Day 5: Fiordo Parry

Today we take to the fjords! The journey starts with a 6:30 am wake-up call and grabbing a quick breakfast snack before leaving at 7:00 am. The van ride took about 30 minutes driving west from Lake Fagnano, across the river, and terminating in estancia Caleta Maria — the literal end of the road.

Sunrise on Lake Fagnano (100km long)

Matias squared

End of the Road

Our new home for the day was a snappy red, 60-foot, sight-seeing boat named the Alakush. It was anchored a short walk down the beach along the side of the bay. We used a small raft/zodiac craft to board the Alakush in few trips.

There’s our boat!

Upon boarding, we found a cozy indoor cabin, a top deck, and narrow walkways along the side to navigate both levels. More importantly, we immediately enacted Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! We were told that the first portion of the day would be choppy (heading west out of the Azopardo Bay), then we would get to calmer waters (once we turned south into Fiordo Parry) — at which point a full breakfast would be served.

Fiordo Parry party planner

As promised, the first part was indeed choppy. There was too much wind and spray from hitting the waves to stand outside, so we were all in the cabin. Jo was not feeling great, and tried valiantly to meditate/sleep through the rough patch. Once we found the ‘calm’ waters, we ventured up to the top deck. There were lovely views and it felt much better to be outside.

Captains of the Boat

At the southern end of Fiordo Parry, the winds picked up again as we approached and entered Fiordo Cuevas. The plan was to anchor, take the raft to land, go on a short hike up to a glacier, and return to the boat. Unfortunately, the waters were way too choppy to stop and disembark safely. There skies were clear, but too much wind.

The captain said he has never seen conditions like this. So… go us!?! Jo’s strategy for this section of Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! was to sit on the top deck, wind and water spray be dammed. Major shoutout to the Fjallraven Explora puffy coat that kept her warm and dry the entire time.

Tierra del Fuego car wash

Later, our guides hypothesized that today’s winds were something like a one-percent anomaly due to a disruption in the typical west-to-east high to low pressure mechanism — ie. perhaps it was TOO sunny and that warmed up the western side too quickly, allowing a south-to-north wind pattern to emerge and rush down the glaciers. Anyways… it was hella windy out there in the wrong direction.

The fjords are quite salty today

Without having to worry about a landing party expedition, we had time for more sightseeing. The captain drove slowly so we could enjoy the views of the mountains and glaciers surrounding us. We also had time to venture all the way to the end of Fiordo Parry to see the Darwin Glacier and several others — one of which should henceforth be called the Happy Glacier.

You get a glacier! (Luis de Saboya)

And you get a glacier! (Nuevo Zealandia)

EVERY… BODY… GETS.. (Cuevas)

A GLACIER (Cuevas)

Check out how happy this glacier is!

Amid the rocking waves near the glaciers, the staff managed to fish a huge chunk of glacier ice out of the water that we were able to break apart and use for dinks. Jo’s strategy for this section of Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! was sitting along side the helm in the shelter of the captain’s cabin.

Bandera hanging on by a thread

Made it to Darwin Glacier

Once we turned around and headed back north, we found traveling with the wind (and the waves) was slightly more pleasant. We ducked into a protected cove where the boat crew tethered us to pre-established lines and we ate lunch free of the boat rocking and swerving all over the place. Having skipped the full breakfast (so it wasn’t immediately returned), we were hungry for some food.

Piscola with real glacier ice

After lunch, we sailed the rest of the way out of Fiordo Parry, turned east and headed back toward estancia Caleta Maria. It was definitely a calmer ride on the way back, but there was still some rocking. Jo’s final strategy for Operation: Don’t Get Seasick! was to sleep again for an hour before sitting on the top deck with Matt for the rest of the ride (it was dry this time). We enjoyed the views and the calmer weather.

Smoother sailing with the wind

Fin Fiordo

We disembarked back onto the raft, which delivered us to the beach. We walked back along the shoreline toward the van while collecting some beach rocks and shells. Because of the schedule changes on the board, we made it back to estancia Lago Fagnano a bit earlier than originally expected and had time to walk over and see the lakeshore. Some excellent rock-skipping opportunities, but otherwise it was getting cloudy and a hot shower sounded better than grey skies.

Hello, Captain… I want to go on land!

Jo relieved to be back on solid ground with cool rocks.

Everyone met up for drinks, appetizers, and dinner at 7:00 pm. Alexis served the best Chilean sea bass we’ve ever eaten. Roberto gave us our plan for tomorrow – a relaxing day with a 4km hike to a summit/lookout point. A couple more Pisco Sours and off to bed we go!

Today’s turndown note… Darwin Mountain Range: “And then emerged the Mountains, the end of the Andes Mountain Range, just before the land ends. They gifted us their splendor with their masses of ice; possibly ephemeral.”