Hernando Magellanes was the first to explore this area in 1520. Subsequently the Spanish named the area Trapananda - meaning place at the end of the world in medireview Spanish. Today the area is called Aysen which in the Tehuelche language means "land of the huemul" The area was first mapped by captain Fitz Roy during the scientific expeditions made famous by Charles Darwin in "Voyage of the Beagle".
Trapananda extends 10 million hectares from Hornopiren to Puerto Natales. Up until the present day the native beech forests and unexplored rivers have been conserved keeping three quarters of this area in its original wild state.

Terrain
The combined action of tectonic flooding and intense glacial activity have formed a complex and extreme landscape that stretches from the Andes to the west, forming an archipelago of islands with extensive fjords along the entire coast line.

Archipelago
The extension of the coastal mountain range forms a complex network of channels, fjords and strangely shaped islands.
Lithography: mainly metamorphic rock.

Climate
On the western slopes of the Andes down to the coastal islands. The climate is typically marked by high rainfall l ( 2000mm a year ) with moderate temperatures between 7 and 9 c

Vegetation
Temperate rainforest or evergreen vegetation made up of a mixture of hundreds of different species. Mixed forests of laurel, conifers like Cypres and other species of trees.

Fauna
Various species of whale including the right whale and orca, dolphins, sealions, Magallanes penguins ,puma, wild mountain cats and a great variety of birds.

The Andean mountain range

The Andes form an extreme landscape.
There are huge ice sheets with glaciers flowing from. The most important being the San Valentin glaciar on the Northern ice cap which has the highest peak in Patagonia at 4,058 metres. These extend over an area of 8,325km2. They give the mountain range their form and create features like the big volcanoes of Hudson, Melimoyu and Maca. The ash from these have filled up the surrounding valleys and the clouds of ash have covered the central area of the region.

Litography
Essentially a big body of granite connected to metamorphic rock formations.

Climate
The rainfall decreases heading towards the East and is between 2000 and 6000mm per year. The average temperatures are around 9c. During the winter the temperature drops to 0c and there is frequent snowfall.

Vegetation
The western slope of the mountain range is dominated by the nothofagus forest. These species are of great scientific interest due to their age and the fact they only exist in Western Patagonia and New Zealand.

Fauna
Puma, wild mountain cats, nandu, huemul, guanaco and foxes are the most prolific animals. There are also fresh water otters and a great variety of migratory birds including black necked swans ,flamingos, ibis, geese and wrens.