In a not so touristy region of Chile, a not so visited National Park holds one of Chile's biggest treasures: it is one of the last places where there still is native forest and where millenarian Araucaria trees, Chile's symbol, can be seen. The park is named Nahuelbuta and is part of the coastal range in the Araucania region. Together with two friends, I went for a large weekend, in another successful attempt to run away from Santiago. In a five-hour car trip from Santiago we reached the hostal we chose to stay. Run by a friendly German family, we were welcomed at their house, in the middle of the woods, full of Nature and peacefulness. A wonderful place indeed and very central to the major attractions of the region.
The first day was dedicated to explore the Nahuelbuta Park. We went for a 4-hour trek across the park, that reaches one of its highest points,
Piedra de Aguila. It was windy and cloudy, but not so cold, tough some snow was still around. In the beginning, the huge Araucarias were astonishing and looking up to the treetops would simply make you feel dizzy. There were other endemic species as well, most of them covered in lichens, giving it an even older and special look. We saw nobody along the way, a full native forest just for ourselves. Suddenly, to complete the surreal picture, it started to snow! It was very light as it was not so cold, but the landscape turned white and the bushes were now covered in snow on top, in what recalled the world of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings. It was just perfect, we were just waiting to see a faun or a hobbit popping up from the bushes. The drawback of this was that it was foggy up in the viewpoint of
Piedra de Aguila. We couldn't see the famous views that go from the Pacific ocean to the Andes, where several volcanoes can be spotted, but it was a fair compromise. On the way back to the hostal, we stopped at Angol to see Chile qualify for the World Cup and then joined the people on the streets and celebrated the event. Wooohooooo!
In a not so touristy region of Chile, a not so visited National Park holds one of Chile's biggest treasures: it is one of the last places where there still is native forest and where millenarian Araucaria trees, Chile's symbol, can be seen. The park is named Nahuelbuta and is part of the coastal range in the Araucania region. Together with two friends, I went for a large weekend, in another successful attempt to run away from Santiago. In a five-hour car trip from Santiago we reached the hostal we chose to stay. Run by a friendly German family, we were welcomed at their house, in the middle of the woods, full of Nature and peacefulness. A wonderful place indeed and very central to the major attractions of the region.
The first day was dedicated to explore the Nahuelbuta Park. We went for a 4-hour trek across the park, that reaches one of its highest points, Piedra de Aguila. It was windy and cloudy, but not so cold, tough some snow was still around. In the beginning, the huge Araucarias were astonishing and looking up to the treetops would simply make you feel dizzy. There were other endemic species as well, most of them covered in lichens, giving it an even older and special look. We saw nobody along the way, a full native forest just for ourselves. Suddenly, to complete the surreal picture, it started to snow! It was very light as it was not so cold, but the landscape turned white and the bushes were now covered in snow on top, in what recalled the world of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings. It was just perfect, we were just waiting to see a faun or a hobbit popping up from the bushes. The drawback of this was that it was foggy up in the viewpoint of Piedra de Aguila. We couldn't see the famous views that go from the Pacific ocean to the Andes, where several volcanoes can be spotted, but it was a fair compromise. On the way back to the hostal, we stopped at Angol to see Chile qualify for the World Cup and then joined the people on the streets and celebrated the event. Wooohooooo!
4 comments:
Fotos muito fixes, parece que estas a conseguir visitar lugares maravilhosos.
Abraço do afilhado.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgUL3ut4gyQ
Ganda afilhado! Falta-me saber é qual deles!... :p
Vê la se descobres... as coisas que cabiam em 3 diskettes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_usl6i9IY&feature=related
Pois só podias ser tu, mas que raio de nome...
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