Piako was very brave and climbed the Volcan Villarica in Chile. He liked the snow and the beautiful views of other volcanoes. Reuben, Karen and Piako in the snow Piako is watching the Volcan Villarica
Category: Chile
Into Bolivia…and into altitude!
We booked to do a three day tour to the Salar de Uyuni with Pamela tours, as they had been recommended by our hostel and were one of the cheaper options. I had read really mixed reviews of all the tour companies, including stories of jeeps breaking down, terrible food and lodging etc…so we were…
Valle de la Luna
On our last day in San Pedro, we borrowed bikes from the hostel and headed to Valle de la Lune – Valley of the Moon. We started from town at about 2pm with approximately a 4km bike ride to the information centre, where we got a map of the Valley and paid our admission fees. …
El Tatio geyser field
Our second day in the desert began with an extremely early morning start…4am to be precise! We joined a tour heading to the El Tatio geysers. My family had tried to do this tour when we were here last but our vehicle broke down – so I was super excited to have another chance to…
Sandboarding and sunsets
Leaving Santiago behind, we took a 22 hour bus ride to Calama, followed by a 2 hour ride to San Pedro de Atacama, a town located in the driest place on earth – the Atacama desert. When I last came here 11 years ago both hot water and electricity were quite sporadic. It has modernised…
Valparaiso
Last weekend, we took a two night trip to Valparaiso, which is on the coast of Chile. It is an easy bus ride from Santiago, and we arrived there ready to explore! The highlight of Valparaiso is its funiculars, antique style cable cars that run up and down its many hills. On our first day…
Shaking Santiago de Chile
After Easter, we headed back up to Santiago, where we have been for about a week (with a side trip to Valparaiso which I will write about separately.) We have loved staying with our friends Patrick and Trini, and being based at their apartment. Some of the highlights of our time in Santiago have been:…
Hot pools and lakes
Following our climb of the Volcan Villarica, we were ready to relax! After a day of rest, we went to the Trancura hot pools close to Pucon and soaked…it felt so good to sit in the hot water! On Good Friday we caught a bus back to Lake Calafquen, where we met up…
Team Olson vs The Volcano
On Tuesday, we climbed the Volcan Villarica. We started at 6.30 and went by van up a long dirt road to the ski lift at the bottom of the volcano. I was a little daunted by the fact that we were wearing borrowed hiking boots which were very heavy and were carrying huge backpacks with…
Bienvenido a Chile!
We left Mendoza and travelled by bus through the Andes. The views were spectacular, with just a little bit of snow. We had booked the most budget seats we could but for some reason were seated in first class – leather seats that reclined and snacks and movies. This is the way to travel! We…
Meandering Kiwis 