The subterranean is probably one of the last environments on the planet that remains to be explored and that, to a certain extent and adopting all the security guards, is accessible to human beings. If we add to this the amount of unknown places, corners and spaces in the extreme south of Chile, what we are presented with is a true paradise for exploration and knowledge.

In a place on the planet where wind and rain seem to have fun without caring about anything or anyone, it is not surprising that the caves have become undaunted refuges that house remote vestiges of the passage of nomadic peoples and the history of the planet. The Magellan caves are a kind of clue game, key pieces of a puzzle that invites us to constantly re-read history.

In the words of speleokarstologist Richard Maire, one of the forerunners of Centre Terre's expeditions to remote places on the planet, caves act as black boxes of Earth's past. It is enough to know how to decipher them to understand where we come from and - perhaps - where we are going.

But the underground Patagonia is much more than a fascinating trip to the past. Subterranean Patagonia becomes a state of mind that invites us to travel to the depths of being and rediscover what is essential: friendship, solidarity and the ability to share with all the beings that surround us.

Along with the original inhabitants, the speleologists who arrived in the Patagonian channels in the 20th century are perhaps the ones who best know two of the most emblematic and enigmatic places of that underground Patagonia: the Madre de Dios and Diego de Almagro islands. From 1995 to date, there have been several great French-Chilean expeditions that the Centre Terre association has organized to the karst in the southernmost island of the planet and there are many pages and stills that have been written and filmed to share their work with the general public. .

Madre de Dios and Diego de Almagro are two fascinating and attractive places for cavers and scientists, both for their subsoil and for the surface formations that cover it. But equally fascinating and attractive are the glacial caves of Campos de Hielo, the cavities of the Cerro Benítez conglomerate and so many others that wait for patients to be found to tell us, perhaps, their secrets.

From the Patagonia Speleological Association we wish to promote the safe and respectful exploration of the underground heritage of the extreme south of Chile, adding to the knowledge and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of Magallanes.

If you want to know more about the beautiful surface Patagonia, here you will find information: