{"id":1503,"date":"2019-02-24T13:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T05:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bombaynomads.com\/cms\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2020-04-01T18:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T13:28:13","slug":"patagonia-glacier-cruise-in-chilean-fjords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bombaynomads.com\/cms\/2019\/02\/patagonia-glacier-cruise-in-chilean-fjords.html","title":{"rendered":"Patagonia: Glacier Cruise in Chilean Fjords"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Patagonia is many things for many people. For most, it is probably the stunning landscapes of Torres del Paine National Park<\/a>. Or it would be the glistening Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciares National Park<\/a>. Or it could be the azure lakes around Bariloche, or the \u2018End of the world\u2019 experience of Ushuaia<\/a>. But a lucky few get to sail through the stunning fjords in South Chile and view the remote and pristine glaciers of the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields. The world\u2019s second largest extrapolar icefield is the source of all of the well-known glaciers in Patagonia \u2013 Perito Moreno, Upsala, Spegazzini, Grey etc. \u2013 as well as countless unnamed ones in the craggy coastline of South Chile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruceiros\nSkorpios is the only cruise line operating in the fjords of Southern Chile \u2013\nand water is the only way to reach this remote region. There are no human\nsettlements, just miles of fjords and immense glaciers. Skorpios operates its\nships on two routes in the region \u2013 Kaweskar and Chonos (names of indigenous\npeople in the region). The ship Skorpios III is a small ice-strengthened ship (only\n45 cabins), with an old-world charm, and run as a family-owned business. As it\nturns out, almost the entire staff aboard our ship was related to the family \u2013\nsiblings, cousins etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We booked the 3N cruise on Kaweskar route. We were in the deluxe cabins, one deck below the VIP cabins on the top deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruise Day 1 <\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Skorpios operates from a dock in Puerto Bories, 3 km outside Puerto Natales. The boarding was at 15:00 and was super quick and breezy. The smiling crew members welcomed us and checked us into our cabin on the upper deck. It was a very nice room, with a large windows on one side and a surprisingly large attached bathroom. The bathroom was bigger than the one in our Hong Kong apartment!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our cabin onboard the Skorpios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\ndeparture from Puerto Natales was delayed by an hour because of extremely\nstrong winds \u2013 the captain said they were in excess of 80 kmph. But we were\nkept in good spirits at high tea, with loads of cakes, sandwiches, cheese and\ncold cuts. As luck would have it, our cruise was under-booked, so there were\nonly 25 passengers on board, while the ship\u2019s capacity is about 100. Which was\ngreat, as everyone knew one another by end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nwe were the only foreigners on board \u2013 all the other passengers were Chilean.\nSo we got to practice our non-existent Spanish on our poor co-passengers. The\ntables in the dining room were pre-allotted. We were on table 1, the Captain\u2019s\ntable \u2013 the Captain would join us when he could. Apart from the Captain, we had\na young Chilean Navy helicopter pilot Nicholas and his girlfriend Isabella. We\nalso had the ship\u2019s physician and her mother. And the two guides on the ship –\nLuis and Fernando – would also join us for the meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nhad a quick introductory session, where Luis spelled out the safety\ninstructions in both Spanish and English. It was a pattern that would repeat in\nall the forthcoming days, where every communication was done in Spanish, and\ntranslated to English, just for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After high tea, we headed to the top deck to watch as we finally got underway, at 18:00. However, it was still windy and cold and soon everyone headed back downstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\nwas an introductory session on glaciers in one of the three lounges in the ship.\nFernando gave the presentation, while Luis was gave us a live translation via\nearpieces. They finished with details of the next day\u2019s schedule. We bumped\ninto a Chilean-American family (American dad\/Chilean mom and teenage daughter).\nThey were fluent in English, as they had previously lived in California and\nwere our companions for most of the cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dinner\nwas a lovely three course affair starting with a pie, roasted chicken and a\nbeautiful dessert. Every meal on the cruise followed a similar pattern, with us\nchatting with Nicholas & Isabella (they could speak pretty good English)\nand Luis & Fernando. Accompanying every meal were excellent Chilean wines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nstrong winds continued well into the night, but since we weren\u2019t in the open\nsea, the waves weren\u2019t significant and we both got zero sea sickness and a good\nnight\u2019s sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruise Day 2 <\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Next morning, we woke up to see the amazing expanse of Glaciar Amalia spread in front of us. Small pieces of ice, broken off from the glacier, were floating in the sea around us, giving the impression that the sea was completely covered in a carpet of ice! The sky was covered in clouds, but it couldn\u2019t dampen our enthusiasm. Imagine waking up to see a glacier from your bedroom window! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Glacier Amalia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the breakfast table, everyone was excited to get going. The breakfast spread was excellent, at par with 5-star hotels. There were all kinds of breads, cakes, cheese, fruits, meats (both cold as well as cooked) and eggs-to-order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While breakfast was underway, Fernando gave us last minute instructions on how to dress, how to sit in the boat etc. We wrapped ourselves in multiple layers, and headed to the top deck, where we were fitted into life jackets by the crew. A couple of small boats were unloaded from the ship, and it carried us to the small island in front of the massive glacier. It was drizzling a bit and we were being buffeted by spray from the boats, while the wind continued to blow. We were seeing the famous Patagonian weather finally, and unfortunately for us, it stayed with us throughout the cruise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nlanded on the side of the island which was free from ice and quickly covered\nthe 200m walk to the front of the island, which was a natural viewpoint of the\nglacier. A bout of frenzied clicking followed, as everyone tried to take their\nbest photos in this fabulous locale. But the best part of the visit was yet to\ncome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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