The Fjords of Fuegia

Short of Antarctica itself, some of the Southern Hemisphere’s most awesome scenery occurs in the Beagle Channel, southern Tierra del Fuego, and the legendary Cape Horn. And as usual, Charles Darwin left one of the most vivid descriptions of the channel named for the vessel on which he sailed:

The scenery here becomes even grander than before. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country, and boldly rise to a height of between three and four thousand feet, with one peak above six thousand feet. They are covered by a wide mantle of perpetual snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters, through the woods, into the narrow channel below. In many parts, magnificent glaciers extend from the mountain side to the water’s edge. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of the snow. The fragments which had fallen from the glacier into the water, were floating away, and the channel with the icebergs presented, for the space of a mile, a miniature likeness of the Polar Sea.

Even today, fairly few visitors see Tierra del Fuego’s splendid fjords, barely changed since Darwin described them in 1833. Many who do venture out do so onboard the week-long excursion from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia and back on the Chilean vessel M/V Mare Australis. Unlike the Navimag ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, this is a cruise in the traditional sense—the passengers are waited on hand and foot, and it’s not cheap. Yet for the foreseeable future, it remains the only way to see the area short of sailing or hiring your own private yacht, and for that reason it’s worth consideration even for those with limited finances.

Routes can vary depending on weather conditions in this notoriously changeable climate. After an evening departure from Punta Arenas’s Muelle Prat, the Mare Australis crosses the Strait of Magellan to enter the Seno del Almirantazgo (Admiralty Sound), a westward maritime extension of the freshwater Lago Fagnano trough. Passengers usually go ashore at the sound’s lesser inlet Bahía Parry, on the north side of the Cordillera Darwin; here, hikers can approach the groaning Ventisquero Parry (Parry Glacier), named by Philip Parker King, captain of HMS Adventure and hydrographer on the Beagle expedition, in honor of Sir William Edward Parry (1790–1855), who made four unsuccessful attempts at the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. With its numerous icebergs and low salinity, Bahía Parry has little wildlife.

From Bahía Parry, the ship sails back west, pausing at a small elephant seal colony at Bahía Ainsworth, near the Ventisquero Marinelli, where there’s a short hiking trail through what was once forest until escaped beavers dammed the area into a series of ponds. Farther west, at Isla Tucker, there’s a small Magellanic-penguin colony and it’s also possible to see the rare striated caracara, Phalcoboenus australis.

After a night’s sailing, the ship enters the Fiordo D’Agostini, a glacial inlet named for the Italian priest and mountaineer who explored the farthest recesses of the Cordillera Darwin in the early 20th century. When high winds make it impossible to approach the Glaciar Serrano (named for Chilean naval Lieutenant Ramón Serrano Montaner, who charted the strait in 1879), an option is the more sheltered Glaciar D’Agostini. Even here, though, seracs fall off the face of the glacier, touching off a rapid surge of water and ice that runs parallel to a broad gravel beach and, when it subsides, leaves the beach littered with boulders of ice.

Darwin, again, described the dangers of travel in an area that sea kayakers are beginning to explore:

The boats being hauled on shore at our dinner hour, we were admiring from the distance of half a mile a perpendicular cliff of ice, and were wishing that some more fragments would fall. At last, down came a mass with a roaring noise, and immediately we saw the smooth outline of a wave traveling toward us. The men ran down as quickly as they could to the boats; for the chance of their being dashed to pieces was evident. One of the seamen just caught hold of the bows, as the curling breaker reached it: he was knocked over and over, but not hurt; and the boats, though thrice lifted on high and let fall again, received no damage . . . I had previously noted that some large fragments of rock on the beach had been lately displaced; but until seeing this wave, I did not understand the cause.

Prior to navigating Canal Cockburn, the ship anchors at Ventisquero Cóndor where condors glide low and cormorants nest on the bluffs. Briefly exposed to swells from the open ocean, the vessel turns into the calmer Canal Ocasión and eventually enters the Beagle Channel’s north arm, sailing past the so-called Avenida de los Glaciares, a series of glaciers named for various European countries.

Traditionally, the Mare Australis proceeds to Puerto Williams, where it spends a few hours before sailing for the Argentine port of Ushuaia, but a new Chilean port of entry at Puerto Navarino, directly south of Ushuaia, may expedite immigration formalities and the itineraries, as it will allow Chilean-flagged vessels to avoid doubling back to Puerto Williams, to reenter Chile after leaving Ushuaia.

After reentering Chile at Puerto Williams, the ship sails south to Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn) and then back north to Bahía Wulaia where passengers go ashore at the site of a one-time Yámana mission. Returning to the Beagle Channel, it turns westward through the north arm of the channel, again passing the Avenida de los Glaciares and entering Fiordo Pía (Pía Fjord), where dozens of waterfalls cascade down sheer metamorphic slopes from the Glaciar Pía. A bit farther west, it enters Fiordo Garibaldi, at least to the point where thick ice prohibits any further progress—even on a comfortable cruise ship, sailing through Tierra del Fuego has the feeling of passing through uncharted waters. After a short backtrack, the most vigorous passengers disembark for a short but strenuous and slippery hike through sopping Magellanic rain forest.

On the last full day, the boat passes through the Angostura Gabriel, a narrows only about 250 meters wide, before entering Bahía Brooke, where a nameless river of ice is slowly but inexorably transporting granite boulders down to the sea, and fresh snow avalanches off hanging glaciers. On the final morning, it sails north to Isla Magdalena (see the separate entry for Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos) before returning to its home port of Punta Arenas.

Well-organized without being regimented, the cruise is informal in terms of dress and behavior. As it begins, passengers sign up for meal tables; places are fixed for the duration except at the buffet breakfast, when people tend to straggle in at different times. In general, passengers are grouped according to language, though they often place together people who speak English as a second language. The staff themselves can handle Spanish, English, German, French, and occasionally other languages.

After a welcome drink accompanied by snacks in the bar, there’s an introduction of the captain, crew, and staff, a brief folkloric show, and an obligatory safety drill. Smoking is prohibited everywhere except on the topmost deck and outdoors; bar consumption is now included in the package.

The cabins themselves are simple but spacious, with either a double or two single beds, built-in reading lights, a writing desk, and a private bath with good hot showers (though it takes a while for the hot water to arrive if you’re the first shower of the morning). Each room has a closet with hangers and a small lock box for valuables. Note that cabins on the Mare Australis, which was built in 2002, have 110-volt outlets, with United States–style plugs. The food is ample and occasionally excellent, though breakfasts are a little monotonous; the wine is superb, and the service exceptional. Vegetarian menus are available on request.

For those who tire of the landscape or when the weather is bad, onboard activities include line-dancing(!), PowerPoint slide lectures on flora and fauna, engine-room tours, and demonstrations of culinary artistry with carved cucumbers, peppers, zucchinis, and other vegetables in the shapes of birds and flowers. The farewell dinner is a gala affair, followed by champagne on the topmost deck. As on the Puerto Edén ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, the crew hands out diplomas on the final night.

At several locations, there are optional shore-based activities as well. At Puerto Williams, supplementary excursions include a US$30 anthropological bus trip, led by the local museum director, and a US$180 Twin Otter overflight of Cabo de Hornos—South America’s most remote outlier—for a maximum of 20 passengers. Many passengers leave and others board at Ushuaia, the only major stopover on the trip, where the possibilities for full-day excursions are numerous, Many, though, opt for independent sightseeing.

Punta Arenas is Mare Australis’s home port; check-in takes place at the Casa del Turista (O’Higgins 1401), at the entrance to Muelle Prat, and boarding begins in late afternoon. Some passengers, especially those on the shorter three-or four-day options, begin or end the trip in Ushuaia.

Usually this very popular cruise runs full for the whole season from October to April, except for the last trip before Christmas, which is often only half full; in this case, it may be possible to negotiate a deal in Punta Arenas, getting a private cabin without paying a single supplement, for instance. In addition, at this time of year, days are so long that it’s possible to enjoy the landscape until after 11 p.m., and there’s sufficient light to read by 4 a.m.

Reservations are made through Cruceros Australis (Avenida Bosque Norte 0440, 11th floor, Las Condes, Santiago, tel. 02/4423110, fax 02/2035173, www.australis.com), which also has offices in Buenos Aires (Carlos Pellegrini 989, Retiro, tel. 011/4325-8400, fax 011/4325-6600) and in Miami (4014 Chase Ave. Suite 202, Miami Beach, FL 33140, 305/695-9618 or 877/678-3772, fax 305/534-9276). Per person rates on the Punta Arenas–Ushuaia leg start at US$785–1,393 in low season up to US$1,244–2,229 in high season. On the Ushuaia–Punta Arenas leg, the comparable rates are US$681–1,207 in low season to US$1,078–1,931 in high season.