Friday, October 27, 2023 – Sunday, October 29, 2023

Penguins are such cute creatures. I was looking forward to seeing them in their natural habitat, but before we could see them we had to have a day of transition from Puerto Natales, Chile, to our small expedition cruise ship, the Ventus Australis, in Punta Arenas, Chile. We stopped at a ship museum on the way and explored a full size replica of the Victoria, the ship Ferdinand Magellan and his team used to circumvent the globe (the first to do so) in the early 1500’s.

The procedure to board the Ventus Australis was easy. Once aboard, we explored the comfortable ship and attended a “Welcome Aboard” party which also included safety instructions. There are 92 passengers on board and 64 crew. We soon discovered that the bar and snack area are open from 8 am to midnight and, best of all, it is free. Our meals are scrumptious and are accompanied with appropriate wines. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, my doctors have me off all alcoholic drinks. Those who know me, know I do not really drink liquor anyway. During the night, the ship docked in the beautiful Ainsworth Bay with mountains encircling us. We saw no one else in the bay.

Arising the next morning, October 28, we saw snow-covered mountains on each side of the Magellan Straits on which we cruised. It is as if we could reach out and touch them. Right after lunch, we arrived at the Tucker Islets. Here, we boarded zodiacs. We learned the “cha, cha, cha” boarding technique–one foot on the top boarding ladder, moving the other foot forward onto the wide rubber top of the zodiac while grasping an arm hold with the attendant, then moving the ladder foot down onto the zodiac’s wooden platform. Speeding in the zodiac to the Tucker Islets, I was getting sprayed with water since I was in the front. Soon, we began to see the prized Magellan Penguins on one of the islets (small island).

Right now only males are on the Islets preparing the nests for the mating season soon to begin. The females are still swimming and are located somewhere off the coast of Argentina. All the penguins winter (during our summer) near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As we zodiacked from islet to islet, we saw more and more penguins. The islets are a preserved area, so we could not set foot on them; the penguins were only a few feet away. They are not afraid of humans. The Tucker Islets are a bird preserve and we saw colonies of both Imperial Cormorants (they look like penguins but can fly) and Magellan Cormorants who nest in the cliff sides.

We learned two non-native invasive species were threatening Patagonia, especially the birds. Beaver and mink are destroying the ecosystem. At the present time, no control method has been found. The evening had a very informative presentation on glaciers.

The next day was dedicated to visiting and viewing glaciers. Patagonia has the greatest contraction of ice after Antarctica and the Arctic. While spring here, it has been snowing on and off. Beautiful. Kathy stayed in while I braved the elements to stand close up to the Glacier Pia.

It was cold and snowing and the Beagle Channel in which we cruised was filled with ice. The zodiac popped up and down with the waves as the driver tried to miss large chunks of floating ice. Pia Glacier is noted for the constant rumbling and thunderous sounds it makes as the ice moves to the Channel. It is one of the world’s fastest moving glaciers. It also calves often and I was fortunate to see that happen twice. The first calving caused a large wave. As we turned to walk back to the zodiac, it began to sleet. Driven by the wind, it stung as it hit the face. Once back on the ship, I was thankful I had braved the elements and happy to take a hot shower.

I didn’t have long because we were soon cruising through the famed Glacier Alley where six glaciers move down the mountains into the Beagle Channel. So large, most are named after countries–Germany, France, Italy, and Holland. The Channel is narrow and snow-capped mountains reach skyward; however, all the glaciers are on the same side. As Kathy and I sat in a lounge at the rear of the ship, a waiter brought us snacks and drinks. After a while, I realized the snacks and drinks matched the glaciers outside–beer and pretzels for Germany, champagne and cheese for France, pizza and wine for Italy, etc. Snow was falling outside. I picked this lounge because right outside was an observation deck where I could easily take photographs. The cruise was magical, the glaciers as impressive as beautiful.