Pucon, Chile

We arrived in Pucón, Chile on November 29th and left on December 14th. We had an AMAZING 2 weeks there. When I say Pucón, you probably have no idea where that is and what it’s like. So I will tell you. Pucón is a small town 2 hours away from an airport in Chile. In Pucón you can do many activities. It also has lots of nature, including volcanos, lakes, waterfalls, and forests. 

The first few days we stayed in little cabins with a wonderful view of Villarrica Lake. Here, there were some of the most incredible sunsets I have ever seen in my life. The sun reflected on the big, flat, wind free lake. The mountains and clouds turned a pinkish orange color so that there wasn’t a bit of blue in the sky! The evenings were cold so we put on fires that warmed up the house and made the house cozy. We took spanish classes everyday and our spanish has definitely improved. After a few days, we moved to a Hostel called El Refugio. This hostel had inside rooms but also dome tents with real beds in them. Dad, Mom, and Maura slept together in a dome and I slept with 5 other people because I sleep easily without waking up because of noise. Everyone shared 2 small kitchens and a living room. In a hostel you get to know many people and their travels.

The first morning we went zip lining through the forest and over a river. It was fun, except the staff was rushed and it was over in the blink of an eye. In that same river we did rafting. For rafting, We wore wet suits, life jackets, and a helmet. We sat  on the outsides of a sturdy blow up boat and you had to put your feet under something so you could not easily fall out. There was a guide with us that helped us and shouted out commands. When he said "Adelante!" we had to use our paddle and row forward. "Atras!" meant backward, "Piso!" meant we had to crouch down into the boat because a big wave or rock was coming up. We went 11km down the river, seeing the snowcapped volcanos and the landscape, paddling through the waves which were formed by the rocks in the ice cold water and having a lot of fun. Sometimes there were rapids and it was exciting  and sometimes it was calm water and very peaceful. We did it twice, the first time without Mom and the second time with her. The second time, because I was the youngest, I got to sit at the front without having to paddle. Every wave or turn The cold water splashed in my face! On the biggest rapids, i could look down and just see a drop, then I would grab the side and lean back, and KABOOM!  We would go down, the water splashing on my face the whole time and then back up, this process going over and over throughout the whole rapid. This was one of our 2 favorite activities of Pucón. 

The second biggest highlight was hiking up the snowcapped Volcano Villarrica. My mom didn’t join us because she had pain in her thigh. We woke up at 6 am, got ready and went to an agency that plans activities. We got huge backpacks filled with water food, and some other supplies for the mountain such as ice picks, extra jacket and pants, and special shoes for ice. We drove up to the base of the mountain. The first 400 meters up we took a ski lift. After that the snow started, the lifts stopped and we had to walk. They told us the safety rules and then we started to walk zig-zag up the hill. In the first hour we had already taken off all but 1 layer of clothing because it was hot and tough! We walked upwards and after 3-4 hours we arrived at the top. At the top it was cold and windy and we had 5 layers of clothes on! The view was breathtaking! After our lunch, we started to descend. The fun part was that we didn’t walk down but slide down through paths sometimes turning or jumping! This was the first time i climbed a snowy volcano and it was a fantastic experience. 

We also kayaked on the lake, biked, hiked through the Huerquehue Park (pronounced: werkewe) and visited Los Pozones which are natural hot pools.There was also a cold river flowing beside them in which we jumped in many times. If you went under 3 times it was so cold that even 20 seconds after you got out it still felt as if your head was in a bowl of ice! This was more of a place to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. 

Click below for link to gallery >>

(click here for Pucón gallery)

We are leaving this place with lots of great memories and we will now enjoy 3 weeks in Maui. 
Happy Holidays! 

~ Julie

Update of our Travels

Gerardo #1

It has been a while since we last updated our travel blog but a lot has happened since the end of September!

We went back to Spain in the beginning of October so that I could see a cardiologist in Barcelona, who told me that I could travel safely if taking some precautions, like drinking no alcohol and only taking one cup of coffee a day. The first part is relatively easy for me, but just one cup of coffee is quite an ordeal.

It is not yet clear which type of Tachycardia I am having and that is why they can not do an ‘ Ablation operation’ until I have had a well recorded third attack. (mentioned in the first post).

While in Europe we spent a few weeks in Mallorca, where we encountered a prolonged summer. We also visited Barcelona with the girls so that they could see the schools we are interested in for next year. We had the chance to speak to a number of dutch families attending the international schools in Barcelona to get a feel of the schools and life in general.

After some preparations we left again for South America. We did not have much of a plan but wanted to go to Chile. Since I had to see one more doctor on the very last day in Holland and KLM’s flights to Chile were very full, Yvette and the girls flew to Rio de Janeiro and enjoyed the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches for two days. (click here for Rio de Janeiro gallery) I flew to Sao Paolo the day after and since we were now so close by we decided to head for the famous Iguassu Falls on the border of  Brazil and Argentina, where we all met again at the airport.

We were very lucky with the flow and amount of water and the Iguassu Falls were simply terrific and overwhelming! What a force of nature and what a tremendous amount of water! We visited both the Brazilian and the Argentinian side while hiking, biking and boating on the river. (click here for Iguassu gallery)

The sister city of Iguassu is the city of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, connected by a famous bridge, and there we visited one of my former Unilever business partners, who is a very well known distributor in Paraguay.

We had several dinners with them (with loads of meat!) and while having dinner they suggested we should visit Mendoza, the capital of the wine area Valle del Uco in Argentina, so we took the plane and after spending two days in Buenos Aires we arrived in this very dry city. 

Water management is very important there and the melting water of the Andes is essential for several industries and also for all the carefully irrigated trees and parks in the city.

The girls did quite some homeschooling and after 4 days we left for the Valle del Uco area (the wine area) and spent two days in a wine estate or bodega, Salentein, owned by a well-known Dutch family. Obviously we had to do a few wine tastings in the beautiful wine estates of  Salentein, Andeluna and previously in Zuccardi in the Maipu area. (click here for Mendoza gallery)

It started to get very warm and so we finally left for Chile, which is only an hour’s flight over the spectacular Andes. We skipped Santiago for now and went straight south to the area of the Viarrica volcano. We are now in Pucon, next to the Viarrica volcano, where we will stay for the next two weeks. Julie and Maura will write the next updates about this beautiful area.

~ Gerardo