Argentina
Villa Pehuenia
Monkey puzzle trees cast dinosaur-era silhouettes over twin Mapuche lakes rimmed in volcanic sand.
Villa Pehuenia in Neuquén Province sits between two Andean lakes at 900 metres, surrounded by the oldest trees in South America — the araucaria, or monkey puzzle tree, which has survived unchanged for 150 million years and now lines the approach roads and covers the hillsides above the village in prehistoric canopy. The town was established in 1992 and still operates without the infrastructure of better-known lake towns, which gives it the quality of a place that knows exactly what it is without needing to explain it. The araucaria cones, the size of a child's head, fall in autumn and the Mapuche communities harvest them for piñones.
Villa Pehuenia is located on the Peninsula Pehuenia between Lago Aluminé and Lago Moquehue in the Pehuenia region of Neuquén Province, surrounded by one of the most intact araucaria forests remaining in Argentina. The araucaria (Araucaria araucana), the monkey puzzle tree, is a living fossil — its Jurassic ancestors fed the sauropod dinosaurs of the Mesozoic — and the mature specimens in this region reach 40 metres in height and over 1,000 years of age. The Mapuche communities of the Pehuenia region have harvested piñones (araucaria seeds) for thousands of years, and the autumn harvest from February to May is both a food source and a cultural event that continues today. The adjacent Lago Aluminé offers fly-fishing and kayaking in conditions less trafficked than the more famous southern lake district.
Couple
Villa Pehuenia in autumn, when the piñones are falling and the araucaria canopy above the lake turns gold, is one of the Neuquén Andes' least-expected pleasures. The town is small enough to walk in an afternoon and large enough to stay three days without running out of reason.
Family
The araucaria tree tells a story that children find immediately graspable — these are the trees the dinosaurs ate from, unchanged since the Jurassic — and the Mapuche piñon harvest season in March-April adds a living cultural dimension to the botanical fact.
- The monkey puzzle (araucaria) is a living fossil — the species is 200 million years old, predating the dinosaurs.
- Local Mapuche communities harvest piñones (araucaria seeds) in autumn — roasted and eaten like chestnuts.
- Twin lakes Aluminé and Moquehue flank the peninsula — wooden chalets on both shores rent kayaks and canoes.
- The peninsula road is unpaved and closes in heavy snow — the isolation is part of the draw.
Piñones — the starchy pine nuts of the araucaria tree — roasted over coals in the Mapuche tradition.
Trout from Lago Aluminé pan-fried with forest herbs at a lakeside cabaña.
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