Expedition to Cape Horn

The route of the expedition led through Cape Horn, through the Chilean fjords to Punta Arenas in Chile.

We were offered it as a luxury tour and then asked if there was a non-luxurious tour, which there isn't. After thinking about it for a long time, we booked it. When comparing prices later with our table neighbors, we also found out that we got a very good price.

Our initial concern that it would be very fancy was unfounded. The staff wore jeans shirts and the passengers were mostly dressed normally.

Of course, the ship's cabin was very luxurious for us (although anything with a fixed toilet is already considered luxurious for us).

After a welcome drink, we received the schedule, wow there wasn't much free time scheduled.

Every day, we were transferred from the ship to the inflatable boats to make landings with hikes and visits. The great thing was that we also reached the national parks that can only be approached from the water, Cape Horn then became a side issue.

1st day

CAPE HORN

Our first excursion in the morning at 06:30, did anyone say it was supposed to be fun?! But the crew provided us with plenty of coffee, which made it more pleasant for us. Cape Horn itself is not really a beautiful island, but the fact that we were at the southernmost point of the world was really cool.

WULAIA BAY

A historically very important place. This is where Charles Darwin and Ferdinand Magellan first came into contact with the locals. Until then, they had lived there very happily and alone (NUDE! (At 10 degrees in summer)). By the way, Wulaia Bay means 'beautiful bay', which we could see after a short hike.

2nd day

PIA GLACIER

The Chilean fjords are characterized by Patagonian rainforest and glaciers. We could observe a very active glacier here. The glacier always lost a few icebergs that then fell into the water and created a huge bang (like a loud thunder).

GARIBALDI GLACIER

At the end of a fjord is the Garibaldi Glacier. Unfortunately, we couldn't approach it because the boat doesn't sail so well at wind speeds of 120 km/h. As an alternative program, we drove along the Garibaldi Passage, which is also characterized by many glaciers and Patagonian rainforest. It also gave us the opportunity to spend enough time at the bar 🍺.

3rd day

AGUILA GLACIER AND CONDOR GLACIER

Two beautiful glaciers in the middle of the jungle again. We could only approach the second glacier in our inflatable boats, which allowed us to get very close to the glacier.

4th day

ISLA MAGDALENA - PENGUIN ISLAND

It would have been nice, but here the wind was too strong again and we had to wave to the penguins from the boat.

During the trip, we crossed the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel, the two most important trade routes here at the southern tip. The guides also gave us a lot of history of the explorers, which was really very interesting for us. We also saw dolphins surfing in the ship's waves and whales (although only the water vapors they emit when they breathe, maybe we will still have something with whales).