Ilha Grande (Brazil) and Villarrica volcano (Chile)

A couple of natural disasters in Latin America have made it into the UK press in recent days.

Although it's the hottest time of the year for the coastal area around Rio, it's also the wettest. There are plenty of places where the coastal mountain range comes right down to the sea. On New Year’s Eve/Day torrential rain caused mudslides and landslides which caused loss of life, damage to property and severe disrupution to infrastructure. Particularly badly hit was the large island of Ilha Grande off the coast south of Rio de Janeiro, and Angra dos Reis on the mainland a couple of hours' drive south.

Fortunately, the properties Journey Latin America uses are at Abraão, about 8 miles away from where most of the damage occurred - we did have four clients in Abraão but all are ok, and more travelled to Ilha Grande on Saturday 2 January.

The current situation (as of 4th January) is as follows:

• Weather has improved.
• The Rio-Angra-Parati road closed for 2 hours on 4th Jan but is now open.
• The Ilha Grande ferry from the mainland is operating.
• Things are generally working as normal on Ilha Grande.
• The hotel Pestana Angra, near Angra dos Reis, will remain closed for a week for repair. There was no loss of life at the hotel but a sea wall collapsed.
• The FCO is not advising against travel to the area.

In Chile, in the northen area of the Lake District near Pucón (800 km south of Santiago) there was an avalanche on Villarrica volcano on 2nd January. Fortunately there were no fatalities although a group of Chilean climbers were caught up in it. The volcano is now closed for climbing until further notice, which affects Journey Latin America's Nandú Discovery Journey.

As an alternative, the next best thing is the full-day walk/trek in Huerquehue National park (pronounnced Wear-kay-way) – 6 to 8 hours through stunning forest with views of lakes and the volcanoes, 7-8km up through Araucaria forest – stands of enormous monkey puzzle trees with openings so you can see across the lakes to Villarrica Volcano. For bird lovers, it's a great place to spot (well, try to) the chucao http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chucao_Tapaculo

At the highest point of the walk there are lakes which mirror the monkey puzzles. Then you come back again, often with a stop at the termas (hot springs) on the way back to Pucón.

Next best thing? For many, it's better than the steeper Villarrica trek.