Geographical and Political Distances
The nearest town to Caburgua is Pucón, which today is located less than an hour away. For the generations before 1970, the distance was three hours on horseback and four hours walking.
Pucón is on the east end of Lake Villarrica and framed by the magnificent, snow-capped Volcán Villarrica. This volcano, the lake and a town were baptized "Villarrica," by Spanish conquerors who dreamed of precious metals. The legend is that the native Mapuche hid the gold, hoping the Spanish would go away.
Further west is Temuco, the capital of the Cautín Province, and a link to the Pan-American Highway running north to Santiago and south to Patagonia. Given Chile's centralized political system, major decisions about Caburgua's future were usually made in Temuco or Santiago.
Image Descriptions (Left to Right)
In 1968 the Caburgua dirt road was finally graveled. It was paved in the 1990s. This enabled many people staying in Pucón to spend the day on the Caburgua beaches. Also, interest in buying land to build cabins increased.
- The Caburgua Visual Archive: Overview
- Rural Chile's Struggle with Isolation
- Geographical and Political Distances
- Pucón Tourism Opens a Door
- Unforeseen Ways of Change
- Remembering the Past
- First Impressions
- The Spanish Conquest and Mapuche Rebellion
- New Immigrants
- Unique Forests and Flowers
- Adjusting to Nature's Laws
- Welcome to Caburgua
- Mate and History
- Politics: A Sport Becomes Dangerous
- Rural Unemployment
- Animals and Fruit
- Problems of Education
- Agriculture
- Fiestas
- Rites and other Celebration
- The Beginnings of Change
- Transformation