Blogs from Villarrica Volcano, Araucanía, Chile, South America

Du 18 au 21 mars 2016 Simon Pucon est une ville touristique en plein coeur de la région des Fleuves, à 4h au nord de Puerto Montt. Chaque été, elle accueille des flots de touristes chiliens (c'est un peu le Touquet du Chili !) et internationaux venus profiter des lacs, rivières, forêts et volcans de la région. N'appréciant pas vraiment les lieux envahis par la foule, on a un peu hésité avant de prendre la direction de Pucon. Une fois sur place, on découvre une charmante petite ville aux maisons en bois, fleuries et étonnamment harmonieuses comparées à ce qu'on avait vu jusqu'alors au Chili... Cerise sur le gâteau, la foule a déjà fait ses valises pour cause de fin de saison. Le premier jour, nous nous rendons en bus aux "Ojos de Caburga", des piscines ... read more

Alors avec les rafales de vent qui ont soufflé toute la nuit, je me suis levée et suis allée à l’agence en me disant qu’ils allaient annuler. Eh bien non ! Le plan, conseillé par l’agence, était de prendre un téléphérique pour la première partie car elle ne présente aucun intérêt et permet de garder ses forces pour la 2èmepartie. Sauf qu’en cas de vent, le téléphérique n’ouvre pas, donc il va falloir monter tout ça à pied! Le rythme est assez lent avec des pauses fréquentes. Puis vient le moment où nous devons chausser les crampons et les guêtres, mettre le casque, ça ne rigole plus. Et je dois dire que le début ne m’a pas rassurée, car c’était vraiment de la glace avec une grande inclinaison, et j’espérais secrètement que ça ne dure pas ... read more

We went to Pucon with the express intention of climbing to the top of the towns volcano. However as our bus neared Pucon, the snow capped summit of Volcano Villarrica came into view and it became clear that getting to the top would not be easy. Tracy spent much of our first day in Pucon procrastinating over whether to attempt to climb Villarrica Volcano. However once she saw pictures of people who had succeeded she decided to go for it. Tracy would come to regret that decision in less than 24 hours. That evening we tried on our mountaineering boots, jackets and trousers and made a load of ham and cheese sandwiches to eat on the climb the next day. Waking up at 6am I cooked us both omelettes and by 7:30am we were waiting at ... read more

Firstly, some of you seem to take great pleasure of pointing out I seem to have become a bit volcano obsessed over the past 4 months. So I thought I'd write you a nice story about my last ascent. Tens of tour groups do Villarrica every day, and as it was quite expensive, I thought about trying to climb it on my own, and just hiring the equipment. After all, I'd just have to follow one of the groups up, and it'd be easy right? Sadly, regulations about having to be a member of the British mountaineering society put paid to that, so I coughed up my money and prepared to join the masses. Or at least that's what I'd hoped to do, unfortunately I had been told the wrong time, so when I arrived at ... 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