Christmas Week in Pucón

On Monday we arrived at Azul del Parque, a beautiful lakeside resort within view of a giant snow-capped volcano.

Ten of us shared these identical side-by-side cabins for the week, located between the cities of Villarrica and Pucón. As you can see, we had a gorgeous lakefront view. Mónica and Gustavo were in the cabin to the right, with us. On the left stayed Ale and Flaca, with their kids Agustín and Valentina, plus Coté and Pete.

Can you imagine stepping out from your back deck onto the beach front and seeing images like these? The volcano was even puffing smoke at the top! The springtime conditions at ground level were perfect, although the mountain above was still covered with bright white snow from the recently concluded winter.

		We enjoyed our days, leisurely playing games together, relaxing and eating. It was a week of "quality time" with lots of laughs and love.

Whether jumping rope or just chatting, family time was great.

We explored the border of the crystal clear lake, enjoying wildlife and scenic vistas in every direction.

Pretty birds. Colorful lizards.

Courting, fighting or just hanging out?

At lakeside and in the lake, we all had a good time together.

Delightful, once you get in. But the initial steps are COLD! Remember, this water is snow-melt . Brrrr.

				Sunbathing may be better!

What a nice place to just relax and enjoy the day.

Artie and his Kindle.		Artie and his dreams.

		We always ate well! Here Mónica is preparing one of her specialties: turkey with walnuts.

We had several sit-down meals and a number of informal "on the deck" Bar-B-Ques.

		The traditional Chilean "Completo" (hot dog) with avocado, mayonnaise, ketchup, tomatoes and mustard. Now that's a mouthful!

Ale was the master chef on the grill. Common for many Chilean dinners, we started late, and he needed to use the flashlight to check his work. We began dinner about 10:30 p.m. that night, but it sure was worth the wait!

		By the time the meat was ready, so were we! It seems that Santa Clause was ready too (Mónica with her mask).

We took side-trips into the towns of Villarrica and Pucón (shown here) to check out the malls or artisan shops.

		From almost everywhere, the volcano strikes a dominant image.

A unique site in town was seeing this home delivery of fresh milk from one of the local farms, dispensed by hose into the customer's pitcher.

This street side Santa was busy selling gifts.		Margy was happy to buy 3 hand-carved bowls from this local artisan.

One day, Coté and Pete decided to go canopying. That's where you get hooked up to a cable strung through (or over) the "canopy" of the forest trees, and you zip along the cable on rollers, traveling at speeds up to 55 mph (80 km/hour). This location had six cable runs, with distances up to 1 km long (almost a mile). Artie decided to go along for the experience and the photo opportunities. Margy and Mónica went shopping instead. Everybody was happy!

By van the three were taken to a cozy lodge up in the hills, about a half hour from Pucón. The fireplace warmth felt great, before heading up the mountain to get safety gear, instruction and practice before beginning the flight through the canopy.

The Adventurers: Rigged, safe and ready!

After a short drive further up the mountain, practice begins at a training station where the guide shows the proper form: Strong hand is overhead to serve as "brake" with friction glove, weak hand forward to align body, and legs crossed, with body suspended by cables. Then let yourself fly!

Above, Coté and Pete are first to practice "near the ground," learning to control their cables and hand-brake. Below, Artie gets his practice too.

		The real thing! The first cable run began from a platform. Other launching locations were either platforms, or from a path on the mountain side. Time to fly!

The acceleration is immediate: from zero to 55 mph in a matter of seconds, as the air whips past your ears, trees flash by, and the buzz of the rollers on cable screech overhead!

One of the guides did some acrobatic showing off for us on his trip across the valley (we assume they get bored otherwise).

High above the valley, the novices were quite content to fly right side up! That was plenty of fun by itself.

		This long run was done by Pete and Coté in tandem!

Happy to be back on solid ground! What a great adventure.

What's this? It's a thermal spa, heated by underground volcanic lava systems! One day, when Mónica, Gustavo and we went off to Valdivia, the others all enjoyed a day at this spa. Here are their photos of this special place.

Flaca, Valentina, Ale and Agustín enjoying the warmth of this unique location not far from our cabins.

		We're glad they took such great photos of this place so we would know it too.

Inviting, isn't it?

		Nicanor, the luthier (instrument maker) of Valdivia.

		We are always amazed and impressed by our friend Nicanor's fine work and artistic skill. At left he was explaining how he "tunes" the front and back of a violin by carving and shaping it to the right tone. Nicanor made two guitars for us years ago, and some of the instruments that Cristián plays. It is an honor to know and visit Nicanor when we are near Valdivia, Chile.

While in Valdivia, 2 hours south west of Pucón, on the coast of Chile, we briefly visited Gustavo's brother and family. Sergio (at left with Gustavo) and daughter Maca (at right with Mónica) were getting fun "secrets" during lunch.

We stopped over to their house before heading back to Pucón. Shown here are Gustavo, Mónica, Sergio, Blanca, Maca and young Sergio.

		Christmas eve. With masks, ornaments, gifts and grand kids, we were set to celebrate!

As is the custom, the kids were taken outside to "look for Santa" while the gifts were quickly placed under the tree. Upon their return, moments later, they were told that "You just missed Santa, and look what he brought for you!" With Agustín at 3 years old, and Valentina at 1.5 years, they brought out the "kid" in all of us. We had fun seeing their reactions while taking lots of photos of the evening's excitement.

				Dolls and robots, bubbles and books. Fun for everybody!

After the kids were put to bed, the adults played with their toys! Then it was our turn for gifts.

		Pete played "Santa" and distributed gifts from around the world. We had lots of fun and laughter all evening.

		The next morning kids and adults tried out their new toys, including Agustín with his telescope and Ale with his strap-on skate wheels.

Ale got the hang of it, with Flaca's help and curious looks from a passing visitor!

We also did some local sightseeing, including this view of the volcano from the beach at Villarrica.

The beautiful views kept us busy with our cameras. Margy captured this scenic shot to the right as well as the beach view and boats above.

This Araucaria tree is common in Chile, though it looks so strange compared to trees in the USA. Set against the volcano in the background, it captured our attention.

Floral valleys, mountain streams and cloud swept mountains added to our photographic inspirations.

		Valentina, Mónica, Coté, Ale, Flaca, Agustín, Gustavo, Pete and we enjoyed seeing several of the picturesque lakes in this region.

		We stopped at this quaint chalet to have a snack, and enjoyed the nearby river and rapids.

Coté and Pete at river's edge.

		What a fantastic week we had together.

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