Fiestas Patrias in Malalcahuello

The 18th of September in Chile is a time for  celebrating the beginning of independence from Spain. Tradicionally it is celebrated with family at home or perhaps in a “fonda” or  fair where typical food is sold and people dust off their tradicional dance costumes to dance the cueca and later enjoy cumbia and other music. One of the typical foods eaten is the “asado” or BBQ, after first sampling the traditional empanada (pastie) and washing all that down with some traditional cider, sometimes drunk from a hollowed out cow horn.

In Malalcahuello the celebrations are low key. In local hall there are artisan products on show and typical food available for purchase.  One or two of the local restaurants usually have live music. The date is very popular with Chilean families who rent out a cabin for several days to celebrate the public holiday together.

Nature and Malalcahuello

Malalcahuello is surrounded by the unique Araucaria forest which is a mix of the native Monky Puzzle tree and other beech species. The 18th of September (Fiestas Patrias) e is an ideal time to visit  Malalcahuello as the deciduous trees are all with their new fresh leaves, offering an uplifting vision everywhere you turn. The Araucaria trees are found in abundance from around 1400m altitude (4,600 f). You will mainly see them in the Araucanía región of Chile, although they can be seen in a limited area in Argentina. The species, was almost completely logged out of extinction in the 1960´s through to the 1980´s.   It is one of the oldest living tree species, very slow growing, hence it´s near extinction.

On one side of the valley where the township of Malalcahuello is, there is the National Reserve Malalcahuello, while on the other side is the Conguillío National Park.

There are two main entrances to the Malalcahuello National Reserve; the first is on the main highway approximately 500m from the centre of the town.  From here there is an interesting (uphill) walk with 3 lookout spots on the way to the top which is a ridegtop where you can see spectacular views of Volcano Lonquimay close-up. The second entrance is en route to the Volcano Lonquimay and Hotel/ski centre Corralco.  The first entrance has a fee,  $2100 for Chilean resident adults or CLP $4100 for foreigners without residency (2023).

Access to Conguillío National Park is principally vía the small city of Curacautín. From Malalcahuello it´s approximately 1 hour by  vehicle to arrive at the north entrance to the Park.

Your cabin in Malalcahuello

Outside of the central area of Malalcahuello, there are many holiday cabins to rent which are tucked away in forested areas. Many of the cabins on offer are in the mid range price bracket, whilst a few on offer fall into the high quality and high price category. Many cabins have hot tubs but if not, there are thermal baths just a kilometre (0,6 mi) from the centre of Malalcahuello and private hot tubs open to the public.

In the centre of Malalcahuello, the cabins are in very compact sites with not much distance between cabins but they may have views of the surrounding mountains.

If you are interested in renting a quality cabin for the 18th of September holidays 2023, you may wish to take advantage of the discounts offered at Chile Wild, contact us on +56976525043,  vía email: contacto@chilewild.com o reserva en linea https://www.chilewild.com/cabins . There are various options of cabins, hotels and lodge available on the website of the local tourism organisation: https://malalcahuello.org