Chile.Travel recently reported on Lorenzo Aillapán, famous Mapuche Bird Man of Lake Budi, who has been named one of Chile’s living treasures. Like Aillapán, the respected performer’s hometown of Puerto Saavedra, in Chile’s Araucanía region, is another of the country’s valuable cultural gemstones. Puerto Saavedra is “Konun Traytrayko leufu” – or “meeting of waters” – … More Puerto Saavedra: Preserving Chile’s Mapuche heritage and natural environment

Northern Chile’s Arica y Parinacota region was once contained within the grand Inca territory, inhabited by indigenous Aymara, Chinchorro, Chango and Quechua tribes, who endowed this desert land with their native languages prior to the Spanish invasion and still live in the area today. In the Precolumbian epoch, Inca couriers known as chasquis sprinted rapidly … More Incan Arica – Ancient sights to see along the way to Chile’s Lauca National Park

Robinson Crusoe Island is named for a famous fictional castaway, but the real inspiration for the character was a privateer – a pirate sanctioned and sponsored by an enemy of the Spanish crown. Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish privateer who believed his ship to be in dangerous sailing condition and demanded to be abandoned on … More Mystery and Adventure on the High Seas: Run aground on Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island