About us

Meret

My name is Andrea Meret Räber and I grew up in Oberburg, a small village in the canton of Bern (CH). My mother tongue is German, but I also speak fluent Spanish and English. At the moment I work five months a year in Switzerland (tourism industry), for the remaining seven months I live in Chile and offer horseriding tours.

After completing my apprenticeship as a businesswoman at RONDO Burgdorf AG, I completed my professional baccalaureate. After passing the Numerus Clausus, I was to begin my studies as a veterinarian. But before the five-year study I wanted to see something of the world, so I came to South America. After working for three months in Argentina (Campo la Sierra), six months in Chile (Hacienda Los Andes) and three months in Ecuador (Huasquila Lodge), nothing came out of my studies and I travelled back to Chile, where my heart was stuck.

During the first three years in Chile I worked as a tour guide and all-rounder on the Hacienda Los Andes, in the small north of Chile. There I could gain first experiences in tourism. As a tour guide, I organized and accompanied not only the 1-6-day riding tours, but also the 4×4 tours and observatory tours in the hotel’s own observatory. As an all-rounder in a small business, I also took over all the other work of a hotel.

In search of a new challenge I started a job as a cheesemaker on a goat farm in the same valley as the Hacienda Los Andes.

Even before I started at the Agricola Santa Andrea, I fulfilled a life dream. I rode with my Chilean friend and a German friend through the south of Chile for three months. You can find more about this incredibly beautiful trip in my blog.

After this experience I had the idea to start my own business and to share my experiences with others.

Bernardo

My husband Bernardo Rojas, also called Rambo, was born and raised in Río Hurtado in Chile. He supports me on my riding tours. Due to his origin and experience he knows the Andes as well as only locals can. His knowledge of the Cordillera and his knack for horses give us security. We are a good team and complement each other perfectly.

After an apprenticeship as a mechanic industrial, he decided to study engineering and management empresarial, i.e. businessman. After an employment in a fruit export company, he began to work in a diesel electricity plant. In addition, Bernardo ran his own workshop, where he mainly did welding work, repaired cars and other manual work. Bernardo has unbelievable skills when it comes to this work. Not possible not exists. And if something doesn’t exist, he invents it. Although he had a leading function in the power station, the activity bored him more and more. So he came to Switzerland after our marriag, learned German and has been working in tourism during the summer season ever since.

This enables us to live our dream and create LocuraChile.