Around the Horn from Chile to Argentina

The colorful clapboard houses and weathered Victorian mansions of Valparaiso basked in the early evening sunlight as our cruise ship slipped its mooring and sailed into the steely-blue waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern Chile.

Valparaiso had been home for the past two days, and my companion and I had enjoyed exploring her eclectic hill-side neighborhoods and riding the rickety wooden elevators to the city’s commercial center below. But we had come to South America to see the land of fire and ice, and to make a-once-in-a-lifetime voyage around Cape Horn. So as our ship headed south to begin its 14-day journey from Valparaiso to Buenos Aries, all we could think about was the adventure that lay ahead.

Since we would be spending the next few days at sea before reaching our first port of call, we decided to spend the time exploring our ship—Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas.

As large ships go, the Radiance is a gem because she’s been designed to feel cozier than comparable ships weighing 90,000 tons and carrying 2,500 people. She’s big enough to come with a rock climbing wall, billiard room, mini-golf, health spa, two swimming pools and a stunning cantilevered lounge perched atop the ship. Yet she’s small enough to have cozy bars, charming show lounges, and a lovely atrium filled with lots of natural light.
We enjoyed getting to know our ship, but couldn’t wait to get ashore once the snow-capped volcanoes and emerald forests of Chile’s gorgeous Lake District appeared on our port side and the Radiance dropped anchor in Puerto Montt’s Reloncavi Sound.

Nestled between the ocean and the majestic Andes Mountains just north of Patagonia, the Lake District sits on two tectonic plates with more than 1,000 volcanoes. The geographical result is so awesome that Jules Verne referred to the region as “the land of fire and ice.”

The Lake District was settled by German immigrants who built Puerto Montt and several picturesque villages along the coast of Lake Llanquihue near the snow-capped volcanoes of Cabulco and Osorno. One of the villages, Fruitillar, is home to a museum of traditional wooden houses, a mill and a blacksmith’s shop that show what life was like for the first settlers. Just outside the museum, there are several bakeries that serve traditional German “Kuchen” cakes which are made of pastry and local fruit.

After leaving Puerto Montt, we made our way south along the majestic fjords of Patagonia and into the historic Strait of Magellan on our way to Punta Arenas. We were now sailing in the path of Ferdinand Magellan, the great Portuguese navigator who discovered this narrow path between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in 1520.

On the wind-swept pampas outside Punta Arenas, we found plenty of wildlife including giant condors, grey foxes, falcons, and an ostrich-like bird called a “Nandu.” We also found two colonies of Magellanic penguins in the area, including one in nearby Otway Sound.

The Otway Pecket Harbor Reserve has a small viewing porch on the beach where we watched penguins slide into the Sound in search of food for their off-spring. There’s also a pathway with resting points where we were able to see penguins waddle to their burrows just a few feet away. While timid if people get too close, these beguiling penguins are not shy about poking their heads out of burrows, stretching their wings and squawking a few arias just to let you know who’s in charge.

After a delightful day in Punta Arenas, we sailed south along the Beagle Channel towards the remote Argentine city of Ushuaia. The 150-mile channel is named after the HMS Beagle, which carried naturalist Charles Darwin through these waters on her second voyage of discovery in 1832.

The first European to visit Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego was Ferdinand Magellan. As he sailed into the strait that separates mainland Chile from the island, he was amazed by the many fires the indigenous Indians had lit along the southern shore and named the place “Tierra del Fuego” (Land of Fire).

In order to see this rugged beauty close up, we took the “End of the World” train to the nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park, which is filled with soaring peaks, pristine rivers, and beautiful hiking paths that wind through emerald forests and the rocky inlets of the Beagle Channel. We also took a catamaran cruise along the Beagle Channel to see cormorants resting on Bird Island, and slumbering sea lions basking on the rocks of Sea Wolves Island. It’s a naturalist’s delight, and we were thrilled by the spectacular scenery, fauna and wildlife.

The next morning the winds began to howl as we sailed south of Ushuaia and into the furious seas of Drake Passage near Cape Horn, the infamous landmark just 400 miles north of Antarctica. The winds were getting near hurricane force, our bow was crashing through 15-foot seas, and piercing rain was needling down.

Outside on the deck, we were beginning to brace ourselves when a strong gust ripped a glass panel off the roof of the Solarium Pool and sent it crashing onto the promenade deck some 20 feet below. I thought to myself, “Thank goodness we’re crossing from west to east—the easy way with the wind and current at our stern. And we’re doing it during the South American summer, when we don’t have to worry about icebergs!”

At this point, a smaller cruise ship that had been following behind us turned tail and headed for protected waters north of the Cape. But we pressed on, eventually rounded Cape Horn, and almost instantly sailed into calmer seas as we headed north along the coast. It had been an exhilarating experience, and much to our delight, the captain announced that we were now entitled to special privileges including the right to dine with one foot on the table, sport a tattoo of a full-rigged ship, and wear a gold loop in our left ear!

After several tranquil days at sea, we dropped anchor off the coast of Punta del Este in southern Uruguay and awoke to find ourselves surrounded by sand dunes, beautiful beaches and expensive-looking condominiums.

Since we wanted to explore the region on our own, we rented a car and drove straight to the city’s marina, where we found fishing boats unloading and cleaning their daily catch. As the fisherman filleted the fish, huge sea lions bobbed up and down in the harbor next to the pier, anxiously awaiting the scraps.

We then headed west along the coast to the sea-side resort of Casapueblo, which dramatically clings to the edge of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel’s “modernista” style of design by Uruguayan artist Carlos Paez Vilaro features a white-washed façade of terraced apartments, gothic-looking spires, a rabbit-warren of hallways and staircases, and varying shapes of balconies and windows. Its museum and restaurant are open to the public, and like the hotel, provide spectacular views of the sunset.

By now, it was time to board our ship for the voyage up the Rio de la Plata to Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo, and then on to our final destination in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Located on the southern banks of the Rio de la Plata, the Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre was founded in 1536, and expanded through waves of immigration from Europe. As a result, Buenos Aires was built with European-style grand plazas, broad boulevards and grand buildings, which is why the city is often called “the Paris of South America.”

While Buenos Aires is a huge city filled with 13 million residents called “portenos” (people of the port), the main tourist areas are concentrated in seven small barrios including Monserrat, where we found the 19th-century Casa Rosada (pink house) in Plaza de Mayo.

The Casa Rosada has been home to many Argentine leaders including Juan Peron and his charismatic wife, Eva, who famously addressed her adoring public from the palace’s left balcony in1951. Madonna used the same balcony in the movie “Evita” when she sang the film’s theme song “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”.

Our next stop was the Caminito pedestrian walkway in the Bohemian neighborhood of La Boca, which is surrounded by colorful houses, pretty cafes, and street vendors selling their handmade crafts. The street is lined with sculptures, murals, engravings and tango dancers who perform and pose for pictures with tourists for a few pesos.

Since it was our last day in Buenos Aires, we decided to watch a tango show and dine on some delicious Argentine grilled meats in the barrio of Puerto Madero. After close to a month in South America seeing some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, it seemed like a fitting way to conclude our marvelous journey of discovery, and coincidentally, to celebrate my birthday.

David Moorcroft is a freelance travel writer and cruise blogger. You can find his blog at: www.tripharbor.com/commodoredave/.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID MOORCROFT