We had two guides take us on the Magic Tour today. That makes us double lucky! Ricardo and Mari Joseph are most pleasant and store houses of Chilean knowledge. First we were given a recent history of the region from the last 60 years. From the leftist activity in the 60's, the unionizing of the logging industry to military take over and management of the area to the eventual auctioning off of the old estates. The area was sold as for as little as $1 per acre in the 90's. Parts of Huilo Huilo were acquired in these auctions and part through inheritance. Ricardo then told us about the owners and a bit about how it came to be a private nature reserve. There were lots of folks and I was not able to remember all of them but I do remember that Sendero Hofmann and his cousin were naturalists and were influential in keeping this 250,000 acre area wild. There was not a great tradition of tourism in this area and so building a hotel to be the cornerstone for a tourism based business was actually a risky endeavor. It began with building the Magic Mountain. A steel post in the center supported wood beams that radiated out and formed the rooms of the hotel. All of this was sheathed in wood like a giant teepee and then the wood was covered in rock. Soon plants grew all over the outside and water was pumped to the top and it cascaded down the sides. Part of this water then flows through the hallway that connects the hotels. The water eventually pours out as a waterfall in the center of the Nothofagus Hotel. This layout reflected the geography of the reserve. The water represents the flow of lava from the two volcanos and there is actually a false volcano built on the opposite end of the complex. The Nothofagus Hotel was built in a similar way: steel beams making up the support structure, but for this building the beams were wrapped in tree trunks. The tree trunks make the structure gave the appearance of bring all wood with the strength of steel.
The sculpture garden is where we started the tour
Modern abstract as well as more classic pieces
An eclectic mix of pieces
We got a lesson on botany
The Spanish renamed this tree because you can remove a few leaves and make a cross
The blooms of same tree
The map was very helpful in orienting ourselves and understanding the extent of the reserve. A double bonus is that they gave us the map as a souvenir.
Another cute lizard
Constriction of the Magic Mountain
The book containing these picture was too large to fit in to our luggage!
Soon plants started growing all over the rocks
The name for the Chilean Bamboo is Huilo. When there are lots of it the natives would say Huilo Huilo
A new shoot
The Magic Mountain in it's current state
Unfortunately the water fall ios not flowing over the mountain due to a malfunction
The false volcano looks like a caldera and from the inside you can look up and see the sky
A seating area that we had not seen before. Events take place here and big wooden hot tubs are placed here as well
This hand hewn log can also be used as a hot tub
These bamboo grow so quickly thatthey grew through the bench in just a week
Another log / tub
The log is immense
The walk way between the two hotels
Nothofagus; our room is on the top level
Non poisonous Chilean rhubarb
Rainbow trout!
An ornate fountain behind the buildings away from everyone
These are the steel beams that are wrapped in tree trunks
An esthetically consistent way to build the Nothofagus
Here the tree trunk wrapping required access to the steel so access ports were opened up
They look like solid wood
But they are covering the supporting steel
The base of the Fungi Hotel
Looks like hollyhock flowers
The staircase that you take to get to the Spa
So beautiful!
A huge quarts crystal that is at the entrance to the now shuttered holistic Spa
