We arrived in Pucon on a Saturday evening – but unfortunately, due to the fact that it was high season we had to leave straight away to find accommodation in Villarica for a night! We tried to solicit the information center in Pucon for hostel help, but they proved unhelpful, telling us the overcrowding situation happens all the time. I overheard one desperate girl being told to wait until 10:00 pm, then go ask to sleep in the police station or the hospital! Yikes. Thankfully, we were smart enough to catch the last bus out to a nearby town slightly larger, but equally rammed with people. We did end up finding a pricey room in Villarica in an attic which smelled like varnish and had a rat on the roof attempting to dig its way into our room all night.
The next morning we were back on the bus to Pucon, having booked our accommodation ahead this time. While we had arrived on a Saturday evening, we’ve never had to actually leave a city before due to lack of a bed! If you are going to Pucon during high season (especially February) BOOK AHEAD. We ended up finding a great new place on O'Higgins street called Hostal Kutralwe which had a massive kitchen stocked with new appliances (finally!) and took advantage of it for some home-cooked meals. It was a little far from town (10-15 minute walk, and few empty taxies around) but it was pretty quiet. Once we settled in we decided to take a walk around town before a tour we had booked in the afternoon.
One delicious pizza later (which is rare in Chile!) we were in a few tour agencies questioning them about their trip up the volcano we could see as we walked around town – Villarica. This volcano is one of Chile’s most active, and up until an earthquake in 2010 you could see hot, red, blazing magma sloshing around in the crater deep inside if you managed to climb to the top. Villarica is also a ski resort during the winter. I learned that Villarica was a “rucapillan” or a house of the spirits for the Mapuche people who lived in the area. They believed the volcano’s eruptions were warnings to the people that their behavior was not pleasing the gods.
Eventually we decided against going up – every tour company told us we only had one shot (if the weather turned, we’d have to go back down without summiting, NO refund or second try) and it was quite dangerous. Apparently a few tourists fell and died in recent years (while going with reputable companies, not just the careless ones) and others have been injured sliding in the snow back down the volcano. In the end we decided not to climb because we had climbed a volcano in Chile and seen smoke oozing from the crater of an active volcano – in Chaitén! Since there was no shot of seeing the red magma from Villarica anymore, we’ll wait for another volcanic opportunity.
What we did get to do in Pucon was see some bees! We were picked up from our hotel by the Ulmorayen ‘bee keepers’ - a man and his stepdaughter, who translated for us. On their farm we watched a little movie about bees, which was paused plenty of times so we could ask questions! We learned that the Queen bee is the only bee who lays eggs. Interestingly, the male bees (known as “drones”) only reproduce as well (with the Queen) and once their task is finished they instantly die as their reproductive organs are ripped off from their body. All the honey-producing “worker” bees are female. Workers complete tasks such as the hive’s cleaning (younger workers) and defense (older, thus expendable workers) and they also care for the larvae and produce wax and honey. My favorite part of the video was a quote by Einstein. He said that without bees, humans would only have 4 years of life remaining… a very important warning when bees are currently suffering from a mass die-off around the world.
After the video we moved outside to see the wax and honey production. We put on these awesome-looking suits and gloves in all white which had netting to protect us from the bees. The bee’s homes on the farm looked like stacked boxes, four boxes tall towers which each had ‘layers’ where the bees were creating wax and honey, with one box for the baby bees and two or three boxes for the honey. The bees were also flying all around us, taking turns dashing out of the boxes through a “doorway” at the bottom of the box stack. They would then fly to the colorful flowers around the farm to collect pollen before returning to their homes.
Inside the boxes, we saw the bees starting on a new section of the hive, and hard at work in already-built sections. We also saw where the little wax cups filled with larvae were, and learned that the honey is produced to feed the larvae, and the wax is used as a ‘seal’ or cover to protect the honey. As we watched the hive we saw one of the larvae-filled wax cups start to shake – a bee was being born! The bee managed to poke its head out of the cup and wiggle its way to freedom in just some seconds!
Scanning the hive we also located the Queen – she was larger very different-looking from all the other bees. The workers and drones seemed to be quite aware of her as she moved around. I felt quite safe in my bee-protection suit to get right up near her and the other bees and get my first close look at them!
Next the four of us headed into the processing room. Each of the ‘layers’ of wax and honey were held over a large sink or tub and the material is scraped off. The honey pieces are placed into a machine which is electric-powered, but started by a hand crank. The machine spins the honey and squeezes it, pressing the liquid honey out into a bowl below for storage before packaging.
We were shown an example of ‘real’ versus ‘processed’ (sugar added) honey with jars of each type side-by-side. The difference in condition was blatant; the ‘real’ honey was much purer in appearance. (And of coarse, there is a massive difference on your health if you consume a lot of sugar-added honey.)
Colin and I went back to the video room for a taste of the Ulmorayen honeys on offer. We tried the bee’s ‘classic’ honey and the honey the bees produce using pollen from flowers called ulmo. My favorite was the honey plus ginger combination (which undoubtedly would be amazing in tea for a sore throat) and Colin really enjoyed the honey plus chocolate. The other things collected from the bees are all sold for various human uses. Pollen is sold in jars to be mixed in drinks and the propoleo (resin to seal the hives) is used for infections. The bee’s wax is used in make-up and bath products the farm makes, and their honey is either packaged as natural or mixed with other flavors such as orange or chocolate.
After we were dropped back at our hotel we went to a nearby hostel/tour agency for information on their Mapuche tours. While the tours sounded interesting, they were quite expensive – $80 USD per person for a day trip to a nearby town easily reachable by bus? Just not worth it. I did get plenty of info which helped me plan my own Mapuche ‘tour’ – solo!
The following morning I decided to attend a free walking tour at 11:00 am in the city center. Turns out I was the only one there for the tour that day. High season during February is typically the time when Chilean families travel around Chile, with not too many foreigners around. As the tour is an English-speaking tour, most Chilean tourists wouldn’t be too interested in joining. Hence I got a private tour!
We began at a spot where there were a bunch of Mapuche statues – a few of Mapuche ancestors, called ‘Chemamull.’ These decorated statues act like gravestones indicating who the person was by the included characteristics on the statue. The statue would aid the deceased person in their journey to reunite with his or her ancestors. Apparently, the statues are also used for adornment in schools or other places to bring good luck and “watch over” people. There was another statue of a Mapuche medicine woman called a machi. Machies would have extensive knowledge of medicinal plants, and they were also believed to have power to communicate with the spirit world and thus were seen as oracles and interpreters of dreams.
After a quick journey down to the beach, we next went to explore the Peninsula. The Peninsula is a private community where people from Santiago have purchased summer homes. The area has its own entrance to the beach and many residents also have claims on boats in the nearby harbor. It used to be the case that you could use this harbor to go by boat to nearby Villarica, the town where we had to go our first evening for accommodation. Now its more convenient to go by bus (as we did) but it is still possible to take a boat cruise there and around the bay.
After passing the oldest hotel in Pucon, the Gudenschwager (built in 1923), we came across some beautiful wooden flowers. My tour ended shortly after that, so I returned to the wooden flower shop to ask about the process and was given a free little demonstration! Each flower cost about $2.00 USD.
After my tour I headed back to the hotel where I met Colin. In the afternoon we went down to the black volcanic beach to try for some fun in the water. The beach was absolutely rammed with people and we had to walk all the way down to the right-hand side to find any free spots to sit. Turns out the volcanic stone “sand” was really rough on the toes – it was like walking on pieces of glass. Unfortunately, the water was filled with bits of trash and laced with oil residue from the many jet skis zooming around nearby. Because of this our dip in the water was really short! We even abandoned our umbrella which we had paid for another few hours because Pucon’s beach was so unpleasant… and the dinner we prepared of pasta and vegetables was so much nicer. 
Our final full day in Pucon, Colin decided to work while I headed out to learn more about the Mapuche people in a city called Curarrehue. This city is populated by Mapuche people, and once I got there and started walking around I could see the indigenous features everywhere. After a quick stop at the information center I found a museum which resembled a ruka, or Mapuche house, and had some displays about Mapuche culture inside. Here I sampled a Mapuche snack I found, a thick grainy ‘log’ of dough called a catuto. I can’t say that the catuto I tried was good – in fact, it was thick, doughy, super bland and grainy because of the crushed wheat used which is called ‘mote.’ It is only slightly cooked, and served cold. Pretty much all the things you don’t want in a snack. Even the honey I was offered by the Mapuche woman who sold it to me did nothing to improve its flavor.
Post-catuto, I wandered around Curarrehue people-watching for a while until I stopped to buy a bottle of water. The Chilean woman selling the water to me tried to rip me off by giving me back $1000 pesos less in change – this has happened to both Colin and I multiple times (especially when buying bottled water) while traveling through Chile specifically. In South America we found it is very common in Brazil for hotel bills to be purposefully “incorrect” at the end of one’s stay – in Chile (especially in the South of Chile) it seems to be those little purchases you have to be careful with. I had been asking the Chilean woman (who spoke a little English) where the bus was, and as two more customers entered the shop, she quickly handed over my incorrect change and rushed over to the door and tried to call me over to show me the bus stop. Nice try. I announced that my change was incorrect rather than move towards her and she sheepishly came back to the till to give me the rest of my money. Interestingly (and very tellingly) enough, Colin told me when I returned that evening that he had someone try the same thing on him (yet again) when he purchased a bottle of water that same day.
I did end up getting the bus shortly after that bottled-water incident up the road to a Mapuche woman’s restaurant 2 kilometers away. Her food was supposed to be the most delicious Mapuche cuisine you could find, and I found evidence for that when searching for her name on the internet. I arrived at the “Mapuche Kitchen” owned by Anita Epulef and asked for one of their daily set “classic Mapuche food” menus. The woman serving me was kind enough to let me exchange the included juice for a more traditional beverage, and the food started coming out.
The meal began with a couple of whole grain sopapillas. This Mapuche bread was soft, fluffy, slightly greasy (but in a good, dough-nut way) and had little seeds. It was served with three different spreads which were all fantastic! The orange sauce is a refreshingly cool carrot and basil spread, the middle tomato and veg (like bruschetta), and the sauce on the right is merken. Merken is dried and smoked chili pepper which can be put on everything from potatoes to meats. Here it was mixed with oil and herbs to create a slightly spicy sauce. I ended up buying a little baggie of this stuff, it is so good! Served alongside my meal was the traditional drink I asked for: ‘muday de pinones.’ This drink is basically a fermented cider with a taste of pinones, the pine nuts the Mapuche people collect from the Araucaria tree.
Next came a ‘roasted mote soup’ which reminded me slightly of the catuto because the same type of grain (mote) is used. However, the soup was WAY better because of the added flavors and slightly creamy texture. At least both are really healthy for you!
My main course was the best though. It was a super colorful dish, and really healthy and tasty as well – a stew made using mote grains, squash, and corn and served alongside a side of fresh vegetables. This stew really started to win me over to the mote! And it was so filling I could hardly finish it, but I just had to because it was so good…
The final treat was really pushing the envelope on how many ways you can serve mote in one meal. It was a delicious apple dessert in a slightly sweet sauce. Of course (red) mote was in it – which became soft and sweet due to the sauce. I scooped all of it up… this was probably one of the healthiest, and yet still really tasty, meals I’ve ever had. And it was vegetarian! A day’s break from meat which was very delicious.
I returned to Pucon for a relaxing evening, and to get ready to leave the next morning. Colin and I packed our bags and checked out of our hotel, walking into town to a Mapuche museum for 11:00 am. It was a one room museum, but was positively packed with stuff – a fantastic collection of various Mapuche objects. The man running the museum told us that he focused on collecting Mapuche stone objects, as most people typically “went for” the silver jewelry the Mapuche are famous for. (Which interestingly enough, they didn’t start making until they were given silver pieces by the Spanish in exchange for goods and didn’t know what to do with them!) He showed us examples of clavas (worn by political leaders) and toquikaras (worn by warrior chiefs) – sometimes a powerful Mapuche leader would have both. We also noticed a Mapuche calendar.
We returned to the hotel just in time to pick up our bags before our bus to Temuco. On the bus we settled in the few hour ride going north!
Francesca
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