Volcanic Traffic Light

Have you ever heard of a traffic light for volcanoes?
Well you can find one in Pucon, Chile.

Downtown in front of the Municipal building (and next to the fire station) you will find a traffic light that lets you know in what state the local volcano, called Volcán Villarrica, is in. Even though the town is wedged between the imposing volcano and the lake, you still may need to check out this traffic light above to confirm that the red stuff spurting from the volcano top is actually lava and not just raspberry sludge.

And to help you figure out what is happening, they have the following sign to let you know what each colour means.



Below is an English translation of the sign above:

Volcanic Risk Alert System
Located in the Municipality Building front Entrance

Green Indicates:
Presence of fumaroles and increase of them
Underground noise and continuous local seismic activity
Glacier cracks
Sulphurous smell

Amber Indicates:
Medium to strong earthquakes
Reddish glows and moderate blasts
Temperature increase in thermal pools
Small lava flows

Red Indicates:
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!! (just kidding)
Strong and continuous seismic activity
Tremor banded seismic swarms
Blasts and Explosions
Pyroclastic flow
Lahar generation

If you live in:
Los Arrayanes – Libertad – Bomberos de Chile – El Claro - Jardines del Claro – Sector Aeropuerto – Villa entre Rios
You must go to: Los Calabozos Alto
And just a random Spanish lesson for your curiosity… Calabozos means Dungeons in Spanish. So your choice is between being the next Pompeian-like attraction curled up on the side of the street or go to a dungeon.

If you live in:
Tres Esquinas – Pucon Centro – Cordillera Alto y Bajo – Prudencia Mora – Aduana – Esfuerzo – Maitahue – Villa Lafquen – Las Vertientes – Las Castaños – Camino Volcan – Antumalal – La Turbina – Las Araucarios – Obispo Valdés – El Bosque – Los Robles – Estadio ...
Basically you are screwed because the lava will get you and turn you into a crispy critter before you can get anywhere safe (just kidding if you hadn’t noticed)
You must go to: La Península

Now if the volcano were exploding with hot rocks the size of cars crashing about you, do you think you would ready need to go to the Municipal building to see if the light were red and then calmly read where you have to go?

All kidding aside, it shows that Volcan Villarrica can be a real threat. Just look at the wisps of smoke coming out of it every day showing how active it really is.

Oh, and if you are interested, there are loads of guided tours that take you up to the crater at a hideous hour of the morning (leave at 5 or 6am). My wife and I did the trek as a part of our honeymoon trip many years ago.

Winter Carnival - Punta Arenas

If for ever reason you plan to be in Punta Arenas in the middle of winter, try and time it for the same time as the Punta Arenas Winter Carnival. This is an annual event held every August filled with costumes parades, the big decorative floats, lots of dancing and music which is enough to warm people’s spirits during the coldest, darkest month of the year.

It all happens at the Main Square and some surrounding streets with a fireworks display on the final night down near the waterfront (just follow the herd to get there).

I stayed at Hotel Plaza which overlooks the square though unfortunately I didn’t have a decent camera to get better night shots though you can still get a general idea of the carnival vibe from the ones I did take. See them at: Punta Arenas Winter Carnival

I also have some video footage from the carnival which I will publish here when I get time.

Day trip to Puerto Aysen

Last Saturday I visited Puerto Aysén (also spelt Puerto Aisén) which is 65km from Coyhaique in the deep south of Chile. The small town can easily be visited as a day trip from Coyhaique so I thought I’d take advantage of being in the region to check it out.



You can see more photos of Puerto Aysén at:
www.southamerica.cl/Chile/Puerto_Aysen.htm

Including one of a Tsunami Evacuation sign and the reason why it is there.

Hope you enjoy them!

Street of Sighs in Colonia

One of the most photographed parts of Colonia del Sacramento is the Calle de los Suspiros literally translated as The Street of Sighs.

The street lamp in the photo to the left is typical of the old part of the city as is the blue and white sign naming the street which is made out of tiles.


To see more photos and to discover out possible theories as to why it is called this, check out our Street of Sighs page.

Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso Visit

I had to go to Valparaiso today to give a talk at the Universidad Católica de Valparaiso though unfortunately didn't have time to take photos of the city.

I did take a couple of shots of the architecture inside of the university which I found interesting:







On a side note, if you are driving back to Santiago from Valparaiso, it is easy to get lost since the way is not signposted very well. The secret is when you get to the end of Avda Argentina (the one that you come across having come down the hill from Santiago) you should turn left at the fork instead of the following the USELESS sign that points up the hill towards the right.
We of course took the wrong one (went right instead of left) and did an unintentional (and lengthy) tour of the hills of Valparaiso. It goes up and around and twists and turns like a snake on heat. At least once near the top we had a great view of the cloudy sunset over the land.

The short trip for the day gave me the itch to return again soon for a photo shoot.

Villa Alegre - Happy Town

One of the little towns we visited in the South of Chile earlier this year was Villa Alegre. This town (with its name loosely translated as Happy Town) has streets lined with oranges trees and traditional colonial style houses. For such a small place it interestingly holds many surprises.

Villa Alegre is home to the Festival de la Canción de La Naranja (Festival of the Song of the Orange) where they have their Naranja de Plata (Silver Orange) as a prize similar to the Gaviota de Plata (Silver Seagull) given out at the Festival de Viña del Mar.

Then there is the church on the main road with the remains of Father Juan Ignacio Molina who wrote about the theory of evolution 4 decades before Darwin (it was even cited by Darwin).

It is only 32km south of Talca so worth stopping by if you are heading further down the country.

More information and photos at Villa Alegre.

Bali Hai Restaurant in Santiago

Ten of our staff went to Bali Hai restaurant at the end of last year and of course we did some serious eating, drinking and general indulging, oh, and we even took some photos while we were there. It was a Monday night, it was packed with photo-trigger-happy tourists that had just been unloaded from tour buses, but we still managed to enjoy the night. Since my eternal To-Do list never stops growing it is only now that I could put up our review and some photos of the place.

You can see our comments about the restaurant here at: Bali Hai
And you may want to see some photos of the traditional Chilean / Polynesian dance show while you are at it.

Basically it comes down to the food was good, the show was very well done though it still doesn’t beat my favourite place for a typical Chilean show at Los Buenos Muchachos. (Yes, I have photos from the many times we’ve been there too but it’s also on the To-Do list).

Has anyone else been to Bali Hai? What did you think of it?

El Cajón del Maipo

A Photo for today...



One of the valleys of the Cajón del Maipo in the Andes Mountains.

El Cajón del Maipo can be visited in a day trip from Santiago though is best done over a couple of days, especially if you want to relax in the thermal pools after hiking the national park to visit the glacier.

You can find lots of information about how to get there and details about all the little towns that dot the road on the way up at: El Cajón del Maipo

Enjoy!

You are Here!

Aquí = Here (in Spanish)

When we were driving around the back roads somewhere between Talca and Colbun Lake in January, we found the following sign in the middle of nowhere:



What makes this interesting is that Aquí is Spanish for Here.
So basically it says that you have finally arrived… well, HERE!

I found it quite funny, though when I thought about it, why would anyone want to put that sign anywhere?

Well, they could have said…

Drive along the road and you will a sign that says where the party is… AQUI
Or
I’ll let you know where to leave all those frozen rubber chickens you have just stolen… AQUI
Or
Someone had to frequently remember to put their wedding ring back on and that sign is the last chance before arriving home.
Or
Maybe someone put it to help them remember where they buried the treasure.
Who needs a treasure map with a big X on it? Just put a sign that says… AQUI

Does anyone else have any suggestions why the sign could be there?

Archaeological Sites near San Agustin in Colombia

If you are interesting in Pre-Colombia Art then you must add the UNESCO World Heritage Site near San Agustin, Colombia to your must-visit list.



The area is dotted with freestanding monumental statues carved out of stone left behind by a mysterious pre-Colombian civilization that existed between the 6th and 14th century AD. The statues were markers of ceremonial and burial sites where they buried their dead in the fetal position with personal objects such as pottery and gold within tombs underground. If you would like more information about this important archaeological site and how to get there, visit: San Agustin, Colombia

Plaza Peru and Antiques

Last Sunday my wife and I went aimlessly roaming around the streets of El Golf with our kids in tow and we stumbled upon Plaza Perú. It’s a nice patch of green in the heart of the financial district of El Golf but there is nothing impressive about the Plaza itself. It has a car park underneath it (you can’t really tell) which is handy for those that visit the numerous restaurants around there. But what is really worth mentioning is that every Sunday there is an Antiques fair there. You will find stands lined up displaying an assortment of interestingly old relics from a day gone by that someone inherited and then sold off to these antique dealers to earn some quick cash. It a fascinating place to nose around unfortunately this Sunday there wasn’t anyone since they were probably all on vacation with the other half of Santiago. (In February Santiago is empty, which is great!)

Meanwhile we took a panoramic video of the Park so that you have an idea what it is like. We’ll take another video when the antique guys are back in town.



For some more information about this park in the middle of El Golf, check out: Plaza Peru

The following photo was taken only one block from Plaza Peru. I love the design and how it totally contrasts the seriousness of that financial part of the city.

This post can now be found at: Photos of Typical Colombian Dishes

 

Cross Ghost Competition

Ok, we have a competition for those that are interested in a bit of fun.

To the left is a photo that I took a couple of years ago somewhere in South America. The question is... WHERE?

It could be any place and any country. If you have been there before, you may recognise it.

Let's see who is the first to guess. Whatever you write in the comments, I will say whether it is hot or cold (as in close or far away).

It's quite an interesting photo that happened by accident.
Oh and sorry, it's no ghost just someone that got in the way as the shutter was open a while on my cheap camera (when I wasn't using a flash).

I have more photos of the same place which I will upload to our site once the place has been guessed.

What? You want a prize?... Well the site is not-for-profit so the best we could do is give one of our SouthAmerica Mugs... and as long as you drop by the office to pick it up. :)