31 Jan 2014 - Glacier Alley on the Beagle Channel in Tierra Del Fuego

Impressive waterfall at the foot of a giant glacier

Glacier Alley to Ushuaia

Last night's snowfall dusted the mountain tops

Chilly rock and ice below lofty peaks

 

Up and on deck by 08:00 – as we are entering one of the most scenic segments of the Chilean Fjords, where the Espania, Aleman, Francia, Italia, La Manche and Holandia Glaciers flow over the edge of the Tierra Del Fuego Mountains into the Beagle Channel. The peaks are so high, the glacier so huge, that one tends to forget, that Tierra Del Fuego is an Island.

Global Warming has taken its toll here with a vengeance. A few years ago, most of these glaciers extended to the surface of the sea, and filled the valleys of their course edge to edge. Now they have retreated, and some of them hang like giant lozenges descending from lofty and vast ice fields above and beyond the coastal mountains. One of them, the La Manche (?) still reaches the water, and calves bergy bits directly into Beagle Channel.

Deep fjords reach into the sides of Beagle Channel

The rocks sticking out of the sea in the foreground indicate how far the glacier's moraine reached into the sea before it retreated during the last Ice Age

Sunny decks....

 

My fourth time through this body of water, but only the first time that the Patagonian weather Gods smiled upon the ship. We were blessed with calm waters, and more importantly calm air. Although the sky was cloudy, the holes in the clouds seem to travel with the ship and light up peaks, icefalls and snowy crests just in time for our passage. At times it was balmy enough to lay back in one of the lounges on deck, soak in the soft sun rays and let magnificent scenery float by silently.

Two valiant sail boats, one underway, the other anchored, were the only vessels crossing our way during the entire morning of passing through ‘Glacier Alley’. Apart from one Chilean coastal guard post ashore – not a hint of human habitation. A few Skuas, Albatrosses and Giant Petrels rested on the sea surface (with little wind they used the calm to rest, awaiting stormier conditions to launch themselves into their soaring flight) and no other bird, fish or animal made their appearance.

A lone sailing vessel crosses our pass

Instead of calving into the sea, glacial water springs from an icy cave and cascades towards the sea

Never trodden on by human foot, the high mountains of Tierra Del Fuego

The last glacier in Glacier Alley, reaching the surface of Beagle Channel

Blowing snow on icy peaks

That's where we are...

 

The original inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego have disappeared. However, fragments of history of their life and culture remain. They apparently did not clothe themselves, preferring to fish, paddle their canoes and conduct their daily lives naked, an astonishing feat of acclimatization to the harsh conditions in these latitudes. The early European Explorers, like Magellan, spotted the smoke of their fires, and logically concluding that ‘if there is smoke, there must be fire’, they called this island, Terra Del Fuego, Land of Fire.

Albatros following the ship

Panoramic Vistas of Glaciers...

The Alpspitz of Garmish Patenkirchen in Germany, repeated here in Tierra del Fuego

Anchored in one of the rare protected inlets in Beagle Channel

 

 

Joshua Slocum, the first solo sailor around the world, passed through the Beagle Channel. To protect himself from the (still abundantly present) thieving  Tierra del Fuegans, he spread thumbtacks on the deck of his sailboat. Barefooted indigenous people would not have approved…

Late morning we crossed the imaginary line into Argentinian waters, changed from a Chilean pilot to and Argentinian one, and commenced they approach to Ushuaya.

 

30 January 2014 Knee Deep in Penguins...

The Beach March of the Penguins

Double Stripes marks the Magellan Penguins

Showing Off

Parent and Chick in their 'front yard'

Getting Ready for the Morning Shower

Wanna Dance??

Watching their Porch...

Ice Cold Water - but good enough for swimming and fishing

Replenishing the Matresses

Feather Cleaning at the Beach

Morning Chat on a Sunny Hill Side

Stepping of the ferry, one had to be careful not to step on Penguins

Magellan Penguin - Double Stripe

Small Part of their Extensive Colony 

Magdalena Island Lighthouse, surrounded by Breeding Caves and Penguins

Parent with its Fluffy Chicks

Heading to Sea

Predatory Gulls hang around, if there are no deceased penguins, they gladly lunch on a deceased of their own species..

Punta Arenas, the southernmost town in Chilean Patagonia, greeted us with sunshine and strong chill winds.  I had planned to take a tour to Magdalena Island, where the largest colony of Magellan Penguins makes their annual breeding home for a few months. 60.000 pairs of them live here.

During the Austral winter these penguins roam as far as southern Brazil, October they swim their way towards the south, and – with their life long mate – search out their ‘home’ for the summer. They occupy the same small cave in sandy island soil, year after year. It takes them five years after being hatched in one of these caves before they are of breeding age and find a mate. Each pair develops its own ‘love song’ by which they recognize each other over long distances by sound alone.

Around November December, the pair produces one or two eggs, and the chicks hatch about 45 days later. They are fluffy and have no feathers. Both parents make daily trips into the ocean to catch and deliver food to their ever hungry little ones, which in no time at all outweigh and outsize their harried parents.  The chicks molt, and grow their first juvenile feathers – without the defining double black strip across their fronts. Their parents go through the molting process after their chicks are feathered up.

Then it is time to leave again – en masse – to areas further north…

Magellan Penguins are only 60-70 cm tall, and weigh a couple of kilos. Their habitat is threatened by global warming and general climate change. However, the colony on Magdalena Island is a protected habitat, and has been growing in numbers lately. On the other hand, the Otway Sound colony of the same species has been diminishing.

29 January 2014 Amalia Glacier, Chilean Fjords

Amalia Glacier early morning approach

Schools of frolicking dolphins greeted the Prinsendam on her early morning entry into the deep fjord, which terminates at the Amalie Glacier, where it calves now and again to shed its icy edge into the sea. The ship progressed at ‘dead slow’ speed through a sea of Bergy Bits, chunks of ice, which made their way slowly seaward and to their inevitable melting point.

A typical fjord morning – low hanging clouds, chill air, but a welcome absence of wind to go with it: perfect to bundle up in winter woollies and head out to the decks of Prinsendam to enjoy the impressive vistas of the Glacier and the stark rocky cliffs of the surrounding mountains.

Prinsendam was able to approach to within a couple of miles of the glacier, something that would have been impossible a couple of years ago. Over the years the glacier has receded, and open water below it expanded: global warming! The Chilean Glaciers, especially the O’Higgins glacier way up in the Andes, are the ones that are mostly affected by climate change, which O’Higgins having retreated more than 8 miles in the last dozen years or so.

The far reaches of the Glacier reached back into the higher regions of the mountains, where it opens up into the Patagonian Ice field, a sea of white, dark violet and blue, that covers more area of land than some countries do.

We were not alone in the vast stillness, but a small Chilean ship made its way past the Prinsendam almost to the foot of the ice wall of the glacier. That’s when a shallower draft and a knowledgeable local pilot come in handy. Our Chilean guest pilot played it safe in terms of in shore navigation, as nobody – despite abundant natural beauty – was too enchanted with the idea of running aground in this remote corner of the world.

Chilean small cruise ship at the foot of the Glacier

Craggy surface of the Glacier

 

Aboard, things are rather subdued due to the heightened hygienic measures as a result of ‘code red’. Apparently the number of passengers suffering from  an easily spread gastric illness is diminishing; however, discipline is strongly enforced and encouraged.  Apart from an army of staff constantly disinfecting every surface imaginable, including leather chairs, lamps, computer key boards, and racks for passenger photos amongst many more, passengers are discouraged from using public washrooms (use their private ones instead), keeping their hands not only clean but to themselves, and refraining from perusing their photos any other way than with their eyes.

Out on deck...

'Bergy Bits' floating in the sea...

Many of the ships entertainments and diversions are cancelled or curtailed, to speed up the elimination of this viral infection. Many people tend to blame ‘something they ate’, but most of the time it’s ‘something they touched’. It is sometimes difficult to grasp for people that washing ones hands in the privacy of ones cabin is not a guarantee to arrive in the dining room with ‘clean hands’ after touching door knobs, railings, arm rests, and bar surfaces….well, ones practices patience and common sense.

In the meantime, the Chilean Fjords are presenting themselves at their very best, even the Captain commented on this phenomenon: sunny, calm and endless visibility of the spectacular land and seascape of Southern Chile – magnificent!

Well, that's where we are...

Rio Gallego shows the small ship's icon to designate our present position...Tomorrow, Punta Arenas, the southernmost Chilean Port...

Glorious scenery all around...

 

Puerto Castro, Chiloe Island, and Chacabuco, Chilean Patagonia

Black Necked Swans near Castro

Lacy basket on Castro's Arts and Craft Market

One of the many World Heritage Wooden Churches on Chiloe Island.
Note the many small white cones in the water behind the church, these are mussel plant markers.

Taking one of the brand new tenders ashore to Puerto Castro, a small village on Chiloe Island, one enjoyed the quiet waters of the harbour cove - boarding and landing tenders was a ‘breeze’ not a storm. Verdantly green, this part of Chiloe Island would not feel out of place in part of Vancouver Island, with its hilly land scape and with plenty of small coves, inlets and bays giving access to the sea.

The bays surrounding the Island are filled with colourful buoys by the thousand, each supporting some form of shell fish farming unit – mussels, oysters, and other kinds I do not recognize. Most of these fish farms or aqua culture plants are owned by Norwegians, who seem to have the necessary capital to construct them.

This area of Chile is home to about 150 wooden churches, which due to their unusual construction and simple and elegant beauty have been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The wooden interior has a beautiful sheen, is skillfully and artistically crafted; cupolas and domes look like perfectly rounded ship’s hulls, and columns are carved to perfection. Simple, graceful and serene….

Many houses along the waterfront are built on stilts. Homes further inland are all erected upon wooden stilt-like supports; none of them seem to have basements.

Palafitos, or stilt houses on Castro's Shores

Wooden cupola of the main church of Castro - w cabinetmaker's dream..

Cathedral of Castro - all constructed of wood

It is Sunday, and towns are deserted, except for the many artisan markets, which surround churches and fill public squares.

Craft Market in Dalcahue, near Castro. As we are in sheep country now, most of the knitwear and wool originate from sheep

Wooden siding as seen on many houses and churches - obviously smoking is prohibited...

Woven weed...

Detail of a little woolen cap...

FIshermen's Wharf restaurant in Castro

Here we are, Prinsendam at anchor at Castro.

A somewhat stormy overnight passage brought us to Chacabuco, which is hidden at the end of one of the deep Chilean Fjords, where the Aysen River flows into the sea and Chilean Patagonia forms a spectacular background.

A $1 bus ride brought me into the tiny town of Aysen, which appeared to have seen better days. Every second storefront along the one and only main street was shuttered with a Se Vende (For Sale) sign posted in their dull windows. Mid-summer and the townscape was adorned with colourful hydrangeas and flowering roses, with a majestic backdrop of snow-capped mountains.

I bought a tiny bottle of Listerine in town, and realized at the checkout, that this tiny vessel of liquid cost me $10 – high cost of delivery to remote areas was the explanation. Makes each gargle a valued experience.

Back aboard, still ‘code red’, which means no activities that involve sharing of supplies (playing cards, scrabble, books, magazines, paint brushes),  touching of hands (dancing) or self-serve food buffets. Even touching of photos in the photo gallery is discouraged, and trying jewellery for size a definite no-no. Most passengers follow the frequent reminders of keeping their hands clean, however, a small number still persist in ignoring this simple precaution – and cross contamination still occurs.

We are off again into the open ocean, rounding a large peninsular before heading back into protected fjords. The South Pacific is still broiling in gale force winds and large seas….

Puerto Montt and Tenglo Island in CHile

The passage along the South American Coast with first gale force wind and head-on swell is over in Puerto Montt, a relatively ‘quiet’ harbour to drop anchor. Due to the harsh sea conditions, the ship had to slow down, hence arrived a few hours later than scheduled. But, as the next leg to Puerto Castro is very short (a ferry can make it in half an hour) we extended our stay into the early twilight hours of the evening.

Fishing boat on the dry at low tide

Food Festival cook preparing empanadas

Going clam digging

Spectator Stands

Awaiting Left Overs...

I have been in this port a few times, and enjoyed Chilean rodeos, strolling along the lower slopes of a snow covered volcano, wandered the quaint streets of Puerto Varas, and dodged the spray of Petrohue Rapids. So this time I stayed ‘in town’ and discovered a very picturesque area of Puerto Montt. To be accurate, the small island called Tengola which protects Puerto Montt proper.

After wandering a few hundred yards along the waterfront, in direction away from the town (future cruisers note!) one passed through a long row of Artisan shops, which offered the usual collection of Llama wool sweaters, carved penguins and souvenirs. From across the shallow channel separating the mainland from the Island one heard music and singing. I inquired about the sounds of ‘fiesta’ in progress, and indeed, a local food festival was in full Saturday morning swing over there, and little fishing skiffs took local families over the channel to join the general fun.

Of course, yours truly was not far behind. A kingly sum of 500 pesos (1US$ equivalent) bought me a crossing in a brightly coloured row boat, which I shared with another lady from the Prinsendam, and a few Puerto Montters.

On the Island, one walked for a quarter of an hour along a beach, serving as a parking lot for local fishing boats, and boat yard for construction and repair.  A flat area above the beach had turned into a fair ground, with a make shift stage and dance floor at one end, painted truck tires serving as spectator seating, a long row of food tents at the opposite end and what seemed to be a community hall offering sanitary services of a basic kind (200 pesos a visit including a small wad of toilet paper).

Great spot for a leisurely Saturday festival morning. A little beach combing, a little people watching, a little regatta watching (the local sailing clubs held a competition in the quiet lively weather conditions outside the protected harbour), a little music and watching the local folkloric dancing, and a mid-afternoon cerveza in one of the food tents made for a pleasant day ashore.

Dinghy on Tenglo Beach

Ever present volcanoes behind the fishing village on Tenglo Island

Osorno Volcano