Sol y Lago Apart Hotel Pucon

... climb the local snow capped volcano, however, because of the bad weather we were told this wasn´t going to be possible. I wasn´t feeling to great so Kate decided to go on a hike through the national park, she was dressed up in water proofs and really warm clothing to protect her from the deep snow that covered the ground. It was like a scene from a Christmas card, walking through the forest and seeing snow hanging from every ...

... on Earth had me so perplexed. I attempted the Heimlich on myself to no avail. Only once I started seeing a bright, white light did I have the courage to shove my fingers down my throat and pull out my airway offender. I honestly thought I was going to die, right there, among the European tourists and thick cuts of blood sausage. But, I made it through the ordeal alive. Who would have thought that of all the ways to die in South America, I would ...

Back into Chile now for some more scenery...through one of the most beautiful drives in the whole of South America...the seven lakes drive...but it rained all the way so we didn`t see a thing apart from steamy windows!!! Pucon is situated on the shores of Lake Villarrica below the amazing cone shaped Villarrica Volcano and surrounded by mountains, lakes, forests and rivers but the volcano is the biggest ...

... typical! Despite this, we ended up having a fantastic weekend. We were the talk of the town, it was so small that people we met in restaurants came up to us to say hello when they spotted us later. We took a walk around town and groups of people would just stop talking and stare when we walked past. We ended up going out for a night on the town. Interestingly their night club didn´t even open until 2:30am. We had to keep drinking coke to ...

... her friends we arranged a hike up Volcan Villarica. We met at 7am and got all our gear, complete with ice axes - chevere! We got a bus to the ski area and like 95% of other people we got a chairlift up to 1,800 meters. I wanted to hike all the way up, buy my group didnt, so I didn´t have much of a choice. The hike to the top took around three hours, first up rocky path, then up the snowy glacier going nearly all the way to the ...

... That night we took the bus into Huerquehue natinal park. Pricy camping but amazing scenery we and we couldn't have stayed there toherwise. We got up the next day and hiked about 5km and 500m in elevation to 4 lakes. Beautiful. Surprisingly one of the highlights of the trip was a type of tree called the Curious Monkey Puzzle. I read about parks being formed to protect it while i was still back in canada and thought it would be boring to go to a ...

... to the crew-only deck where I was given a warm welcome by the captain. They taught me the names of the native trees blanketing the hills, showed me the navigation instruments, and gave me my very own observation deck for taking pictures. Luis even took me on a tour of the forest and some nearby cabins (while quizzing me on the tree names). After spending a few days off the charts, I then headed to the popular adventure/resort/beach town of Puc ...

No domingo a noite, já estava tudo programado para ir pra Pucón, no distrito dos lagos ao sul do Chile. Comprei a passagem num ônibus semi cama da Pullmán, por cerca de 15000 pesos. O ônibus sai do terminao Sao Borja na estacao central no metro, linha vermelha. Já sai praticamente dentro do terminal e nao pareceu ser perigoso. É um terminal grande com ônibus pra praticamente todo o país e parece ser bem organizado.<br>Depois de 10 horas e mais alguns minutinhos de ...

... both a dynamic city centre and a beautiful beach, La Serena really lived up to its name. We went on two of the day tours here that we have probably enjoyed the most so far. Our first trip took us on a coastal route to view the amazing wildlife off the Chilean coast. We were lucky enough to be visitors to the natural habitat of bottle nose dolphins, seals, Humbolt penguins, cormorants, sea otters and pelicans! We shared this amazing trip ...

... in hindsight, it was actually fairly cool to be above of an avalanche and watch it fall below you - but still a little dodgy. When I got to the bottom, a Brazilian couple greeted me with "Was that you? That was so awesome!!! We video taped your avalanche!" Next up - White water kayaking lessons... and finding that I need a LOT more practice, especially that whole rolling back upright thingy.