Chile's Treasure Islands

The Juan Fernandez archipelago offer visitors a rich mix of thrilling history and vibrant wildlife in a stunning setting, 667 kilometres off Chile's long Pacific coast.

Lying level with the mainland port of San Antonio, eighty kilometres south of Valparaiso, the islands´ climate is comparable with that of Chile's central coast, although much rainier and unpredictable because the huge expanses of ocean that surround it.

In the high season (which runs from September to April), temperatures can reach a pleasant 25 degrees, although rain is still to be expected, but storms in the winter months can make the avoidable sea-crossing from airstrip to the rest rather hard to stomach, if not impassable.
First discovered by Joao Fernandez (the Spanish version of his name now identifies the islands), a Portuguese pilot seeking a shorter route between the ports of Callao in Peru and Valparaiso.

But Fernandez was the only first of a long list of seafarers to set foot on the islands.

The islands´ strategic location off the coast of the Spain´s American empire made them a popular haunt for the pirates who preyed on galleons laden with silver and gold that made their way up the coast back to Europe.
Rumours abound of treasures buried on the island by buccaneers who died before they could return to collect their loot.

Later, in the 1740s, the Spanish used the islands a penal colony.

Most famously, in 1704, the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was abandoned by his shipmates on their shores and lived there for five years before he was picked up by a passing a English pirate ship.
An account of his stay on the island published by the captain of the ship that rescued him almost certainly inspired the English writer Daniel Defoe to write in 1719 the castaway saga Robinson Crusoe, considered the first novel to be written the English language and creating one of the world's most famous literary characters.

In 1966, the Chilean government named the largest island in the group as Isla Robinson Crusoe and the smaller island Isla Alejandro Selkirk in honour of the famous sailors although Selkirk never actually set foot on the island that bears his name. This colourful history has brought the islands into the public glare more recently as US historian Bernard Keiser undertakes to uncover a treasure thought buried on Robinson Crusoe island by the Spanish nobleman and explorer Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverría.

With the help of local knowledge and ancient documents, Keiser is convinced that he will be able to locate the gold although after almost ten years of digging, he has little to show for his efforts.

The story returned to the headlines when a pair of Chilean inventors convinced the American to employ their robot which had had notable successes in finding buried bodies on the mainland.
Although the inventors claim their robot made a major find, they refused to share their find until an agreement was reached on how the treasure would be divided between the Chilean government, Keiser and themselves.
The islands, however, are not only known for their fascinating history, but also the wildlife and plant life they support.

With peaks that reach up to 1,000 meters above sea level and temperate beaches considered among one of the ten best places for diving in the world, Robinson Crusoe island has been declared one of the world´s Biosphere Reserves.

This paradise is home to marvellous ecosystems on land and in the sea, inhabitated by flora and fauna unknown in other parts. Its beautiful landscapes provide stunning views from which to admire its sheer cliffs. Large schools of its endemic species of fish and abundant spiny lobsters attract visitors to this natural Eden for divers.
The islands are home to 209 native species of plants including 150 flowers and 50 ferns, 62% of which are endemic.
Animal life is limited with no native mammals or reptiles but the islands do shelter seventeen native species of bird, including an endangered large hummingbird, the Juan Fernandez Firecrown, and the Juan Fernandez Tit-tyrant.

Numbers of Juan Fernandez Fur Seal are recovering after being thought extinct in the 1960s after years of exploitation between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

A survey in 1970 recorded 750 seals living in the archipelago but it is hard to say how many animals currently live there because of their habit of hiding in sea caves on the outer Desventurados islands.

In 1977, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) named the islands is one the world's biosphere reserves, a global program to preserve unique and important environments from development by man.

Crusoe Island Resort: A new option in Paradise

A new initiative by a Chilean businessman hopes to transform tourism on remote Robinson Crusoe island by renovating an existing hotel into a luxury resort that will mix modern comforts with the fascinating atmosphere of the Juan Fernandez archipelago.

Crusoe Island Resort first opened its doors to guests on January 1st this year with 16 rooms.

The classic Pangal rooms, located in the remodelled original hotel, include a private bathrooms and sea-views while the VIP Crusoe rooms contain a King bed or two single beds, a private bathroom with a hydro-massage tub plus a sea-view.
The revamped hotel building makes extensive use of natural materials including stone and wood imported from the mainland.

Visitors to the resort can choose from one of three all-inclusive packages: earth, air and water.

While the earth package offers guests a range of hiking trips across the island, the water package offer a range based on the sea, including diving and fishing and the air package includes full use of the resort's extensive spa.

Or visitors can opt for a basic package and pay for activities as and when they choose to partake.

Trekking is the best way to see Robinson Crusoe Island, most of which cannot be reached by car or even horse.
Favoured destinations include the island's largest sea-lion colony and Puerto Frances where you can enjoy barbecued seafood where once French pirates harboured from Spanish galleons.

The Juan Fernandez islands offer some of the best diving and snorkelling environments in South América.

As well as an extraordinary variety of marine life, divers can see the remains of the ships that passed through the area, including two anchors of the English ship Speedwell, which have lain here for almost three centuries.

Beginners can also benefit from training by the resort's resident diving instructor. Finally, the spa offers a rarely range of treatments including mud soaks, milk baths and therapies using chocolate, wine and seaweed. massages and facial treatments using mother of pearl.

Despite the island's remote location (it is a two-hour flight back to Santiago), Crusoe Island Resort does everything to ensure the comfort and safety of its guests.

For any emergencies that cannot be dealt with the resident general doctor, nurse or dentist, a helicopter is on hand that can ferry guests to the island's airstrip in six minutes.