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Chile's Northern Patagonia
Floating through ice to get a closer look
at the San Rafael Glacier
First Impressions
Patagonia, the vast territory at the tip of South America, is a perfect destination for those seeking a unique travel experience and cruising its waters is the best way to explore this remote area. Roughly defined as the area south of the high Andes spanning Chile and Argentina, or the cold part of South America, the region was discovered in 1520 by Ferdinand Magellan. The name comes from the Spanish word patagones or "big feet" because the Indians were tall and wore large boots stuffed with grass.
Chile's largely unspoiled Patagonian region offers several cruising possibilities. Ferry service between cities connected only by water is one way to explore Patagonia. Cruising on ships built for plying these icy waters offers another -- deluxe accommodations and excellent service. Several companies offer luxury cruises on ships carrying between 70 and 160 passengers. Departure cities are Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabuco in northern Patagonia and in the south, Punta Arenas.
Puerto Montt is a good location for travelers to begin an exploration of this unique territory.
I sailed from Puerto Montt on a Saturday in November, late spring in South America, on the Skorpios II, a classic vessel constructed of 60-70% native Coigue wood in Skorpios' own shipyard. Accommodating 160 passengers in 55 cabins, the Skorpios II's friendly and efficient staff offered a warm greeting. Our cabin had a double bed and bunk beds. The beds all had soft woolen blankets and good reading lights making the bunk a nice place to curl up and read without disturbing someone sleeping in the double bed on the other side of the partition.
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San Rafael Bar
The ship's lounges were at either end of our deck. The Quitralco Bar, the smoking bar (sorry, no cigars), boasted a large screen TV where video movies were shown during long afternoon sails. The San Rafael Bar catered to non-smokers and was pleasant place to gather and chat. Both had decks of cards, domino sets and other games. The well-stocked bars were manned by able bartenders and at cocktail time rows of brightly colored exotic drinks, including the ever-present pisco sour, were lined up waiting to be taken. If one of the prepared drinks didn't strike your fancy, the bartender poured drinks to order.
Lunch was served shortly after we sailed and we fell into the shipboard custom of eating too much, resting, and then eating some more. Click here to learn more about dining on Skorpios
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Caguache and Puerto Aguirre
Each Aug. 30 Caguache hosts
a festival honoring their statue of Christ
Our journey to Chile's San Rafael glacier first took us south of Puerto Montt through the Chiloé Archipelago, where we navigated sheltered channels between forested islands. To adjust the timing of our first crossing of the Gulf of Corcovado, the only area of open-Pacific we crossed, we made an unscheduled stop at the small settlement of Caguache to stretch our legs and visit the village church, home of a statue of Jesus Christ which was brought from Italy about 250 years ago. Our Saturday afternoon visit found many of the village's 300 residents watching a soccer game in the churchyard. This quiet town comes alive every August 30 when roughly 4,000 people from neighboring islands arrive by boat to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of the famed statue.
That night we crossed the Gulf of Corcovado and, after an elegant dinner, plenty of Chilean wine and a little brandy, nobody noticed the slightly choppy sea.
Puerto Aguirre
The next morning we docked at Puerto Aguirre, the largest of three settlements on Huichas Island in the Moraleda Channel. This town, with a population of about 1,500, presents a look at life in a typical Patagonian island village. Fishing and farming - mainly potatoes - are the way of life. It was Sunday and, other than the children who met our ship and offered passengers tours of the village, few people were about. It was chilly and the smell of wood-smoke was in the air. We wandered around the village and noticed outcroppings of rock sporting etchings left by the retreat of the glaciers and observed a way of life very different from our own. We saw gardens in small yards surrounding hillside homes and every available container was in use as a planter for vegetables, flowers and herbs. Small boats lined the rocky beach. Around mid-day a few of the village's shops, which mainly sell produce and a few dry goods,began to open.
That afternoon and evening were spent sailing toward the San Rafael Glacier. There were video movies in the San Rafael bar. Between lunch, teatime, cocktails and dinner there was plenty of time to read, visit, nap or watch the shore for sea lions, a group of which we saw frolicking in the late afternoon. Gazing out the window of our cabin we often spotted dolphins swimming alongside the ship. Guests are always welcome on the bridge where high-tech computer systems track the course and monitors display radar scans and global positioning. One passenger on our cruise found his hand-held GPS device accurately matched the ships equipment.
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San Rafael Glacier
Monday we woke anchored about 20 miles from the San Rafael glacier and, after breakfast, set sail for the massive glacial wall. San Rafael is a valley glacier, a stream of flowing ice spilling from high ice fields to the sea. About a mile from the mouth of the glacier we dropped anchor, donned life jackets and boarded smaller boats to cruise among the icebergs and get a closer look at the glacier wall. As the clouds cleared and the sun emerged, we viewed the multicolored icebergs under a variety of light conditions. From light blue to iridescent teal to a light lime green, the icebergs marched by as the current moved them away from the base of the glacier. Some bergs could be measured in inches, others loomed 15 to 20 feet into the air.
Blue-toned iceberg
Our boat stopped near an iceberg about 500 feet from the wall of the glacier and crewmembers chipped chunks of the 30,000 year old ice from it. Souvenir glasses containing the ice were passed out and 12-year-old whiskey (or orange juice) was poured. We sat for a time quietly sipping our drinks and watching the calving glacier wall. The trip back to the ship was spent quietly pondering the many colors, shapes and sizes of the icebergs we passed. After lunch, back on board, the captain took the ship much closer to the glacier and we lined up on deck for a souvenir photo with the San Rafael as the icy backdrop. That afternoon we headed back north.
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Quitralco Thermal Pools
Turkish baths, outdoor pools and incredible scenery
At almost midnight Monday, after another stretch of eating, napping reading and eating some more, we arrived at Skorpios' dock on the Quitralco fjord. Quitralco means"waters of fire" in the native dialect and the scalding thermal springs are what prompted Skorpios owner, Constantino Kochifas, to purchase 800 acres on the banks of this remote fjord in 1982. His first enterprise there was a canning factory to process local mussels and clams but difficulty recruiting employees caused him to abandon that project. In 1985 he began building the swimming pools and dining hall that make this a unique and relaxing stop on the cruise. That night we explored the two indoor pools. Rows of outlets on the bottom of the pools deliver water from the thermal spring. Water temperature is adjusted to average between 98 and 102°. Watch your step - the water coming out is hot enough to burn your foot. That night eight men, representing eight countries, enjoyed an impromptu game of water polo.
The next morning, after a quick dip in the indoor pools and breakfast, we boarded small boats for a trip around the fjord to see up close the landscape we had been sailing through the past few days. We sailed past a salmon farming operation and watched, as live fish were loaded onto a boat, destined for a short trip to a processing facility.
Barbeque lunch
Lunch was barbeque in the dining hall on shore, a room large enough to accommodate passengers from the three Skorpios ships, which are often all anchored in Quatralco on Tuesdays. We dined on delicious empanadas, salad, huge juicy steaks, chicken, potatoes and desert. After lunch a climb to the lookout, about a third of a mile hike, provided welcome exercise and spectacular views. A dip in one of several outdoor thermal pools overlooking the fjord finished off our stay in Quitralco.
Isla Grande de Chiloé
Children return to school with
ice cream after lunch break
That night we headed north again, re-crossing Gulf of Corcovado and, at about mid-day on Wednesday, anchored in the harbor of Quellón, a small town at the tip of the big island of Chiloé, a densely forested island connected to the Chilean mainland by scheduled ferry service. The Panamerican Highway, after a ferry crossing west of Puerto Montt, runs the length of the island and terminates at Quellón. As we walked from the pier into town we visited the handicrafts market where women were knitting wool sweaters and caps that the region is noted for. Further on, in the town's Cultural Center, we stumbled upon a school performance and were warmly welcomed to stay and watch. We strolled through the quiet streets, saw the village church across from the plaza and watched children returning to school after their mid-day lunch break.
I had hoped to check my e-mail at Quellón but when I asked about Internet access I was greeted with blank stares. We had boarded the ship on Friday evening, the night before we sailed, and except for a brief period in Quitralco when the ship was hooked up to a satellite TV connection and we received a little news, we had been completely out of touch. I was anxious for a word from my teenagers in the states. It would have to wait.
Castro overlook
That afternoon we set sail for Castro, capital city of the province of Chiloé. We arrived in the early evening and hired a cab (about $10 an hour) to take us on a tour. We first went to the Plaza de Armas, the town square, where we visited the Iglesia de San Francisco de Castro, the town's church. Our driver waited while we viewed the beautifully polished, wood-paneled interior and then he
drove us to several overlooks for late evening views of the town and its famed palafitos, houses built on stilts along the shore. He also waited while we checked our e-mail at one of several places offering Internet access.
The next morning we had plenty of time to wander through Castro. We found the Museo Regional de Castro, with its collection of relics of the indigenous people and ancient farm implements, all very interesting, and enjoyed the local handicrafts market, which was just down the way from the pier where our ship was docked. Soon it was time to weigh anchor and head back to Puerto Montt.
This cruise was a perfect introduction to Chile's Northern Patagonia - now I can't wait to explore the Straits of Magellan in the south…
-- Jane Townsend
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