German
Chile: Aurora Austral, Vulkano, Mapuche & Conaripe
February 2025
Aurora Austral - Husky Farm
Our visit with Konrad and Emilie and their 36 huskies will remain unforgettable for us. After spending the night on their premises, we were ready as agreed at eight o'clock for the husky training drive and kennel visit adventure.
Konrad explained a few basic facts about the various sled dog breeds beforehand. As we didn't want to be out too late with the team in too warm weather, they started soon with the preparations.
Konrad informed us about training, feeding, breeding and his experiences with dogs. He also told us that the dogs just want to run. They forget everything else.
1st training run:
To pull our vehicle with our weight, 8 dogs were prepared for harnessing.
They were individually attached to leashes to put on the harness. Our vehicle was anchored at the back, otherwise the exuberant, newly harnessed dogs would have immediately stormed off. The lead dogs were at the front, then the number of normal pulling dogs as required, and two rather weighty, robust dogs at the back.
A damper is fitted to the pulling rope immediately in front to reduce resistance and shocks from the vehicle.
And then it started, but how. Konrad's son released the anchor at the back and Emilie, who was standing in front of the lead dogs, stepped aside and off we went. The speed and raw power of the animals made us hold our breath and cling to the sledge.
The vehicle shook enormously on the stony slope. Now it was clear why we were wearing additional protective clothing, goggles and helmets. We also realized why Konrad had asked us before the trip whether we had any back problems.
Dust and stones thrown up by the dogs were one thing, wooden bridges and several right-angled bends as well as a junction with a tarred road at right angles were another. Unfortunately, we only covered a few hundred meters on the tarred road until the next junction and then we were back on a hard, bumpy track. All this at a fast-cycling speed. Fortunately, we hadn't taken a camera with us. We had enough to hold on to the sturdy iron holder with both hands.
But what the lead dogs did under the direction of Konrad was brilliant. They responded correctly and reliably to the commands and were praised by Konrad with shouts. It would have been unthinkable if they had reacted incorrectly on the poor slopes with extreme turns.
Back again, the dogs were unharnessed and released into their spacious enclosure.
click on the image below to start slideshow
Chile: Aurora Austral 2025 E
2nd training run:
Konrad anchored his quad bike to harness eight of his racing dogs. The harnessing procedure was repeated. We drove behind the team with Emilie and the off-road vehicle. Now we had our cameras with us and took some photos. Once the racing dogs had been taken care of after the ride, we sat together in the garden for a chat. These conversations were also informative and interesting.
We would like to thank Konrad for this unique experience with his dogs.
Volcano Villarrica
2847 meters high, located in the Andes, Chile, is one of the most active volcanoes in South America and is considered the most dangerous volcano in Chile.
Since its eruption in 1984, it is one of 8 volcanoes worldwide with an active open lake in the crater. To the north of the volcano is the city of Pucon, Lake Villarrica and the city of the same name, Villarrica. The last eruption took place on January 4, 2019.
The Villarrica volcano is one of the best-known tourist destinations in Chile. In the summer months, there are regular guided tours to the edge of the crater, which are also suitable for inexperienced mountaineers.
We spent four days standing in the large parking lot of the national park, with the impressive volcano in front of us.
La Cima Bakery, Curacautin
Masa Madre - a very good bakery with excellent sourdough bread, ciabatta, cinnamon buns... The master baker even had time for a chat with us. We enjoyed the fresh bread on Sunday morning.
Cocina Mapuche Restaurant
Sopaipillas con Salsas - Sopa - Puchero de Carne con Purree de papas - Ensalada - Postre - Te de Hierbas
Near Curarewe is a special place in an inviting environment with lots of flowers and plants.
Not a culinary highlight, but an interesting change of pace.
Coñaripe beach
You can't find peace and tranquillity here in high season. Like everywhere else, parking fees are charged here and there is a lack of toilets for the many people. Otherwise a beautiful beach on Lake Calafquen with a view of the Villarica volcano.
Mercedes Sprinter service and side window replacement
Our attempt to order the rear side window in advance outside Chile due to stone chips was not possible. So we ordered it from Mercedes Kaufmann in Talca as soon as we arrived in Chile. The ordering process took several hours on the spot. Delivery time 3 weeks from Germany, paid for in advance.
Kaufmann branch Panamericana Norte Appointment was reserved 1 week in advance:
Our arrival at Mercedes was at 07:30. The porter kept us waiting outside on the street, as the official opening time was 08:30.
We were let in at 08.30 am. The service dispatchers responsible for us had not yet arrived for work.
09.00 a.m. The 1st service assistant takes care of us. However, he is unable to enter our vehicle data, which we had already sent a week ago, into the computer.
09.30 the 2nd service assistant appears, and at 10.30 the work orders are entered into the computer.
The work could now begin.
At 12.30 p.m., sitting in the waiting room, we received an e-mail saying that work on installing the window has begun. Then we received no more information and were treated like smoke.
Due to previous bad experiences with diesel filter changes, we asked if they had the right filter. They did not. So they were happy to use one of our replacement filters and a dubious connection tinkering was avoided.
To get reliable information about the type of engine oil used, we had to go all the way to the service manager.
It was super positive that the work was completed in one day.
After 10 hours, we paid the required amount by credit card and were the last to leave the premises. Due to the internet failure, we were promised that the invoices would be sent the next day.
When after 2 working days and emails we still hadn't received any invoices, we informed our credit card company to block the amount until further notice. This finally worked like magic and we received also the window invoice, which we urgently needed for the glass insurance. Of course, the correct vehicle details and addresses were missing on the invoices.
We were at the MAN workshop about 18 years ago with our 6x6 MAN, also in Santiago. Super service.
So the city can't be blamed for such poor service and customer treatment!!!
