Torres del Paine, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the far south of Chile, attracts up to 300,000 visitors every year thanks to its vast glaciers, dramatic valleys, and stunning wildlife. It’s often marketed as “the end of the world.” For one recent group of hikers, it was.

The collection of small groups had already spent four days in the national park and were due to leave Los Perros campsite on 17 November to tackle a 15-km hike to the next stopover, Grey. This leg of the “O Circuit” includes the John Garner Pass at an altitude of 1,220 metres. Despite the worsening weather, staff at Los Perros, the group said, failed to warn the hikers how dangerous the conditions could get, describing the situation as “just Patagonia.” Unbeknownst to them, staff on the other side had been warned by other hikers to close the pass, but did not do so.

Hace unas semanas tuve el privilegio de tomar fotos aéreas en Torres del Paine…y quedé impactado.
En estas imágenes se ven las Torres, el cerro Paine Grande y el paso John Gardner – del que tristemente se habló en las noticias hace unos días.
Verlo desde arriba te recuerda… pic.twitter.com/U2nQnOGw4i

— Timothy Dhalleine (@tdhalleine) November 28, 2025

About 30 hikers set off in the early morning, soon coming together under the guidance of a pair of experienced skiers and mountain hikers. As temperatures dropped to -5°C and winds reached 190km/h, most made the decision to turn back just 50 metres from the summit of the pass. One of them described the experience as “terrifying.”

Returning to Los Perros, 27 of the 30 injured from long falls down rocky ice sheets and suffering frostbite and hypothermia, they were forced to demand access to the camp staffroom to create a medical response unit, for which staff initially charged them extra.

They also discovered another group of five hikers who had pressed on were still missing. A distress call was put out at 2 pm, hours after the group had first departed the camp. The lack of staff, which has since been blamed on voting in the Chilean presidential election, meant that some members of the group and others who had made the call not to set out earlier that day, then became impromptu emergency rescuers, leaving to try and find the missing. The five victims, a British woman, a German couple and a Mexican couple, were later found dead across an area of around two kilometres. Emergency services did not arrive until 24 hours after the first SOS.

@thetimes

A survivor of the blizzard which killed a British woman and four others in Chilean Patagonia has described the “suffocating” snowstorm that turned a steep rocky mountainside into “sheet ice” with near-zero visibility. Christian Aldridge, from Newquay, Cornwall, told The Times from his hospital bed in Chile: “I think we all thought we were not getting out of this. It felt like we were in a nightmare.” He said that park rangers should have assessed the weather to decide whether to close the treacherous route they were taking, but were not working on the day of the incident because of mandatory voting in Chile’s presidential election #blizzard #patagonia

♬ original sound – The Times and The Sunday Times

The survivors have hit out at authorities for failing to properly staff the national park or to give the proper warnings. “Nobody should have been allowed, let alone encouraged, to attempt the pass that day,” their statement said. “There’s been a lot of victim blaming, but hikers were encouraged to head out in extremely dangerous conditions, and told there would be rangers present.” They called the outcome “a huge systemic failure.”

@skynews

Christian Aldridge describes the rescue efforts to recover the bodies of five climbers, including his friend Victoria Bond, after a snowstorm in Patagonia. The Chilean National Forest Corporation have launched an investigation into the accident. #SkyNews

♬ original sound – Sky News

An increase in the number of rangers, who currently number just 450 across the 13.2 million hectares of parks across the country, is a pressing need. The provision of daily advice and weather updates is also among the “simple safety measures” that the group want to see put in place by the Chilean government, parks administration (CONAF) and private operator, Vertice. In addition, they say that including a log of hikers’ movements at each campsite and access to medical equipment are required.

While Vertice has denied it carries any responsibility for hiking trail management, CONAF has launched an internal investigation, which it says will “determine any potential liability” and “review the safety and communication protocols” to boost “prevention and emergency response capacity.”

L’article Deaths at Torres del Paine National Park prompt criticism of Chilean authorities est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Even though the enormous stone sculptures known as Moai are probably Easter Island’s best-known mystery, Rapa Nui’s script might be just as wondrous. The script was already documented in 1864 by a missionary called Eugene Eyraud, who mentioned the hieroglyphic characters were present on many wooden tablets and staffs. Sadly, nowadays, only 27 of those inscribed artefacts remain, all preserved within museums around the world and not yet deciphered. The only two tablets which had been dated before the new study, only go back to the 19^th century or after the arrival of the Europeans in the 18^th century.

A convent in Rome, the Congregazione dei Sacri Cuori di Gesù e di Maria, is one of the few institutions to preserve some of the Rongorongo script, with no less than four wooden tablets in its collection. Scientists from the University of Bologna, in Italy, decided to do radiocarbon testing on all four: three of the tablets were revealed to date back to the 18^th and 19^th centuries, but there was one exception, which the researchers believe dates from somewhere between 1493 and 1509.

“If the date for its demise seems thus clear, the exact period in which Rongorongo developed remains unknown. The question is of crucial importance, as it implies the possibility of an independent invention of writing, similarly to what happened in other parts of the world where writing was an original creation, e.g., in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica. If Rongorongo predates the arrival of external travellers, it could represent another, and the latest, invention of writing in human history”, the researchers explained.

Moreover, the scientists argue that, even the later dating of the other three tablets “does not imply that the script they used was not [already] invented. Indeed, the glyphs differ from any known script and, even in terms of inventory, they have no close parallels.”

L’article Did Easter Island inhabitants develop a written language before the arrival of Europeans? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The Exploradores (Explorers) glacier is located in the Laguna San Rafael National Park, in the breathtakingly beautiful Aysen region of the country, which boasts mountains, rivers and rainforest, as well as glaciers. It attracts up to 20,000 visitors a year.

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“Not safe”

But since 31 October 2023, tourists have been banned from the Exploradores glacier, after an ice fall and subsequent study revealed “evident risks and uncertainty regarding the behaviour of the glacier.” An email from the forestry department, which manages Chile’s national parks, explained that the glacier is at an “inflection point” and warned: “Conditions are not safe for ecotourism activities on the Explorers Glacier.”

One of the most popular such activities on the glacier is ice-hiking, with treks offered by various guide companies at the starting point in local village Puerto Rio Tranquilo. One, described by Go Patagonia, lasts 10 hours and includes a two-hour hike to the glacier where crampons are donned and, over another three hours, hikers experience walking on the ice and “ice tunnels”. It is easy to understand that, if the glacier were to start to break apart with trekkers out on its ice, the results could be terrifying.

We work in adventure tourism, where there is always an associated risk. If we’re going to close here, let’s stop climbing Everest, let’s stop climbing, stop skydiving.

Bianca Miranda, Local guide

Economic and emotional impact

For the local economy and those tour companies affected, the decision to close the glacier is a shock and emotions are running high. Local guide Bianca Miranda, speaking to the AP, said: “For us the closing is not only an economic blow but also an emotional one. We have been working in this place for more than 10 years and it has become our second home.”

In words echoed by other local guides, Miranda points out that there’s a certain acceptance of risk in some branches of tourism.

Loss of 0.5 metres per year

The forestry department will point out that visitors to the national park are still free to see the Exploradores but from a safe distance on boats. It is not willing to take the risk of allowing more up-close-and-personal Exploradores tourism to continue when, according to drone pictures gathered by government hydrologists for its study, the glacier has ‘thinned’ by 0.5 metres per year, since 2020.

Meltwater collects and sits on top of the glacier in lagoons, whose number has also doubled in the same four year period. The amount of surface area in contact with meltwater means melt then happens more rapidly. Now, the study says, one of two outcomes is likely: either a “catastrophic” sheering off of a large body of ice; or the eating away and “disintegration” of the front of the glacier by meltwater.

L’article Popular Chilean glacier is now closed to tourists due to the risk of thinning ice est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

These conditions, according to a study published by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) make it the sunniest place on Earth. They also make the Altiplano one of the only places on Earth where sunlight intensity is comparable to Venus. Venus is 28% closer to the sun than Earth is.

Why is this important? The study’s authors point out that understanding Earth’s own extremes of surface solar conditions can drive development and power efficiency when it comes to solar energy potential.

1. The study

In 2016 an atmospheric observatory was established on the northwestern border of Chile’s Chajnantor Plateau. Its mission was to study the atmospheric conditions and sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface.

Over the next five years, the observatory recorded that more sunlight reached the Altiplano (308 watts per square metre on average) than any other place on the planet. At its highest during cloud break-ups, it reached an astonishing 2,177 watts per square metre.

2. Venus

The Altiplano has a prevalence of thin, breaking cloud which acts not as a shield but as a magnifying glass for the sun’s rays, increasing solar radiation on the surface by up to 80 percent (compared to cloudless conditions).

It’s actually the radiation that you will be receiving in summer if you are standing up on Venus.

Raúl Cordero, scientist

Cordero acknowledged the dangers of exposure. “If you are exposed to such a high radiation danger, you have to protect your skin,” he said. “At this particular location, for people working there … they are aware that the radiation was high, but now we know how really high.”

3. Applications

The study also reported more frequent extreme variations of sunlight on Chajnantor Plateau than anywhere else worldwide. Sunlight intensity and duration were notable, creating solar energy potential averaging approximately double that of Central Europe and the U.S.A’s East Coast.

The particularly volatile conditions, according to the research team, mean the Altiplano, the second highest extensive plateau on Earth, could become an important test ground for working out how photovoltaic (solar) power plants cope with periods of intense sunlight.

L’article Conditions on Chile’s Altiplano like sunbathing on Venus, scientists say est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

News outlets are reporting both volcanic and human activity as possible causes of the blaze which started last Monday and tore across wetlands on one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. The nearest land is Pitcairn Island, 2075 km away. Mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa has blamed arson. “All the fires on Rapa Nui are caused by human beings,” he told local broadcaster Radio Pauta.

According to a statement by Ariki Tepano, director of the indigenous Ma’u Henua community which manages Rapa Nui National Park, the damage to the sacred figures was “irreparable” and “beyond what the eyes can see.”

Unfortunately a forest fire that tore through part of Easter Island has charred some of its fabled monumental carved stone figures yesterday. pic.twitter.com/1JeSiL338f

— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) October 7, 2022

Exposure to high temperatures can alter the structure of the statues creating “big fractures that affect the Moai’s integrity,” said the National Monuments Council (CNM), who are assessing the damage.

Created between 1250 and 1500 AD by the Rapa Nui people, the Moai were carved from tuff, or compressed volcanic ash. Averaging 4 metres in height and over 12 tonnes, the statues have oversized heads, and are often referred to as ‘heads’ even though they are whole body figures, buried to their shoulders – which in the past has protected them from erosion.

There are over 900 figures, many of them still at the volcanic quarry where they started life. 386 of them are located in the national park, which has remained closed while investigations are carried out.

L’article Possible arson devastates Easter Island’s beloved Moai figures est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

According to Reuters, almost 200 species of flowers have been found in the Atacama Desert. The Desierto Florido or Blooming Desert draws tourists and botanists from all over the world. Chilean President, Gabriel Boric, has announced the creation of the Desert Blooming National Park to protect the area and boost tourism. It will be Chile’s 44th national park.

The Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity reports that national parks and protected areas are one of the best ways to safeguard biodiversity. Currently, more than 110 countries have protected areas within their borders.

On Sunday October 2nd, during his visit to the Atacama Region, President Gabriel Boric announced the creation of the Desierto Florido National Park in the first quarter of 2023. The Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Sepúlveda, added that there is a 1,200 million pesos project agreed between National Forest Corporation (Conaf) and the Regional Government.

Desierto Florido national parks aims to protect the fabulous ecosystems of the Atacama desert, focusing on the flora. Here, a beautiful desert bloom sometimes occurs between the months of September and November when rainfall is exceptionally high. The Atacama desert, the driest on Earth, usually receives less than 15mm of rain a year. But in winter, rain can happen in the south of the Atacama region. When it does, about 200 species of flowers bloom and the flowering desert becomes a popular tourist attraction.

There are more than 200 species of flowers and an exquisite fauna that must be protected.

Gabriel Boric, President of Chile

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Most of these flowers are endemic to the Atacama region. An increased level of protection will ensure the tourists’ behavior is responsible. In recent years, concerns have been raised by environmental organizations about the possible negative effects of large numbers of tourists visiting the flowering desert, the illegal trade of native flower species and the development of motorsport. Desierto Florido national park is the best solution to develop sustainable tourism in the area while learning more about these beautiful flowers.

The President, together with the Minister of Government, Camila Vallejo; his peer of National Assets, Javiera Toro; and the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, toured the Desierto Florido with Conaf personnel. The Desierto Florido will be located in the sectors of Llanos and Chañarcillo, about 30 km south of Copiapó and 80 km north of Vallenar in southern Atacama region. It is far from the most famous places of the Atacama desert, about 850 kilometers away from San Pedro de Atacama. The location is about 800 kilometers (a 9-hour drive) north of Chile’s capital Santiago de Chile.

Boric announced the creation of the Desierto Florido National Park for the first quarter of 2023. “We are committed as Government to start the process of creation of the Desierto Florido National Park,” he confirmed. He highlighted that the creation of the park “is a way to advance in this path of sustainability. There are more than 200 species of flowers and an exquisite fauna that must be protected”.

Marcos López, mayor of Copiapó, assured that the announcement not only represents an advance in the environment and preservation, but also an enormous incentive for the commune and the region. The antecedents to declare the Desierto Florido as a park must be presented to the Council of Ministers in order to be voted in the next session in November.

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The Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, advanced that there is a project of 1.200 million pesos that was agreed between the portfolio he leads, Conaf and the Regional Government to make the signposting, the hut, improve the surveillance and the trails.

This will make it possible to convert the space “into a living museum of the diversity of the north forever”, stressed Valenzuela. The Minister of National Assets, Javiera Toro, explained that “the flowering desert is a heritage of biodiversity and an amazing natural spectacle that is put at risk every time someone cuts a flower, steps on or drives through this territory”.

More than 200 species of plants bloom here every 3 or 5 or 10 years, depending on climatic conditions, which at the same time allow the arrival of insects and fauna in search of food. Regarding the current stage of the process, Minister Toro explained that “we are currently working on defining the polygon, on determining the area that will be protected by the National Park”.

The Minister of the Environment, Maximiliano Proaño, explained that Chile is facing three important crises and one of them is the loss of biodiversity. “Protecting our ecosystems where a great diversity of flora and fauna species live is crucial to ensure a livable future for our children. This area has a high biological value and has many endemic species,” added Proaño.

L’article Chile to create a national park in the driest desert in the world est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Vergüenza!!!
Miles de toneladas de ropa usada permanecen en cientos de basurales clandestinos en Alto Hospicio. Acá parte denota de @AFPespanol para Europa sobre la contaminación a través de la moda. Se destaca a @FranZepeda y @ChileEcofibra por su proyecto de reciclaje #Iquique pic.twitter.com/vlnXPEmHVI

— Cristián Núñez Fica (@HombredeRadio) November 8, 2021

Each year, around 59,000 tons of unsold or secondhand clothing arrive at the Iquique port in northern Chile. Some garments are bought by clothing merchants, while others are smuggled out to other Latin American countries. But what’s not sold or sent to other countries (at least 39,000 tons) ends up in rubbish dumps in the desert as no one pays the necessary tariffs to take it away. Clothing piles that are left out in the open or buried underground pollute the environment by releasing pollutants into the air or underground water. Clothing can take up to 200 years to biodegrade and is as toxic as plastics. The impact of clothing production has a huge impact on the environment. A UN report published in 2019 points out that the clothing industry is responsible for 20% of global water waste. For instance, making a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water. Moreover, the industry contributes to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Entrepreneur Franklin Zepeda wanted to find a solution to this problem. In 2018, he founded EcoFibra, a company that makes insulation panels with discarded clothing.

The problem is that the clothing is not biodegradable and has chemical products, so it is not accepted in the municipal landfills.

Franklin Zepeda, Entrepreneur

Rosario Hevia is the founder of Ecocitex, a company born in 2019 that creates yarn from pieces of discarded textiles and clothing without the use of water nor chemicals. According to Hevia, for many years no one seemed to care about the exorbitant amount of textile waste that was being generated. But now, people are starting to see the problem and question themselves.

L’article Chile’s Atacama desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

1. The new daily life

Since May, everyone on the island is trying to restart a normal life while following the sanitary measures. Like Ata, many had to find another job since tourists have stopped arriving on one of the 10 weekly flights from Santiago in Chile. With tourism being the main source of income on the island, the inhabitants had to find ways to survive. Instead of showing tourists around the island, they now do all kinds of work like building houses, painting or growing their own vegetable gardens. The Chilean Government has not provided specific Covid-19 support measures to compensate for the economic losses.

But, the monthly subsidy that it usually allocates to the island is now being used to generate local employment such as cleaning and maintenance of roads or construction jobs. This has helped 600 families so far. Agriculture and fishing which used to represent a minor complementary activity on the island have now become more important. “Fishing is particularly interesting as tuna is far cheaper than the chicken we import from Mainland Chile,” says Ata. He also said that if they could generate a circular economy and work on a way to be self-sufficient, it would be better than just relying on tourism.

2. Food supply

While the people are very resilient and creative in finding ways to make money, the major issue remains the supply of food which usually consists of the own production of the island and imported food from Mainland Chile. In the first month of the lockdown, there was a run on the supermarkets to have enough stock. Staple foods ran out after one week, which made people realise the importance of developing their own system to rely on in case of crisis. The local Chamber of Commerce decided to charter a weekly flight which is delivering food and medicine to the island. This resulted in a strong increase of the price of food.

3. The future

On the way forward and the future of the island, Ata believes that there will be less tourists visiting the island as the airline will probably restrict the number of passengers. In his opinion, this will bring a more exclusive tourism and more prestige to the island. It also means travelling to the island will even become more expensive.

He also feels that a new kind of tourism will emerge. Currently, land tourism accounts for 98% of the tourist activities on the island while the “blue tourism” (water activities) account for a mere 2% of the activities. Before the pandemic, there was no time to plan the development of a sea-oriented tourism. This crisis has given them time to develop a strategy. The plan is to have 50% of land activities and 50% of water activities in the future. “For example, tourists could see the moai from a boat on the water instead of observing them from the island, we could also offer fishing or more diving excursions,” explained Ata.

It is very likely that tourism would resume in early 2021 as there is an increasing pressure from the community which is worried about how much longer the island can survive under the current arrangement. Before the local authorities decide to reopen the island to tourism, they would like to see a decrease in the number of cases in Mainland Chile and they need a detailed health protocol. However, Ata and some of his friends would not mind continuing the current lifestyle which is enabling them to enjoy the Easter Island of their childhood.

According to him, tourism has changed the mentality of the community which is making easy money with minimal work. This has left people with a lot of free time and the problem of drugs and alcohol has started appearing on the island. As a consequence, the essence of the local culture is being lost. “The crisis has pushed us to find alternative ways to sustain ourselves in case tourism disappears. I would not mind further working on this and going back to the Easter Island of my childhood where we all helped each other and did not rely on tourism,” Ata concluded.

L’article Easter Island: the impact of Covid-19 on the world’s most isolated island est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.