Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Beagle Channel

Posted by Hippobean at 11:49 PM
It's 10PM and we're still docked at Ushuaia. Due to gusty winds Beaufort Force 9 pinning the ship onto the berth, we could not leave the dock and sail. At this late hour we'd not reach Punta Arenas on time and so the captain decided to skip that port. Instead we cruised slowly through the Beagle Channel and had scenic views of its famous glaciers. The parade of glaciers started with the Italia, then the Francia, the Alemania, and in the afternoon the Romanche which receded quite a bit and the lower portions turned into waterfalls. After passing by the Espana glacier, the Star Princess moved into the Cockburn Channel en route for the Magellan Straits. The following morning, the 26th, we entered the Magellan Strait, the southern Patagonia region, and caught the biggest glacier yet, the Amalia. We stopped in front of the massive glacier for an entire hour where the handsome Captain Edward Perrin swung the vessel bow to port to give a view of the glacier on both sides. All the time I was admiring Amalia, without knowing it is actually in the Bernard O'Higgins National Park, where years ago I had such a terrible experience. After our feast of Amalia, we slowly crossed the Amalia Sound into the Pacific passing through the Pitt Channel, Andres Channel and through a segment of the Conception Channel as the vessel exited to the Gulf of Trinidad. In the early morning we entered the sheltered waters of the Gulf of Corcovado and turned north through the Gulf of Ancud, en route to the Chilean Lake district, and the scenery was very spectacular, much resembled the Lofoten on the Norwegian coast. I didnt much care for Punta Arenas. Been there and had bad memories of my first trip to Patagonia. But we missed the tour to see the Magellanic penguins. Good thing I at least got to see the Kings which are much more impressive than the little just b&w penguins. Besides I had this enormous Antarctic cold and was very sick. I really looked forward to another port though, to get on land again as I'm getting really tired of the rock and rolling of the ship. But tomorrow is another day at sea.

Video of Beagle Channel [6.7M]


Video of Amalia Glacier [2.2M]


The Beagle Channel


Amalia Glacier


Pengi with Amalia Glacier

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