Living in Chile – Volcán Calbuco Eruption

Apr 23, 2017

I had a recipe to post today but it seemed a little insignificant in light of the fact that I was watching a volcanic eruption yesterday and half the night last night. My everyday life may not always be as exciting as food but I think molten lava and volcanic ash is pretty sweet.

There were actually two eruptions one started around 6 pm and the second around 1 am. The first one pretty much blew my mind. I mean, I really couldn’t believe it was actually happening. I was all like washing dishes and stuff and look up to see this! How many people get to see this kind of thing in a lifetime? These pictures were all from our house that is about 20 miles away from Calbuco.

It hasn’t erupted since 1972 and hasn’t had a major one since 1961. There was some lightning in the first eruption but not enough to capture in a photo. Although my brother-in-law got a video.


The best part was when the sunset turned the cloud of ash pink and purple!

I’d have to say that the second and more powerful eruption in the night was definitely better. The lightning was incredible and we could hear the lava and feel the rumble from across Lake Llanquihue. I just found out that Calbuco is one of the 3 most dangerous of Chiles over 90 active volcanos and over 500 potentially active ones.


Sorry that the night pictures are fuzzy. In my defense I was only half awake when I took them. Here’s a video that is much much clearer. Doesn’t that last one look kind of like a cross?


We’re literally waiting for the dust to settle now. A family friend who lives a few hours north, which is where the wind has been blowing the ash, sent us a picture of his car covered in ash this morning. I’m not sure how much ash we’ll have settle around here but so far it’s not much.

Share this:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Oven-Fried Chicken & Buttermilk Waffles

Oven-Fried Chicken & Buttermilk Waffles

I’ve been staring out the window at the rain this whole week trying to stop a constant repetition of the old phrase “April showers bring May flowers” that’s going through my head. I was almost settled on dealing with it like an adult until I woke up, yet again, to a...

Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey my friends! Anyone in the mood for some cookie inspo? You know, because I’m always happy to give it! So today’s recipe comes with a whole lot of irony for me because I made cookies using Andes mints. Now, in case you missed it, I lived in Chile for 4 years in the...

Mint Chocolate Chip Avocado Mousse Cups

Mint Chocolate Chip Avocado Mousse Cups

Ok, so I’m officially sick of being sick this year. This past week I caught a case of the flu, on my birthday actually, so yeah that was wonderful. I’d planned to share this recipe a little sooner so that it would be live in time for you guys to make it for St...

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Have I been procrastinating the writing of this post to “accidentally” get lost in making travel plans for next week? Come on, of course not, because no one does that. 😉 So maybe I’m a little bit guilty, but you know, sometimes life happens. Also, I did notice the...

Monster Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Monster Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sometimes all you need to take something from good to great is just a simple idea. When I was growing up, back when my mom used to do most of the baking in the house. We had a pretty basic set of favorites when it came to cookies. Chocolate chip cookies were obviously...