Parque Nacional Conguillio

About 3 hours northeast of where we live is another amazing Chilean Park.  This one, Parque Nacional Conguillio is famous for its volcano, Volcan Llaima and the incredible Araucaria Trees.  The volcano is especially cool because it has two peaks.  The Araucaria, known in English as the Monkey Puzzle Tree, is one of the most unusual trees we have ever seen.  It is the national tree of Chile and naturally grows high up in the mountains.  There are both male and female Araucarias, which when fertilized make huge cones containing lots of seeds called pinones. Pinones are the traditional food of the Mapuches who are the natives of this area.  At this time of year, (fall here), you can see them all over the ground under the trees and also in the local markets.  The branches of the trees are super spiny, and the trunks of the older trees look like the shell of a tortoise. 
We did an amazing hike, el sendero Sierra Nevada, which winds up through an Araucaria forest and ends in spectacular views of the park below.  Half way up the trail, as we stopped for a lunch break, Elijah spotted our first Andean Condor!  They are enormous amazingly graceful  birds.  This one was then followed by a partner.  Together they put on quite a show for us.  Seeing the condors inspired us to keep going and we made it to the top, 6.1 kilometers up!
The next day we hiked to a crazy lake, Lago Verde that was formed when the volcano last erupted, leaving trees burnt and submerged in its wake.

Araurcaria Tree with Volcan Llaima behind



Araucaria Forest




Two Andean Condors soaring in front of us!

 

At the top of Sendero Sierra Nevada




Lago Verde



Close up of the Araucaria Tree

 

Achilles hikes over the volcanic rock formations







Pinones

 

We boiled them for a long time and now to peel off the shells and enjoy!