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Santiago to Cape Horn: Winter into Summer in December

Our flight from DFW to Santiago took us over Central America, the Gulf of Panama, across the equator along the coasts of Equador and Peru where lights were visible. We landed in Santiago in daylight.

The approach was gradual and long over some of the most inhospitable land I had ever seen, a suitable guardian of the Andes that rose in snow-capped grandeur to the east. Some peaks were obviously volcanic. Nearer the airport we flew over cultivated land, and landed before I was ready. I was looking forward to seeing the city, but we never did. A fellow traveler said Santiago would be his second choice to live anywhere in the world.

We were bussed to Valparaiso 70 miles west of Santiago where the ship awaited us. The city is a city of hills through which we wended our way to the dock. The land leveled out near the port where the wind was blowing half a gale. A photographer could find many interesting architectural subjects, and its uses to solve problems posed by the hills.

Our departure was later than planned because of the wind. The barge could not supply the ship in such a wind, and a tanker truck was used instead. I missed the first formal night because of mal de mer. The ship dipped and rose over turbulent seas two nights and a day, but once we anchored off Puerto Mont, we were in sheltered water, and even the weather cooperated to make the remainder of the cruise a delight.

Puerto Mont is not unusual, perhaps more substantial than other Latin American cities I've seen, but it is the gateway to the Lake District more inland. We seldom take ship-sponsored tours preferring to check out the port city. Besides, our stay was cut short to make up for the time lost in Valparaiso.

For the next five days we sailed on placid seas in good weather, and had fine views of the Andes. Then we entered Pacific water again when we transited the Beagle Channel to skirt the Taitao Peninsula that blocked our southern path. Next day we entered the sheltered Inside Passage again where we visited two glaciers, Pio XI, and Amalia, before continuing south between barrier islands on the west, and the Andes Corderilla to our left with their many snow-capped, and cloud-wrapped volcanic peaks.

The Andes dive into the sea to allow for the Strait of Magellan, only to rise again to form the land of Tierra del Fuego separated from the Mainland. Cape Froward is the southern most tip of continental South America around which we sailed east then north to Punta Arenas about halfway through the Strait. It was the port to which the survivors of the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition when rescued from Elephant Island in 1925.

Across the Strait, opposite Cape Froward, is the south bearing Cockburn Channel through Tierra del Fuego on which we sailed to reach the Beagle Channel that we followed east to Ushuaia, the southern most city of the world. The remnant Andes rise again to great heights, the grandeur overspread with glaciers and perpetual snow.

Enchanting channels create numerous islands the larger of which define the boundaries of the Beagle Channel into which five glaciers on the north shore empty their ice. South of the Channel and east of Ushuaia, the landscape diminishes in height and divides into lesser island leading to Cape Horn where the land ends and the Drake Passage begins.

Ushuaia is situated at the foot of either the Andes or an adjacent range. The town is spread east and west along he coast in a narrow line of perhaps six or more streets like steps leading to a greenbelt that separated it from its mountainous backdrop. Ushuaia has the appearance of an Alpine-village, quite attractive, and the people are amicable.

Cape Horn was about a twelve-hour cruise from Ushuaia where the ship only dipped its bow into Pacific water before turning 180 degrees, and heading for the Falklands. South of the Cape is a three hundred-mile wide stretch of water ending in Antarctica. Drakes Passage is known as the roughest sea in the world because the Andes block the prevailing west wind forcing it south around the Cape where it frequently blows at more than hurricane strength.
For a better appreciation of the effect the Andes have upon Cape Horn, read ALONG THE CLIPPER WAY, by Sir Francis Chichester (editor). A summary of many voyages made or attempted to round Cape Horn - I looked for this on Amazon and there was only one used copy available so maybe you should try eBay!

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This guest article was submitted by Kenneth G. Ramey – Please leave him a comment to let him know how much we appreciate hearing about his experience! You can submit your expereicnes to jtrotta@gmail.com and don’t forget about the travel writing contest!

Posted by James Trotta at October 25, 2006 1:39 AM | TrackBack