Returning to Chile

Heading back toward Chile, we first visited Argentina’s Lanin National Park…

… that featured Lanin volcano.

In the morning light, it looked like a giant painting, due to the muting of the faraway colors -

We were planning on going to another pretty lake within the park that our travel agent had recommended, but they only took Argentinian pesos in cash for the entry fee, and we had spent all our cash the day before! Ah well… driving on down the road, we continued to have neat views of Lanin…

… and another snow covered range -

Lanin was looming higher, as we approached…

… a stand of Araucaria trees…

… which are also called “Monkey-puzzle” trees.

The branches are covered with firm, thick scales that are tipped with thorns…

… as are the trunks (the lighting isn’t the greatest, but hopefully you can see the trunk):

All of this would tend to prevent monkeys from reaching the large cones full of pine nuts -

… not that there are any monkeys in this area. Apparently the name was given to the tree when someone in England saw a specimen in someone’s garden in the mid-1800’s and posited that it would surely be hard for a monkey to climb it. The pine cones have been collected by the Mapuche (local indigenous people) for millennia, as each cone is loaded with pine nuts. These trees only grow in a small area of the Andes in Chile and Argentina. They are so protected that roads are built around them -

As we crossed the Andes into Chile, the areas around us became much more lush…

… and we were treated to more volcanoes. I believe the one above is still Lanin, while the one below is Villarica. This was totally obscured by clouds when we arrived in Pucon, but the next day we finally saw it -

… and yes, it’s active! I’ll close with this great shot that Steve got from our hotel rooftop -