Cape Horn

November 25th

It was raining in Punta Arenas when we arrived on Tuesday. The city has some fine 19thC buildings - mansions which once belonged to the great sheep ranching families.The school girls all look very smart in well tailored black wool overcoats with big silver buttons.

Typical Patagonian sheep baron's mansion in Punta Arenas.

Phone calls would be wet and windy from this public phone in Punta Arenas.

We went to the Museo Regional Salesiano Mayorino Borgatello as it seemed to be the only one open.
The Salesians were active in the area from the 1880s, and judging from the photographs,one of their first priorities was to dress the native Fuegians!

Shipboard life has its compensations particularly when the bar is open, i.e. free.

Welcome aboard - Chilean style.

Our ship sailed in the evening and on Wednesday morning our first shore excursion was at Ainsworth Bay where we took a walk through the Nothofagus (Southern beech) woods. The guide pointed out several edible berries. Not surprisingly there were plenty of mosses and lichens as well.

First landing at Ainsworth Bay.

Nothofagus forest. There are three species of southern beech here, two of which are deciduous.

Mosses and lichens.

Unidentified wildflower.

A beaver dam. In 1946? some Canadians thought they would farm beavers in Tierra del Fuego, but unfortunately the fur was poor quality and the project was abandoned. The 7 beavers left behind have multiplied and are now a plague destroying the forest.

Next excursion was a zodiac ride around Tuckers islets a crowded home to magellanic penguins and more than one species of cormorants to say nothing of sea lions.

Magellanic penguins relax on their stony beach.

One of the species of cormorants sharing the crowded island.

Another of the cormorant species.

A minke whale the Japanese did not get.

Thursday was a beautiful day with blue sunny skies and it was almost hot when we landed at the Pia Glacier where we walked along the shoreline opposite the snout of the glacier.

Relaxing alongside the Pia Glacier

Chart of the area just north of Cape Horn showing the maze of islets and channels.

Although the ship has GPS, in these waters, the old fashioned chart and radar are much more reliable.

Later the sun was still out as we sailed along Glacier Alley, the North West Arm of the Beagle channel. The glaciers are named for various countries and the ship served appropriate nibbles and drinks - champagne for France, beer for Alemania, pizza for Italia etc.

Not sure which glacier this is.

Alemania Glacier, Glacier Alley, Beagle channel.

So far the weather had been amazingly good and we were all hoping it would hold so we could land at Cape Horn. So at 6 a.m. on Friday morning we were up and the sea was still flat. It was a real thrill to land on Horn Island, climb the 160 steps to the top of the cliff and then follow the boardwalk to the albatross monument and then to the lighthouse.

Landing on Horn Island, near Cape Horn.

The boardwalk across to the Albatross monument, Cape Horn. The hill in the background is the actual cape.

I made it to the monument!

In the afternoon we went ashore in Wulaia Bay which is where Captain Robert Fitzroy and Charles Darwin made contact with the local Tierra del Fuegians or Yamana people. Sadly today there is only one alive - a 92 year old woman.

Looking out over Wulaia Bay.

Another view of Wulaia Bay.

More wildflowers.

Our cruise ended on Saturday morning in Ushuaia, the city which bills itself as the end of the world

What's an Irish pub doing in Ushuaia!

Grafitti at El fin del Mundo.

Lakes District, Chile

21st November

Thursday afternoon we left the Atacama and flew to Santiago and then on to Puerto Montt. What a contrast! San Pedro is at about the same latitude as Rockhampton and Puerto Montt about that of Hobart. So here everything is green and lush and the German settlers have created neat and tidy farms with large herds of dairy cattle and enormous German style farmhouses.

We are driving a small manual Peugeot and  the roads are free of traffic, although finding our hotel in Puerto Montt was a little tricky as there are few street names and lots of unsignposted one way streets.

Monument to the 19thC German settlers who took up the offer of free land.

Wood stoves are apparently the way to go!

This seems to be the standard rubbish bin throughout this region.

We are enjoying the freedom of driving ourselves and yesterday - Friday we went to Frutillar a pretty resort town on Lake or more correctly Lago Llanquihue and then today, Saturday, to the Waterfall at Petrohue (Saltos de Petrohue). The lake is surrounded by steep mountains so I found it a bit odd that the falls were draining the lake rather than vice versa. The water is emerald green and very clear. I am not sure what the story was, but in places there were piles of black volcanic ash almost across the road.

Looking across Lago Llanquihue from Frutillar.

The waterfront at Frutillar.

Grand farmhouse near Frutillar.

Waterfall at Petrohue.

Another view of the Petrohue River.

On Sunday we picked up an English couple we had met in San Pedro and set off for Chiloe, a large island. Ruta 5, the motorway which runs the length of the country is a tollway, but you pay just $1 when you leave. It does not vary with distance travelled. When we got to Pargua to catch the ferry to Chiloe, it was pretty low key - no signs, no one directing traffic - just drive on and then set off.

On Chiloe, our first destination was the penguin colony at Punihuil. After negotiating our way through detours in Ancud because of a Fun Run we eventually found the road. There were roadworks the whole way and it was a narrow winding rough gravel road which after 10 or 12 km finished at a beach. We could see activity at the other end of the beach and as the sand was firm drove down. The penguins are nesting on small islands in the bay and the fishermen have a simple but effective system for boarding the boats to see the penguins. Tourists climb onto a trailer which is pushed into the sea and you board without getting wet feet!

We saw Humboldt and Magellanic penguins who nest side by side and are difficult to tell apart.

Black necked swans near Caulin, Chiloe.

One of the very common, pretty red flowered trees.

Organiser of the penguin boat trips.

All aboard the trolley to be wheeled into the sea to board the penguin boat.

A Magellanic penguin poses.

Empenadas for lunch was next, before making the return trip to Ancud and the luxury of bitumen for the run down to Dalcahue and Castro to see the UNESCO listed wooden churches and the houses on stilts along the waterfront. It was after 4 p.m. before we headed back to Puerto Varas ready for a good sleep.

The wooden church at Dalcahue.

 Another grand wooden church, this one in Castro.

I like the dashing style of this statue in Castro church.

Palafitos,  or wooden houses on stilts in Castro.

 Monday morning in Puerto Varas was pouring rain and our flight was delayed, but the skies were clear further south and our first views of the Torres del Paine area were spectacular.

Aerial view of Torres del Paine.

Mt Fitzroy in Southern Patagonia.

Atacama Desert Part 2

Thursday 17 Nov

On Wednesday morning we went to the Puritama Hot Springs. All around the country is rocky and barren, although the local cacti grows in cracks in the rocks, but at the bottom of a steep gorge there are 8 natural pools with water at about 33 degrees C and surrounded by pampas grass and quite a lot of birdlife.

Tussocky grass growing around Puritama Hot Springs.

Chilean lizard.

Black headed Sierra Finch - one of many bird species who live around the hot springs.

Wildflowers growing in stony ground near the Hot Springs.

We were really settling into the routine of a morning excursion, followed  by lunch and a siesta and then another excursion. So this afternoon we explored the petroglyphs which date back several thousand years and were important stops along ancient trade routes although now they are in the middle of nowhere. Llamas figure prominently and also pumas.  The Incas themselves (although these petraglyphs predate them) also thought very highly of cats (a point of difference between me and the Incas!)

Pamela explains the Petroglyphs. You can see some in the bottom right hand corner.

Petroglyph of llamas.

Dramatic rock formations of the Rainbow Valley.

Another beautiful sunset

From there we travelled through an oasis (llamas grazing on green feed and the odd poplar tree).  The road was very rough, but we came finally to the so called Rainbow Valley which features rather extraordinary rock formations.

Thursday morning we left San Pedro de Atacama at 5.15 a.m. and drove to the El Tatio Geysers. Our driver Leo did not like eating someone else's dust and so we often left the road and made our own track!. The Geysers are at a height of 4,300 m (14,190 ft) and in the cold early morning (-7 deg C) there are huge columns of steam.

El Tatio Geysers in the early morning

More geysers, this one home to thermophylic algae. An English University is hoping that the algae may provide a treatment for pancreatic cancer.

As we returned down the mountain we saw plenty of vicuna (look like small llamas) and also a variety of waterbirds on a permanant lake.

 Vicuna grazing near the El Tatio geyser field

Mama llama and young.

 

Llamas peeping over a stone wall. The ribbons in their ears are not to provide identification, but are to do with an Indian legend and respecting Mother Earth.