Ainsworth Bay / Tucker Island

  Straits of Magellan, Chile
Monday, January 8, 2007

January 7, 2007
Ainsworth Bay / Tucker Island

Dear Readers:

We cruise through the night on Admiralty Fjord to Ainsworth Bay, the site of our first disembarkation.

01 Morning at Ainsworth Bay

Breakfast is served from 8am to 9am, buffet style. We meet at 9:15am in the main lounge to receive instructions about the disembarkation process. They have devised a simple, but effective, method of verifying who is onboard and who has gone ashore.

02 Zodiac Transport

The English-speaking groups are first ashore, landing on a beach at Ainsworth Bay littered with icebergs that have been stranded by the receding tide. Their source is the Marinelli Glacier, which we can see in the distance. There is a light drizzle falling, but the temperature is a comfortable 47 degrees Farenheit.

04 Molting Season

Our guide, Paula, takes a group of about 30 on a two-hour walk through the tide pools and into the adjoining forest area on the terminal moraine of the Marinelli Glacier, which has by now receded several kilometers from where we are standing. There are a few children, and some superannuatants,

05 Lichen

so the walk can better be described as an "amble" with frequent pauses to explore all the wonders of the area in minute detail. I am enjoying talking with some of the older folks and playing with the kids, but grateful that I don't typically travel with such large and diverse groups.

We come across two adolescent Elephant Seals lying on the beach. It is the molting season, and they must spend a few weeks out of the water while they completely change their fur and a layer of skin.

06 Califate Berries

Our guide is obviously very knowledgeable, and excellent at spotting the tiniest things that would normally get trodden underfoot unnoticed by casual passersby. We see Califate berries (jam is on our dining table at each meal, and for sale in the gift shop), unusual mushrooms, something called Indian Bread, which is a mushy fungus that grows on trees, lichens, and an amazing beaver dam.

07 Beaver Dam

She explains that 14 pairs of beavers were introduced in Ushuaia only about 60 years ago, and without any natural predators they have proliferated enormously and traveled great distances. We are about 450 miles from Ushuaia as the crow flies, and tremendous mountains lie in between, yet here are the beavers, industriously chopping down trees to make their dams, and causing damage from which the local environment will most likely never recover. There is a bounty of about $5 per beaver tail, but they are difficult to catch and kill so nobody really does the job full time.

08 Into the Woods

The forest is lush and green and utterly magical. There are tricky bogs, and one has to plant the feet carefully. One of the children goes off the trail, and quickly finds himself stuck up to his knees and sinking fast. The guide performs a rescue and almost gets herself stuck in the process.

10 Chile Waterfowl

I am sticking close to an older woman from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who walks with a cane. She speaks with flawless English, and surveys the beauty with an artist's eye and language. She is traveling alone because her friends don't really like the out-of-the-way places she is attracted to, and she isn't going to stay at home just because she has nobody to accompany her. I really love her spirit.

11 Window of Ice

Returning to the zodiacs I spot a hole in an iceberg that is perfect for a photograph. People notice me getting my picture taken framed by an iceberg, and soon there is a huge line of couples and families who want the same shot.

The pace of shipboard life is deliciously slow, after our jam-packed touring schedule, and I manage to get an hour's nap before lunch and another rest period afterwards! At 3pm there is a presentation about sea mammals. Photos are shown of the varieties we are likely to see during the cruise. I learn the differences between several species of dolphin, and that Killer Whales are actually in the dolphin family.

12 Tucker Island

At 4pm the ship drops anchor at Tucker Island, a very small point of land that we will circumnavigate by zodiac only, not actually setting foot on the island because it is the nesting ground for penguins and cormorants in the thousands and a very fragile environment. Noisy Skua birds flash through the skies and often fight with one another. Pods of the Magellanic Penguins swimming in the sea frequently break the water, perhaps fleeing a predator.

14 Dolphins

Peale Dolphins perform aquatic stunts nearby. The penguins are nesting precariously close to the cliffs. We pass the floating body of one who obviously made a fatal misstep and crashed to his death. We are only out for about an hour, but it is the most interesting and exciting excursion thus far.

15 Mare Australis

At 7:15pm there is a presentation about the flora in the Darwin Mountain Range, followed by dinner at 8pm. There is a delicious turkey breast with caramelized apples. One of my clients doesn't eat sugar, and the staff is always happy to substitute versions of the main dishes without the sweet sauces and also provide a plate of fresh fruit for desert. Tonight I opt for the fruit plate since I calculate that an excess of calories have been consumed judging from the way my trousers are fitting.

16 Smooth Sailing

After dinner we enter the narrowest gorge of the Magdalena Channel, with a beautiful glacier on the left side. It is so warm that waterfalls are raging down the mountain from the glacier. At about 9:45pm there is a fashion show and bingo in one lounge, and a showing of the film "Winged Migration" in the other lounge. I opt to watch beautiful birds in flight. It is a magnificent ending to another wonderful day in Patagonia!

Hugs,
Dan