- Address: Ruta y-290 kilómetro 8, Pto. Natales, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena, Chile
- Website: cuevadelmilodon.cl
- Date of detection: 1895.
- Researcher: Hermann Eberhardt
- Working hours: from 10.00 to 19.00
- Ticket price: October-April - adult - 4000 pesos, children - 500 pesos; May-September - adult - 2000 pesos, children - free.
Chile is an unusual and one of the most picturesque countries of Latin America. Many tourists, going here, try to unravel the secrets and mysteries hidden in the bowels of this amazing land. Not one exception is one of the most important natural attractions of the region - the Cave of Milodona (Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument), which will be discussed later.
What is interesting about the cave?
The Cave of Milodona is a natural monument located along the slopes of Mount Cerro-Benitez, 24 km north-west of Puerto Natales and 270 km north of Punta Arenas . It consists of several caves and a stone formation, called the "Chair of the Devil" (Silla del Diablo).
The biggest cave of the monument is the largest cave of the monument, the length of which is about 200 m. It was here that in 1895 the German explorer Hermann Eberhard, who studied Chilean Patagonia, discovered a large piece of skin of an unknown animal.
A year later, the cave was studied in more detail by another scientist - Otto Nordenskiold, thanks to which it was later acknowledged that the remains were found in the milordon - an extinct animal that existed 10200-13560 years ago. To denote this unique event, at the entrance to the cave was installed a full-scale copy of the prehistoric Mylodon, which looks like a huge bear.
On the territory of the natural monument were also found the remains of an ancient man who lived in these parts in 6000 BC, and other extinct animals: a dwarf horse "gippidion", a saber-toothed cat "smilodon" and macrophenicum lithopters, resembling modern lamas.
How to get there?
The fastest way to reach the cave of Milodona is to book an excursion at one of the local travel agencies. If you prefer to travel independently, you can get to the natural monument by bus from the city of Puerto Natales , where it is easy to fly from the capital of Chile to Santiago .