Our Great Adventure: Chilean Fjords Days 209 to 212 15/04/2015 to 18/04/2015

We'd booked to go from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales on the ferry through the Chilean Fjords. After five days delay we finally left our guesthouse to check in. In the morning we packed up and said farewell to the lovely Casa Kalfu before catching the local bus to Puerto Montt. We were glad that we'd decided to stay in Puerto Varas in preference to Puerto Montt, which really didn't look like it had much to take you there other than the plethora of exit points by ferry, plane, bus or car. We checked in at the ferry terminal, left our bags and wandered into Puerto Montt for lunch, at a local cafe called Sherlock (apparently he visited there once!) Back at the terminal we had a short wait until we boarded a bus to drive us to the ferry, moored further down the coast. The ferry is primarily a cargo ship providing an important link to Patagonia, adapted to take passengers and no doubt bring in a little more revenue. After settling in, then a safety briefing and dinner (canteen style) we had an introductory talk covering the route and information on the fjords. The Chilean fjords are immense with 80,000km of coast line, which is twice the circumference of the earth, and provide important shipping routes avoiding the rough seas of the Pacific Ocean. The area has very few inhabitants due to the landscape and climate although salmon farming has become a big industry over the last few years and is unfortunately affecting the eco system and marine life. Whales, dolphins, seals and a myriad of bird life are all present in the various channels along with snow capped mountains and glaciers which we were hopeful we'd have the opportunity to see along the way. We finally set sail sometime after midnight, later than scheduled due to the various delays the ferry has encountered over the last few days, leaving the Reloncavi Sound in the Gulf of Ancud and entering the Apiao Channel and into the Gulf of Corvovado. There are three choices for the route to the Pacific Ocean dependant on the weather and tides. Due to the slightly inclement weather, we took the middle option through Ninualac Channel and on Thursday morning we sailed through the Moraleda Channel before entering the open sea. The weather was overcast with low cloud in the morning although it cleared briefly in the afternoon and we did get some blue sky. Out on deck we saw some birdlife and the odd seal. There was a group of marine biologists on board who have been charting the area and in the evening they gave a fascinating presentation the sea life. We headed out into the Pacific for the journey around a large headland and the ocean crossing lasted c12 hours with rough seas and high swell rolling the ferry through the night (luckily we didn't fall out of bed!). On Friday we sailed back into the channels just after 10am and immediately the seas calmed although the mist and low cloud remained, crossing the Messier Channel at a depth of 1270 meters, the deepest in the area. We passed the cargo ship Capitan Leonidas, shipwrecked in 1970 on a sunken islet called Bajo Cotopaxi. The wreck is currently used as a lighthouse and reference point for sailors. Later in the day we sailed through the English narrows and moored at Puerto Eden on Wellington Island, home to c100 indigenous Alacalufes and where the marine biologists disembarked. From here we sailed through the Patagonian channels and we were lucky enough to be on the bridge as the captain manoeuvred the ferry through the narrow passageways. Unfortunately the sprinkler system went off in our cabin in the afternoon and all our gear was saturated. The crew helped to dry our clothes and we moved to another cabin on the upper deck. Our books and various bits and pieces are now rather 'crispy' round the edges but at least our iPads weren't ruined. In the evening the ferry host gave a talk on the local sealife and fauna. We learnt that the woodpecker we'd seen in Bariloche is now dwindling in numbers and we realised that we were very lucky to have seen it. On Saturday we sailed through the Santa Maria Channel and on to the narrowest part of the route, Angostura White, at only 80 metres wide. You felt as if you could touch land on both sides as we sailed through. Just near here we saw condors circling over the cliffs and dolphins, briefly through the mist. We continued across the Union Sound and entered the access channel to Puerto Natales docking at just after 1pm. We watched as the ferry was basically pulled into position by the mooring ropes and waited for the lorries to disembark before walking off. We certainly hadn't seen the wildlife and scenery that we'd hoped to but the weather is notoriously bad in this part of the world especially at this time of the year. We'd booked to stay at Erratic Rock II for a couple of nights and walked through the town to the guesthouse. After dropping off our bags we went to the bus station to book tickets for our onward journey to Ushuaia on Saturday. Only one company is still making the journey and it really has got that end of season feel to the place! Afterwards we headed to the Torres del Paine refugio offices to book our accommodation in the national park. We were told we didn't need to and a bit reluctantly (feels odd to set off without booking) we succumbed. At least we have the flexibility to change plans dependent on the weather which is looking a bit wild with high winds forecast and rain, snow and hopefully sunshine most days. In the evening we went to a mediterranean restaurant for dinner before walking back to the guesthouse. The weather here is definitely wintery and we both wished we'd taken our hat and gloves with us on our walk around the town.