Situated 115 km to the north of Puerto Natales the Laguna Amarga Estancia, covering an area of 6,662 hectares, shares a boundary with the Torres del Paine National Park. To reach the estancia visitors must take the Ruta 9 highway which leads out of Natales passing through Cerro Castillo before continuing on towards Cerro Guido. There is a left turning before Cerro Guido which leads to the farm along the Y-150 and Y-156 roads.

The estancia was once part of the Sociedad Explotadora of Tierra del Fuego, which was the most important farming company in Patagonia. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the industry of “white gold” (wool) was a gigantic empire organized along English production standards. After the agrarian reform in Chile, between 1966 and 1970, the huge expanse of land belonging to the Sociedad Explotadora of Tierra del Fuego was divided up into smaller lots for subsequent sale.

In 1976 Mr. Juan Goic Arbunic and his wife Olga Utrovivc Pavlov bought this land to be used for livestock farming and at its peak of production the estancia had more than 5,500 sheep.

In August 1995 heavy snowfall struck their lands and those of all the region. As a consequence of the snow the temperature dropped to minus 20° and thousands of animals died (80% mortality). This tragic episode marked a changing point in the history of the farm as the reduction of sheep on the farm, due to that harsh winter which was called the White Earthquake, permitted the gradual repopulation of the local fauna which had been displaced for decades from their natural territory.

In 2005 the estancia was affected by a serious fire that started within the Torres del Paine National Park on the western side of Laguna Azul and which devastated 17,000 hectares of forests, scrubland and grasslands. A large part of the estancia was affected by the fire which has led to serious consequences for its ecosystem.

PROTECT AND CONSERVE

Tomislav Goic Utrovicic and his brother Juan Goic Utrovicic, the current owners of the Laguna Amarga Estancia, have devoted various years of sacrifice to protect this wonderful farm. As a result the traditional style of an estancia has changed leaving behind the tradition of producing livestock which was so typical of the golden age and this superb location has become a site for the conservation and protection of the fauna. Only a small area of the estancia is now used for the grazing of sheep and horses. The rest has been given over to provide a space for the shelter and protection of the local wildlife which is still under threat on the neighboring farms. In this magical setting visitors can observe: pumas (Puma concolor), guanacos (Lama guanicoe), Darwin´s Rhea (Rhea pennata), Andean condors (Vultur gryphus), Chilean flamingos ( Phoenicopterus chilensis), Large hairy armadillos (Chaetophractus villosus), Grey foxes ( Lycalopex griseus), Hog-nosed skunks (Conepatus humboldtii), amongst other animals.

“Many small people, in small places, doing small things, can change the world.” (Attributed to Eduardo Galeano)