Blogs from Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 2

Day 6&7, 26 & 27 February, Southern Patagonia FITZ ROY EXPEDITION, Carlos III Island - Aguila Bay: We began the dry, slightly overcast morning touring the Kaweskar National Park, on the island of Santa Ines, which has a beautiful fjord called Helado Sound. Whilst in the zodiacs, in its background we appreciated the imposing Sarmiento and Helado Glaciers We went on shore at the foot of the Helado Glacier to get some close-up photos and so that the photographers could use their tripods to catch the depth of the ice caves we were gazing upon. It was beautiful. Having the time to and look at all the shapes and patterns in the glacier was beautiful and very special. For morning tea on the shore, we were offered whisky or chocolate milk, another wonderful touch. On the ... read more

Day 4, 24 February, Southern Patagonia FITZ ROY EXPEDITION, Gabriel Channel - Caleta Dighton: Early in the morning we went out in the zodiacs to visit the Tucker Islands, the place of Magellanic Penguins, Skuas, Cormorants on the rocks and Imperial Cormorants, non flying Quetru ducks (Magellanic flightless steamer duck) and Kelp geese, among other birds, in addition we will observe One Hair Sea lions that use their rocks to rest. The Quetru ducks were difficult to photograph because they were so quick, zipping along the water. There were 2 small islands that acted as resting places for the sealions. They were very inquisitive of us and jumped off the rocks to see what we were. There were a number of pregnant sealions as well. It was good to observe the Magellanic Penguins because we had ... read more

Day 2, 22 February Jackson Bay - Parry Bay: In the morning we divided into 2 groups to visit the Black Eyebrow Albatross colony on a small islet and an Elephant Seal colony in Jackson Bay (alternating groups to enjoy both places). Our group visited 2 beaches to view the Elephant seals hoping we would see more mature seals compared to in the Antarctica when we only saw juvenile Elephant seals as the mature ones were out in the ocean feeding for 6-8 weeks before they come to shore to mate. The juvenile ones were going through their ‘catastrophic moulting’ stage. On the first beach we only saw a few Elephant seals but on the second beach the other side of the fjord, there 29 seals lined up along the beach. The oldest one was probably ... read more

Punta Arenas, Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica and Southern Patagonia 28 January to 2 March 2019 Tuesday 28 January to 2 February 2019 In an excited state at 5.00am we caught an Uber to the airport to catch the 8.15am Qantas/LAN flight to Punta Arenas via Auckland and Santiago. There is no quick and easy way to get to the southern tip of Chile. We had 3 hours wait in Auckland and 1 ½ hours in Santiago. After lots of movies and a few hours sleep, we arrived safely at the Punta Arena Airport at around 7.00pm. This is 29kms out of town, so we caught a taxi and arrived at the Plaza Hotel which was just next to the Plaza de Armas. Dropping our bags and after a quick shower, we walked towards the coast (3 ... read more

Die ochtend krijgen we nog ontbijt van de zeer aardige oude dame die bij de Inn woont. We hebben heel wat gesprekken met haar gevoerd, zij in het Spaans en wij in van alles wat terug. We rijden vanuit El Calafate richting het zuiden, het is eerst nog druilerig, maar al snel komt de zon door als we een hoogvlakte op rijden. Dit stuk van Ruta 40 is goed onderhouden, dus we kunnen aardig vaart maken. We willen nog een stukje onverhard afsnijden (70km), maar de weg is te nat van alle regen en de modder vliegt ons letterlijk om de oren. We rijden dus toch maar via de hoofdweg naar de grens met Chili toe. Onderweg komen we nog een paar lagune’s met roze flamingo’s tegen. Verder heel veel guanaco’s en een paar estancia’s en ... read more