This is one of the most popular destinations in the Lake District of Chile. The Villarica Volcano looms over the entire area. It remains active, with puffs of steam that resemble smoke signals in Hollywood movies. I ate lunch at a table on the lawn nearby. It's easy to stretch a midday meal to at least a couple of hours when you find such a lovely place to hang out. This next photo shows the volcano alert system at the city hall. If the mountain begins to belch and rumble, people will be directed to the evacuation routes. There have been serious lava flows in the past. I'm glad the green light is on today.
This area is probably comparable to Vail, Colorado. Excuse me if I don't add photos of the souvenir shops. In this town of about 16,000 people, there are probably almost as many tourists, although the tour operators tell me business is off by 70% compared to last season. Restaurants abound, but the servers are usually just standing around, hoping some tourists will enter. Dozens of arts and crafts stands are seeing little shopping activity. Villarica Lake attracts many people to the lava sand beaches and pleasure boats. Luxury condominiums are sprouting along the shore.
Morning clouds on the lake. Located 540 miles south of the capital of Santiago, the town was founded in 1883 as part of the “pacification” of the region’s indigenous Mapuche people. By 1904 the army had left and German families from Valdivia to the west began to settle the area. The first families were Holzapfel and Gudenschwager. The Mapuche moved to the marginal lands at the foot of the mountains.
This is one of the most popular destinations in the Lake District of Chile. The Villarica Volcano looms over the entire area. It remains active, with puffs of steam that resemble smoke signals in Hollywood movies. I ate lunch at a table on the lawn nearby. It's easy to stretch a midday meal to at least a couple of hours when you find such a lovely place to hang out. This next photo shows the volcano alert system at the city hall. If the mountain begins to belch and rumble, people will be directed to the evacuation routes. There have been serious lava flows in the past. I'm glad the green light is on today.
This area is probably comparable to Vail, Colorado. Excuse me if I don't add photos of the souvenir shops. In this town of about 16,000 people, there are probably almost as many tourists, although the tour operators tell me business is off by 70% compared to last season. Restaurants abound, but the servers are usually just standing around, hoping some tourists will enter. Dozens of arts and crafts stands are seeing little shopping activity. Villarica Lake attracts many people to the lava sand beaches and pleasure boats. Luxury condominiums are sprouting along the shore.
Morning clouds on the lake. Located 540 miles south of the capital of Santiago, the town was founded in 1883 as part of the “pacification” of the region’s indigenous Mapuche people. By 1904 the army had left and German families from Valdivia to the west began to settle the area. The first families were Holzapfel and Gudenschwager. The Mapuche moved to the marginal lands at the foot of the mountains.
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