A day after my trip to Termas Geométricas, I was back on a Valdivia Tours bus with the same driver/guide — along with a middle-aged couple, an aunt and her niece, all from the Santiago region — heading out in the same northeast direction from Valdivia. This time our major destination was the Reserva Biológica Huilo Huilo, a private reserve sprawled across mountains of temperate rain forest and embued with a touch of Jurassic Park.
The land of the seven lakes:
Iglesia Capuchina
Along the way, we ascended through farm and cattle country and several one-street towns before reaching Panguipulli, a small city on the banks of the large cross-shaped Lago Panguipulli. Its lovely twin-towered wooden Capuchin church, built in 1947, sits on the hilly site of a nineteenth-century German mission. Mostly wooden homes and businesses line several streets leading down to a somewhat rundown waterfront.
Panguipulli lies in the center of Chile’s seven lakes region. Four of the lakes are long and spindly, the remaining three much smaller. All are connected by a system of rivers. The southernmost lake, Lago Riñihue, outflows into the San Pedro, which becomes the Calle-Calle, Valdivia’s primary river. After the devastating 1960 earthquake, a landslide dammed Riñihue, causing it to rise 65 feet and threaten to flood Valdivia before workers were able to open up a channel and drain the excess water.
As we skirted Lago Panguipulli, I was struck by the unspoiled views of water, forest, and craggy mountains.
Lago Panguipulli
Neltume:
Our next stop — Neltume, a tiny town of unpaved streets and modest wood homes. Due to its isolation, it remained unsettled until the late 1800s. In the 1900s, it housed forestry and logging workers, eventually becoming known for its pro-union and anti-dictatorship activism. A statue of a man with outstretched arms commemorates those who died in the struggles. Currently, Neltume is a popular destination for tourists visiting the Huilo Huilo reserve.
Huilo Huilo:
Some 250 square miles of land formerly slated for logging have been converted into the Reserva Biológica Huilo Huilo. Run for profit by a private foundation since 1999, its goals are three-fold — to conserve the temperate rain forest, to integrate the local community into the project, and to provide sustainable eco-tourism for the many visitors who flock here. The reserve offers a host of activities and excursions, from zip-lining and horseback riding to mountain biking and hiking up Volcán Mocho-Choshuenco, a double volcano connected by a glacier.
With visitors
Without visitors
Opting to hike to Salto del Huilo Huilo, a 115-foot waterfall pouring through a volcanic chasm, we encountered many others with the same idea. After descending to the banks of Río Truful for a view, we drove to Puerto Fuy for a late lunch.
Puerto Fuy:
Ferry on Lago Pirehueico
Home to about 1,000 people, Puerto Fuy lies at the westernmost edge of Lago Pirehueico, a long, sinuous body of water winding between Andean peaks. From its tiny port, a ferry traverses the lake to Puerto Pirehueico, where a narrow road takes travelers to San Martín de Los Andes in Argentina. Dining at the Puerto Fuy Restaurant, I ordered trout, which, the waiter assured me, came from the adjacent lake.
The not-so-magic mountain:
Stomachs now full, we drove back to the reserve to look at La Montaña Mágica. In point of fact, the site is neither a mountain nor, these days, magical: it is a lodge built in the shape of a steep volcanic cone, dotted with windows and spewing a waterfall. Though people still gawk at the structure, its whimsicality is now hidden under an unruly growth of vegetation. A swinging bridge links the lodge to other upscale hotels in the reserve.
Works in progress:
Unfinished buildings line the road leading to a sanctuary where the world’s southernmost deer, the endangered huemul del sur, roam freely. A raised walkway crisscrosses the grounds, and we were able to look down on dozens of deer enjoying the late afternoon sun. At this point, I half-expected to encounter a couple of dinosaurs, escapees from Jurassic Park.
Beyond, a stone building roughly shaped like a volcano houses a museum still under construction. Current exhibits include a collection of Amerindian artifacts, minerals, a carved mammoth horn, and replicas of Chilean copper and coal mines. Being the lone overseas visitor in our group, I spent what I considered a polite amount of time examining the exhibits. When I left, my Chilean fellow-travelers, lounging around outside, asked how I could stay in there so long … In the future, the upper level of the museum will house an observatory.
The unfinished nature of the reserve, due in part to its philosophy of building with local and sustainable resources, made me feel I was walking through a major U.S. National Park in the infancy of its development.
As we headed home, it dawned on me I never saw the Mocho-Choshuenco volcano, hidden by clouds throughout the day. I would not get a second chance.
Volcano somewhere behind the clouds