10-Day Chilean Fjords

This large, modern port serves Chile’s capital, Santiago, a city with Spanish colonial charm and a vivacious spirit. Encircled by the Andes and the Coastal Range, Santiago is centered around the Plaza de Armas, with several of the city’s landmarks: the 18th-century Metropolitan Cathedral the Palacio de la Real Audencia from 1808, the City Hall and the National Museum of History. North of San Antonio lie the picturesque old port and university town of Valparaíso and the colorful seaside resort of Viña del Mar. In between the coast and the capital are valleys filled with some of Chile’s most famous wineries, all inviting you to come and taste.

Puerto Montt, in Chile’s Northern Patagonia Los Lagos region is set on the shores of a large bay identified as Reloncavi Sound. To the east looms Mt. Yate, a snowcapped, glaciated stratovolcano, and beyond that the cordillera of the Andes. The sound is punctuated by islands, the three largest being Tengio, Maillén and Huar. Two much larger islands, Puluqiui and Queulín, sprawl across the mouth of the sound, separating it from the Gulf of Ancud. The point where the Reloncavi Estuary empties into the sound is effectively where the Chilean Central Valley meets the Pacific Ocean. Salmon farms dimple the coves of the sound, and pods of orcas are sometimes seen. Near the sound on shore, Chile’s Alerce Andino National Park protects a vestigial forest of ancient alerce trees, similar to the huge sequoias found in North America.

The lake country of southern Chile seems to be altogether another world from the deserts of the north. The Lake District is graced with spectacular scenery, including the magnificent snowcapped volcanic cone, Mt. Osorno. Puerto Montt serves as the principal port for this region and as a gateway for cruises southward into Chile's fjords.

The Moraleda Channel is a protected waterway running along the coast of Chile from the Gulf of Corcovado in the north to the Laguna San Rafael in the south. It separates the myriad mountainous islands of the Chonos Archipelago from the Chilean mainland. Like the Inside Passage on the Pacific coast of North America, the Moraleda Channel is a geological feature. Its course follows the geologic Liguiñe-Ofqui Fault on the eastern side of the islands, which are actually the peaks of the submerged Chilean Coastal Range.

The Darwin Channel cuts through the elongated, mountainous islands of the Chonos Archipelago in Southern Chile, connecting the Pacific Ocean on the west with the Moraleda Channel running along the Chilean mainland. These forested islands, mostly uninhabited, are actually the peaks of the submerged Chilean Coastal Range. Darwin Channel is a westward continuation of the Aysén Fjord, connecting to the Pacific at Isquiliac Island, and opening at its eastern end into Darwin Bay. Being free of navigational hazards, it forms a preferred, scenic pathway for ships navigating in the area.

The Baker Channel is a large, multi-armed fjord that cuts from Tarn Bay in the Gulf of Penas some 75 miles into the Chilean mainland. It lies roughly halfway between the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields, and its southern arm culminates at the face of the Jorge Montt Glacier, which flows from the Southern ice field and frequently calves icebergs into the channel. The channel forms the northern boundary of Chile’s vast Bernardo O’Higgins National Park.

On the long Messier Channel between the huge Wellington island and the Chilean mainland, the English Narrows is a natural, eight-mile obstacle consisting of a scattering of islands constricting the passage to a width of as little as 200 yards. It presents no hazard to a skilled navigator under most conditions, but at spring tides the current runs as much as six knots, and wind conditions may also make navigation risky. The narrows transit is a good time to be on deck, to keep an eye out for birds such as diving petrels or steamer ducks, and possibly the small, rare dolphins that are sometimes seen in remote areas like this.

Eyre Fjord penetrates the mainland of southern Chile from the Icy Channel about 20 miles to the broad face of the massive Pio XI glacier, also known as the Brüggen Glacier. It is the longest glacier in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica, flowing some 40 miles from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field to the fjord. It is also one of the very few advancing glaciers on earth. The glacier face is located near a large eastern arm of Eyre Fjord called Exmouth Fjord.

The Wide Channel is an inside passage along the coast of southern Chile. It separates the eastern lobe of the huge Wellington Island from the Chilean mainland, starting between Saumarez Island and Icy Channel in the north and opening into the Concepcion Channel in the south adjacent to the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park on the mainland Wilcock Peninsula. Surrounded by precipitous mountains, its shoreline on the mainland side is interrupted by two large fjords, the Europa and Penguin fjords. Join your expedition team members on deck or in an observation lounge for expert insights into the area.

Cutting eastward from the Sarmiento Channel in Southern Chile, this fjord divides into three separate fjords, called Amalia, Asia and Calvo Fjords. Amalia leads to Amalia Glacier, the El Brujo Glacier is in Asia Fjord, and Calvo boasts several small glaciers of its own. The mainland to the east is all part of the huge Torres del Paine National Park. The area is a fascinating geological panorama, and your expedition team members will be available to interpret the sights, as well as identify wildlife spotted while cruising the scenic waterways.

The Smyth Channel is another of the spectacular waterways threading the maze of islands off the coast of extreme southern Chile. At its northern end, it briefly parallels the Sarmiento Channel, then veers southward opening into the Strait of Magellan. Dotted with myriad small islands and corrugated with countless narrow fjords and bays, it makes a mesmerizing panorama as your ship plies between the islands on one side and the immense Peninsula Muñoz-Gamero on the other. Members of your expedition team will be on deck and in lounges to offer insights into the wild, unspoiled terrain you are passing.

The Strait of Magellan is a 350-mile/570 km channel separating the mainland of South America from the large Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was first navigated by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan during his circumnavigation voyage in 1520. He named it the Strait of All Saints, because his transit started on November 1, All Saints Day. It was also Magellan who name the southern island Tierra del Fuego, after seeing the smokes from fires in the camps of the native Yahgan people, whom he named the Patagones, meaning “big feet,” and their land Patagonia. The strait is between two and 20 miles wide, and earned the nickname Dragon’s Tail among sailors, for its tortuous path. Along with the Beagle Channel, it was one of two protected channels for sailing between the oceans prior to the construction of the Panama Canal The third alternative was the notoriously turbulent open ocean Drake Passage beyond Cape Horn. There is one sizeable port city…

Red roofs and smoking chimneys decorate the gently sloping hillsides of Punta Arenas (Sandy Point), the bustling center of one of the world's largest sheep farming areas. This pleasant community welcomes you with attractive parks and delightful Victorian architecture.

Red roofs and smoking chimneys decorate the gently sloping hillsides of Punta Arenas (Sandy Point), the bustling center of one of the world's largest sheep farming areas. This pleasant community welcomes you with attractive parks and delightful Victorian architecture.

The southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia is the capital of Argentine Tierra del Fuego and an important naval base boasting a strategic as well as a picturesque location on the shores of Ushuaia Bay and the Beagle Channel. This rustic coastal town is set among waterfalls, glaciers, snow-clad mountains and beech forests, and the nutrient-rich local waters abound with marine life. Though the houses here are painted warm, pastel colors, the weather is chilly year-round and winter sports such as downhill and cross-country skiing and skating are popular. Ushuaia's principal industries are raising sheep, logging, fishing and trapping. It became a boomtown with 30,000 residents in the late 1980's when the government sought to increase Argentina's presence near Antarctica by giving tax breaks to citizens who settled here.