Go deep into the world's most remote inhabited village with a local historian and biologist as your private guides — exploring the Natural History Centre's endemic-species archive, the 18th-century Spanish fort ruins, and the kitchens of islanders whose families have lived here for generations.
What to expect
You begin at the Natural History Centre, where your guide opens display cases of the archipelago's 91 endemic plant specimens and explains the radical rewilding programme displacing invasive rabbits and coatis. A ten-minute walk brings you to Fuerte Santa Bárbara, the 1749 Spanish colonial fort with cannon still trained on the bay — your guide narrates the island's role as a Spanish Pacific stronghold, a pirate watering hole, and a WWI naval battleground. The tour concludes with coffee and fresh-baked pan de campo at a local family home, a gesture of hospitality as rare as the island itself.
Good to know
The Natural History Centre keeps irregular hours; a private guide guarantees access. The village is a 10-minute zodiac ride from the ship followed by a flat 5-minute walk. Bring Chilean pesos or USD cash — card readers are unreliable on the island.