We want you to experience everything that this beautiful area offers during your stay with us. In addition to the well-known adventure activities such as climbing the Villarrica volcano and rafting on the Trancura river, there is a rich cultural element to the Araucaria region which is often overlooked.

Why not let us take you into the heart of the Mapuche community where you can watch traditional weaving and cooking, and maybe even have a go yourself? You might even have considered volunteering when planning your trip, only to realise you just couldn't fit it into your time scale. So, why not spend just a day volunteering at the Mapuche orphanage or at a local community school?

Have you just finished you're A-levels or are you a university student looking for something different to do on your gap year? We have an international student programme in place which can provide both the base and the structure for your year out.

Do you feel lost without knowing the local language? As a qualified languages teacher I (Sarah) can take you through the basics and teach you anything from simple useful phrases to more complicated structures depending on your needs and interest.

Click on these links to find out more and if you are interested in doing something that you don't find here on our web pages, then click HERE to let us know. Virtually nothing is impossible to organise!

The Mapuche Community

The Mapuche people are culturally heterogeneous community, with some indigenous groups, national colonists and the mestizo descendents of these ethnic groups. The habitants come from diverse localities of the central valleys as a result of migration produced by the occupation of the Araucania in 1883.

Currarehue is a traditional Mapuche village in southern Chile, bordering the Argentinean province of Neuquen and is situated between the Trancura and the Maichin rivers. It is an unexplored part of Chile from a tourist perspective due to the fact that most visitors head to Junin and San Martin de los Andes in Argentina, and to Pucon and Villarrica in Chile. The whole area is of exceptional beauty boasting mountains, lakes, volcanoes and a complex biodiversity.

Since 2003 a joint venture to support the fragile culture of the Mapuche community has seen the construction and opening of the Aldea Intercultural Trawupejum. In Mapuche, Trawupejum means "where we meet", and has evolved into a meeting area and a place to learn and develop skills. The ultimate aim of the centre is to contribute to the value and preservation of the local cultural patrimony.

The cultural centre is made from native local wood and has been built according to the estetic principals of the Mapuche and Pehuenche cultures. It boasts a museum, an artesan market and a restaurant serving traditional Mapuche food. The museum does not only house a specific collection of artefacts of general interest. Its purpose can be better described with the phrase ‘a carrier and recreator of a living patrimony' and the centre has therefore earned itself the title “a museum without a collection'.

The Artesan market, (Llallin Kushe - the old spider knitter who teaches young Mapuche's to weave in front of a fire) offers a space for the production and commercialisation of local products such as weaving, carvings and textiles. At the same time, it permits the investigation, cultivation and learning of traditional techniques whilst allowing for the integration of innovation. The Mapuche kitchen - restaurant Epu Nana - is more than a simple restaurant; it has become a small culinary school aimed at keeping traditional foods alive. The centre offers optimum conditions for the support of artistic endeavour, educational widening, along with respect and the maintenance of the patrimony. It has also opened up a new niche market - that of cultural tourism.

Approximately 45,000 people pass through the International Mamul Malal road just 35 kilometres from the town. Only 8,000 stopped in Currarehue in 2003. With the Sendero de Chile passing through the area, and with the growing knowledge of the Aldea Intercultural, Currarehue and its community hopes to see this figure increase significantly.

In order to support this process and to negate any prejudices relating to the cultural identities on the part of both the Mapuche community and that of foreign travellers, The Tree House Hostel has entered into a project with the community and the cultural centre itself. Using the Tree House Hostel as a base, you can spend time at the cultural centre, learning some of the local weaving and cooking techniques, or if you have more time to spare, volunteering (even if only for one day) at the local orphanage or the local school.

We ask that any visitors to the community respect their values, culture, opinions and way of life and that through our project we can work towards enhancing the lives on both parts by offering a unique experience based on cultural exchange and enrichment.

Student Exchange Programme

We offer an individual and unique international student programme designed to maximise linguistic skill, to teach about the running of a tourism business and to enrich your experience through the exchange of cultures.

Get in touch if you would like to get involved in some work experience with us at the hostel. We will speak to you in Spanish and as a qualified languages teacher I can help with any linguistic problems. You will be offered the unique opportunity to see first hand how a tourism business is run. However, we will not have you working everyday as we will offer you a schedule of activities in and around the region during your stay, with ideas and the time to travel into neighbouring countries or north and south in Chile.

Also, if you are interested we can arrange for you to do some voluntary work in the Mapuche community.

For further details regarding what the programme includes click HERE. So, take this unique opportunity to stretch your mind and body, learn skills for life, raise your cultural awareness, help poorer communities and find out what you are really capable of achieving.

Languages Courses

We are in the process of setting up a range of courses from basic to more advanced which Sarah will take charge of teaching. In the meantime please feel free to use us as a base for informal learning, to pick our brains on the nitty gritty of Spanish grammar and to try out your newly learnt phrases with our neighbours, friends and local animals!