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CHILE
PATAGONIAN FJORDS - FROM PUERTO NATALES TO PUERTO MONTT (Nov 2007)   photos

Taking the Navimag ferry along almost the entire coast of Chilean Patagonia is one of the great journeys of South America. It covers over 1500km and takes 4 days to go from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, or vice versa. My journey started in Puerto Natales. On Friday the 2nd of November all the passengers boarded the ship which just arrived late because of strong winds. Nothing new in Patagonia, but it was funny to watch people coming into the waiting room and struggling to close the door! As it was the first sailing of the high season (starts from November 1st) the price went up to $370, there were only about 40 passengers. It made it easy to get to know everyone, and soon we had a group of about 15 backpackers. That evening we only had some briefings and supper. I have to say, the food was great! The ship started sailing at 6am the next day, so everyone went upstairs and had some beer. And some wine, and some vodka... Needles to say, we had a great time! It got even better at midnight, because 3rd of November is my birthday. I had to drink vodka shots! I enjoyed myself so much that night (I have pictures to prove it, but I can't show them here).  Unfortunately the next morning...not so much.

It was a grey, windy day.  Our ferry called "Evangelistas" entered the Patagonian channels and we were woken up at 7am to see how much skill it requires to overcome the narrowest channel of the journey.  Small rocky islands dotted our route, but wind and rain didn't allow us to enjoy the scenery.  I could hardly see the snow-covered mountains because of low clouds.  On Sunday we woke up to a blue sky, everyone was sitting outside, taking in the beauty and remoteness of this part of the world.  Evergreen forests, mountains and glaciers, beautiful and unspoiled.  We passed by the wreck of "Capitan Leonidas" stuck on top of a rock 3m below the surface.  She was transporting sugar in the 70' when the captain, Leonidas, sold his cargo in Uruguay and intended to sink his ship to claim insurance.  But it didn't sink, it got stuck and the following investigation uncovered the whole truth.  Later we were sailing in the open sea for a few hours, it was a little rough but nobody was sick.

The last day was the least interesting.  The channels were very wide and the sky was grey.  But in the evening there was a good-bye party, with games and lots of beer.  No beer for me this time, I had enough the first night!  By 9pm we were in Puerto Montt.  The next morning we had breakfast and left the "Evangelistas".