Blogs from Villarrica Volcano, Araucanía, Chile, South America

Recently I moved in with a family in picturesque Pucón, which is a village in Chile nestled between green hills that fold down into an expansive lake. This shores of this lake provide both a beach and a harbour on either side of a small point of land which juts into the lake at one end of Pucón. The most dramatic aspect of the landscape though is the perfectly conical volcano that stands on the edge of town, which along with providing ski fields, has also had some serious lava flows in the past. After spending an entire week having my eyes drawn to the snowy slopes of majestic Vulcán Villarrica, I could no longer resist the temptation to climb it and peer into its smoking crater. I signed up with one of the plethora of ... read more

More than 10% of all volcanos in the world are situated in Chile. One of the most active volcanoes in Chile is the Villarica close to the little city of Pucon. Villarica is more than 2800 metres high and you can see a smoky cloud coming out of the crater at any time of the day. And you usually can hike up this volcano. However, due to security reasons the hike up to the crater of the volcano was closed after the earth quake. Lucky girl I was that the path was re-opened on the day I was about to take the night bus to Santiago! :o)))) The proper equipment consisted of helmet, crampons, ice pick, sun glasses, overall, water, sun cream and chocolate. And off we went. Yeah. Trekking up the volcano took between 4 ... read more

After two days of hanging around in Pucon under grey skys and rain, the horizon finally cleared to the site of the Villarrica Volcano. The Villarrica Volcano is an active Volcano situated outside of the town Pucon where I have come to stay for a week or so. Myself and my four friends woke early to setoff on the trek up Villarrica. To climb the Volcano you must be with a guide and have the proper equipment as the conditions in the high altitude can turn for the worse very quickly. We got our gear together and headed to the base of the Volcano by bus. There, with out ice picks, crampons, and the rest of our gear, we began the trek up Villarica. As we made our way up the side of the volcano the ... read more

After a quick stop off in Puerto Montt where i secured a massive soft sheepskin for a tenner, we proceeded to Pucon where a whole host of adventurous activities possibly awaited. Our main objective was to climb villarica Volcano and get down by any means other than walking. On first arrival we were met by a tout from backpackers hostel, but who was very knowledgable and the most experienced guide on Villarica so we stayed at his hostel and booked to go to Villarica with his guides whenever they were next going. The weather was too rough to go the next day, but the day after we suited and booted so got ready to ascend the active volcano with ice axes, crampons and all. We got up at 6 and readied for 7 and after our ... read more

Sitting in a hostel common room in Bariloche, Argentina, I'm debating where to go next, south? into the increasing chill, north? a wine tour in Mendoza, east? to the coast where soon the whales will return, or west? into Chile across the Andes and to the small town of Pucón where an active Volcano can be climbed. So many options and unfortunately my time in South America is in it's final few weeks. I form a vague plan, head west, then north then east; Bariloche to Pucon, to Santiago, to Mendoza. Patagonia, Glaciers and Antarctica will have to wait - another trip - I've said this before. Part of the decision was down to one of those coincidences, speaking to people who'd just arrived from Pucon, not being sure what to do and then looking at ... read more

Nine hours south of Santiago is Pucon, a mecca for adventure sports. The town sits at the foot of the Villaricca volcano, an active volcano. At 4am on our first night, the town´s siren went off. We thought we were in a real life Dante´s Peak! But it turned out to be the summoning of the town´s volunteer firefighters. We can now say that we have climbed a volcano, an active one at that! Having had no previous climbing experience, we were a bit phased about what lay ahead. Crampons, what the .... are crampons?! Every time you look at the top you think "Ach, i´ll be there in a jiffy," but no, it´s another two hours! As we reached the summit finally, the putrid odour emanating from the massive crater choked us. However, the thick ... read more