German Footprints In Patagonia

Around 1850 the Puerto Varas region had become the new homeland for thousands of fortune-seeking German emigrants. Even today, the township of Frutillar feels like a romantic compilation of German clichés: half-timber, dwarfs, watermills, dolls in leather trousers, and all the rest of it. No swastikas, thank god! Not many still speak the language, but German signposts are literally everywhere. Very weird, if you just flew in from present-day Germany.

There are hundreds of volcanos in the Chilean Andes, and quite a few of them are still active! During our stay around Puerto Varas, we explored two of the better known volcanoes: Osorno and Puyehue. In terms of beauty the Osorno would be in one league with Pucón's Villarica Volcano. Perfect cone shape and a beautiful lake at its foothills. But because Puerto Varas lies further away from Santiago, it is somewhat less touristy than Pucón.
Second volcano on our list was Puyehue. You might have heard of this one in the news lately. It erupted in June after being dormant for over 50 years. Usually all the ashes are conveniently blown over to Argentina. Only when windless, ash comes down in Chile. The day we visited, the volcano was covered in a (dust?)cloud, we never really saw it. Snow and plants were coated in grey dust. From time to time we noticed an indefinable sharp stench, which must have originted from volcano gases too. It was safe to go, but as always in Chile, we had the whole great park to ourselves!