Our plans for the first few days of our voyage to Patagonia and the Chilean Fjords had to be changed at the last minute. The Caledonian Star has to undergo some repairs after sustaining damage to her bridge during a storm a couple days ago while coming back from Antarctica. So, instead of immediately boarding the ship and sailing this evening, we're spending a couple days here in Tierra del Fuego and rejoining the ship at Punta Arenas, Chile, where she will complete the necessary repair work. This has given us a chance to spend the day visiting beautiful Lapataia and the Tierra del Fuego National Park and cruise part of the Beagle Channel.
The Fuegian Archipelago has to be one of the most dramatic regions on Earth, with snow-capped mountains rising directly from the sea, mixed in with fjords, glaciers, and covered with dense rain forests of southern beech trees. Our excursion today allowed us to admire the magnificent scenery, walk among the forest, and stroll along the edge of the Beagle Channel. Near the mouth of the Lapataia River, which connects with the Beagle Channel, we could see some Fuegian Indian middens and imagine the toughness of these people living in such a place. Magellan, Cook, and Darwin all agreed that these people were poor, wretched creatures, but that would not be politically correct in this day and age. Alas, these Fuegian Indians are all gone now. Here, next to the southern terminus of the Pan American Highway, we boarded a local catamaran for a scenic luncheon cruise on the Beagle Channel. The weather and sea conditions could not have been more perfect, as we cruised close to exposed rocks to get excellent, close-up views of sea lions, shags, skuas, and sheathbills, with a few albatrosses gliding by on occasion. It was an incredible start to our trip, even if different from the original plans - it is all part of expedition cruising!
