he next
tour offers a complete route from the VIII Region of Bío
Bío to the IX Region of the Araucanía, the
motherland of the Mapuche people. We will begin our overland
which includes
routes that are 100% off road, and which are only offered
by our enterprise. It includes treks and photographic tours
among lakes, beautiful waterfalls and volcanoes, some of, which
are active, and like in the Altiplano tour you will be able
to bathe in the thermal waters, which are scarcely known on
account of their difficult access. Following the Andes route
we will traverse the National Parks of Ralco, Las Nalcas, Malalcahuello,
Conguillio, Galletué Huerquehue and Villarrica.
Our trip starts out in Santiago, and we go directly to Santa
Barbara where we start the ascent along the famous BíoBío
river to reach the Ralco nature reserve, where the Araucaria,
the Chilean native conifer predominates both in the coastal
range and in the Chilean Andes.
This tree gives a fruit called Pehuen, which was the staple
food of the Pehuenche people. Some of these trees are more
than 1,250 years old. Along the trip we will also be able
to see, a sample of rich flora and fauna of the Pehuenche
range. We will visit the El Barco lagoon to continue along
the mountain foothills as far as Las Nalcas and Malalcahuello
reserves, where we will go through Las Raíces the longest
tunnel of South America.
This tunnel was part of a railway project intended to join
the two oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, by a tunnel.
We will visit the Galletue National Reserve, with beautiful
views of Icalma lagoon, again find forests of Araucarias and
the rich flora and fauna of the Chilean foothills, as also,
we will get to know the old customs of the nomad Pehuenche
tribes who were hunters and gatherers of these foothills and
still live in these vast areas.
We will then continue through the Conguillio National Park
, where you can enjoy a series of specially organized treks.
Towards the end of our trip we continue through the Huerquehue
National Park and finally the Villarrica National Park, famous
for the Villarrica volcano, which is the second most important
active volcano in Chile.
Our expedition ends at the Santiago airport, we will come
back to the capital by the Panamericana motor way.
