October 31 – November 2, 2024 Into the fjords
We had a rough night since we had to head out into the Pacific in order to get into the long stretch of fjiords. Wind gusts of 80 km were reported and we were told to put everything away that might slide away or break and to lock all drawers and cabinets. The Resolution (sister ship to the Endurance, which we sailed for the Northwest passage trip), although small at approximately 130 passengers, was quite stable and I slept fine.
The red arrow shows our ship’s path:
But once the sun came out, we had another beautiful location for a hike – this one, however, was literally a walk in the park. A large, private, well tended park, Parque Aiken del Sur, the birders were particularly happy and we all got to see a kingfisher. Thanks to Ron for the bird picture.
Lunch found us at a great entertainment space at the park with a traditional lamb bbq (and options for us) and a couple of dancers.
On Friday, after a very rainy, windy morning (the waterspouts were amazing), plans changed, as did the weather. I did attend a very useful lecture on my iPhone camera during the morning rain. Learned how to do this technique:
Once the rain let up a bit, we headed out again into the very, very lush forest – like the Amazon without the mosquitoes. There is a lighthouse in the vicinity.
I did see this wren though I wasn’t fast enough with my camera so this will have to do:
I heard though never saw, one of the teeny frogs with a big voice.
There are a couple of PhD students on board from University of Pennsylvania, collecting water samples for their research, studying the biogeochemistry of Patagonia’s rivers. and fj
ords. Delightful young women – they thought it was hysterical that I refer to them as “the young’ uns”.
From this point forward, we’ll be in fjords, heading south.
On Saturday, we started with a zodiac cruise, got stuck momentarily in the mud (had no idea it was so shallow – it was pretty cloudy) and took photos of the icebergs that have broken off the nearest glacier. Although we couldn’t get close to it, there will be many more opportunities. After that, we hopped into kayaks.
It’s super easy to get into and out of kayaks with the below arrangement. A platform between 2 zodiacs suspends the kayak and lets you sit on the edge of the zodiac, then scoot over to the kayak. When you return, you step onto the platform (remember, you’re wearing Wellies), then onto and into the zodiac and then onto the ship. Very clever.
