Breakfast is a surprise. I have supplies for a simple breakfast of cereal and toast, however my host, the lovely Carolina (fluent in Spanish, English and French) and her assistant Etienne (her beautifully mannered son of around 6-8 years old) provides breakfast as well, which I obviously hadn’t expected. Delicious eggs from their own chooks, very delicious home-made bread, not to mention the local honey and jams, followed up with a cup of tea. Very highly recommended for anyone in the vicinity of Pucon! See www.facebook.com/maisonnomade, km 15 Pucon.Caburgua, nomadepucon@gmail.com, ph. +56 8293 6388.
After brekky, it’s off to see the vicinity! The sun is shining at this moment through a hole in the clouds, vegetation (and my, isn’t there a lot of it, shockingly green in the bright light) glistening with drops of water, Carolina’s pair of hounds racing madly around the yard, not to mention the three kids zooming around happily, and I haven’t even left the front gate yet. There’s still a little bit of cloud hanging around, so not everything is yet visible, but I can see enough to know that this area (both generally and specifically) is fairly gifted in terms of scenery.
I’m off towards Caburgua to see the lake and scenery. The hills are all covered in trees, the little patchwork farmlets, wandering animals, rambling blackberry bushes, fluffy clouds, cool but not cold – just perfect…
Wandering into the little town on the shore of the lake, I’m again taken by the view. The lake is still, framed by the same tree-covered hills I’ve been admiring all along the route, and in the background, the top of one of the hills is covered in freshly fallen snow. While the weather is far too cool for me to even think about swimming, not to mention my childhood memories of thermally stratified lakes (where the top 30cm or so is pleasantly warm, but the layer of water underneath is very cold), there are a few brave/foolhardy lads (amongst a larger group – all up, maybe 10) who have ventured into the water and are splashing about having a great time. It doesn’t take too long before they leave the water again, and at that point, I notice that they may be somewhat fortified against the cold. There are some bottles amongst the group that look suspiciously like beer bottles… I wonder if last night’s revelries have simply continued into this morning?
I walk down to the edge of the lake on the dark grey-coloured sand. It’s a bit off-putting for an Aussie who is used to white sandy beaches, but I soon realise that the sand is indeed sandy and not clayey as I expected. It is just that the source rocks are grey coloured, rather than the quartz-rich rocks that supply material for Australian beaches. I remember the same on the beaches of Krakatoa! There is a small ramp leading out into the lake that I walk out on and admire the extraordinarily clear water. I check the water temperature with my hand and yes, it is rather cold. The lads swimming are even crazier than I thought they might be!
Back to the car and off on a drive around the lake, I appear to have chosen a route that ends in a dead-end after a couple of kilometres. There is what looks like a boatshed down on the edge of the water and a well-used gap in the fence near it. Given that no-one is around, I park next to an extremely rustic fence, slip through the gap and head on down towards the water. It is clearly meant to be a tourist type area, given the little kiosks scattered around, however all are currently closed due to it not being tourist season. I therefore don’t feel too guilty about wandering around, even though it might be argued that the area is closed off. I might have mentioned before that one of the benefits of being a gringo (or tourist anywhere for that matter) is blissful ignorance of some of the ‘rules’ that locals know? Tee hee hee!!
The beach here is much more inviting – a lovely cream colour that feels much more like home. I wander idly for a while, enjoying the sun and the view. Idyllic, and no wonder the Pucon area is a bit of a new-age, transcendental kind of place. It certainly is very peaceful and relaxing.
As it is approaching lunchtime, so my tummy rumbles seem to be saying, it’s back to the car and return to Maison Nomade to collect my stuff and depart. By now, the cloud has lifted that much further that the tops of the hills are more clearly visible and I am stunned to see one sticking out well above the others. I haven’t seen it earlier for some reason, but the volcano Villarica is towering over the other hills surrounding it. At first glance, it seems to be a volcano-shaped cloud, but with more time it is apparent that the whole thing is now coated in fresh snow and is just gloriously beautiful in the sunlight. It even seems to be lightly smoking, or is it just powder snow being blown off the summit – hard to be sure, but I think it was smoke! The realisation of how big it is and how close it is give added meaning to the signs and notices around the place of what to do if the volcano erupts! It’s got a bit of the “Dante’s Peak” feel to it, although thankfully there is no need to drive across a lava flow on this visit!
On arrival back at Maison Nomade, it seems that Carolina has prepared lunch and it is possible to join her and her family for a Chilean lunch. I can’t rave enough about porotos (for those of Australian experience, imagine baked beans, but without the sauce and a little bit less mushy) – these were in a soup that was just fantastic – many thanks Carolina! The kids, particularly Etienne, are interested in the strange gringo!
Packing up and heading off, it is quite late in the day. The drive back to Temuco is done with the sun setting towards the coast. The fresh air, mountains, rivers snow and scenery have been a tonic and I’ve enjoyed my brief taste of this part of the world immensely. I imagine it would be chaotic in tourist season, but outside of that, it is highly recommended.
Chao for now!
Andrew
Well... just love to read your post with the impressions about the place, surroundings, clouds.... and I am also very happy you were happy in our place, we hope to see you back soon. We know, Copiapó is a bit far but who knows ¿? life is full of amazing and lifechanging surprises or not?
ReplyDeleteBig hugs
Carolina, Alain, Louise, Etienne, Emma and the not-here-yet-bebe to come