Pucon: More than a volcano

Happy to return to Chile, we arrived in splendid Pucon on the banks of a beautiful lake.  The whole town offers amazing views of Volcan Villarica which erupted on March 3.  It now poofs throughout the day and the entire park at the base is closed off indefinitely.  The top is covered in black ash and lava which is an interesting contrast against the old snow beneath it.

So the decision (thankfully) to hike another volcano was already decided for us and instead, we opted to lounge on the black sand beach and relax the first day with some Brits from the hostel.

The second day, we went horseback riding since its different than any activity we've done prior.  Plus, we were hosted by a local Mapuche family (the indigenous population in this area) and were treated to snacks and a refreshing drink made from local grains afterwards.  It was very interesting.  

We found lovely berries atop the hill!

 

 On a particularly hot day, we kayaked out along the peninsula and napped along the rocks.  The view of the smoking volcano towering over the town was impressive.

The sunset from the dock in front of our hostel was amazing too!

I love the panorama of a cute couple on the end of the dock in the sunset... and then creepy Mark lol :)

Mark also went mountain biking while Suzy did more trip planning (my determination to see Chilean wine country cheaply is requiring a bit more planning effort than I intended so we will see how that turns out!).  He found a great white sand beach and beautiful waterfalls at the nearby park!

But since we extended our stay a day due to hot springs scheduling issues, we splurged on the hostel treehouse (because who doesn't have whimsical dreams of sleeping in a treehouse?!).  Chili Kiwi is by far the best hostel in town, located right on the lake. 

 It was actually nice that the typical bread and dulce de leche breakfast wasn't included because I could go crazy with the local fruits and cheap yogurt (yum!)

I may not be a good chef but mixing up a delicious breakfast like this is my forte!

 The day was followed by a cool evening dip at Los Pozones, the natural hot springs outside of town (volcanoes = lots of hot springs options)!  What a fabulous way to recover and wind down our time in nature!  Now on to wine country and cities!