Of Santuario el Cañi;

From Chile W7 Pucon

On day two the the excursion to Pucon we set out trekking. Not to far outside of Pucon is the nature sanctuary of Cañi. The area is the remnant of a big volcano, which is now just a heavily forested lump in the landscape with a few old lava cones bumps on top which are only noticeable in maps.

From Chile W7 Pucon

She didn't have a backpack for the hike up, so she made a hobo stick.  From Chile W7 Pucon

This was my first time doing any real hiking in Chile and now I feel like I need to do more before winter fully sets in. It was a great hike. We were in the clouds for most of it, but now and then it would open up and we would get some blue skies.

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

The hike felt easy since it was low altitude (1500ft to about 4500ft) hike. Much easier than the cascades. But there was still a lot of up hill. After passing a few small farms the trail went strait up the mountain. Us gringos and our guide set off the conquer this mountain. For the people taking their second semester in Valdivia is was their second time on this same hike, but they still had a good time with it.

Robert and Erin with Robert's backpack going up the hill. She never noticed all the weight jokes and references. From Chile W7 Pucon

After hiking for several hours up the steepest part of the mountain Robert tells Erin about the rock he put in the pack when we all first set off up the hill.     From Chile W7 Pucon

After we got up the the refugio the trail started to flatten out. From there we went past two lakes and several types of Chilean forests.

The refugio.    From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

Araucaria forests.   From Chile W7 Pucon

Our final destination. Last semester it was clear skies and they went up higher to a view point to see all the volcanoes around the area. But I guess a lake and some nice hot cups of mate is good too. From Chile W7 Pucon

The hike took probably about 6 hours and was 10 miles. The only hard thing was doing the miles of steep downhill all the way back to the bus. I had some sore legs the next day.

From Chile W7 Pucon

Our guide. From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

of the araucarias; of Villarrica;

A collection of parrots in a monkey puzzle tree.  From Chile W7 Pucon

One of my favorite things is Chile the the trees known as araucarias. In english they are known as monkey puzzle trees because it would puzzle a monkey to climb through the sharp needle-filled branches.

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

We have the trees in the US, but none of them are native. In Chile some of the trees are over 1000 years old. They are also the national tree of Chile. You can see images of them everywhere and in the cities many people will have them growing in their yards.



One of the big sites in Pucon is the volcano Villarrica. You can see it from nearly everywhere and it always has a small bit of smoke coming out of the top. In the winter I want to come back to Pucon because there is a ski resort on the side of the volcano.

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

And a few more pictures from Pucon:

From Chile W7 Pucon

Dessert of sweet empanadas.  From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

Of the Mapuche of Quelhue;

This was a busy weekend. I woke up early on Friday to catch the bus for my excursion to Pucon with my program. We had things planned for the rest of the weekend. Not much free time at all to see the city of Pucon.

This little hut is called a ruka. There were 2 at the Mapuche community we went to. From Chile W7 Pucon

The first thing we did was go to the Comunidad Mapuche de Quelhue. It was a small village of the native Chilean culture. It wasn't super touristy because it was only the group of us students and the family that ran the center.

We had to cross over a pretty big river on the way to the Mapuche culture center. From Chile W7 Pucon

Inside the ruka we were told about Mapuche customs and art. From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

After our culture lesson they dressed some of us up in Mapuche clothes and gave us native instruments to play. Later they showed us an indigenous sport which was like hockey. We played it with tree branches with a curve like a hockey stick and a wooden ball. We had a fun time playing it with the two kids who were part of the Mapuche family.

From Chile W7 Pucon

A gringa all dressed up like a Mapuch. From Chile W7 Pucon

Then it was time for our Mapuche meal. We we first got there they were preparing a big slab of meat for roasting over a fire. It was a great meal. Lots of Mapuche foods which I couldn't identify. Lots of sopaipillas, chestnuts, and piñones with a big chunk of delicious meat. I would have taken pictures, but we were eating in one of the dark rukas.

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

From Chile W7 Pucon

Of the place where ships go to die;

Well I've gone by this place a few times now on bike. I'm not sure if it is where ships are made, dismantled, or just parked. It could be all three.

From Chile W6 Bike 2

It is a big complex (which you can only view from the other side of a fence) with several dozen ships. There is also a big drydock building.

From Chile W6 Bike 2

One of the things about this place is that it isn't actually along the river. It across a street and probably 150 meters of land before you even get to the fence. They have huge rails stretching from the parking yard to the river. I'd like to see the day when one of these ships is actually crossing the street. This sign pretty much says Caution: Boat Crossing. There aren't many places where you see that everyday.

From Chile W6 Bike 2

These are some big boats too. I'm not sure what they do once they get into the water because there is still a bridge which seems like it would be too small to pass under to get out to the ocean. I guess you just have to work the tides well.

From Chile W6 Bike 2

Of a photographic excursion; of the Feria Fluvial;

This weekend I got up nice and early to join my photography class on a photo excursion in el Centro and the fish market. There were about 20 of us all going around taking pictures of everything, standing on benches trying to get the best shot, and crowing around local vendors who didn't mind having their pictures taken.

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

Lots of the locals were asking us and the professor if were were tourist and they would explain that it was just locals in a photography class - except for me. I probably made the class look like a tourist group being a gringo with my butchered spanish. But, I guess I pretty much am a tourist. I'm always taking lots of pictures in the market and around town of things which I have no idea what the name is or in some cases what it even is.

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

One of the sea lions outside the market got a fish spine from one of the vendors. From Chile W6 fotografia

We also met a man gives names to the pigeons of Valdivia. I'm not sure how he would do it, but he could shout a name like "Pinguino" and the penguin colored pigeon hops into his hand to get at some bread crumbs.    From Chile W6 fotografia

Then we made our way into the Feria Fluvial which pretty much means river market. It was a busy Saturday morning in the market with everyone showing off their fish, veggies, and other goods. Lots of people making their way through the market to buy the fresh goods, and a group of people taking pictures of just about everything.

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

I ended up buying that old comic book from 1961 and some other stuff here. From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

From Chile W6 fotografia

This isn't in the market, but it is near. It is the submarine which is moored at the dock. From Chile W6 fotografia