Pucón

By the 23rd of Jan, we arrived into pucón for 5 nights to link back up with Sheila and Megan. We stayed at Camping Parque la Poza, a campsite in town close to Villarica lake and the girl's hostel Chili Kiwi. It was nice to be back in a town with internet connection after a week exploring national parks.

Pucōn is a beautiful volcanic town which currently has a semi-active volcano, on alert since December 2022. The town is an adventure hub and is a popular spot for Chileans to go on holiday.

After settling into our campsite, for our first night we joined Sheila and Megan at their hostel which had a lovely outdoor treehouse to enjoy a few drinks and watch the sunset over the lake.

-Day 2: We had a slow start to the day and then hiked/hitched to a nearby waterfall Cascada el claro. It was a much steeper climb than we anticipated so we weren't too mentally prepared. Very kindly, we were offered a lift back to town by a Chilean couple from Santiago in their huge truck. Predictably, Joe was very happy with this. In the evening we had the vans first BBQ of steak and ribs with the campsite dogs coming to join.

-Day 3: this was an advertuous day. We went hydrospeeding which was floating through rapids on a river while lying on top of a tiny foam board. We were all a little unsure what to expect but it turned out to be a great adrenaline rush. In the evening we had our second BBQ, this time joined by Ronan from Dublin and Gandalf the beagle.

-Day 4: We went to the national park called Huerquehue and did the San Sebastian hike. This was steep and hands down the hardest hike yet. It was 1300m in elevation. It took the full day but gave us incredible views of the area. We were very pleased with ourselves and had a cup of Megan's Barry's tea when we were back down in the van. We ate out at Cassis restaurant and went to bed very tired.

-Day 5: The last day of our reunion with Sheila and Megan. We rented out kayaks and had Rob from the hostel join us. Sheila and I took turns being in the middle to be the ladies of leisure not having the paddle. We had a few drinks at the hostel before saying our sad goodbyes.

Recommendations:
San Sebastian hike
Hydrospeed
Rent kayaks
Cascada el claro
Puras Pavadas for empanadas
You can also climb a volcano but it's pricey and we couldn't get to the top as it's active
Eltit- our favourite chilean supermarket

23/01- 27/01
*Footprint credit to Sheila ScottLeia mais