ferry

I awake early with anticipation of the day to come, part the curtain and peer out of the porthole just as the sun is rising over the jagged peaks of the sourthern Andes. The view is stunning. We boarded the Navimag ferry yesterday evening, and we are headed south through the channels and islands of southern Chile to Puerto Natales. One review I read of this trip compared it to the Inside Passage in Alaska. I have not seen the Inside Passage, but it must be spectacular. The islands to the west are covered in verdant green temperate rain forest, and to our east rocky horns poke out of glacier capped peaks. Our time in Santiago and Pucon was well spent in preparation, but now the trip really begins and I feel a sense of adventure.

Often Mandy and I are asked about our plans, and the conversation usually goes something like this:

So where are you headed? Patagonia.

What will you do there? We plan to do some bicycling and visit the national parks.

Bicycling, huh? Have you been to Patagonia before? Nope.

It's a bit windy there- how far do you plan to ride? Oh, about 2,000km from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt.

Oh. That's nice... Why? It sounded like fun.

Oh. Well, good luck!

Eveidently most people can't relate to our plans- I wonder why?!

Early in the morning our exit from Channel Darwin is signaled by the heaving of the ferry in the swells of the open ocean. I lie in my bunk hoping that I won't get sick; hoping that no one else gets sick; hoping that it doesn't get any worse. I look out the window and see waves breaking in the dim moonlight, but it does not seem to be bad, and after a while the swells are not worse, I'm feeling fine, and no one else is sick, and I fall asleep again in the rocking bunk. We awoke in the Golfo de Penas and spent most of the morning crossing the gulf, entering the calm waters of Canal Mester around noon. One can get a good sense of the weather by looking at the flora; the windward side of the islets we are passing are covered with only shrubs and rocks, while the leeward side is lush temperate rain forest. The canal is narrow, with steep wooded hillsides cut by ocasional waterfalls. After a while we come to the wreak of the Cotopaxi??, stuck on sholes in the middle of the channel, and just before reaching 49º south we weave our way through the English Narrows. The English Narrows is are not very wide, and ship passage is one way, restricted to ships less than 180m long. Our ferry is 21m wide and 120m? long. It's a tight squeeze.

Waterfall, Forest, the wreak of the Cotopaxi, passing the English Narrows.

Later that evening the sunset was once again beutiful.

52º South

Click. The shutter of Mandy's camera awakens me, and I part the curtain to see a stunning spine of ice and rock jutting above the weather beaten hills in the foreground. The sceanary just keeps getting better; but now I have quite the quandry- take a shower or take photos? Eat breakfast or take photos? I am constantly keeping an eye out for the next incredible vista. As I gaze at the mountains, Mandy spots the spout of a whale in front of us. A few minutes later we see the spout again, and the hump of the whales back. Then the whale is gone. I can't believe our luck with the weather. Other than clouds and rain yesterday afternoon it has been clear and calm, and although I haven't been to Patagonia before I am sure this is a rare treat.




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