|
|
You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Dec 15, 2016 09:00 PM 15 hours delay! But landed in Puerto Montt!
Very stressing day... In the morning the ship was dancing on the waves in Golfo Corcovado. Grey sky, rain. According to the schedule the ship should reach the destination today at 6 am. Forget it! Our guide announced that we should be in Puerto Montt at 9 p.m. and we will land if... the wind which is now very strong will be reduced.
Some of my fellows are booked for the afternoon flights from Puerto Montt - it seems that they already loose their seats in the planes.
I gave myself 24-hours flexibility so I can still can be on my schedule. but what will happen if due to the strong wind we will be drifting all night? After 2 days they allowed me and few other fellows to see the bridge. The captain did not appear, nobody saw him.
Thanks God in the afternoon the wind almost stopped. On arrival to the port the company gave us opportunity to see how do NOT organize disembarking. Lorries are important to go out - passenger can wait! Finally they packed us up to 3 minibuses and sent to the town bus terminal - 15 kms away. Pier of Navimag is no longer in the town but far on the outskirts of Puerto Montt...
I found my guesthouse in the dark. The epic marine voyage is over! Tomorrow to Argentina...
|
Dec 14, 2016 09:00 PM Stormy weather
On our route there is 18 - hours stretch through the open ocean. They call it Golfo Penas. The forecast was very bad - strong wind and waves up to 5 m. That's what we experience from the morming - storm! Some of my fellows did not appear for the breakfast. Zero activities. Fortunately I do not suffer - I do not know what is seasick. In the afternoon captain decided to escape to the first available channel between islands fo find the shelter from the strong wind. Much better!
|
Dec 13, 2016 09:00 PM Patagonian Eden
Sailing the labirynth of the channels and fjords today we reached Puerto Eden - the only settlement on our Patagonian route. Little village and military post are located in the fjord, at the bottom of the snowy peak. No pier here so the ship is anchoring and the locals are coming on the little boats to collect all supply for this remote outpost and to take few passengers ashore. After an hour wecwere already sailing through the English Narrows - another dangerous place to sail with a statue of Virgin Mary located on the little, rocky island. Many rainbows on the way. Sometimes little rain, but it is not bad.
|
Dec 12, 2016 09:00 PM Ha, ha... Chile - we are still in Puerto Natales!
I do not know - should I cry or should I laugh... In the evening Navimag shipping company wanted the passenges to come not to the port but tothe distant bus terminal. OK. They said that at 9 pm they will provide a bus to take us to the pier located in the center of the town. At 9.10 a driver appeared there just to say us that the transfer will not be now, but at 11 pm. OKAY. We boarded the ship just before midnight. Then in the dining room we had "orientation" meeting they said that due the low tide we will depart only in the afternoon... They do not know in advance the schedule of the tides?
At 1 am I went to the bunk bed in my 4-pax cabin. It was terribly cold there and nobody knows why the heating system does not work.
In the morning we got a standard breakfast in the huge dining room reminding rather the factory canteen. Porridge, fruit salad, rolls with cheese and ham.
I went ashore just to send this message because there is no internet onboard. So we have already 9 hours dalay on departure.
But the sun is shining over the snowy peaks surrounding the Fiord of Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope). Good name, isn't it?
|
Dec 11, 2016 09:00 PM Ahoy! My ship arrived!
Sunny day but we still experience mucho viento - strong wind.
The main attraction in the neighborhood of Puerto Natales is Cueva de Miladon - The Cave of Miladon. 20 kms out of the town. No public transport, taxi drivers ask 20000 pesos for round trip with 1 hour waiting... Miladon was a prehistoric bear living in Patagonia some 12 000 years B.C. they found here its bones and he is now like a mascot of the town.
I tried to hitchhike, and it was not difficult. At the entrance they charge 5000 CLP from the foreigners and only 1500 from the seniors from Chile. Do you think I look like Chileno? You are right! I paid lower rate!
In fact there are 3 caves, the biggest where is thd entrance is really huge, but not high. To get to other two there is a path 20 min + 20 min easy walk. From the last one you can go directly to the rock formation Devil's Chair -another 20 min.
When I returned I saw my ship EVANGELISTAS fighting with the strong wind at the end of the bay. It arrived on time! I will be boarding in the evening. Do you know 4 evangelistas - the four evangelists of the bible? Let's hope it will be safe 4 days voyage on this epic route to Puerto Montt. Just for fun you can follow position of the ship on www.marinetraffic.com
|
Dec 10, 2016 09:00 PM Domingo en Patagonia
Do you like Placido Domingo? He is my favorite opera singer!
But he did not come to Patagonia. Domingo in Spanish means Sunday. It is domingo today, in the morning streets were still empty when I walked to distant Plaza de Armas. The church was still closed. Why? Somebody told me that the Sunday service starts only at 11 am. I came again at 10.50. The church was open, but almost empty... More pople came in the last minute, but they filled only like 25% of capactity of the small church... They were sitting mostly in the back of the church... In Natales live around 18000 people...
The service was conducted by padre Bernardo (do you remember my easter on Easter Island? There was also other padre Bernardo!) I met him after the service (see the picture), he speaks some English. He was surprised that I came from Poland. I told him about my trip...
Coming back to the hostel I discovered in Puerto Natales Polish theme. One of the streets is named Domeyco street after Polish scientist, engineer and explorer working in Chile in 19th century - Ignacy Domeyko. It was nice that they remember him...
It is raining in the afternoon, but the forecast for tomorrow is much better. I believe that the ship will come tomorrow to pick me up...
|
Dec 09, 2016 09:00 PM Puerto Natales - frontier town
For the first time I have been here some 30 years ago. I do not see many changes. They built new city hall, many old houses were restored and converted to the pensions - hostales. They also have now new Rodoviaria - bus terminal. Main destination is Punta Arenas with departures every 2 hours - the cost is 7000 pesos one way. But only 12000 if you buy Round trip. There is one company - Pacheco for 5000, but they have few departures.
I stay in the Paine Hostel - in fact regular private house without any sign outside, paying 20 $ per night for room with shared bath and breakfast. It is located rather far from the centre, near the Padre Rosas cemetery :). Just let you know that you can find much nicer places for the same price in the centre for the same price. Sample: Hospedaje Mary - just one block from Tourist information office phone +56 61 2412498. The problem is that they are bookable only by phone... In Spanish.
My hostel is not very clean, included breakfast is weak (rolls, palta or jam) but is was booked easy via booking.com. Temperature in the night is only 5 deg Celsius -even now - in the summer. They have gas heater in the room, but I am switching it off for the night - afraid that I will not wake up...
To keep yourself warm you can buy in the supermarket near the same cemetery a bootle of Chilean vino tinto (red) 1,5 l bottle costs only equivalent of 3 USD. Do not drink whole bootle in one evening! Good night!
|
Dec 08, 2016 09:00 PM Angostura White
Big ships cannot sail to Puerto Natales bacause there are narrows (angosturas) on the route. Small ones has to make the choice of Angostura Kirke or Angostura White. Sailing back to Puerto Natales we went through the picturesque Ang, White, After passing the chain of little islands blocking the passage they put us to the explorers boats and we were sailing more then an hour in the strong wind along the coast - with dolphins, taking pictures of the seals and birds.
It is evening and I am back in windy Puerto Natales - sneezing a little bit, but happy to have such unique experience, few people saw this remote fjords and its fantastic scenery! Lucky me!
|
Dec 07, 2016 09:00 PM In the Montanas Fjord...
Rough sea in the night. My water bottles felt down from the table in the middle of the night. Strong wind, also the rain from time to time. We are going through Montanas Fjord with 5 glaciers. After breakfast we are sailing in explorers to Alsina Glacier, hidden in the little bay below the huge, vertical mountain. Thanks God from time to time the sun appears giving us a chance for better pictures. After an hour we are again on the ship - wet & cold, but happy. Few hours later there is the landing at Bernal Glacier - narrow path is heading to the turquoise lagoon below the ice. This glacier is not so wide, but the scenery is still great. Seals and cormorants, small Patagonian dolphins very often appear near the boat, but it is very difficult to photograph them... Another great day in the area rarely visited by humans, I did not see any single house since two days!
|
Dec 06, 2016 09:00 PM Glacier Amalia - Fjord Calvo
Captain Louis invited me to the captain's table. It is a honour, but telling the true I would like to sit with other fellows speaking English... But it is not important - I am here to enjoy the beauty of Chilean Patagonia. The ship was sailing all night and in the morning we found ourselves opposite huge Amalia Glacier. They took us ashore aboard big capacity zodiacs - they call them "explorers" . We landed on the moraine beach and took a walk to the little hills covered by colorful lichens - opposite the 1700m wide and 80m high face of the glacier. Great view, but against the sun... The glacier was calving every few minutes.
In the afternoon the ship was sailing through the labirynth of channels to Calvo Fjord with some 15 different glaciers - can you imagine that during 2 days I did not see any other ship? At the end of Calvo they put us on theit little "icebreaker" and we sailed beetween the icebergs to the picturesque waterfall, enjoying great scenery - just see the pictures...
|
Page:
125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135
|
|
|
