- Address: southeastern Pacific, about 670 km west of the coast of America at the latitude of Santiago;
- Area: 99,6 km ²;
- Population: 633 (2002).
In Chile , near the resort town of Valparaiso , is located the green archipelago Juan Fernandez, which includes three islands. They are unique in their beauty, natural objects. Tourists who were lucky enough to visit these places receive a lot of amazing impressions.
What is remarkable about the Archipelago Juan Fernandez?
The first mention of the islands dates back to 1574, just this year they were discovered by the Spanish navigator Juan Fernandez. The archipelago includes the islands of Santa Clara, Alejandro-Selkirk, Isla Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe Island). It is interesting that only the island of Robinson Crusoe is populated, the other two are uninhabited. Sometimes, in the fishing season, fishermen come to Santa Clara and live there for several months.
But Isla Robinson Crusoe is open for tourists. The capital of the island, the town of San Juan Bautista, is home to about 650 people who are engaged in fishing and serving incoming tourists. In fact, the novel by writer Daniel Defoe is based on a real story of a sailor who descended from the ship to the island after quarreling with the captain and remaining here to live for several years.
On the relief of the island Robinson can be fully judged by the book Defoe. Therefore, for climbing in the most rocky part, it is best to get a suitable outfit. On the island for tourists a model of the village of Robinson was created, so those who wish can stroll in it and feel themselves on the pages of the novel.
In general, travel to the archipelago of Juan Fernandez is preferred by those tourists who are engaged in diving, mountaineering and ecotourism. The whole terrain has this. Fans of climbing the mountains can find in the rocks of the island of Robinson caves, in which the opposition figures of Chile hid, some of whom later became the presidents of the republic.
At the coast of Isla Robinson Crusoe in 1915, the cruiser Dresden, which sailed away from British warships, was undermined. The history of the island does not end there. In 1998, adventurer Bernard Keizer arrived on the island in search of the treasures left by the Germans after the First World War. He dug a lot of intricate tunnels on the island, but found nothing, but he managed to popularize one of the best local and world delicacies - sea lobsters.
How to get to the islands?
Fans of extreme and wild rest go to the islands in various ways, sometimes they manage to go there with the fishermen, sometimes on the ship. The best message is established with the island of Isla Robinson Crusoe, which is most visited by tourists. You can get to Alejandro-Selkirk only by a small plane, so tourists are rarely taken there.