During my Around the World journey, I left one great outdoor adventure country, New Zealand, for the next one: Chile. Where Norway has Voss and New Zealand Queenstown, Chile’s adventure capital is Pucón. Situated adjacent to Lago Villarica, it has a volcano with the same name as its famous backdrop. 

Summiting the volcano is by far the most popular excursion in Pucón. Due to bad weather, I decided to prolong my stay and cross my fingers for blue skies and favorable conditions to pursue the climb, guided of course. Geared up with crampons, ice axe, and gas mask, standing on the ice-layered rim of the volcano, looking down on boiling lava, truly made me feel like an adventurer. The scariest part of the hike may well have been the slide down the super steep mountain slope. Pick your tour operator wisely!

According to the guide books, the closeby National Park of Huerquehue is one of the shining stars of the south. People had told me the landscape and scenery in the park look like taken from the movie Jurassic Park, and I must say they were not wrong.

I really enjoyed a white-water rafting tour on the Rio Trancur: a not too wild adventure in beautiful scenery. Pucón comes highly recommended!