38. The Amalia Glacier

The Amalia Glacier.

2 Arms Feeding Into the Bottom Glacier

Fire, Ice and Sea; it is a cauldron of nature. Volcanoes surrounded by glaciers, bashed by wave after wave of the Pacific Ocean. And on top of it all a large ship with thousands of people, gawking at it all. The Glacier is one of the fastest receding glaciers in S. America… I think it lost 7 km (about 5 miles) in the last 50 years. That is a lot of loss. It is weird to sit at dinner in a fancy dining

Right Hand Arm of Glacier

room, near a window and watch the frozen world outside. The ship sent out a Zodiac to gather some ‘icebergs’ to show the people on deck what the glacier is made out of.

I felt like we are too civilized, or let’s call it removed from reality when I stood on deck watching the crew gather those mini ice bergs. Some folks complained that the large ice cube, the iceberg, was ‘dirty’ ice. 

Top of the Left Arm Is Obscured By Clouds

I guess they would not put some of ‘that’ ice in their drinks.

 
I cannot help but be shocked by the insensitivity or total lack of our fitting into the natural surroundings, the scenery. The ship does not fit. We do not belong here. This is primal, primitive, earthy and still evolving territory. The forces of Mother Nature are at work here.  I felt like an intruder.  While my intellect understood the forces involved

Huge Cracks But No Calving Today

in this part of earth, the reality of seeing them at work made me feel smaller than an ant.

I felt totally helpless watching forces at play that are really unimaginable and uncontrollable. 

Clouds Lifted Just Enough to See the Top (On the Left)

I better focus on my artificial life of being on a cruise ship and eat my dinner of fancy meats and vegetables, cooked just so.

Outside, the grinding of basic elements is beyond my comprehension. The glacier, seen from the ship, or what is left of this glacier, is awe inspiring. The volcano is still active. 

Ice Sculptures In the Water

Even writing this blog page makes me shiver thinking of how small and unimportant we are in sight of what is nature.

It Was Heavy and COLD

 
We missed the late show, heard later it was a good show, but we did see the glacier as close up as the ship dared to go. I was impressed with that.

Bundled Up On Our Balcony

37. Punta Arenas, Chile

Punta Arenas, Chile                

Street Lights

52F (11C)

A city that time forgot! That is how I felt when I got into Punta Arenas. It must have been a powerful supply port when shipping still had to go around Cape Horn, but today the city seemed sleepy. Yes, it is a clean city. Yes, it has lots of history and yes, I like this place, but I could not live here… it is and feels isolated. 

We hired a taxi for a city tour at a cost of US $ 50. -. It was worthwhile to have a driver for a few hours and this chap and I had a good time. He spoke no English but rattled on in Spanish of which I understood 10%. (OK, 30%). With many smiles and hand gestures we managed well, however. 

City View From La Cruz Hill - Island Princess In the Background - Obligatory Schlock For Sale On Left

He drove us to get a bird’s eye view from ‘La Cruz’ Hill and then took us to the obligatory Plaza de Armas in Punta Arenas. The cathedral was at one end of the plaza and on the other side was the Palace of Sara Braun Menendez.  

Cathedral

The area, in history, was settled by Croatians and Russians. 

There was a short mining boom when gold was discovered in the area. The height of wealth accumulation was just after the turn of the century into the 20^th Century.

Sara Braun-Menendez Palace

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 brought the whole shipping industry to a crashing halt.

Sara Brown, a Russian lady, married well and when her husband died of TB early in their marriage, she ran a business of Gold Mining, Gold Transport and Sheep Raising and Wool Production. We could not enter the mansion since it was Sunday and the museum was closed on Sunday’s but from the pictures in the article above, you can get a good idea of how successful this lady was. Lucky for her that the Panama Canal was only in the planning stages during her life time.

Sara Braun-Menendez Mausoleum

We visited a cemetery that felt and looked very much like the famous La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. But here the Sara Braun Menendez Mausoleum is the big attraction. 

German Graves

There is also a spot where soldiers from Germany are interred. I am not sure how they got there. Something about the Graf Spee Ship Crew. I forgot the details.

Monument to the Graf Spee Ship Crew

Most people today cannot afford the elaborate monuments in this cemetery; urns with their ashes are deposited in niche-like memorial spots.

Niche-Like Memorial Spots

Many Other Mausoleums In This Cemetery

This land however is still Patagonia, wild, windy, non-forgiving. Sheep herding is, was, a large business. Very, very large farms (haciendas, estancias) use(d) gauchos to herd the flocks.

Recognize This Gaucho?

I visited a statue to those hardy men who did the herding. Naturally, I had to sit on the iron horse and pretend to be a gaucho. 

We got a good impression of today’s Punta Arenas, too. Driving past a rather large mall, we saw many cars in the parking lot from Argentina. I guess the prices in Chile must be more attractive than in Argentina, or is it that there are very few larger cities around all of Patagonia and people just ‘have to’ visit here to buy what they need?

Supposed to Be Lucky to Touch His Foot

Magellan's Statue

The late show on the ship was David Copperfield, no, not the magician, this David was a singer and had a great operatic voice. Great show!

36. At Sea Along the Beagle Channel

At Sea Along the Beagle Channel        

54F (12C)                     Formal Night

Our destination lecture was now aimed at heading north again; towards Punta Arenas and the Amalia Glaciers. Our ship moved tentatively through the narrow Beagle Channel and thank God for modern navigation, the trip was uneventful.

It must have been some job charting those waters when the first Europeans arrived, just look at the map attached here, all those little islands. The real navigation charts contain even the rocks that jut out; it seems like a total impossibility to pass through some of those narrow rills.

We spent the day goofing off. Carol did her thing at Effy and learned about Alexandrite.

A Duet

The theater show after dinner, was music from the 50’s. Carol knew most of the songs by heart. I think she took some pictures too, but did not use a flash. The theme of the show was Stardust…

The 4 Singers (Background) and 2 of the Dancers

Formal night is always a special treat night at the theater, too. The show was very good; the ships ensemble has some good, talented people. Some of them were very good, I felt for them because they were not used to their full potential.

Standing Ovation - They Were Excellent