June 29 – Feasts of Saints Peter and Paul in Chile

Posted on June 29, 2016

Two of the biggest saints in the Catholic religion are these guys: the Apostle Paul and Peter, the first pope. Their “feast days” are on the same day, because they were both said to have been killed on June 29.

About half of all Chileans consider themselves Catholic, so Catholic holidays are probably pretty big there. (I want to say “down there” when referring to Chile – because I share the Northern Hemisphere bias that comes from seeing so many globes and maps with the north in the “up” position. But there ARE south-up maps!)

Here are some amazing landscapes you can see in Chile:

Los Pinguinos Natural Monument

As you may have guessed “los pinguinos” translates as “penguins.” These particular penguins are called Megallanic penguins.

San Rafael Glacier

Remember that parts of Chile are the very closest to Antarctica. And there are giant ice fields in Antarctica at sea level. This giant glacier, however, is not particularly near the southern tip of this long, skinny country. Instead, it's high, high, high in the Andes Mountains. The glacier “calves” (breaks off into icebergs) into the Laguna San Rafael, seen here.

Actually, San Rafael Glacier is only one of 19 glaciers that break off from the ice field that makes up much of the Laguna San Rafael National Park!

Valle de la Luna

This “Valley of the Moon” is part of a desert; the stone and sand have been carved by wind and water and are considered by some to look similar to the surface of the moon (hence the name).