Monday 2nd April, 2012

It's a glorious morning. The air is crispy, the sky is blue and the two cabin dogs that live and guard the premises of the cabins have come out for a play. It's about 9am and I feel only ok. I woke up afew times during the night. I'm certain that jetlag will hit me again around 3pm.

This morning we got to have a real good look around the property we are staying at. The owner, Juan Carlos, came and greeted us in the morning and offered to take us for a ride around the premises in his 4 wheel drive. The property is so big and spacious and he tells us about the future plans he has for his 4 hectares of land. The cabins are only the beginning. He plans on building a resort, with more cabins and a swimming pool. He also wants to offer horse riding and fishing, as there is a river just behind our cabin. I think it will be unreal once it's completed.

Our Cabin!!!

another of the cabins on the property

The river behind our cabins

The Stables

I also got to officially meet the two dogs that live here. They are both males, one is a German Sheperd, called Barco, and the other like a lab/ rottweiler mix, called Black. They are both friendly, although the rotty mix is alot more playful. Juan Carlos also mentioned how he'd like to start breeding the German Shepherd with the neighbours Sheperds to create super guard puppies!!!

Braco

Me and Black

The area is just lovely and the scenery is so relaxing to be around. By the time we got back from the drive, Tio was already waiting for us. He was going to take us on a drive around the area, so we can do the touristy thing and take photos and get a feel for the town. We started off in Loncoche, then drove to neighbouring towns, such as Villarrica, Lican Ray, Conaripe and Pucon, a major tourist town.

Loncoche is a small, quiet residential town and just has the necessary shops, such as a grocer, banks, post office and the such. It also has a bus and train terminal, which allows many of the locals to travel longer distances. But to get around town, many either drive or use a bike. Most of my Tio and Tia's family live close by, which I think is great as they are a big family and are able to see eachother more frequently.

Villarricca is about a 30 minute drive from Loncoche. The new highway allows you to arrive quicker and the landscape that you see during the drive is so beautiful. It is all green pastures with cows, pigs and horses on them. There are old houses and new ones being built. Although it's a relatively quiet road, it has alot of bends and cars like to overtake alot.

You'll know when you've arrived in Villarrica. Volcan Villarrica stands high and mighty as you enter the very busy town. Villarrica is the main commercial area for the district and here you will find everything you need. Restaurants, internet cafes, money exchange, several banks, post office, mechanics, corner shops, both grocery and clothing stores, the car registration office, pharmacies... anything really. I really like it here because of the convenience of having everything available in the one place. I do notice though that there's alot of one way streets and you have to pay for parking. The system here is that when you park, a parking patrol guy or girl, will note your number plate. When you are ready to leave, they will come up to you and you have to pay a fee, depending on the length of time you've stayed. But in some cases when you're in a hurry and you can't see them, then you are the one that has to go looking for them!!! Which is abit silly. Once you've paid, you are free to go. I asked my Tio, what happens if you speed off... He said, you can, but then in a few months, you'll get a fine in the mail because this job works alongside the city council, so they know everything!!! dammit haha

I also noticed when we went into the Oriente, which is a grocery store (we went last night for the first time after my relo's picked us up form the Airport)) that you have to weigh the fruit/ vegetables and the bread as it's all self serve. Other countries I've been to that do this is China and Korea. In Australia, the cashier or 'check out chick' does the weighing for you. I didn't realise this, so while dad was in the queue, I had to run back, weigh the apples and bread and then take it over to the cashier to then charge. Come to think of it, Tahiti was like that too when I travelled there with my family about 7 years ago.

After our stop in Villarrica, we continued towards Lican Ray. Again, Lican Ray, or Lican as the locals call it, is a smaller, beachy, touristy town. It has a small shopping district, like Loncoche, with just the necessary shops. It has a beach or lake rather, called Lake Calafquen. The sandy beaches are made up of black volcanic sand. Even when the South of Chile starts to get colder, the Lake tends to stay warm. Surrounding Lake Calafquen are snow capped Volcanoes; the most spectacular one being the Villarrica Volcano. This magnificient volcano can be seen right along the coast and is one of the main reasons why the South of Chile receives so many visitors, both national and foreign, every year.

My Tio and dad with Lake Calafquen

Dad, with a farmer working his cows

We then decided to drive along lake Calafquen and another 30 minutes from Lican, we arrived in the town of Conaripe. Again, it's a tourist hotspot and my uncle tells me, that all these regions along the coast are a nightmare to drive in the summer time. The amount of people, cars and activity is just plain crazy. There's cabins, camping facilities, canopy, horseriding, restaurants, food huts, boat rentals and more summer entertainment for hire. I can imagine how busy it must get during the warm season, but at the moment, it's very quiet and not many people around.

My Tio, also took us to an area, that when Volcan Villarrica erupted in the 70's, it's lava destroyed everything in it's path and ended up trailing into Lake Calafquen. It truly makes you realise the intense force of nature and how one day, it can all happen again.

Volcan Villarrica

Where the lava trailed down in the 70's

We found lunch at a local restaurant, which is family owned. I ordered a casuela, which is a soup, with meat, corn, potato, rice, pumpkin and coriander to top it off. Mum makes something similar back home and dad said I would like it. My dad and Tio also ordered a casuela. The day was a little cool, so this would warm us right up. With our food, we also had ayuyas (bread) and sopaipillas, which is like a fried bread made with pumpkin. extremely delicious

We were so full after lunch, I could do with a siesta!!! But we continued on to Pucon. The town of Pucon is very famous in the South. This area is home to thermal spas and the ski resort which is located at the foot of Volcan Villarrica. This afternoon however, we thought we'd just have a walk around the town. There is a fery ride, which takes you on an hour journey around lake Calafquen, which I think would be great to do earlier in the day as it's alot warmer than 3pm, which is around the time we'd arrived.

Me with Volcan Villarrica in the background. This was taken in Pucon, just before the ferry terminal.

We'd been out all day and it was time to drive back home to Loncoche. We'd be going back to my Tio's house for once (dinner) and then he'd take us back to our cabins. Today has been quite amazing. I'm really loving El Sur de Chile x

Getting to know the area... remains copyright of the author Two Otters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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