Cabañas Peumayén: “We have the only cabin in Toltén with inclusive rules for people with reduced mobility”
The Toltén river has been generous with Práxedes Zapata. Its water has allowed tourists passionate about fishing to enjoy the Chinook salmon that go down its streams, besides making kayaking a common practice. Its landscapes are an added value for their business: the Cabañas Peumayén from Toltén.
This lodging complex – which started with only one cabin and now has four – was inaugurated in 2014 and was born from the need to increase the income of the Zapata family due to low pensions. Later, the cabins were registered with the National Tourism Service, and today one of them is enabled for people with different abilities.
“The last cabin is disabled friendly and complies with all the rules of decree 50 that looks after people with reduced mobility. It is the only cabin in the area with these characteristics, and it has given us very good results”, she confesses.
The success of the cabins is reflected in the fact that year after year it receives tourists from all over the world both in summer and winter, and that the place has even been recognized by fans of bird watching.
But since March 15, the Cabañas Peumayén have not opened their doors. The extensive confinements due to the coronavirus, in the case of Práxedes, as in that of many other entrepreneurs, canceled the visits of the guests.
However, knowing that the outlook could be much worse, Práxedes Zapata proudly says that she has been able to stay on her feet and without any financial hardship. “I am happy to be able to say that we have no debts and that with the earnings of the summer we have been able to maintain ourselves well, also considering our pensions that, although they are low, help. We have been thrifty and with that we have paid the constant expenses that we have”.
At the moment, Práxedes confirms that they are getting ready for when they can reopen, “we have prepared some activities to apply for a project where we can implement tourist recreational tours focused on nature tourism: bird watching, kayak tours, among other activities that they could empower us as an enterprise ”, she explains.
But the entrepreneur knows that to achieve this she needs to have all the sanitary measures to prevent coronavirus infections among her family and her clients.
For this reason, since August, Cabañas Peumayén have been part of the Arriba Todos Juntos program. Thus, Práxedes Zapata has its health kit and preventive signage that corresponds to the first phase of the program: “Preparing to go out”.
“Despite the fact that at this time we have not opened because we have a sanitary restriction, we have already received proper sanitary kits and we greatly appreciate it, because today it is difficult to find all these products because of how popular they are. We will save everything for when customers return, probably in about two more months”, confesses Práxedes.
