Day 8   Sat       11/15/08          More Beautiful Fjords

Another delightful day on board the Fram. In the morning we passed through narrow fjords with snow capoped mountains in the background. Low clouds and rain along with a few sprinkles of snow and sleet reduced visibility but it was great none the less. At one point we passed a small town, isolated by hundreds of miles of wilderness, where the ferry only passes six times a month. Curiously, this town was named Puerto Eden! After an entire morning standing at the bow, we spent much of the afternoon inside out of the rain. Just before dinner we sailed into a narrow fjord with a glacier ahead, There were mini ice bergs all around and we could feel the ship shudder as it hit the small bergs. After another delightful dinner we retired early in anticipation for our shore trip in Puerto Natales.

Day 9   Sun      11/16/08          Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine

The day began cruising through the White Narrows, a spot in the Chilean Fjords that is so narrow and has such strong tidal currents that we stopped for 20 minutes waiting for the current to drop below three knots just before high tide. While waiting we were treated to the sight of Andean Condors, Kelp Geese, Flightless Steamer Ducks black necked swans and Chilean Dolphins. Our passage through the narrows was spectacular but uneventful. Once docked and off the ship we met our guides for the day. There was the contact person Alehandra, the driver Gabriel and our English speaking (sort of) guide, Alex. We all piled into their high ground clearance mini-van and off we went for the day’s adventure. First stop was Milidon Caves where the remains of 10,000 year old, 15 foot tall ground sloths were discovered. We walked through the caves and enjoyed the many informative exhibits. Next we were off to the local national park. As many of you know, we have been fortunate to visit many beautiful places in our travels. However, Torres Del Paine National Park is arguably the most spectacular place we have ever visited. The jagged mountain peaks, glaciers and translucent blue icebergs calved from them were stunning. This was a backdrop to wonderful wildlife sightings. Part of the tour package was a “box lunch”. When we stopped to eat, each of us got a big bag containing two ham & cheese sandwiches, fruit yogurt, Pringles, potato sticks, cookies, candy bars, hard sucking candy, a banana, an apple, water, fruit drink and juice. We didn’t come close to eating it all but what we did eat  fortified us for our two hour hike to Grey Lake where we saw huge chunks of ice that had broken off of Grey Glacier and floated the length of the lake. The ice was impossibly blue in color and created a stunning foreground for photos of the jagged, snow capped mountains framing the horizon. At the end of the trail we had a surprise treat. Alehandra gathered some glacier ice and served us all scotch on the rocks. It was excellent 12 year old Chivas Regal scotch and even Sandy & Roberta drank some.Next stop was Great Falls where the roaring stream of glacial meltwater cascades over a steep cut in the bedrock. The iridescent aqua water was a sharp contrast to the dark sedimentary rock. After the falls wa drove the park roads stopping for great mountain views and all sorts of wildlife. We saw red and gray fox, guanaco (like a llama), Chilean flamingos, long tailed meadowlarks (with scarlet breasts) and rheas (like an ostrich). Throughout the day we were treated to clear skies with only a few puffy clouds. Ship staff  who have been here many times told us this was the best weather they had ever experience. We then left the park and headed back to Puerto Natales. Along the way we stopped at a sheep ranch (estancia) for dinner. Three of us had lamb, grown, slaughtered, butchered and cooked right there at the ranch. It is left as an exercise for the reader to determine who chose the salmon instead. Sandy didn’t say baaaah even once to taunt us. With our meal completed we were driven back to the ship. We had been gone over 12 hours and were joyously exhausted.

Day 10             Mon     11/17/08          More Beautiful Fjords

Yesterday’s glorious weather continued today as we sailed back through the narrows then toward the Strait of Magellan. We spent hours on deck soaking in the glorious sunshine. We are at the southern latitude equivalent of Labrador in May and we were on deck in short sleeves. We attended lectures about local forests and our next destination, Punta Arenas. After lunch we did a few laps around the deck to work off the dessert. This new loop included two flights of steps up and down on each lap so ten laps was a pretty good workout. Later in the afternoon one of the on-board lecturers gave an interesting presentation about a 1970’s road trip he took from London to Cape Town South Africa. And we thought our Africa trip was an adventure.