In mid December from Puerto Montt we went on a day trip to Puerto Varas, around the lake to see volcanoes and waterfalls at Saltos Rio Petrohue. The scenery was stunning.
We collected our friend Kevin from the airport and the next day we went on a trip across to Chiloe to see penguins and other wildlife.
The next day we headed north to Villarica and saw the puffing volcano across the lake
Continuing our drive north we visited the waterfall Laja (again), this time to show Kevin
We had an overnight stop in Talca where the 8.8 magnitude earthquake of 2010 is still evident in the damaged cathedral and other buildings.
The following day we went on a full day tour from Rancagua to the El Teniente copper mine that was discovered in the 1800s and has been worked 24/7 since 1905. This mine gave rise to the town of Sewell, which at its peak, saw over 15,000 people living and working at the purpose built town, with everything paid for by the company (schools, medical treatment, entertainment, etc). Once the roads were built and the mine became more accessible, people were relocated to the city of Rancagua (1967 - 1980). The El Teniente copper mine was the starting point for Chile's large scale copper mining industry. Sewell was declared a Chilean national monument in 1998 and a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006.
The mine is the world's largest underground operation with over 3,000 km (1,900 miles) of tunnels.
The mine is the world's largest underground operation with over 3,000 km (1,900 miles) of tunnels.
On to Santiago for Christmas. We went out exploring and took the cable car up to Cerro San Cristobal, the highest park, and looked down on the city below
Then we took the funicular back down. We had made the right choice in doing the cable car first as there were hundreds of people queuing at the funicular base station when we got to the bottom.
On Boxing day we had an early start and headed out to Easter Island (see next blog).
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