Goodbye Chile, But Only For Now

After all the excitement of Bolivia we went back into northern Chile and slowed the pace down a little. Our first stop was Arica, which was only a few miles from the border with Peru. Dominated by a massive rock, the area was famous for a war with Peru. Now peaceful, the area is a beach town and is famous for two enormous waves that people come from around the world to attempt to surf on.

We then moved further south to the bigger seaside resort of Iquique. We liked this place as it had a lovely pedestrian street with cool bars and restaurants. It was low season but warm enough for it to be nice.

Unfortunately, our time here will be remembered for our numerous trips to the doctor, where Tim was diagnosed with a particularly virulent stomach bug he caught in Bolivia. Fortunately some strong pills did the trick and we were able to move on after a few easy days.

After flying down to Santiago we bussed it down to the lovely town of Pucon. The town is on the edge of Chile’s Lake District and is quite a modern town, but is a cross-between a North American and a Swiss ski resort. A bit like Queenstown in New Zealand, it is the “go to” place for outdoor activities and gets overrun in the summer.

The town is dominated by the Villarica Volcano, and we had come to ski on it, but the rain and wind, combined with a red alert for a possible eruption kept the ski resort closed. Fortunately, the volcano did not erupt either, but when we did eventually see it, you could see that there is a constant plume of smoke rising from the crater.

To make up for the lack of skiing we went to some fantastic thermal baths. We took to the waters in the pouring rain, but at 36 to 41 degrees in the water, the rain did not spoil our fun in any way.

We also met two local guys who were setting up a travel business and who took us out on a 4×4 excursion as a test. We had a great time visiting waterfalls, which due to four days of rain were very powerful. We also climbed the tracks up to the back of the volcano and had some incredible views of the snow-capped peak.

After four days, we returned to Santiago and took a flight on to Ecuador. We have loved our time in Chile, and we will come back next year to experience what the south of the country has to offer. But for now it is off to warmer climes near the equator, and our third country.