Pucón, de nuevo

Last weekend was the study abroad program's semester trip to Pucón, and I decided to go along again. If you will remember, Pucón is the place in the south of Chile where I climbed the volcano back in April. This time I decided to go whitewater rafting instead of climbing the volcano again. As it turned out, no one could climb the volcano because the weather was bad.

I have been whitewater rafting in Tennessee and West Virginia, so the concept was not new. What was new was the frigidness of the river water. All of the rivers in Chile are fed by snow melting in the Andes. They are also very short (Chile is only about 100 miles wide) and very swift. Before getting into the rafts, we were given wetsuits to protect us from the cold. I (perhaps unwisely) sat in the front of the raft. The first rapid we went through was a 4, and I got splashed by a huge wave. The water was so cold that it took my breath away, and when I finally could breathe again, my chest hurt. After that first splash, I got used to the water and it wasn't so bad.

The river was high after days of continuous rain and the fact that it is now spring in Chile, which means that snow in the Andes is melting. One rapid was so strong that we had to get out of the raft and do a portage.

In comparison with my rafting adventures in WV and TN, I can say that the rapids were far more intense in Chile, but we spent much less time on the water (an hour or so compared with all day in the USA). When I think of all the things one can do in Chile, I realize that it really is a paradise for outdoor activities. Where else could you go volcano climbing, whitewater rafting, skiing, mountain biking, hiking, surfing and scuba diving -- all within 100 miles of each other?