I surprised myself this morning by getting up very early once again to witness our sailing to Cape Horn. Viking Octantis did not arrive at the Horn via the scheduled route, however. Because of the rough conditions in the open ocean last night, the Captain made the decision to sail the Beagle Channel instead.
The Captain was determined to take us to Cape Horn, however, so he exited the Beagle Channel and approached the Horn from the east, despite a wind speed of 52 knots.
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| Our Route To and From Cape Horn |
The Expedition Team provided commentary as we approached Cape Horn, a treacherous, rocky headland on Hornos Island at the southern tip of the Chilean Tierra del Fuego archipelago. Cape Horn marks the meeting point of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was the primary, but extremely dangerous, route between the oceans before the Panama Canal was built. Today, the Horn is no longer a shipping route.
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| Approaching Cape Horn |
On the island are a Chilean naval station, lighthouse, and memorial. Because a Chilean pilot was onboard Viking Octantis, we were allowed to sail very close to Cape Horn and get a good look at the lighthouse. I learned later that conditions prevented Viking Polaris, our sister ship, from sailing by Cape Horn, so I feel very lucky to have seen this landmark.
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| The Lighthouse at Cape Horn |
At lunch, a Tiramisu Station was quite popular. It’s too bad that one of the penguins manning (birding?) the station had a broken arm.
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| Tiramisu Station |
Around 4:30 pm, we reached Puerto Williams, Chile, in the Beagle Channel. Ships passing through Puerto Williams are required to complete various clearance and inspection procedures with local authorities, and we were advised that this could take several hours. When I asked why it might take so long, one of our Expedition Team members jokingly said that Chilean authorities love stamps. Only one ship was in front of us, but we still were not cleared until 8:00 pm.
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| Waiting Our Turn at Puerto Williams - A Ponant Ship Was Ahead of Us |
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| Beautiful Mountain Views as We Finally Left Puerto Williams |
Viviana Guzman, who entertained us with her flute two days ago, was back for a final performance, “Nomadic Notes, Music Without Borders.” She performed a variety of music to a backdrop of beautiful videos.
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| Viviana Guzman and Her Flute |
Today marked the end of the second segment of our cruise, from Valparaiso to Ushuaia. Up next is a round trip from Ushuaia to visit Antarctica.
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| Segment 2 - Valparaiso, Chile, to Ushuaia, Argentina |
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