Tours and Activities:

Patagonian Cypress: Ancient and Noble

The Patagonian cypress is one of the native trees of the humid climate of the Chilean Valdivian rainforest and lives in areas managed by CONAF that are open to the public.

Near Puerto Montt, a forest stands out for its size and excellent state of conservation. A World Heritage Site, the Andean Larch National Park covers around forty hectares, fifty percent of which is inhabited by this long-lived species. As you walk along its trails, you will notice an unmistakable aroma and a profound stillness, true signs of the ecosystem that dominates the area.

At the entrance to this protected area, we received instructions for excursions within the grounds and brochures that taught us about the intimate life of this plant, which can live for more than a thousand years. With evergreen foliage and slow growth, the larch tree keeps a valuable record of the past in its rings. By studying these rings, scientists have been able to reconstruct climatic and geological events that occurred before the existence of modern instruments: extremely rainy years, periods of drought, and variations linked to global warming. Preserving these trees means preserving a unique source of knowledge.

Larch wood is soft, reddish, and waterproof; the latter condition means that it does not rot, which is why it was used extensively for building houses and boats. Even today, old buildings covered with larch shingles can still be seen. On the one hand, we find them traditional, tasteful, and very useful, but at the same time, the timber industry advanced faster than the tree's natural regeneration, which underscores the importance of its current protection.

We take different trails to walk among these admirable giants. Their rough trunks rise high into the sky, and their presence helps to keep the air clean and maintain the balance of the forest. The reserve is also home to abundant native vegetation, along with lakes and lagoons where non-motorized boating is permitted.

It is also common to see small animals that inhabit wooded areas, such as foxes, vizcachas, and monitos del monte. More sheltered areas are home to elusive species such as the puma, the guiñared cat, and the pudú, one of the smallest deer in the world. Among the birds, the sound of the forest betrays their presence; thanks to the park ranger, we identified black woodpeckers, kingfishers, peucos, mallards, caiquenes, and hued-hued. In the waterways, there are perch, peladillas, and rainbow/brown trout.

The greatest attraction of this journey through humid and pristine forests was the proximity to untouched nature. Colors, aromas, and silence created an atmosphere of total serenity. And what captivated us most was discovering that, thanks to the age of these trees, it has been possible to understand part of the environmental history of the planet: the rings of the larch tree are a veritable open book.

See also: Hotels in Puerto Montt and other accommodation venues