An adventurous trip to the Exotic Island in the Pacific “Isla Robinson Crusoe - Horst Cerni

In February of 1975, my secretary Maria Elisa Romo Clark received a special offer for a vacation on Robinson Crusoe Island. It sounded intriguing, and we gladly embarked on this adventure . I was Regional Information Officer then and with my wife Isabel and our three children lived in Santiago.

“Robinson Crusoe Island”, originally known as the island of Más a Tierra (“More to Earth”), is part of the archipelago Juan Fernandez and belongs to Chile. Some 660 km (appr. 488 miles) away from the Chilean port of San Antonio in the middle of the Pacific ocean lies this rugged group of islands, named after its Spanish discoverer Juan Fernandez. It was pretty much forgotten until 1704, when a Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk, chose to be marooned there. He struggled to survive, hoping to get the attention of a passing ship which might rescue him. He waited more than four long years.

The story of his survival caught the attention of the British writer Daniel Defoe, who embellished it and changed the location to the Caribbean. His book, “Robinson Crusoe”, became an immediate hit and within a short time was translated and published all over the world.

Chile took advantage of Selkirk’s fame and in 1966 adopted the name of Robinson Crusoe and named the town of San Jaun Bautista “Aldea Daniel Defoe”. They kept Defoe’s image of a tropical island in their promotions with palm trees and sandy beaches - not quite what the island is like.

It is a national park surrounded by a marine sanctuary. It has become an important tourist destination. But it is quite an adventure to get there (and back).

The island is mountainous with few flat areas. There was only a very short airstrip on a narrow peninsula, which partly went uphill. It required a skilled pilot to land uphill and hopefully being able to stop before reaching the cliff. Fortunately, our small Piper plane landed safely. The “airport” was a small wooden shack with some goats and chicken running around.

There was no road to town, although now there is a foot path - 13 km which takes about seven hours to walk. In 1975, the only way to reach the hostel was by boat. We had to walk about half a mile down a steep slope to the water's edge at a small bay, where a boat was waiting for us. It was just the right size for nine people and luggage. The waves were strong, but not too rough at the beginning. At some point, the two boatmen stopped and pulled in a line. They had caught eight big rock-salmon. We then realized that we were actually in a fishing boat which also served as a ferry. The area is known for an abundance of fish. We continued, and the waves were getting bigger. The boat had to climb and then drop on the other side of the waves, which was scary. We had to be covered with a big plastic sheet to avoid getting soaked. We thanked God that we reached the rocky shore safely. The seals seemed to be applauding.

There was no pier. Getting off the boat was not easy, but the boatmen helped taking the children and giving us adults a hand to step from one rock to the next. The hostel was some 50 meters up the slope and a narrow path led to it. The hostel was basic but pleasant and we were happy to have reached it before a torrential rain started. We were welcomed by a couple of nice young women.

Robinson Crusoe Island consists basically of two mountains between a ridge. The hostel was located on a slope about a twenty minute walk to town. We had to walk very carefully – one behind the other – along the edge of the slope on a narrow path from the hostel to the village of San Juan Bautista at the Bahia Cumberland. Most of the houses belonged to fishermen, and I don’t recall seeing any stores. At that time there weren’t many tourists as yet. Today, hiking (and camping) and scuba diving are promoted.

Of historical significance is the little monument for the nine German sailors who lost their lives during the battle with two British warships in March 1914.

The Germans surrendered, but the captain blew up the ship, so it wouldn’t be captured. The wreck is still there about 60 meters down in the bay.

The children easily made friends with local children and had fun playing around in an unusual “playground”, including guns that remained aboard the ship.

We walked through town and up the mountain to the famous spot, where day after day, month after month, for more than four years, Alexander Selkirk scanned the landscape for a rescue ship. It was a muddy walk, but we got to feel like Selkirk and enjoyed the views but couldn’t see any ships.

We had a little picnic and returned to town. When we reached the hostel, we were rewarded with a delicious lobster dinner. Juan Fernandez is famous for lobsters, and since we were such good visitors and expressed our appreciation for the good food, from then on we got to eat lobsters for breakfast, lunch and dinner – more or less.

For our scheduled return trip two weeks later, the sea was too rough for our little “ferry-fishing” boat to take us to the “airport”, and the plane had to return to Santiago. We had to wait three more days for the weather to settle, but even then it was rough. We couldn’t go the way we came and had to go on the other side of the island, which took longer. The boat rocked up and down and from side to side, but our sailors were jovial and kept our spirits up. We made it and climbed up the mountain to the airport. Fortunately, the plane didn’t have a strict schedule and waited for us . We were glad to make it back safely to Santiago within two-and-a-half weeks.