Río Cruces & Santa María Lodge
Santa María Lodge
Hualamo, which means "between Great Grebes" in the Mapuche language (or "between waterbirds"), adequately describes the surrounding environment of our operations center. Santa María Lodge is located in the heart of the Río Cruces Nature Sanctuary (see the map), an important reproductive site for Black-necked Swans as well as to many other bird species.
Beautiful views of the Cruces River can be enjoyed from the lodge's gardens or walking down wood stairs to reach our attractive dock.
Santa María Lodge consists of two sections: the main house and room complex. German colonists built the main house at the beginning of the 20th century. In the ground floor you can find the rest room, the bar, the dining area and the kitchen. Two double rooms are located on the second floor. The room complex consists of six spacious rooms, each with private bath and with a beautiful view to the lodge's gardens.
Río Cruces Nature Sanctuary
With approximately 4,870 ha. the Rio Cruces Nature Sanctuary is one of the most important protected wetland in Chile, specially for waterbirds conservation.
The history of this wetland goes back to 1960, when the biggest ever recorded earthquake occurred in Valdivia. Before this catastrophic event, the Río Cruces was a small navigable river surrounded by farmlands and native forests where the "Collico" ship and other small boats were used to transport local inhabitants and their goods. The earthquake and its subsequent sequels resulted in the permanent loss of a large amount of these areas due to floods.
Yet a vital wetland habitat for thousands of waterfowl and waders was formed. From this natural event onwards, this wetland was gradually colonized by aquatics plants and emergent vegetation was followed by a great number of animal species, especially waterbirds. For these reasons, the Ramsar Convention designated it as a Ramsar Site in 1981. At the same time, this area was declared a Nature Sanctuary by the Chilean government and has been protected since by the Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF).
Together with the notorious process of vegetation succession on these wetland habitats, animal and particularly bird species have changed through the years. Herbivorous waterbirds have always been the most abundant, such as the swan and coots which feed on Luchecillo (an aquatic plant that forms dense submerged prairies) However, different bird species have incorporated to these breeding colonies. For example, in 1980 the first breeding pair of White-necked Heron was observed; currently more than 50 nests have been reported. Furthermore, during the 1990s we have recorded White-faced Ibis and Trudeau's tern, among others, as summer visitors.