A visit to Lake Budi on the Pacific coast of Chile’s southern Araucania region offers a rare opportunity to step into the world of the country’s original inhabitants.



Home to a number of communities of Lafkenche (the name given to Mapuche living in coastal and lakeside areas), the banks of Lake Budi and outlying coastal districts is one of the largest areas in Chile still inhabited by its indigenous people where they continue to practise many of their traditional customs.

Thanks to the support of the Impulse Foundation, a group of these communities have joined together to develop their area’s tourist potential and give outsiders the chance to discover and learn about their millennial culture in a stunning landscape of remote coastline and unspoilt wetlands.

To help you discover the world of the Lafkenche people,the organisation, called Nature and Ancestral Culture on Lake Budi, has designed a number of unique tours around the lakes and its communities.

Running all year round and ranging in length from a half a day visit to the area to a four day immersion in Lafkenche culture, activities include touring the lake by boat, passing the night in a traditional Ruka wooden hut and horse riding in the local countryside.

Visitors also have the chance to experience Lafkenche daily customs, listen to their music, speak their language and try their unique cuisine, unchanged before the invasions of their lands by the Spanish almost five hundred years ago.

A local guide who accompanies the party at all times will also explain the meanings and beliefs of one of South America’s oldest peoples, including the myths of Tren Tren and Cai Cai, the two serpents believed by the Lafkenche to have created the earth and sea.

Visitors can also watch Lafkenche craftsmen at work and learn about their traditional medicines.
Other possible highlights include visiting the steam train museum in the nearby city of Carahue, learning about the impact on the area of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 1960 and discovering the site of the final battle between the Mapuche and the Chilean army more than 120 years ago.
Lake Budi is also one of South America’s few bodies of saltwater and, as such, is constitutes a unique habitat for more than 130 species of local bird, making it an unmissable site for visiting ornithologists.

Tours have also been designed to coincide with traditional Lafkenche festivals including the Meeting of the Peoples of Lake Budi (held on December 8th) and the Harvest Festival (held on February 20th) where visitors can watch traditional rites, take part in the festivities and sample a wide range of dishes and handmade goods.

Contact

Nature and Ancestral Culture on Lake Budi
Pablo Calfuqueo Lefío
Móvil: 56-9-8480903
56-9-5560479
Region de la Araucanía, Chile
Email:contacto@lagobudi.cl
www.lagobudi.cl
www.chile-araucania.cl