We only had one day in Chile’s southern-most town, Punta Arenas, before sailing around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America (“bending the Cape”), but we made the most of it, exploring the town and getting some new “waterproof” clothes for the upcoming boat trip. It’s hard to bring all the right clothes when you pack for a five month trip!
We found a great place to stay, Ilaia Hotel, with a decidedly new age attitude. The staff wore hotel shirts with sayings like “Be the change you want to see in the world” and similar sayings were painted on the walls. They arranged a yoga class for Christy and Jay and greeted all their guests with a big smile and a bear hug in the morning for breakfast. It was a very different from a typical hotel, and its calm, “we are all one” attitude contrasted so sharply with the unbridled capitalism and caveat emptor feel of the rest of Punta Arenas.
With another 100 people, we boarded the Via Australis for our four night expedition from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia, Argentina. After the MV Explorer on Semester at Sea, the Australis seemed pretty posh. We chose a special humpback whale watching voyage where we could experience the whales and interact with the scientists that studied them. With more than a little excitement, we donned our waterproof gear and life jackets and stepped down into our Zodiac. Little more than an inflatable raft, the Zodiac somehow didn’t seem adequate in the event a (much larger) humpback whale decided to get too interested in us. And with chunks of ice floating in the water around us, a swim didn’t seem like a good idea!
The area was teaming with life and in short order we saw whales, dolphins, sea lions and penguins. We had a phenomenal day, cruising alongside several different whales and some calves before reboarding the ship. Back on board is where we actually ended up with the best view of both the whales and dolphins – see the video clip below.
The next couple of days were spectacular – the crew kept us busy with films and presentations in between trips in the Zodiacs to hike up crazy, steep trails to waterfalls or to incredible views of glaciers. It was impossible to put the camera down – we were mesmerized by the loud cracks and pops the glaciers make as they slowly flow down from the towering peaks and by the splashes that ensued as huge chunks of ice calved off into the ocean. We were blown away by the sheer magnitude of the landscape as we glided through “Glacier Alley”, a fjord filled with chunks of ice generated by the unending flow of the glaciers into the sea. Every time you looked up, there was an even more incredible view – first, an impossibly deep blue glacier, next time it would be the stark white of the ice against the blue sky or a thin ribbon of water falling hundred of yards from a hidden lake high up on the cliff. And if the views weren’t enough, magical sounds like the blowing of a whale or the slap of dolphins splashing down will stick with us forever. To top it all off, we had phenomenal weather – almost no clouds, warm temperatures, calm seas and low winds every day. Our guides told us they had only had three or four days this good all season, and definitely not all in a row!
A final highlight of the trip before arriving in Ushuaia was our stop at Cape Horn and our navigation around it. Our trip was only the 3rd or 4th time that Australis’ ships had been able to “bend the Cape” in the hundred voyages during that season and, because the seas were exceptionally calm, we were able to come much closer to the Cape than on their previous “bendings”. The captain was grinning ear to ear and as giddy as a schoolboy as we made the turn.
We also got to spend one day in Ushuaia, getting in a great hike up through a ski resort and enjoying our time in the Southern-most city in the world. After that final day of perfect weather and the chance to see the spectacular scenery around the area, we woke to fog that completely obscured the mountain views and delayed our departure to Calafate.
Our entire experience was phenomenal and we decided in the end that we had to recommend it to others. However, it does come with a underlined, bold faced, italicized caveat, we take no responsibility for the weather or how it may adversely affect your opinion of this trip!
Dolphin video is here!
Whale video is here!
