FITZ ROY EXPEDITION Almirantazgo sound and Strait of Magellan tour with Patagonia Photo Safaris company for 7 days on the M/V FORREST 20-21 February

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Wednesday 20-28 February 2019 – Southern Patagonia



We joined the FITZ ROY EXPEDITION Almirantazgo sound and Strait of Magellan tour with Patagonia Photo Safaris company for 7 days on the M/V FORREST



This was a tour that I found on line which included several of the Patagonia fjords which would complement our land-based adventures we had from Punta Arenas before the Antarctic cruise.



As an introduction, in Punta Arenas, we went to dinner with our new group. Everywhere in Punta Arenas was not far, so we walked to the restaurant. We had a pork dish, pisco sour or a calafate sour and walked back to Plaza Hotel briskly as the wind was very nippy. Our new group consisted of 4 Aussies from Canberra, 2 Swiss, 1 French lady now living in Brazil, and 6 from Chile. Luis, our tour leader, spoke broken English, which I could understand. He was also the sociable one and made sure we had enough to drink (it was an all-inclusive cruise). The other guide was Francesco, a Chilean who spoke very good English and knew the most about the natural environment we were to travel through. There were plenty of reference books on board as well as charts to identified different animals.



Before we start our journey, just a few words about southern Patagonia:



Patagonia is a sparsely populated region at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains and the desert, pampas and grasslands to the east. Patagonia is one of the few regions with coasts on three oceans, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Southern Ocean to the south.



The name Patagonia comes from the word patagon, which was used by Magellan in 1520 to describe the native tribes of the region, whom his expedition thought to be giants. It is now believed that the people he called the Patagons were Tehuelches, who tended to be taller than Europeans of the time.



At a state level, Patagonia lies inside two countries: 10% in Chile and 90% in Argentina. The two Chilean regions indisputedly located entirely within Patagonia are Aysen and Magallanes. By some definitions Chiloé Archipelago, the rest of the Los Lagos Region, and part of the Los Ríos Region are also part of Patagonia.



As we witnessed, bird life is often abundant in this region. Signature marine fauna include the Humpback whales, the Magallenic penguins, the orca and elephanr seals. The Valdes Peninsula is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated for its global significance as a site for the conservation of marine mammals.



Human habitation of the region dates back thousands of years, with some early archaeological findings in the area dated to at least the 3th century BC, although later dates of around the 10^th century BC are more securely recognized. There is evidence of human activity at Monte Verde, Chile dated to around 12,500 BC. The glacial period ice-fields and subsequent large meltwater streams would have made settlement difficult at that time.



The region seems to have been inhabited continuously since 10,000 BC, by various cultures and alternating waves of migration, the details of which are as yet poorly understood. Several sites have been excavated, notably caves such as Milodon Cave which we visited.



The area's principal economic activities have been mining, whaling, livestock (notably sheep throughout) agriculture (wheat and fruit production near the Andes towards the north), and oil after its discovery near Comodavia Rivadavia in Argentina in 1907.



In the second half of the 20th century, tourism became an ever more important part of Patagonia's economy. Originally a remote backpacking destination, the region has attracted increasing numbers of upmarket visitors, cruise passengers rounding Cape Horn or visiting Antarctica, and adventure and activity holiday-makers. Principal tourist attractions include the fjords and Torres Del Pane and the Fitzroy regions, both of which we visited. Now for our 7-day adventure.



Day 1 - We were bussed 52 kms south of Punta Arenas to where the boat was moored. We were welcomed on board (after a 10m zodiac ride from the beach to the boat) with tea and coffee and yet another calaphante sour, nuts, ships and a sweet pie.



After the obligatory safety video, we navigated across the Magellan Strait, heading towards Brookes Sound. We hopped in the zodiac, motoring to the shore to make a steep, soggy hike up over a ridge to gaze and the multiple waterfalls that were being fed by the large glacier. The scenery was beautiful, and we could see right down the narrow Gabriel Canal. The canal cut its way through the high mountains, some of them snow-capped. Francesco displayed his extensive knowledge on all the ferns, lichen and moss.



We then continued down the De Agostini and Almirantazgo sounds and into the Francisco Coloane Marine Park.

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