Hi,
We have had quite a few new experiences since my last post, I'm looking forward to sharing them with you.
As we were traveling north through Chile on Ruta 5 from Chiloe Island , we thought we would visit a Volcano, and maybe try climb one. We were wondering about our German friends who we had parted company with when we arrived to Chiloe, and we bumped into them in the town of Pucon, so we decided to climb Volcano Villarica together.
We camped at the bottom of the ski lifts the night before our climb, and the view from there was superb. We had an early night though as the climb was supposed to be tough if you want to get up quickly.
The climb was heavy going, it was the first time we had ever used campons and ice axes. We needed them for about an hour going up the ice near the top. The view made up for it though.
We came down a lot quicker than we went up! you basically sit down on the ice in a channel that has been worn by those before you, and off you go!
When we got down, we had to have a beer to celebrate St. Patricks day.
And, we had a superb sunset that night, what a day! Click to see the full blog post about
Volcan Villarica.
We parted ways with our fellow climbers, and went to look for more National Parks with Volcanos as the landscapes are so different than what we are used to at home in Ireland. Chile really does not disappoint. If you are interested, the sign is a Volcano warning.
We then crossed back into Argentina, and headed to Mendoza to meet up with fellow overlanders, Phil and Angie. We had met them some months before, and wanted to spend a few days together before they finished their few years in South America. They have since gone home to the UK, and are getting ready for a China trip.
We had a few great days touring the wineries, and even decided that our trucks were a bit big, so hired some alternative transportation. Clickf you want to see more of our
Mendoza Wineries by Tandem.
We then went to visit the Finca of a couple of ex-overlanders who have settled in Argentina. They now own and run their own fruit farm, and we went to visit for a few days, which ended up as a fortnight. We got to help out a bit, and were involved in everything around the place, which was fantastic!
Going picking fruit at dawn with their 1940's Fiat tractor.
Local people in helping with the plums.
Carrying the grapes up the ramp to the truck.
There are loads more photographs on the Finca which was one of the highlights of Argentina for us, as we were treated as family instead of travelers. Click here if you want to learn more about
life on a Finca in Argentina.
From there, we went back into Chile, and we are now parked up house sitting a house on the coast for a friend of ours who has flown to the Overland Expo in the states. Which means, no more travel tales until she makes it back!
Until next time!
