Chillin in Chile

Chile

Arriving in the capital Santiago we didn't plan to stay long. Like most capitals it was just a big city. This metropolitan was a bustle with people finishing Christmas shopping. The dark political past of the country seemed to be at the surface with wounds still healing but this didn't stop the people from being some of the nicest encountered on this trip. The only problem here was the dialect of Spanish that was spoken, we had no idea what was being said and no one understood us!

After two nights we were back on a bus for a two hour ride to Valparaiso and most importantly the ocean!!!! Valparaiso was a very important port before the opening of the Panama canal. It was the first port on the west coast of Chile after rounding Cape Horn. Feeling the ocean breeze roll in after not seeing the sea for 80 days was refreshing. Dropping off our big packs we went out exploring this colorful port city with so much character. The city is perched on a steep hill with grafiti and murals covering the buildings.

 Valparaiso

Next stop was the adventure capital of Chile, Pucon. With lush forests and beautiful lakes we felt like we were at home on the west coast! We went for a hike through the national park where perched in between 2 mountains was a crystal clear lake with the most spectacular reflections.

 National Park

Volcan Villarica

Of course we decided to do another hike up an active volcanoe!!! I mean why not right, we only hate mountains and ice axe hikes! just kidding ;) Volcan Villarica is active and occasionaly it spurts lava! The best part was sliding all the way down on sleds!

 Going up

 The smoking crater