Cape Horn and Beagle Channel
Six o’clock in the morning. The bridge is full of birdwatchers. Grey sky and light rain with a windspeed of 12-15 knots, the waves coming from the north north-west. Our approach to the continental shelf is evident by the increase in the number of seabirds. Suddenly the sea is alive with black-browed, wandering, grey-headed albatross and the slim racing crescents of sooty shearwaters. Our ship steams steadily towards Cape Horn. Bird enthusiasts flock to the bridge and our ship naturalists point out the different species, including the first tiny diving petrels and rafts of Magellanic penguins. Around 9 o’clock in the morning, 30 miles from land, the sea calms miraculously and the notorious jagged hulk of Cape Horn comes into view. Now the photographers stream to the bow. A pale apricot sky backlights the shark’s tooth skyline of Tierra del Fuego, distant mountains gleaming with snow, the entire tail of the Andes in sharp relief.
Suddenly we have a visit from a small group of Peale’s Dolphins riding the bow and only a few seconds later, John our killer whale expert points out a dwarf Minke Whale very close to the ship.
Before we reach Cape Horn staff photographer Eric Guth gives a presentation with beautiful images of ice caves in the glaciers of southern Argentina. Now we know how he got his nickname “The Iceman” from his powerful images inside the frozen grottoes of melting glaciers.
By mid-morning a pair of Dusky Dolphins approaches the ship and the “Furious Fifties” have abated to a smooth, benign ocean. Our captain, Leif Skog, gazing out from the bridge, expresses his delight, saying: “This is going to be a beautiful day!” The ship’s bow is now crammed with excited Antarctic veterans, posing for portraits in front of the infamous Cape and from the loudspeaker comes the voice of Eduardo, our Argentinian naturalist, reading the moving poem by Sara Vial, which commemorates the seamen of old who perished in sailing ships along this same coast.
Now in more sheltered waters, naturalist, artist and troubadour Ian Bullock waxes lyrical over a glittering ocean alive with shearwaters, albatrosses, shags and penguins. On both sides of our ship we can now enjoy the rugged islands and wild forests of Tierra del Fuego, as we turn into the Beagle Channel, where our pilot awaits, to guide us through the last spectacular passage inland to Ushuaia, journey’s end after an unforgettable exploration of Antarctica.
