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Even though Laguna San Rafael National Park
is named after a lagoon, it’s not the liquid
water that draws people here. Instead, they
come for the 1,600-square-mile Northern
Patagonian Ice Field, the massive mother of
the area’s numerous rivers and lakes, as well
as 28 glaciers, including accessible San Rafael
and the 30,000-year-old San Valentín Glaciers.
The ice field extends over Mount San
Valentín, the highest mountain in the
Southern Andes, blanketing the surrounding
plains. Such a unique landscape—a designated
UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve—creates
the ideal stomping grounds for a bevy of
enchanting creatures, great and small. Short,
stocky Chilean dolphins, mammoth elephant
seals and playful sea otters share the sea, while
the skies team with black-browed albatrosses
and black-necked swans.
Regardless of the wild, icy reception,
visitors are welcomed here year-round. Most
arrive via sea craft, either a cruise ship or
catamaran, transferring to agile inflatables
to skitter up close to San Rafael Glacier’s
nearly 200-foot-high façade. Drifting around
the lagoon, watching the indigo icebergs bob
in the water, hearing house-sized chunks
of ice sigh, splinter and then crash into
the sea with a thunderous roar is truly an
unforgettable spectacle.
PHOTO
S A N R A FA E L G L A C I E R , L A G U N A S A N R A FA E L
N AT I O N A L PA R K , C H I L E
WINTER | 2019
C O N TACT YO U R T R AV E L A DV I S O R TO DAY