Hurrah! Finally the real vacation starts!!
After crawling through pitch black coal mines, penguin quests through knee-deep mud pools, driving more than 2000km, fighting tons of sandflies, we at long last made it to Puerto Montt, where the Skorpios II cruise ship was awaiting us! Enjoying nature from our master cabin with 360° view, a chilled caipirinha at the side, while slowly cruising over calm waters to San Rafael glacier... That would be our blissful life for the next 5 days.
After crawling through pitch black coal mines, penguin quests through knee-deep mud pools, driving more than 2000km, fighting tons of sandflies, we at long last made it to Puerto Montt, where the Skorpios II cruise ship was awaiting us! Enjoying nature from our master cabin with 360° view, a chilled caipirinha at the side, while slowly cruising over calm waters to San Rafael glacier... That would be our blissful life for the next 5 days.
To stretch the muscles every now and then, the cruise stopped at some places in the Chonos archipelago (those tiny islands south of Chiloé). In the harbour of Puerto Aguirre, local children were already waiting at the dock, eager to show us their village, in exchange for goodies from the local shop. Puerto Aguirre also has a great lookout! Up there, we were treated to a wonderful view of the islands and fjords of this beautiful region. I discovered the panorama function on our camera just in time!
Forces of nature! We witnessed a rare natural spectacle during this cruise, an erupting volcano! Far away to be safe and close enough to take great pictures and to feel like in the midst of the action! We don’t know if news reached other parts of the world, but a few months after the Puyehue Volcano erupted, the Hudson Volcano also joined the party! It started smoking just 2 days before we boarded our cruise. Fortunately the cruise was not canceled for safety reasons etc. Only the route had to be slightly adjusted, which meant we could not visit Quitralco´s thermal springs, since they lay within the evacuation zone installed by the government. Well, tough luck, but judging from the brownish streaks of ash and mud in the bay, one wouldn´t want to be too close to the source anyway.
However, not stopping at Quitralco also was a logistic problem for Skorpios. Now we were running low on drinking water! So the crew had to improvise. After some bold maneuvering from the captain the ship stopped right infront of a Patagonian waterfall. It took the ship's engineers a lot of creativity and patience to set up a provisional pumping system, but at some point after midnight, it did work. Even the captain was taking pictures... A pretty cool sight!
However, not stopping at Quitralco also was a logistic problem for Skorpios. Now we were running low on drinking water! So the crew had to improvise. After some bold maneuvering from the captain the ship stopped right infront of a Patagonian waterfall. It took the ship's engineers a lot of creativity and patience to set up a provisional pumping system, but at some point after midnight, it did work. Even the captain was taking pictures... A pretty cool sight!
Day 3:
At the break of dawn our boat solemnly entered the San Rafael lagoon. Morning mist was still hiding the glacier, adding to a tense surreal atmosphere. Floating ice blocks were the first harbingers of what we were about to see... Everyone was on deck to witness this special moment. Even the captain's bridge was public! And then the fog lifted. What an amazing sight!! A 70m high wall of solid ice!
At the break of dawn our boat solemnly entered the San Rafael lagoon. Morning mist was still hiding the glacier, adding to a tense surreal atmosphere. Floating ice blocks were the first harbingers of what we were about to see... Everyone was on deck to witness this special moment. Even the captain's bridge was public! And then the fog lifted. What an amazing sight!! A 70m high wall of solid ice!
A double jacket steel raft took us very close to the fringe of the glacier, where we could see (and hear!) huge icebergs cracking off in a fulminating roar. First the ice would sink into the sea, but only to pop up again seconds later. Due to enclosed oxygen bubbles, fresh icebergs are spectacularly blue. But with changing light conditions they can also turn emerald green, solid white or clear translucent. Simply breathtaking. Also the shapes of the icebergs are extraordinary. Michelangelo, Donatello, step aside, nature is the best sculptor after all. Just take a look at the pictures and decide for yourself. Here in the lagoon, the bar tenders of the ship collected the ice for our entire cruise. Very cool! Did you ever drink a 12 year old whiskey with 12000 year old ice? Well, we did! All in all, this was a once in a lifetime experience on a great ship with an even better crew. We loved it!
As most glaciers worldwide, the San Rafael glacier is retreating fast. 100 years ago it filled up the whole lagoon. Now the ice barely touches the sea. If you still want to watch this amazing spectacle of nature, you better hurry :-)
