Iceberg ahead

Getting up was hard. Our first thought was about the poor people at home who have to get up so early every day. Our second thought was: Oh no, we'll experience that again someday! We also completely forgot that Chile is the land of ambitious crowing roosters and long parties. You always have one of the two. Sometimes both together. In any case, the nights are always short.

We drove over gravel roads for two and a half hours to Laguna San Rafael. It was only 80 km, but the road could be compared to the streets of Nepal. Luckily, there's always something to discover, so the drive never gets boring.

Our catamaran was already waiting for us at the lagoon. During the next 2 hours, our guide gave a lecture about the lagoon and the glacier. He also showed us the way on a map. He had a pointing stick that strongly resembled a lightsaber. I felt sorry for the people who had to keep ducking under the stick. Fortunately, we were sitting far enough away.

Suddenly it was said: "Iceberg ahead". We immediately went to the observation platform at the bow of the ship. Unfortunately, it started raining heavily. In no time at all, we were completely soaked. Only a Dutch couple stayed with us. Eventually, it also got too cold and wet for us and we went back into the catamaran. There we stood next to the helmsman, as it offered the best view. We talked to him. It then became apparent to us that he was still wearing his sunglasses, even though it was raining. Only then did we see the yellow armband with the three black dots. He didn't have the armband, but he could have. We asked him what the symbols on his displays meant. Unfortunately, he couldn't see them clearly and we had to describe what we were seeing on his displays. After this experience with the helmsman, the journey became a real adventure for us. Surprisingly, the helmsman managed to skillfully avoid every iceberg, even the smallest ones, for the next 2 hours. The Force must have been with him. Nevertheless, we were relieved when someone else took over the helm when we headed towards the glacier wall.

As we got closer to the glacier wall, the rain stopped and the sun appeared. This sight was majestic. The sun made the glacier shine in different shades of white and blue. It seemed as if the glacier was alive. The ice crackled and before an ice chunk fell down, there was a thunder-like bang. It was fascinating and breathtaking. We couldn't get enough of it. But eventually our catamaran turned around and we headed back home. On the way back, we had delicious food. Once again, the cook had to reveal Heike's recipe. At first, he was reluctant because he said it was a secret recipe. But when Heike wants something, she usually gets it. So when she couldn't be turned away, the cook reluctantly gave her the recipe.

The return journey was surprisingly entertaining as we played Uno with our seat neighbors.

After another two bumpy hours, we arrived at our accommodation, where the kittens were already waiting for us.

That was truly a beautiful day with a unique nature experience.