Diane

We were up early today and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Then we hauled our luggage over the Bus Sur bus station- it wasn’t too far and wasn’t raining so not as bad as it could have been. It started raining as we boarded the bus. Our bus left about 8am for a 10-hour drive from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia.

The bus was very comfortable and it would have been even better if the person in front of me didn’t put their seat all the way back. We even had WiFi on the bus. The bus made a number of bathroom stops, plus we stopped at the Chile border for immigration control to leave Chile. Then about 5 minutes later we stopped at the Argentina border for immigration control to enter Argentina. Both were effortless and straightforward.

We enjoyed the fall colors we saw along the drive. We arrived in Ushuaia about 6pm and hauled our luggage over to our Ushuaia hotel(Hotel Albatross)- it was very near the bus stop/station, relatively flat and not raining so it wasn’t too difficult.

Easy check-in and nice room and I was happy to lay flat. We found a nice place for dinner and were happy to have ‘real’ food since the last few days we’ve had lots of bread with cheese and salami with the bedtime chocolate from my Sydney to Sydney cruise.

We spent another day driving. We drove from Puerto Natales back to Torres Del Paine after a late breakfast(8am!!) and checking out of our hotel.

We took a slightly different route and visited Laguna Azul first where we saw Guanaco in front of the lake and snowy mountain peaks. It was a bit windy but there was a very short time when we could barely see the top of the towers(the famous three peaks in Torres Del Paine). This is the area we were heading to yesterday when we turned around because we were worried about running out of gas.

After that we drove a slightly different route out of the park so that we could pass by Laguna Ameraga. It was a very pretty mint green lake but the best part is that there were lots of cars parked with people with big cameras all pointing in the same direction. And, yes indeed, they were all watching a puma. After a bit, we were able to barely see the puma with our camera. For sure a highlight of the day even tho it was quite far away.

We had planned to visit Milonga Cave where there was a skeleton of a mammoth sloth and bones of other mega fauna but when we got to the junction it was already 3pm and we decided we’d just continue down the road to Punta Arenas. We didn’t want to get in too late.

We were disappointed there were no condors when we got to the mountain where we saw 6 or 7 condors the day before yesterday. We did see the flamingos and guanacos again.

On the way to Punta Arenas, we got the very sad news that Jennifer, a very close friend of 20+ years, passed away today.

We drove about 100 km to Torres Del Paine National Park. We left a bit early to try to get good views of the mountains and hoped to see a puma. Once we arrived at Torres Del Paine we took the long route thru the park and saw many wonderful sights but no pumas. Tibor purchased tickets to the park yesterday so it was a simple matter of showing them the pass at the checkpoint and we were into the park.

The geology was interesting. There is a black cap of metamorphic rock on top of granite. And there were rows of harder rock interspersed with softer rocks. Some of the large peaks look knife edged.

We drove around so much of the park we were very worried about running out of gas. We actually turned around and didn’t go to Laguna Azul in order to conserve gas. There were no gas stations between Puerto Natales and Torres Del Paine- that we saw at least and we forgot to fill up before we left Puerto Natales. Tibor was very careful of his speed, used the downhill speed to get uphill, and manually shifted. He increased the liters per gallon from 14.3 to 15.7 so we made it back to town without running out of gas. Whew!

Our last stop was to Isla Magdalena hoping to see the Magellanic penguin. The entire island is the Monumento Natural Los Penguins. It’s the time of the year that they are migrating off the island. We were very happy to see them on shore as we arrived to the Island when we got there just as the sun was rising. Once on the island, we followed the official path and watched the penguins wandering around baying and disappearing into their burrows.

Many cormorants were nesting on the island cliffs. The cormorants are black and white just like the penguins so it’s hard to tell them apart from a distance. One clear indicator is if it’s a black and white animal flying it’s a cormorant. If the animal is not flying, it may be either.

We had breakfast after the excursion and then had time to pack before we disembarked about noon. It was really nice to have the meal and extra time.

After disembarking, we took a taxi to the airport where we rented a car to drive up to Puerto Natales where we will spend two nights and visit Torres del Paine National Park. We stopped many times along the way to photograph animals(Guanaco, Andean condor, Chilean Flamingos, Rhea, Magellan goose, and more) in the fields along the road. We enjoyed the many rainbows too. It was about 250 kilometers and we took about 4 hours.

We had a nice room in Puerto Natales and went out for pizza for dinner. I picked the bacon and fried egg pizza as it seemed to be the closest to pepperoni.

Today we rode in the zodiac to see the Condor glacier. It was a nice ride but it gets chilly on the zodiac even when it’s sunny.

We walked around on shore to see the Águila glacier. When we first got on shore we walked with a group but after about 30 minutes, everyone got to walk around by ourselves which was pretty fun. The forest near the glacier was full of plant life and there were birds on the shore to enjoy.

We have been enjoying the delicious food on board. For dinner we have a starter, a soup, a main dish and a dessert. Frequently the starter and/or soup includes some sort of fish/shellfish which I usually give to Tibor. Tibor especially likes the lamb and sea food.

Today was a day of glaciers. Our first glacier was Pia glacier (we visited it on the first leg too). This time we both opted for the coast excursion so we could spend the entire time watching the glacier hoping to see calving. We did see some small calving and the weather was great. I sat on my stuff sack and was very comfortable. The glacier made lots of noise and clearly bits and pieces were moving around but the only ones we saw moving were pretty small.

For our second glacier, no one went ashore and we all went on zodiacs to cruise up to and view the Porter glacier. On the way back we were so excited to see two Magellanic penguins swimming in the water. A dolphin was swimming and playing around the ship and zodiacs too.

We went to Cape Horn today and were fortunate that the weather, wind and seas were ok for a landing. They do not decide if we can go on an excursion until we are at the site to see the actual sea/ocean/weather conditions. Then they put a zodiac in the water and the crew goes out as well to test the conditions on the ground. The conditions were just barely ok for the excursion- wind was up to 60 knots- and the crew said “be prepared to return quickly, but we can go”.

We were up in the lounge at 7am all ready to get on(actually got on about 7:30) the zodiac for a wavy, windy and slightly wet ride to shore. There is very small beach full of rocks but it was only a few steps to the stairs. After about 100 stairs we were on the land of Cape Horn. Yep, it was windy and drizzly- as is said to be “the typical Patagonia weather.” Besides drizzles we had some snow and hail flurries. The path to the albatross sculpture was closed because it was too windy. It was a surprise to see how much vegetation was on the island in spite of the exposure and weather.

I took my GoPro camera to Cape Horn so I could take some pictures on the way back to the ship. Its battery was dead when I tried to use it but when I went to remove the old battery the pull tab came off. By judicious shaking I was able to get the old battery out and then put the new on in, just in time for our return journey to the ship.

We spent a little time (maybe an hour) at Cape Horn before heading back to the ship for breakfast. I did like the clear view of the stairs and lighthouse on Cape Horn just as we got back to the ship. Shortly after we got back on the ship the snow flurries obscured Cape Horn for about 10 minutes and then it cleared up.

We saw many humpback whales as we were heading to our next stop.

Our second excursion of the day was to Wulaia Bay. This time Tibor went on the lookout excursion hoping to be able to see whales in the bay but they weren’t there. I took the coast excursion again. It’s a beautiful area and we both got to walk a little in the forest. On the coast excursion, there was a building that was converted from a radio control center to a museum. The museum had some great murals with the history of the area. It was fascinating reading a little more about the many original explorers of the area. The one thing that was distressing was that one early explorer took 4 natives back home to England to be exhibited as savages in a zoo- as many as 100 people a day came to look at them. Apparently he wasn’t the only explorer that took natives away from their home land.

Today is the end of the first leg of our cruise- we went from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia and will go from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas for the second leg. It is almost the same route but not quite. We go thru the same channel where we saw lots of whales and fur seals and I sure hope we get to see them again. The stop to see penguins on the first leg was changed because the penguins had already migrated away. This leg we plan to stop at Isla Magdalena to see Magellanic Penguins. I took an excursion to that island before the first leg and saw many penguins. I hope they are still there and we stop.

We stopped near Ushuaia and the Argentina immigration officials boarded the ship to complete the customs formalities. We arrive at the pier about midnight.

Tibor left the ship to walk around the hills outside Ushuaia while I stayed on board to organize photos. After a nice lunch on board I left the ship and walked around town for an hour or so. Once it started snowing I headed back to the ship. I had to bypass the sign & chain that said boarding wasn’t until 18:00 but they let me on and were happy to see me.

The new passengers arrived on-board about 6pm, we have the welcome toast at 7pm, we depart at 7:45pm and have dinner at 8:15pm.

We really enjoyed our table mates on the first leg. There were 2 couples and both couples were from the UK.

We were hoping to walk on Cape Horn but the windy was too gusty and it wasn’t safe to land- it gusted up to 100 Km/hour. We did go out on deck to feel the ‘real’ Cape Horn weather. At one point I was going to go up to the 5th deck but a staff member said not a good idea because of the wind.

We ‘drove’ around in circles next to Cape Horn for about 45 minutes and then we headed off to our next stop at Wulaia Bay.

Tibor picked the ‘high physical demand’ excursion and hiked/walked up to the summit to get some great views of the bay. I took the easy forest/coast excursion and saw a number of different birds- Flightless Steamer Ducks, Fire-eyed Diucon, Albatross, Petrels, Andean Condor, South American tern, Magellanic Snipe, and more.

At Wulaia Bay, we walked around the area and visited the old abandoned Radio Station building. The area once held farms and the cows, pigs, horses were released when the farms were abandoned. Don’t know what happened to the horses but the cows and pigs are now wild. It was particularly odd to see cow pies (poop) on the trail. Didn’t actually see any cows or pigs. The area also has a number of dead trees from the invasive beavers.

At the Radio station is a barrel. This barrel was a replica of the barrel used by the sailors in the area. They would write letters and leave them in the barrel, the next sailor would search thru the barrel to find a letter that was going the same direction and would deliver it. We could leave and take one post card if we wanted. I left a post card and picked one up and will deliver it to a town near our home.

When we got back to the pier they had a hot chocolate station and were giving out hot chocolate (with or without whisky). That was a nice, warming touch.

On the way to Ushuaia, in the Beagle channel we saw so many whales, fur seals and birds it was amazing. It was a bit late in the day so all my pictures were blurry and dark but it was incredible to see.

At the end of the cruise, guests are invited to submit pictures they took during the voyage. Most, but not all, of these pictures would be used to create a slideshow that was shown in the lounge. I submitted a couple of pictures and was happy when the crowd went ‘oohh’ when they saw one of my pictures.

It was a long boat ride from Ainsworth Bay to Pia Glacer so we did not have an excursion in the morning and everyone stayed on the ship until after lunch.

We again selected a ‘Low Physical Demand’ excursion but this time it had mud, slope, physical activity and medium educational content since we walked up the slope to a lookout spot. We walked past the glacier and watched a small calving(where a piece of the glacier breaks off) and then walked into the forest. The trail was a bit steep and I thought the rock would be slippery like the granite in Yosemite but the rock wasn’t slippery but the land (mud, lichen, moss) was slippery. I held onto the rope next to the trial until I realized it wasn’t taut and wouldn’t keep me from falling.

When we got back from the walk in the forest, we watched the glacier hoping to see more calving and took the second to last zodiac back to the ship. The last zodiac had the guides.

When you leave the ship you must wear a lifevest, you remove a keychain with your number on it from your lifevest and put it on a hook in a cabinet. When you return you take the number out of the cabinet and put it back onto your lifevest. If the cabinet has no keychains/numbers in it after all the zodiacs return, then the staff knows everyone is on board.

When you get to shore, everyone takes off their lifevest and puts it on the shore. At the end of the excursion, you pick up a random lifevest to wear back to the ship. Some folks try to ‘hide’ their lifevest in order to get the same one when they return but that doesn’t typically work since someone else usually finds and uses it. Then the folks that ‘hid’ their lifevests are upset.

The route to our next stop took us thru Glacier Alley where there are a number of large/named glaciers. We were served food/drink to match the glacier nationality. We had beer and sausage when we went by the Alemania (Germany) glacier, cheese and wine when we went by Francia (France), pizza when we went by Italia (Italy), and Ollenballen when we went by Holanda (Holland).