Avenue of the Glaciers

On the second to last evening aboard the Mare Australis, cruising through the Beagle Channel, we passed through what is called the "Avenue of the Glaciers." The channel runs along the south side of the Darwin Range of mountains - a range completely in Tierra del Fuego, and not part of the Andes which contains a giant ice field that can be seen in the glaciers that hang down the valleys of the range. One after another, massive glaciers came into view as we cruised along, our ship accompanied by albatross, petrals, terns and cormorants - flying with purpose back and forth across the channel.

The channel was named after the HMS Beagle - the ship carrying a young Charles Darwin on his now famous journey to South America in the 19th century. He actually spent more time in Patagonia than the Galapagos Islands, and documented much of the unique flora and fauna of this extreme land.

Isla Hornos

One of the highlights of the boat portion of the trip was the opportunity to visit Isla Hornos, or Horn Island, which is where the legendary Cape Horn is found: the southernmost point of South America, often referred to as the end of the world (where one unlucky Chilean sailor and his family are stationed). The ship always tries to visit, but actually landing the Zodiac boats is very weather and sea condition-dependent. As you can imagine, the area of ocean where the mighty Pacific meets the Atlantic can be a turbulent place.

The morning of the planned landing we woke to 6 foot swells and all of us thought a landing was out of the question. However, as we neared the island the sea calmed and the crew hastily readied everything for our visit ashore. We were so lucky, as the sea stayed calm for a couple hours as we hustled to the island and back. I stayed as long as I could at the lookout facing the actual cape (see photo). It was an unearthly place; many people remarked on it being a spiritual experience to visit this remote island.

Top photo shows me with Cape Horn in the background. Yes, it was cold!

Penguins and Elephant Seals

Our first day on the Mare Australis brought us to Ainsworth Bay and Tucker Island, blips in the maze of Southern Patagonia, where wildlife thrives in the freezing wind and water.
At Ainsworth Bay, a couple young male elephant seals were resting and we were lucky enough to snap a few photos. They would be the only ones we saw up close on the trip (there are large colonies on the Atlantic coast, which we didn't visit.) The naturalist guides led us on a short walk to explain the unique flora - many small shrubs, mosses and deciduous beech forests.
The afternoon excursion was by Zodiac boat to Tucker Island, home to a colony of Magellenic penguins and numerous rock cormorants and king cormorants. I was glad that the passengers were not permitted to exit the boats, and we were limited to snapping photos from the shore. The penguins were not shy at all, and didn't seem bothered by our presence. Looking at the peaceful, goofy birds, it was hard to imagine that 200 years ago, crews from ships passing though would club thousands of them to stockpile as meat on board.

The Mare Australis

After a quick tour of Punta Arenas, we boarded the Mare Australis, a 100 passenger, luxury expedition/cruise ship which would take us through the channels, fjords and islands of Southern Patagonia, to Cape Horn and finally to Tierra del Fuego. The ship was not what I think a standard cruise ship would be (having never been on one), as there were no parties, no hot tub or pool or other on-board diversions. Instead, there were lectures and films on the history, glaciology, flora and fauna of Patagonia. Trained naturalists took us on excursions via Zodiac boat to glaciers and islands. The staff was excellent and professional and tried to make sure that each guest had a good experience - an enthusiasm I didn't expect at the end of the season from a crew dealing with 2 new groups of tourists each week.

What I saw was a wild, uninhabited and beautiful place at the end of the world. I felt very lucky to be there.

Above photo: Sunrise aboard the Mare Australis.

History Repeats

Like the frontier towns of Alaska, Punta Arenas was built up in the late 1800´s, and shares the same feel of Anchorage: straight grid streets with ocean views, slanted summer light of an extreme latitude, and that certain grittiness of a hard life.
Even though many of the surviving buildings date from the late 1800's, the area of Punta Arenas was being used as a port for a couple hundred of years before that, being at the western end of the Straight of Magellan, and the primary port of call for ships after rounding Cape Horn.

Almost 15 years ago I read Two Years Before the Mast, Richard Henry Dana's harrowing account of making the trip from Boston to California in 1830 aboard a wooden two-masted schooner, and his account of trying to sail around Cape Horn - and the extreme winds and rough seas - stayed in my mind ever since. There is something mythical about it - but more on that later. Punta Arenas was our port for boarding the Mare Australis, the ship that would take us through the fjords and islands of the Beagle Channel to Tierra del Fuego.

Santiago: Business As Usual?

Mercifully, I was able to finagle an upgrade to business class for my flight down to Santiago, and my injured back tolerated the 15 hours without pain. I had a day in Santiago to meet up with my group and have a city tour before flying to Punta Arenas in the south.

Walking around the many pedestrian streets, it appeared that life was back to normal for many Chileans. It is nearing the end of summer, and the people were out enjoying the sun, eating gelato, and, it seems, enjoying a smoke (there seem to be a lot more smokers in Chile than the other places I have been recently). One day in Santiago was not enough though, and I have resolved to come back and see more of this very modern city.

As I mentioned, for this trip, I joined an organized group. It is not my preference - I like going it alone, but seeing Patagonia on one´s own, via public buses required a lot more time than I wanted to spend (the region is mostly uninhabited). Mountain Travel Sobek has been running trips to Patagonia for 20 years, so I knew I would be in good hands too. The group consisted of 5 seniors (over 65), and Jenny (37) - a recovering investment banker from NYC who is traveling for awhile like me. A good group!

Hello Patagonia!

I am on the last day of my trip to Patagonia, waiting at the Holiday Inn in Santiago for my overnight flight home. I decided that I had better start my blog entries for this trip!

Patagonia is a region of South America that covers part of Argentina and part of Chile, starting around latitude 40 degrees south, then south from there to the tip of South America. Patagonia has unique flora and fauna, and incredible winds, being the only land mass on the planet at that latitude (it is even more south than New Zealand!). There I would see some amazing things: penguin colonies, elephant seals, glaciers calving building-sized icebergs, flightless ostrich-sized birds, the Patagonian Ice Field (the 3rd larget fresh water reserve on earth) and Cape Horn - the end of the world.

The whole trip was put into question when 5 days before my scheduled departure to Santiago, Chile suffered an enormous earthquake. The city of Santiago was spared too much damage, but the airport was temporarily shut down due to structural damage. They were soon up and running again, out of tents on the tarmac (see photo), and I was able to leave as scheduled, arrive in Santiago and fly out again to Punta Arenas, in the south. As of today, almost 3 weeks after the earthquake, the Santiago Airport is still operating out of tents on the tarmac, but everyone is being very patient and nice, and are doing the best they can to get the airport repaired. (The Holiday Inn itself suffered enough damage to render the elevators inoperable, and put cracks in all of the walls).

Although I am starting this leg of my blog at the end of trip, I hope you follow along as I relate my thoughts and experiences on this incredible trip!