Scenery Just Keeps Getting Better and Better

Day 28, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023; Punta Arenas, Chile

If I was awestruck by the site of the distant Mount Corcovado as we were leaving the Chiloé Archipelago, I don’t even have words for the experience of cruising through the Southern Patagonian Ice Field yesterday. Mile after mile, hour after hour we wove our way through the fjords.

Even this early in the season (it’s spring here), there wasn’t much snow on the rocky slopes along each shore. But we frequently saw snow-covered peaks nearby.

And then, we turned to port off the main channel, slowly cruising this way and that to the foot of the El Brujo Glacier, part of the giant Peel Fjord.

It branches into the side fjords of Amalia, Asia and Calvo. El Brujo is in the Asia fjord and its foot is more than half a mile wide. It dumps into the sea, making it a tidewater glacier.

Once safely at its foot, the captain turned the ship around, providing the aft decks with the best views. Intermittent misty rain had left the bow – normally a prime viewing spot – too slippery, he said. As we slowly turned, I had what I consider the best view, from my verandah. Hey, something has to justify paying for the upgrade!

The blue skies of the previous days have left us – low clouds and mist were the rule. When we arrived in Punta Arenas this morning, the high was in the 30s. Even as temperatures increased into the low 50s, the stiff breeze made me glad I was wearing my puffer jacket, my ear muffs and my hood.

Hurtigruten’s ice-strengthened expedition ship Fram was docked next to us, having just returned from Antarctica. I may need to give Hurtigruten a try if I ever want to get to Svenbard, north of Norway. I booked two Holland America cruises with it on the itineraries, but the company canceled the trips, due to tighter environmental rules.

I was in Punta Arenas in early 2020 with my sister Elaine, and today I followed pretty much the same path. In fact, when I look back I see some of the same photographs – including the sign and mug at Chocolatta – a fun café with the best hot chocolate!

It really was my only destination. I had been tempted by the 11-hour tour to Torres del Paine National Park. But the $1,300 price tag, with no assurance of whether the weather would cooperate, put me off. Maybe next time.

The reddish-orange color of the tourist information booth at the main square was ablaze with a brief bit of sunlight, so I sketched it and will add that color in the next few days.

It is early in the season, so the main square lacked the crowds and entertainers we had enjoyed during our previous February stop. Still, it is a delightful small city with a distinctive European flair.

The talk aboard the ship already is turning to our upcoming crossing of the Drake Passage – from the southern tip of South America to the most northern tip of Antarctica. When I sailed it in 2020, it was the “Drake Lake” – calm. But as I use my Windy app to see the wind forecasts, I think we will have some motion in the ocean, as they say. Of course, wind is different than swells. So we will see.