Up the Volcano

The main attraction in Pucón is the Villarrica Volcano (or Rucapillán in Mapuche), which last exploded in 1971.  It's still very much active though, and every day at noon, the volcano alarm goes off in the centre of town to signify midday. Apparently, this is done to ensure that everyone knows what the sound is in case it should ever go off due to exploding lava.  Then again, when it went off at 1 in the morning, no one came to my hostel room with a plan of action.  I jumped out of bed, poised for flight in my pyjamas but with no clue of how to proceed.  Turns out they were just calling the firemen for some other problem.  Looking back, maybe I should have been more concerned.

You can take a guided tour up to the top of the volcano, and sometimes even see some lava jumping around.  Chloe and I weren't sure if climbing the volcano was in our budget, but after 3 days in Pucón and hearing everyone talk about it, we felt we had no choice.  And what a good choice it was.  The day started early at 6:30AM when Philippe and Eduardo picked us up from our hostel and decked us out with hiking boots and a backpack filled with snow gear (ice pick included). After a forty minute drive up to the base of the volcano, we had the option to take a chairlift up the first bit (for an extra 7000 pesos).  We all opted to walk.

 I'm normally terrible at walking uphill, but my love for hiking usually overcomes my problems when I can recover on the flat parts or downhills on a hike.  Unsurprisingly, hiking up a volcano means you hike straight up for 5 hours.  Soon, our group split into the fast hikers ahead and the slow ones behind (at least I wasn't alone).  The first third of the hike was up gravel and hardened lava, but before long we had to take our ice picks off our packs to use on the endless snowy steps carved into the snow to get to the top. 

On top of my inability to climb uphill, I also was battling the recovery of Christmas fitness levels (where you sit, eat, and then continue sitting, followed by eating more).  This made it a difficult trek for me, and the constant pressure of the guides to go faster was unhelpful.  But somehow, I eventually got to the top.  The views of the area below had been impressive the whole way up, but after a while I had stop admiring them to just put my head down and keep one foot going in front of the other.  At the top, I could stop, breathe, and take in the landscape of 4 more volcanos, lakes, and pure beauty in all 360 degrees.  We walked part way around the volcano and when the wind blew in a certain direction, the sulfur made it nearly impossible to breathe.  The colours in the crater were amazing, but there was no lava to be seen.  I'm inclined to say that is a good thing. 

Our lovely guides were on a tight schedule, and we were quickly told to gear up using all the things in our packs.  Snowpants, jacket, gloves, helmets, butt protector, and a small plastic disk similar to a crazy carpet that attached to our front belts and tucked between our legs.  We were ready to descend by toboganning.

We hiked a short distance down the volcano and got a quick lesson on sliding down a volcano using our icepicks for brakes.  I didn't make time to go sledding in Edmonton before I left, but I have to say, exhausting yourself on a hike up a volcano then toboganning down in snow gear before returning to plus 32 degrees and a cold beer is just fantastic.

Barrio Yungay Carnival

On our first night at the Casa de ECELA, word spread around the house of a summer Carnival happening in a neighbouring district of Santiago.  Chloë and I ended up going with other new arrivals at the house, who also shared a complete lack of Spanish comprehension.  When we got off the metro, there were no obvious signs of a party in the street.  It wasn't a problem though, since we just followed everyone else.  In a few blocks we were at a park that only took up a single square block, but was overflowing with vendors, music, confetti, food, and people, people, people.  Our first loop of the square was a feast for the senses, and even though we moved slowly with the crowd, it was nearly impossible to take everything in.  After the first loop, we had beers in hand, Sophie and Freddie had made a few purchases from the craft vendors, and we were on a mission to find the coveted wine popsicles that seemed to sell out every time we arrived at the next cooler.  Dinner was a "Completo" hot dog, topped with guacamole, tomato, and mayonnaise. We had resisted paying a few dollars for our own bag of confetti on our first loop, but Yves picked one up without me noticing and surprised me with our first confetti fight.  It went everywhere.  I had confetti on my hot dog, in my hair, and I even had to fish it out of my eyeballs (you're welcome for that mental image).  Despite my best attempts to clean myself off, I think I'll find more confetti hiding in pockets and my purse for the next week. 

We left the Carnival around ten to make sure we'd get back to the house in time for a good sleep for our 8AM placement test on Monday morning, but the carnival was still going strong.  Marching bands pushed their way through the crowds as more people kept showing up with glow sticks and flashlights.  It was hard to leave such a great party.  How they managed to clean up the millions of coloured circles coating the square I will never know.  I'm so happy we managed to hear about the carnival, I couldn't have asked for a better welcome to Santiago. 

Bienvenida a Santiago

Due to mechanical issues with the plane, our flight from Toronto to Santiago was delayed by eight hours.  This resulted in an uncomfortable 4 hour sleep in the airport followed by a sleepless 10 hour flight.    We finally arrived in Santiago after sunset, took a shuttle directly to our hostel, and promptly fell asleep.

With an unlimited timeline to travel mixed with a very, 'been there, done that' attitude to jet lag and the exhaustion that comes with the first day in a new place, the first morning in Santiago was unexciting. After breakfast, Chloe and I sat down to do a lesson of Spanish on our iPods which quickly turned into a two hour nap. Our hostel is on a relatively busy street, and as buses roared past setting off car alarms, I said to myself, "This is Santiago telling you to wake up! The city wants to be explored!" I pressed the snooze button. But it turned out to be a good idea (especially as Chloe is battling a cold) as we spent 7 hours wandering around the city from afternoon to evening. We had a great meal full of fresh ingredients and a local beer, and got a good impression of central Santiago which is modern, but quite dildapilated. The people seem to have an Edmontonian fashion sense, a description that I will leave up to your interpretation. We climbed Santa Lucia, which is a 15 million year old volcano and reaches as high as some of the sky scrapers surrounding the area.  After our late lunch, we sat in one of the many green spaces in the city and relaxed.  After 3 months of winter, the simple pleasure of laying on some nice green grass was quite beautiful.  The next morning we took the metro to our new home for the next week - Casa de ECELA, or our language school house.

Downtown Santiago is run down. The guidebooks say this, but I conveniently forgot and assumed that the entire city was in the same shape.  Our school house is one district over in Providencia, and coming out of the metro station was like walking into a different city altogether. The peeling paint, stray dogs, and gypsies present on every street in the central district disappeared in favour of freshly cut lawns, well kept houses, and all dogs on leashes.  My privileged, white-girl self felt instantly more comfortable, but maybe once I pick up some Spanish I will be able to navigate around the city with more ease.

After dropping off our bags in the house, we headed back to the central market to pick up some lunch and groceries at the market. Between the heat, humidity, and jet lag, were ready to nap by the time we got back to the house.  Given the 50 degree temperature difference between Edmonton and Santiago, I'm not surprised.  Hopefully we acclimatize quickly.   I have white skin that needs toasting!

The "Danielle doesn't have the coordination to ride a Motorcycle" Diaries

This isn't a tale of heroic feats, It's about two lives running parallel for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams.

The plan: Exploring South America until our money runs out.

The method: improvisation.

The goal: to explore a continent we had only read about in books.  Or you know, on the internet.

The equipment: Two 60 litre backpacks, my camera, and our feet to guide us.

The pilot: Chloe. A recent Arts grad, Chloe isn't ready to settle into a permanent job in Edmonton, and tackling a continent seems like the best way to shake off the wanderlust.  She comes to South America with a permanent smile on her face and a enthusiastic ability to suss out anything and everything.

Chloe's dream: to visit all 13 countries in South America.

Copilot: me, Danielle. Estoy apprendieno español. Despite only spending 8 months in Edmonton after coming home from New Zealand, I feel like I've been sitting pretty at home for far too long.  I was bitten very hard by the travel bug, and this is my 4th extended trip abroad in 3 years.  Oh how wonderful it is.  

The route: A one way plane ticket to Santiago and travelling along the, ahem,  "rugged spine of the Andes to Machu Picchu" in June.

The final destination:  Your guess is as good as ours.

What we have in common: our restlessness, our impassioned spirits, and a love for the open road.

Dear Mom,

Edmonton is behind us.  Gone is "this wretched life", the uninspiring work days, the familiar daily trudge of a routine, and a dreary winter prairie landscape.  All of Latin America is ahead of us.  From now on, we only trust in ourselves.  And Che Guevara quotes.

And for my Next Adventure..

Oh how good it feels to start up a new blog in anticipation of my next trip.  Even though I have never taken to pen and paper journaling, creating a new URL is the equivalent of running my finger down the spine of a new diary to flatten the crease of the first blank page.

Here is the start of "South of 53" - a title that will hopefully summarize my open ended trip to South America.  I am sitting comfortably in my house in Edmonton to write this inaugural post.  From here, I optimistically hope my adventures will include only a few Spanish and Portuguese 'lost in translation' failures.  There should be some interesting food, a lot of great landscapes, and many new experiences as I have never been out of 'the western world'.  Essentially, this blog will represent every place I manage to visit south of the 53rd Parallel North where Edmonton sits.

This trip to South America has been in the making for a year.  I came back from New Zealand last May to find work and save up money.  Work ended up being quite successful as between two jobs, I averaged 60 hours a week.  It has been satisfying to see how hard I can work for something I really want, but I'm also very aware of how privileged I am to have this opportunity.  It's also fantastic that this time I travel, I'm not alone.  My partner in crime is Chloe, who studied abroad in Cortona with me and is down for travel as open ended as mine.

My grandmother probably summarized it best when we were saying our goodbyes and she said, "Well, I hope you have a great time.  I don't know if this is a holiday or what it is, but you better send me a postcard."

Adios, Edmonton! Here's to new adventures.