PATAGONIA CRUISE ABOARD THE STELLA & VIA AUSTRALIS
PATAGONIA CRUISE ABOARD THE MARE AUSTRALIS
USHUAIA / PUNTA ARENAS
M/V Stella Australis (Wednesday to Saturday)
M/V VIA Australis
Five Days Includes four day cruise
DAY 1: Arrival in Ushuaia
Upon arrival transfer from airport to hotel or lodge. Rest of day at leisure to enjoy its surroundings.
Overnight accommodations
DAY 2: Cruise Embarkation
Check in at San Martin 409, Ushuaia, between 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., with cruise ship boarding from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The captain and crew give a welcome cocktail reception on board, and afterwards the ship departs for the journey through one of the most captivating wilderness regions in the world. (B/D)
DAY 3: Cape Horn – Wulaia Bay
Sail through the Beagle and Murray Channels to disembark in Cape Horn National Park. Cape Horn, a sheer, almost 425-meter-high promontory, where the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean merge, was discovered in 1616 by the Dutch commercial expedition organized by Isaac Le Maire. The Cape owes its name to the Port of Hoorn, the expedition’s departure point. In the afternoon we will disembark in historical Wulaia Bay, once the site of one of the region’s largest native settlements. This area is also renowned for the spectacular beauty of its vegetation and geography. We will walk through a Magellanic forest filled with Lengas, Coigües, Canelos, ferns and other species to reach a look-out point. (B/L/D)
DAY 4: Pilot and Nena Glacier/Agila Glacier
M/V VIA Australis: In the morning we will sail through the desolate Brecknock and Ocasión Channels and in the afternoon through the Cockburn Channel to anchor in Chico Sound after lunch. Our adventure begins in the Zodiac boats. We will ride up the Alakalufe Fjord where we will be able to see lovely waterfalls and the Piloto and Nena Glaciers from the boats. The intense blue color of the Piloto glacier, due to its age and compression, is amazing. We will learn about the formation of the glaciers and their influence on the abrupt geography of the Patagonia- Tierra del Fuego channels.
M/V Stella Australis: We will sail through the Brecknock, Ocasión, Cockburn, and Magdalena Channels to enter the spectacular Agostini Sound, In the heart of the Darwin Cordillera, in Tierra del Fuego. Here you can see the glaciers flowing down the mountainside, often all the way to the sea. In the afternoon we will get into the Zodiac boats and head to the Águila Glacier where we will take an easy walk on the shore of a lagoon surrounded by mountains until we reach the base of the glacier. We will learn about Patagonia’s cold rainforest and the forces that molded the landscape. (B/L/D)
DAY 5: Magdalena Island – Punta Arenas
Early in the morning, we go ashore on Magdalena Island (weather permitting). Located in the Strait of Magellan, the island is inhabited by an immense colony of Magellanic Penguins which can be sighted during our walk to a lighthouse, which guides ships on their way through the strait. In September and April this excursion is replaced by a Zodiac boat ride at Marta Island to observe sea lions. After our visit, we sail to Punta Arenas, disembarking at 11:30AM (B)
