “really, I’m from Saskatchewan!” but…..I don’t want to be cold. What to take, what to take, oh I hate packing!