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.