9. Chilean Fjords

Chilean Fjords

TRIPPING ON THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

On December 28th darkness came early to the  southern Chilean fjords. The M/V Marina departed Punta Arenas at 9 pm under a dramatic sky. Thick blankets of cloud were building overhead, scudding about in the high elevation wind. The weak evening sun became more and more obscured by the gloom above our heads.      

For two days we would be sailing through a weather front that had passengers covered up in warm clothes and rain parkas.

Heavy by the weight of the moisture they carried, the cumulus giants descended  onto the coastal mountaintops, making contact with the sharp peaks of the Andes.  Their billowy softness, punctured and shredded by the hard rock, and supercooled by snow and glaciers, the angry clouds blew a cold wind and rain upon us.

Rays of sun burst through holes in the ragged and torn mantle of storm clouds, and lo, they were  shafts of light for the down-rushing of the Holy Spirit.

For most of the two-day voyage through the fjords  we sailed in and out of channels of calm water, sometimes glassy, even surrealistic.

The water was mostly dark with changing textures and variable tints of green and blue, depending on the light, the fickle winds, and the icy glacial melt that splashed over cliffs and ran down through valleys in icy streams to the shoreline.

I suppose that all of my fellow passengers on this vessel have seen mountains, they are not strangers to myriad forms of geology, hydrology and many other ologies on the planet ... 

from cumulus down to strata cloud

... but have they seen some of these landforms, surely unique to the Chilean coastline? I have not.

The ever-changing light had me moving around like a bobble-head on the dashboard of a car stuck in first gear; the scenery was  floating  by - an interesting challenge for a photographer. With the passage of our ship, angles and light on the subject were constantly shifting.

zoom in for a close look at the windswept trees at the beach

Punta Arenas is at the bottom of map
 End of voyage at Santiago way off the top 

the M/V Caleta Angelmo, Chilean

coastal freighter was going our way

We have seen few other ships on our journey. Small boats service aquaculture up and down the coast.

In these fjords there is little sign of other humanoids, though we have passed quite a few fish farms and some dwellings way off in the distance. 

Along with copper mining and wine making, aquaculture is one of Chile's biggest  industries.  The country claims to be the second largest salmon producer in the world.  Norwegians exported fish farming expertise and technologies to the Chileans, and they have perfected it. I do not know if the fight about wild versus farmed salmon is as big here as it is back home.

Some of our voyage north had us out of the fjords, exposed on our port side to the cold blue depths of the endless Pacific Ocean. 

While we were by no means in a rough sea, some passengers suffered mal de mer.

an LNG tanker, I think

The water seen here is not rough. The images are deceiving from my  POV (point of view) on Deck 9, about 10 metres above the surface of the sea. Indeed, there were big rollers. I think the waves got up to maybe 20 feet from valley to crest.

A cruise ship like the Marina with its stabilizers, and with the Captain's sensitivity to the comfort of his passengers, is not really going to suffer from a little sea. What I call little may be what others call big,  but the Commander slowed the ship down when people started falling. 

There were times when we were completely sober, but walking like drunks; seasick bags had suddenly appeared at various places around the ship; rumour had it that the roll of the ship had tossed a woman out of her bed; some old folks were picked up off the floor; dinner reservations were no longer required for some of the specialty restaurants. (Of course, none of this was a problem for No Ordinary Seaman).



New Year's Eve - our last day in the fjords and the weather did not disappoint.  The wind had been howling, the heavens opened up and unloaded a barrage of rain. I was often out in it (??).

I am all bundled up for warmth, bone dry under my rain parka, jeans wet and glued to my legs, feet sloshing in the shoes; camera (OMD E-M5) sealed for rain showers, just like advertised, and tested well at Evita Peron's burial place: see blog posting #3 Buenos Aires.

Only a few days ago it was so hot on the decks that one was hard-pressed to find a lounge on which to recline in the baking sun. I believe I forgot to mention elsewhere that most of our fellow passengers were threescore  years of age and then some. Why were they roasting themselves to be more wrinkly than they already were?

Me, I like the hot sun, but at sea in the elements with my camera, I was having a BE HERE NOW experience (Ram Dass - 1967). Just soaking it up.

Then the rain stopped. 

The sun burst through from somewhere.

And look what happened!

What a way to end a very good year.

And then there was the New Years party onboard. Dined well with friends at our favourite French restaurant, champagne, drinks, new audience for old jokes ... 

Laughter, love and dancing shoes. Many gays came out of the closet for the ball that night to liven things up. Did I dance with a guy? Who knows. When Jo needed a break I just kept dancing.

Canada legalized marijuana last year. I have been getting a sore back from so much computer time working on this blog, so I thought I would try some medicaments to relax my muscles, to relieve some pain. Seems to be working fine. I wonder if it is affecting my writing?

I have already posted this sunset
but it's too good not to use again

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: No Ordinary Seaman On the Bridge

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing 

8. Puerto Arenas, Chile

Puerto Arenas

Punta Arenas is advertised in the sign below as the Gateway to Antarctica. I guess it is that, though unlike the town of Ushuaia, this really is a city, as the photos below will show. The differences between Chile and Argentina, where we were yesterday, are not immediately apparent to a first time visitor or the average tourist.

Overlooking the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas is the southernmost city on earth (Oceania Cruises "Currents")

The language is still Spanish, the locals look the same, the currency is still pesos, but this is the Pacific Coast not the Atlantic. As we move north we get a flavour of Chile. We like what we see.

for the southernmost city
in the world this is still planet Earth

Our ship arrived in a rain shower, a cool 12C. We walked around to explore the city, hence the photos of the urban landscape

wonderful old buildings that are well-maintained, the city feels vibrant - busy and alive

Speaking of currency, one thing that did jump out at us was the exchange rate. One US dollar gave us about 38 pesos in Argentina, but in Chile we got 665 pesos. Centavos? forgedaboudit ...

I call this photograph
One Man. Guess why? Hah!

As a traveller, one is always doing mental math on the fly: you want to buy something and the cost is important to you, especially if there is a third currency in your head, e.g., the Canadian dollar. For an ADD-innumerate kind of guy this is a tricky business, but my partner is sharper with numbers, so that's good. 

Um, it's also confusing that these pesos use the $ sign. To travel is to learn so many trivial little things like a dollar does not always mean a dollar.

this was
 in Argentina

Plate + drink + dessert for  $280!

(at today's exch. rate, that's just over $7.26 US or $9.63 CDN - a smoking' deal anywhere!!)

Jo assumes statue pose
when she sees the fuzz

Policemen/Carabineros  on the beat, just like any other city.

This is the statue of Ferdinand the Magellan, Portuguese explorer who many of us learned about in school.

The woman in the colourful parka is rubbing the brass toes. Why?

lots of people been rubbing these toes
(picture is out of focus 'cause the foot moved)

Legend has it that if you rub the toes, you will return to the city. Or is it, he will return to the city? Who will come back? Magellan? I don't think so. He was not Jesus, after all.
Then again, a legend is a legend.

Hmm ... This baffles me. Maybe Jo will come back here. Without me.

top arrow not pointing to
Cristobal and Colon, Panama

Just down the street was the intersection of  Magallenes and  Avenue Cristobal Colon. Translation: the M word is Spanish for the explorer's last name, which appears everywhere around these parts; Cristóbal Colón is Spanish for Christopher Columbus. 

Here is a trivia gem: readers who have done the Panama Canal may remember (but probably don't) the two small cities at the  southeastern point of Limon Bay. On your starboard side (for landlubbers that is on your right as you face the pointy part of the ship - the bow), as your ship enters the Atlantic Ocean, are the cities of Cristóbal and Colón. I don't think cruise ships stop there much. I hope not.

quite a juicy story in Ch 15,
and Chs 7, 8, 29, 30, 33 ...

If you have not yet read the amazing memoir, No Ordinary Seaman, you are very likely to remain  uninformed about such important historic and geographic information as described above. More detail about the subject can be found in Chapter  15: CLUB 61 IN CRISTOBAL

weaving around street lamp?

And I thought we were really far from home. For non-Canadian readers, this is one of our banks. A wee surprise. 

This poster promotes a local New Years Eve bash that would probably have been a spectacular way to blow out the old year and bring in the new. Only $12,000 for a couple.

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: Chilean Fjords

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing 

7. Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia

Ushuaia is sometimes called "The End of the World".

Ah, it's not so bad. Actually, it's pretty cool, I mean, a very interesting place, to visit.

Port of Ushuaia at the base of the Andes, the southern tip of the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego

The map display is a large scale view of our route. Ushuaia is the small dot at the tip of the continent. Just north of Cape Horn, it is the southernmost town in the world, about 60,000 residents. We are still in Argentina here. Ushuaia is on the western border with Chile. 

For centuries this was an important supply  and service port for whaling fleets. There was a large penal colony here in the early 1900s (more on this below). Today it is a major port of departure for voyages to Antarctica, for scientists and tourists.

National Geographic's Orion 
for modern day Antarctica-bound explorers

The Orion was at the dock besides us to pick up passengers and provisions for its cruise south. What fun that would be. 
Ah, for the price of a ticket ...

Christmas on the streets of Ushuaia 

Ushuaia is a calm, safe port in the Beagle Channel, way protected from the wild waters of the Strait of Magellan, that passage named after Ferdinand, the first to navigate around Cape Horn, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Remember in 1520 he was the first to circumnavigate the world?

La Cantina Fueguina for fresh seafood.
Notice the stack of boxes by the door?

Charles Darwin came to Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel, eponym of the British ship that brought him here, probably on his way to the Galapagos Islands, during which time he was reputedly making notes on what was to become "survival of the fittest". (check it out)

Note the varieties brewed

Cape Horn and Beagle beer are not to be missed. Not only does Argentina make great wine, but the beer is also terrific, thanks to the German immigrants, we were told. 

Strategically located at the end of the dock for all foreigners entering Ushuaia by sea, is the sign below.

Not sure what is sticking to the sign,
maybe some English toffee gone green?

The casual tourist or the uninformed foreign national  may use the words, Falkland Islands, in a casual conversation with a citizen of Argentina. Be prepared for a quick, perhaps unexpected response; for example, "There is no such place. Perhaps you men the Malvinas!" For a very lively engagement in a bar, bring up the subject, especially if you are British. Be forewarned. Argentinians are very passionate about their claims, and about Thatcher's 10-day butt-kicking in 1982. To use contemporary non-speak, to some locals, that event was just fake news.

Ask an Argentinian seagull if she
has been to the Falkland Islands
and you might get your eyes pecked out 

Ask a Chilean about the Malvinas you will probably get a shrug of the shoulders and some grunting about the Argentinians, who have purportedly claimed some Chilean islands too. There is no love lost between the neighbours on either side of the Andes Mountains. Foreign relations between Argentina and the UK have been on again, off again since 1982. 

   

did not eat the moustache here

the southern Andes above Ushuaia 

We are going to catch a train now for an excursion into Tierra del Fuego National Park. A toy train - El Tren del Fin del Mundo - well, small gauge anyway, meanders alongside the Rio Pipo at zero grade. The tracks for this, now tourist train, were laid by prisoners in the first decade of the 20th Century. The purpose was to transport the murderers, thieves, recidivist n'er-do-wells, from the prison on the edge of town, into the river valley to harvest the forest.  

Her throat or my camera
- what was more valuable?

At the estación we were accosted by a couple of big jailbirds who unhanded us after fleecing me for 10 bucks for the photo (not over- priced actually).

I felt I was in the land of Lilliput (Swift), the trains were so small, as were the engineers.

In the  ancient, but well- kept coaches we rubbed shoulders - literally with the other Brobdignagians, many of whom spoke our northern language.

Engineer Zubieta's Engine

the controls

All aboard!

Lots of well-worn brass and patina, and smoke and whistles

Engineer Porta's machine

Back at the ship now and one last shot with my telephoto lens. 








This  towering Matterhorn-like peak makes me thirsty just thinking about the gruelling climb to the top.

It's December 27. At 5 pm and we sail away. The sun will not set tonight until 10:15. Temperature is about 52F/12C. The Patagonia Amber Lager sure goes down well.

...ooo0ooo...

next blog post is: Punta Arenas, Chile

www.noordinaryseaman.com for more photography and writing