Cruise in the Patagonian Channels
Where to begin to describe the pleasure this trip gave me? Well, we embarked the evening before setting sail. I made friends with a lovely Brazilian guy called Illimani (after a mountain named by an indigenous tribe where his mother was born).
Day 1
Despite the short bed and the noisy night of cargo loading, I set the alarm for the next morning at 6.00 in the hope of seeing us leave the port with a stunning sunrise, but unfortunately there was low cloud and rain, but I stayed up on deck until breakfast and then for most of the day, braving the rain and wind. There I scanned the waters for dolphins! Unfortunately I missed their only appearance while having lunch. ):
While drinking my mate and chatting to my great new friend Illimani on the deck we had the great pleasure of meeting a lovely Chilean couple, Ivonne and Esteban, their son Esteban and another Chilean, Ramon (furniture designer and restorer). We discussed Chilean, Latin American and European politics and history, whilst admiring the fjords, a glaciar and the wildlife (seals, albatrosses, etc). Since this was my first real experience of hearing Chilean Spanish I did struggle to understand them, but this didn`t stop us from becoming very fond of each other`s company and we pretty much spent the whole cruise up on top deck chatting, drinking mate, etc. Esteban and I bonded and we spent many hours chatting.
Day 2
At 3pm came the anxiously-awaited choppy Pacific Ocean stretch (my first encounter with the Pacific!!) which would last 15 hours. We were told there could be 8m high waves and were recommended to take the sea sickness tablets, but of course I`m now a fearless backpacker and wanted to see whether I take after my mother (prone to sea sickness) or my father (with his firm sea legs!). So what happened next.......
Thankfully there were no 8m high waves, but still Ramon and I were the only 2 people on the top deck all afternoon without any signs of sea sickness! We chatted away for hours. Little did I know that when I went in for dinner, no longer having the ocean in view and suffering the foul smell of a pretty awful spaghetti bolognese, my stomach turned and I had to take a tablet immediately. The drowsiness caused by the tablet made me almost fall asleep in my spaghetti! I had an early night and slept right through to breakfast!
Day 3
By far the best day weatherwise. Pure blue skies all day! At 7am we had arrived a our one stop off point: Puerto Eden, home to the last Kaweskar indians (didn`t see any - they must have been hiding from us!), a small village of circa 100 people on Wellington Island. It was fascinating to walk around and see how the people live, construct and repair their houses, fish, etc. I was fortunate to have Esteban as a guide, who had been there before.
We returned to the boat for breakfast and I spent the afternoon whale watching while enjoying the company of my Chilean and Brazilian friends, the sunshine and watching the Andes pass by. I also got to know the other passengers (mainly Europeans), including a 65 year old German that had cycled from Alaska to Ushuaia!! That evening was the farewell party. It started off with bingo, where I embarrassingly found myself elected as a candidate for a dance off. The music was cumbia, similar to merengue, which basically involves moving your hips a lot. With half of the passengers as friends and therefore supporters I won their vote and became the proud owner of a set of nautical knots in a A3 size frame! Ha ha! I could see that fitting into my backpack snuggly!?! Well, I managed trade my knots for a bottle for very good Chilean wine, which I shared with my Chilean friends. (Thanks again Esteban! I`m still not convinced that you actually wanted the knots! (;
The next morning (after 1hr of sleep and almost sleeping through breakfast), we disembarked and said our goodbyes, very heavy-hearted. I promised to go and visit Esteban and his family in Santiago, and plan to do so in about 10 days.
Illimani and I continued on together in Puerto Montt and on to Bariloche. As much as I love being on boats, dolphin watching, etc., I think the fantastic Chilean and Brazilian company made this a very memorable experience that will never leave my thoughts. Just writing this fills me with nostagia. I´m sure you`ve noticed my enthusiasm…….. this is one of the longests posts yet!!
Here are the pics, also of Puerto Montt (the port of arrival).
And here is a link to the route that the boat took.
KM TRAVELED AS A BACKPACKER SINCE USHUAIA: 3,006KM
Day 1
Despite the short bed and the noisy night of cargo loading, I set the alarm for the next morning at 6.00 in the hope of seeing us leave the port with a stunning sunrise, but unfortunately there was low cloud and rain, but I stayed up on deck until breakfast and then for most of the day, braving the rain and wind. There I scanned the waters for dolphins! Unfortunately I missed their only appearance while having lunch. ):
While drinking my mate and chatting to my great new friend Illimani on the deck we had the great pleasure of meeting a lovely Chilean couple, Ivonne and Esteban, their son Esteban and another Chilean, Ramon (furniture designer and restorer). We discussed Chilean, Latin American and European politics and history, whilst admiring the fjords, a glaciar and the wildlife (seals, albatrosses, etc). Since this was my first real experience of hearing Chilean Spanish I did struggle to understand them, but this didn`t stop us from becoming very fond of each other`s company and we pretty much spent the whole cruise up on top deck chatting, drinking mate, etc. Esteban and I bonded and we spent many hours chatting.
Day 2
At 3pm came the anxiously-awaited choppy Pacific Ocean stretch (my first encounter with the Pacific!!) which would last 15 hours. We were told there could be 8m high waves and were recommended to take the sea sickness tablets, but of course I`m now a fearless backpacker and wanted to see whether I take after my mother (prone to sea sickness) or my father (with his firm sea legs!). So what happened next.......
Thankfully there were no 8m high waves, but still Ramon and I were the only 2 people on the top deck all afternoon without any signs of sea sickness! We chatted away for hours. Little did I know that when I went in for dinner, no longer having the ocean in view and suffering the foul smell of a pretty awful spaghetti bolognese, my stomach turned and I had to take a tablet immediately. The drowsiness caused by the tablet made me almost fall asleep in my spaghetti! I had an early night and slept right through to breakfast!
Day 3
By far the best day weatherwise. Pure blue skies all day! At 7am we had arrived a our one stop off point: Puerto Eden, home to the last Kaweskar indians (didn`t see any - they must have been hiding from us!), a small village of circa 100 people on Wellington Island. It was fascinating to walk around and see how the people live, construct and repair their houses, fish, etc. I was fortunate to have Esteban as a guide, who had been there before.
We returned to the boat for breakfast and I spent the afternoon whale watching while enjoying the company of my Chilean and Brazilian friends, the sunshine and watching the Andes pass by. I also got to know the other passengers (mainly Europeans), including a 65 year old German that had cycled from Alaska to Ushuaia!! That evening was the farewell party. It started off with bingo, where I embarrassingly found myself elected as a candidate for a dance off. The music was cumbia, similar to merengue, which basically involves moving your hips a lot. With half of the passengers as friends and therefore supporters I won their vote and became the proud owner of a set of nautical knots in a A3 size frame! Ha ha! I could see that fitting into my backpack snuggly!?! Well, I managed trade my knots for a bottle for very good Chilean wine, which I shared with my Chilean friends. (Thanks again Esteban! I`m still not convinced that you actually wanted the knots! (;
The next morning (after 1hr of sleep and almost sleeping through breakfast), we disembarked and said our goodbyes, very heavy-hearted. I promised to go and visit Esteban and his family in Santiago, and plan to do so in about 10 days.
Illimani and I continued on together in Puerto Montt and on to Bariloche. As much as I love being on boats, dolphin watching, etc., I think the fantastic Chilean and Brazilian company made this a very memorable experience that will never leave my thoughts. Just writing this fills me with nostagia. I´m sure you`ve noticed my enthusiasm…….. this is one of the longests posts yet!!
Here are the pics, also of Puerto Montt (the port of arrival).
And here is a link to the route that the boat took.
KM TRAVELED AS A BACKPACKER SINCE USHUAIA: 3,006KM
posted by Louise Parmenter at 8:20 pm
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