- Address: Cabo de Ornos, Magallanes-i-la-Antarctica-Chile, Chile;
- Website: conaf.cl;
- Phone: +56 61 223 8959;
- Foundation date: 1945;
- Area: 64 hectares.
While traveling in Chile, one of the mandatory places to visit is the Cabo de Ornos National Park. Moving around the country to see its warm terrain, it is worth going down to the Antarctic part. It is here that this amazing park is located. The borders of its territory are islands located not far from Argentina.
What is amazing about the park?
The year of the park was 1945, when the territory of the reserve was completely determined. If you consider the park from an administrative point of view, then it belongs to the province of Magallanes. Of all created parks of Chile, the Cabo de Ornos is the largest in area, it occupies almost 64 hectares.
Most of the park's territory is covered with forests with beeches. The coastal part serves as a haven for the colony of penguins. The most common species of birds are albatrosses and petrels.
The park of Cabo de Ornos can not be imagined without the highest point of the area - Mount Hyde, with a height of 670 m. It is on the island of Wollaston, which is also considered the territory of the park. Most of the plants growing in the reserve can not be found in other parts of the country and even the world.
This can be explained by climatic conditions - low temperature and high humidity. Therefore, representatives of the local flora have to adapt to such unusual parameters, and themselves become unusual. Here grow a variety of mosses and lichens, wild cinnamon and beech.
Mammals are represented by marine species of animals and rodents. Therefore, the main attraction of the park of Cabo de Ornos are glaciers, whose age has crossed the millennial boundary. The reserve is protected by UNESCO, so the natural beauty of nature is preserved here.
How to get there and where to stay for tourists?
Thanks to the well-developed tourist routes of hotels and hotels in the park abound. Everyone can comfortably stay in the room for a decent fee. You can get to the park as part of a tour group or by hiring a personal guide. Arrive in the reserve will not be difficult, since ships with tourists regularly enter the harbor.
The easiest way is to board a ship that runs twice a day from Punta Arenas to Islas Volhaston. The island of Wollaston is also famous for ski resorts, so tourists visit the park at any time of the year. While some conquer mountain peaks, another part of vacationers photograph snowy valleys.