Chiloe Archipelago and White water rafting on Petrohue River

After a day and a half at sea in fog and rain we cruised through the beautiful Chiloe Archipelago and to its main town Castro.  Separated from the rest of Chile it has remained quaint and with its own customs.  Extensive fish, mussel and oyster farming is the main industry of the islands.  Tourism is increasing though and the “houses on stilts” which were originally for the fishing families are now being sold for hotels and restaurants.  The countryside is lovely in the summer.

The next day we moved on to Puerto Montt and immediately traveled to the Petrohue river for white water rafting.  The skies were bright under a 12,000-foot volcano, which had glacial fields atop.  Even us old guys had a blast and I voluntarily went overboard at the end.  

Straits of Magellan and Torres del Paine

Leaving Ushuaia we continued along the Beagle Chanel and moved up to Punta Arenas and the Straits of Magellan.  We chose a long day trip to Torres del Paine (Towers of Blue) an outcropping of mountains in the Patagonia pampas.  Even more dramatic than the Tetons.  Pictures really do not do justice.  It took us a bus to the airport, a flight to Puerto Natales and then a 2 hour bus ride to the mountains and the park.  We had a fantastic day, particularly for Patagonia.  We had clear skies over the mountains and little wind.  I can only describe the pampas as amazing.  It was then a reverse trip back, so essentially we started as the ship landed and arrived just before departure.  It was worth it!!!!

Guanaco, cousin of the llama

Drake Passage and Ushuaia, Argentina

Our return crossing of the infamous Drake Passage was essentially uneventful.  We left in 3-meter swells that progressively diminished to 1 meter.  The captain was able to throttle up and we made the crossing 12 hours early.  He put into Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world.   We berthed beside National Geographic’s ship, “Orion”, which is considerably smaller than ours.

This morning in Ushuaia we took an excursion through the forest on a logging trail at the foot of the Andes.  There were five 4x4s four of which had to be winched out of one of the mud holes we encountered.  We stopped at a beaver dam.  Beavers have become a serious invasive species with no predators so they grow to 70 pounds.  We ended up driving through an area of homesteading which is part of the government program to encourage people to live here.  It is beautiful but harsh living.

We are now cruising the Beagle Channel at the very southern end of Tierra del Fuego.  This is an alternate to the Straits of Magellan but much narrower.  We have not seen any commercial traffic as anything that could go through here would alternatively use the Panama Canal.

Forest destroyed by beavers

Squatter's home

Homesteaders

Chasing Whales; Neko Harbor, Grahm Island

We drew the straw for the 6AM Zodiac tour and landing, but because a nearby glacier had calved and the ice blocked our landing beach.  We were restricted to traveling around in the Zodiac chasing 4 humpback whales as they fed in the harbor.  Later in the day the captain informed us we had set the southern record for Seabourn Quest at 65 degrees 12.3 minutes South Latitude.  We started our departure for South America cruising with a pod of 18 killer whales and more humpbacks out into the open seas with 3 meter swells but little wind.

Fair warning #2:  If you visit us in the next 6 months;  after we have bored you with penguin (and now whale) pictures I am prepared to lecture on glacial thermodynamics and the tectonic plate movements of Gondwanaland.

Deep diving humpback

While we were under way our expedition team chased the whales shooting over 1500 pictures in order to catalog the individual Orcas

Two adults and one young calf

Port Charcot, Booth Island (65 degrees, 04 minutes South)

Cloudy, somewhat windier and a path shoveled across the deck to breakfast.  Another day, another rookery.  But!!!!! Although the winds and seas got stronger we headed out on our Zodiac tour to beautiful icebergs and were joined by 4 humpback whales that fed around us and then came right up to check us out.  We stayed and played with them for 20 minutes.  The hike on shore was an Antarctic challenge.  Winds now greater than 15 knots and blowing sleet and rain.  We got a few pictures of the Adelie penguins before heading back to the ship in heavy seas.  The Zodiacs are remarkably stable but we took sea spray nonetheless.  In true Seabourn style we were met at the top of the gangway, wet and cold with trays of aquavit and vodka.  At least our tummies were warm.  Off with the gear and into a hot bath and we call the day a marvelous victory.

Adelie penguins have no white on their head but white eye rings

Gentoo and Adelie nesting together

Waterboat Point (64 degrees 49”S, 62 degrees 59” W)

The weather is more typical Antarctica, low clouds, light rain and 3⁰C.  This is a social stop at a Chilean station built on a Gentoo rookery.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.  It is only occupied in the summer.

We had light rain that transitioned into snow and fog, so we are slowly moving toward our next destination.  The speed is to avoid the ice in the low visibility.  Just as we were about to have our “Caviar on the Ice” cocktail party outside in the snow and rain, we were surrounded by somewhere near 15 Orca, like Free Willie, swimming along side the ship.  Two are named and registered but last seen 3 years ago.  One of our naturalists is an Orca specialist and maintains and updates an international registry.  This siteing included 2 of their calves.  It made the dreary day much more exciting.  During the early evening we passed through a strait only 600 meters wide with 1000-meter mountains on both side and icebergs in the channel.  It was very interesting and although nicknamed the Kodak Channel, was so foggy no pictures worked.

Penguins on their pebble nests

Cuverville Island and the Gentoo Penguins

Fair warning:  Do not visit us in the next 6 months if you do not want to see pictures of penguins!!!

Only a couple of miles from our stop yesterday, Cuverville Island is home to many Gentoo penguins.  They differ in a white patch behind the eye and a tail that they drag behind them when walking and fan at times on the nest.  You smell the island from a mile away,  (Kind of like Iowa).  The sky was grey but little wind and moderate temperature.  We had a short Zodiac ride to the beach.  Penguins everywhere.  They are never boring to watch or photo (thus the warning).  We climbed over the ice and snow about 200-300 vertical to a several small rookeries.  At the top, we enjoyed a sip of champagne, the residual of an engagement that had occurred only minutes before and was provided to the couple by the ship’s staff.  The climb for us was mostly for exercise, but the penguins do this multiple times a day to feed and return to feed the young.   Of course for those not as foolish as us there are many nesting sights right at shoreline. All along the shore and out to the boat they darted and porpoised lightening fast and streamlined in the water.  They walk up and down this hill awkwardly.

Our reward on return to the ship was a fabulous lunch and a nap.

Antarctica Seabourn style

Feeding a chick