We are now starting to focus on arranging accomodations for the Lake District. Well, actually Villarica. The area is called “La Araucania”. Araucaria is the botanical family of the monkey puzzle tree which is native of this region of Chile. We want to see it in its native habitat.

We probably didn’t do enough research before we booked our legs of the LanChile Pass. Originally we wanted to fly in and out of Temuco but there are no flights from Temuco to Punta Arena. So we switched to Puerto Montt since there is a flight direct from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas. We went ahead and booked the flight from Arica to Puerto Montt instead of checking instead of going into Temuco or Valdivia and out of Puerto Montt. Oh well. We may save on the car rental since we will not be getting a one way rental.

We have decided instead to drive directly from Puerto Montt to Villarica or Pucon after flying from Arica. It is about 250km to Villarica so it should be ‘do-able’. At least, we will get all the travel over in one day but what a day. We will be leaving Arica around 7:30am and arriving at 1pm in Puerto Montt. We will travel part of the way on Ruta 5 which is the Pan-American Hwy. So we think we should be able to pick up our car and arrive in Villarica before dark.

I have gotten a lot of help from a member of The Travelzine. Actually John is one of the moderators and has travelled to Chile. He has posted a lot of good information from his travels. It is hard to find people who have been to Chile so I have really appreciated his help and comments.

I have sent a inquiry for accomodations to Hosteria de la Colina in Villarica. I haven’t heard back yet so I still have my fingers crossed. If not, we’ll start looking around at other places. We will be in Villarica for 4 nights. George wants to climb the volcano. Actually he wants both of us to climb. We will see. I need to get back to running if I’m going to attempt this. We will need to get a guide and equipment but doesn’t look too much more difficult than climbing to Camp Muir at Rainier.

Off to more research.