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El Calefate in southern Argentina is close to the border with Chile. Regrettably time permitted only an overnight stay so the glacier others come to see was missed. In the early morning the bus to Puerto Natales in Chile followed the road south to the border. Rough in parts it leads through flat country against the backdrop of the ever-present snow covered Andes. A gaucho (Argentinean cowboy) rode along a boundary adding authenticity to the barren landscape, small flightless birds about one third the size of emus ran away from the road, mainly sheep with some cattle occasionally populated the treeless landscape. The sporadic house stood alone. At the border settlement of Cerro Castillo a car with guide and driver was waiting for a day in Torres del Paine. Torres del Paine is a Chilean National Park with mountains, lakes and glaciers in the southern part of Patagonia. From the border the park is reached through sheep country with picturesque ranches. It is hard to imagine a more beautiful place to live and work but from the look of the farms the work is hard and the rewards difficult to come by.

Patagonian Sheep Ranch

The guide said the weather was clearer than yesterday so many of the main sights could be seen although it was overcast all day. However this is a hiking destination, the best way to appreciate what the park has to offer. On the hills and sometimes by the roadside Guanaco a species of Lama grazed. These animals are not domesticated and roam the park and ranches able to jump fences easily. They only have to fear the puma that prospers here. With sheep and lamas there is plenty for pumas to eat. Pumas are protected but they still have to watch out for the angry farmer.

Guanaco a Species of Lama Graze by the Roadside

Condors could be seen circling overhead in threes or fours flying a kind of pattern. Torres means towers and the park is named after three magnificent granite “towers” that are part of a younger mountain massif geographically situated in the Andes but not part of the Andes. Paine is a local Indian word for blue. Everywhere are magnificent snow covered mountains and sparkling lakes.

Mountains and Lakes Dominate the Landscape of Torres del Paine National Park

One of the best views of the towers was from outside the park near a lagoon with water many times saltier than seawater. On the edge of this lagoon Flamencos were wading sifting for the small species that grow in the water.

The Three Towers on the Right that Give the Park its Name Viewed Across the Salty Lake

Inside the park the views just kept coming. There is a separate formation called horns or Cuernos just as magnificent.

The Cuernos (Horns) del Paine

A late lunch was waiting at Lake Grey and a view of the Glacier Grey and blue icebergs floating in the lake.

Lunch at Lake Grey with Glacier and Icebergs in the Distance Across the Lake

Then the weather closed in for the drive to Puerto Natales.

Argentina

Docked in Ushuaia

In the morning the ship was docked in the Argentinean port of Ushuaia on the Beagle Channel, the southern shore of the Argentinean part of Ilsa Tierra del Fuego. The island is divided in two with Chile. Ushaia is quite different from Punta Arenas. It has more tourist development and is like a down market ski resort. It is from here most of the cruises depart for Antarctica. On Argentine maps the Antarctic peninsula is Argentinean, on Chilean maps it belongs to Chile. It is only relatively recently that the disagreement with Chile over Tierra del Fuego was settled through the intermediary of the Vatican but there remain important unresolved territorial disputes in this part of the world.

The Town with Monument of the Falklands War in the Foreground with Map of the Islands

One local politician from his posters somewhat assertively claims the Malvinas, the Argentinean name for the Falkland Islands and it was here a few weeks before that the Argentinean Vice President again reasserted Argentina’s territorial claim over the South Atlantic Islands. It was near here that the action took place in the Falkland’s War of 1982 and there is a prominent harbourside monument for the war.

Yachts and Cargo Ships Share the Docks

Ushaia is beautifully located facing south on a sloping shore from snow topped mountains down to the Beagle Channel. This must make it very cold in the winter. Being Saturday and unable to get local money the day was spent walking the streets and the foreshore from one end of town to the other. The main street has all kinds of tourist shops but no open money change places. At one end of town was a panorama over the town and the Beagle Channel. At the other end was a small naval base. The lower streets were shabby although higher up the hill better houses could be seen. Along the foreshore many yachts were moored.

Beagle Channel at Ushuaia with Mountains in Chile Across the Water

At the airport friends from the cruise said their goodbyes. A flight to Calafete in Argentina for a night’s stay and then back to Chile the next day to visit Torres Del Paine National Park.

Argentinean Optimism on a Sign on the Foreshore

Relflections in the Water Cruising Chilean Tierra del Fuego

Up early for the sunrise on the open deck. The air was bracing and the sky was clearer as the ship made its way into the Beagle Channel named after HMS Beagle which did two surveys of the coasts of the southern part of South America in the early 19th century. The second is known as the Voyage of the Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard. The Beagle Channel 150 miles long is a strait that separates islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. Its eastern portion is part of the border between Chile and Argentina, the western part is within Chile. Shortly after breakfast there was ice in the water again and up on deck it was not long before more glaciers came into view. In the sunshine they were magnificent with reflection in the water. One glacier had a seam of dirt down the middle formed when two glaciers come together higher up in the mountains. These glaciers come off the ice field in the Darwin Mountain Range on the north side of the Beagle Channel.

Approaching a Tidewater Glacier with Dirt Seam

Shore Excursion in Zodiacs

In the afternoon another shore excursion in the zodiacs to walk closer to a glacier in a branch off the channel. These are tidewater glaciers in that the end of the glacier floats on water and therefore goes up and down with the tide destabilising the front of the glacier that then falls off. This activity is difficult to photograph because by the time the sound of the cracking of the ice arrives it’s all over but the splash at the end.

Mountains and Glacier in a Branch off the Beagle Channel

The views down to the Beagle Channel were breathtaking. The mountain range that bears Darwin’s name is awe-inspiring and so it should be for this great naturalist to be celebrated in this fashion.

Darwin Mountain Range

In the evening as the sun was going down hours were spent alone on the top deck. The smokers go out the stern where there is less wind and doors open off the saloon. On the night before there was a talk on the local sea mammals. In the fading light there was a small animal in the water and then another and then one jumped. It was a Chilean dolphin about the size of a seal pup recognizable by its characteristic jump like a porpoise seen before off the coast of Scotland. Too dark and too quick to photograph but a memory alone on the top deck sailing cold waters and a sighting of a rare sea mammal.

Mountains in the Clouds Line the Canals of Tierra del Fuego

In the early morning the clouds were down as the ship made its way along the canals of Tierra del Fuego between snow capped mountains. The top of the ship is out in the open and the air was chilly with some snowflakes and sleet. Shortly after breakfast the ship stopped at Ainsworth Bay for a shore excursion. On with the lifejackets, out the stern and down the ladders to the rear boat deck and board the Zodiacs to go ashore to see an Antarctic forest.

Crew Member Operating the Outboard on the Zodiac from Via Australis

During warmer months the ship would first visit a penguin colony but all the penguins have gone north for the winter. Near the shore were a few elephant seals although these are low in number at this time of year. The walk through the forest was gorgeous. By now snow was falling heavily. The trees, mosses and lichens created a surreal atmosphere. Unfortunately beavers, not a southern hemisphere animal, were introduced into this area some years ago in the hope of starting a profitable industry, this did not eventuate but they multiplied with few predators causing a lot of damage with their tree cutting and dams.

Snow Falling in the “Antartic Forest” at Ainsworth Bay

Last night the lecture on glaciers was about the three ice sheets down here remnants of the last ice age, these are the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Sheets on the continent and the ice sheet in the Darwin Mountains on one of the islands. Many glaciers come down from this ice sheet but today the ship visited the Brookes Glacier in the Brookes Fjord passing close by several others. Tomorrow the glaciers from the ice sheet will be seen cruising the Beagle Canal. The first clue that a glacier was coming was floating pieces of ice in the water that got progressively more as the ship approached. Up on the open deck the view was spectacular even in overcast conditions.

Passing a Glacier in the Brookes Fjord

Up close the ice has an iridescent blue as if someone had placed a fluorescent light inside the glacier. Even in the cloudy conditions the blue was striking. This color is caused by the absorption of red and yellow light (leaving blue) as the light passes through the thick ice.

The Bright Blue of the Brookes Glacier

The upper deck in the cold is great. Almost everyone else prefers the warmth downstairs so up here is open and private and magnificent even in the dark. In the cold and dark there was a brief view of the Southern Cross promising clear skies the next day.

Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas was a more important port in the days before the Panama Canal opened (1914). Ships would call to fuel and take on supplies. There is a picture in a local museum of this time with many ships anchored off shore. Today the shipping is quieter but the streets have many beautiful buildings from this past. The central square and the buildings around it are very attractive.

Street next to the Town Square

A taxi drive to the local outdoor museum on the outskirts of town passed through some quite prosperous housing estates but other parts are more humble. The houses close to the water are neat but modest. The museum had an interesting collection of old farm machinery and reconstructions of the kinds of dwellings the settlers used. Their main activity was and continues to be sheep farming. There were many immigrants in the part of Chile, the taxi driver was of German decent.

Museum of the Early Settlers

The local cemetery is a tourist attraction. The small mausoleums were quite ornate. Of interest was the memorial to the German sailors who died at Battle of the Falkland Islands, a naval engagement of the First World War, fought between units of the Royal Navy and the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 off the Falklands. The British destroyed a German cruiser squadron in a decisive victory. The German dead included Admiral Graf Spee and his two sons. The lost ships included the cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. This has been a busy part of the world. As the evening approached a short walk to the docks was followed by boarding the small cruise ship Via Australis for two days and three nights in the canals and fjords of Tierra del Fuego.

Leaving port