Destination
Patagonia
Where the roads end and the fjords begin: Cape Horn, Glacier Alley and the channels of Tierra del Fuego, sailed by expedition ship.
Destination
Where the roads end and the fjords begin: Cape Horn, Glacier Alley and the channels of Tierra del Fuego, sailed by expedition ship.
The case for Patagonia
At the bottom of Patagonia the roads stop and the water keeps going.
The fjords of Tierra del Fuego are reached by ship or not at all. Zodiacs run to the foot of the Pia glacier, elephant seals haul out at Ainsworth Bay, and penguins hold the islets of the Strait of Magellan. Cape Horn stands where two oceans meet, and the wind tells you so. Our voyages sail these channels between Punta Arenas and Ushuaia, each taking a different line through them.
Timing
A small expedition ship through the fjords and channels of Tierra del Fuego, at the very bottom of the continent. Days follow the water: the ship repositions overnight, and mornings open on a glacier face, a Zodiac landing on a beach with no road to it, or a colony of Magellanic penguins. Most sailings round Cape Horn itself, weather permitting.
This is not a hiking holiday with a boat attached. What it buys you is the part of Patagonia the roads never reach, which is most of it.
The austral summer, roughly October through April, is the season, and the ships sail only within it. March and November are our picks: March brings autumn color and the wind finally easing, November brings long days and thinner crowds than the January peak.
January and February are the height of the season and also the height of the wind, and they book furthest ahead. From May the lodges close and the sailings stop until spring.
Less than the word expedition suggests. Every trip carries a physical rating of 2 out of 5. The ship does the travelling; you walk when you choose to, on shore excursions that run from an easy beach landing to an hour or two on uneven ground.
The one thing worth being comfortable with is stepping in and out of a Zodiac in a swell, with a crew member holding your arm. Skip any landing you do not fancy and the view from the deck is still the reason you came.
Real, and part of the character of the place rather than a flaw in it. Patagonia runs through four seasons in a day, the wind is famous for good reason, and it peaks in the January and February high summer. Sheltered channels are a good deal calmer than the open water either side of them.
Bring proper layers and a genuine waterproof shell; the ship provides what you need for the landings. Weather occasionally moves an excursion or a Cape Horn attempt, and the crew decides that on the day, on the side of safety.
Our five-day sailings run from about US$2,080 per person and the nine-day round trip from about US$3,750, at double occupancy. That covers the cabin for the whole voyage, all meals, an open bar with no exclusions, and every shore excursion by Zodiac with the expedition team.
On top of that, budget international flights to Chile or Argentina, the domestic flights down to Punta Arenas or Ushuaia, travel insurance and tips. The price we agree with you is per person and it is fixed, so a group that grows later pays the same rate for more people.
At the bottom of the continent, in Punta Arenas in Chile or Ushuaia in Argentina, both a domestic flight from Santiago or Buenos Aires. The five-day sailings run one way between the two, so you fly into one city and home from the other; the nine-day is a round trip from Punta Arenas.
Those domestic flights are not in the package price, since the fare depends on your dates, and we arrange them with your trip. If you want a night either side, or Torres del Paine added on land before you sail, ask us and we will price it with your itinerary.
