Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of South America, sitting on Hornos Island at the tip of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. The waters here are where the Atlantic and Pacific meet, and they earned the nickname "graveyard of ships" from centuries of wrecks caused by high winds, strong currents and poor visibility. Most passengers see the Horn from the ship's deck as conditions rarely allow a landing. When landings are possible, a wooden boardwalk leads to a memorial sculpture shaped like an albatross, dedicated to the sailors who died attempting the passage. A small Chilean naval station is the only permanent settlement. The landscape is bare rock, scrub and wind. There is nothing to buy and nowhere to eat. The appeal is entirely about standing at the edge of the continent and feeling how remote and exposed this place really is.