Antarctica - Tierra del Fuego to the Antarctic Peninsula

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The Antarctic Peninsula - a holiday destination like no other!

It's a blue and white world at the bottom of the globe. And its cold!

I was fortunate enough to cruise around a little of it recently, my voyage starting in Valpariso, Chile - sailing down the Chilean Fjords to Tierra del Fuego, across Drake Passage to end in Buenos Aires.

Come with me on my journey to the bottom of the world.

The Beagle Channel - Tierra del Fuego 

The tail end of the world

There are still places in this world where you stand in awe.
Where there is an aura of solemnity.
The Beagle Channel is one of them - and it is something you don't expect when you just around the corner from Cape Horn.
Apart from its stark beauty, what struck me about it was its solemn stillness.
Glaciers and ice make little sound.
New-fold mountains sleep, their great stubbled chins pointed skywards while above them condors the size of worker bees wheel in effortless in silent circles.
A thousand streams and waterfalls glisten as they slip relentlessly over honed rock faces only to disappear in the wooded banks below.
Penguins and occasional whales grace the water, while on the scattered rocky outcrops, seals wallow unperturbed while on tiny islands innumerable cormorants hold out their flaccid wings to dry.
Beneath the crystal waters, tall weeds wave their golden fronds as the small boat passes above them leaving barely a ripple on the surface.

The Beagle Channel stretches 120 miles long and two miles wide, and Charles Darwin likened it to the valley of Scotland's Lockness.
In his words:
"The lofty mountains rise to a height of 3,000 and 4,000 feet%u2026covered by a wide mantle of perpetual snow, and numerous cascades pour their waters through the woods, into the narrow channel below. In many parts, magnificent glaciers extend from the mountainside to the water's edge. It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of there glaciers and the dead white of the upper expanse of snow." (The Voyage of the HMS Beagle).

The Channel is probably unchanged since the time HMS 'Beagle' made its first passage in the 1830s and it will be that same scene which will greet the replica ship when she sails south in a few years time.

Thanks to Peter Grath, I have just learned of the Beagle Project Pembrokeshire,
Zoologist, Peter, and David Lort-Phillips director of the Darwin Centre for Biology and Medicine in Wales are co-founders of the project to build a replica of the Beagle.
2009 - the project seems to have been becalmed.
To find out more go to http://www.beagleproject.com

Icebergs off the starboard beam 

Size is deceptive.
Shapes are incredible.
The blue colouration designates the age of the ice.

The Beagle Passage at the tail-end of the World 

Charles Darwin and Fitzroy navigated the channel in HMS "Beagle" and named it.
It runs betweent he island of Tierra del Fuego and the myriads of islands scattered in the sea.
The criss-crossing channels in the area are like a maze and even today this is a hazardous place for shipping.

Otway Sound penguin 

This is an Otway Sound Penquin out from Punta Arenas.
The penguins I caught on film on riding on icebergs were on the movie camera - sorry folks.

Sailing to Antarctica on the "Europe" 

Europa is a square rigged ship run by Victory Cruises.
She sails out of Usuaia on Tierra del Fuego and she is on my wish list.
Would love to sail on her.

Photo from www.victorycruises.com

Holiday in Antarctica - Iceberg ahoy! 

If you are lucky you will see a group of penguins taking a ride on one of the islands of ice.

Rainbow at the bottom of the world 

I've never seen a rainbow which just skimmed the water.

Neptunes window - From Deception Island looking out 

It's a chunk chopped out of the rim of the volcano - or as one author said - like a battleship had fired a hundred broadsides into its armament.

Deception Island - Neptune's Bellows and Ravn Rock 

The entrance to Deception island - an active volcano - is only about 500 yards agross.
Somewhere not far below the water is Raven Rock - a jagged rock which can and has toen the bottom out of unsuspecting ships.

Antarctic art - a natural ice sculpure 

As the ice melts form the bergs it takes on the most remarkable shapes and appearances. This one looked at first looked like a turtle then a lizard.
It's magic!

Blue growler off the starboard side 

Blue ice out of the window

You don't have to look far for growlers!

Out for a Saturday afternoon sail? In Antarctic waters? 

Unidentified yacht at Anchor in Deception Island close to the Antarctic Circle.
No that is not a black and white photo though it looks like it.
And those are not clouds in the background.
That's snow on black volcanic ash inside the caldera.
Eerie!

Cruise Antartica - unforgiving, unforgettable, majestic 

The mountains are razor tipped and inhospitable.
Yet beautiful beyond description!

Experiencing Antartica inspired authors next novel 

Due in May 2010, FLOATING GOLD is set mainly in the freezing waters of the Antartica Peninsula.

FLOATING GOLD has its own Squidoo lens.

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THE CONDOR'S FEATHER by Margaret Muir 

An equestrian adventure set in Patagonia in 1885

The first time I visited South America was during my trip to Antarctica.
The ship called in at Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan, and at Ushuaia - Tierra Del Fuego - the most southern city in the world.
Here I learned a little about the history, about the Indians and the conditions.
That visit inspired me to write a story set in Patagonia.

Find out more about THE CONDOR'S FEATHER - a dramatic adventure story - go to the LINK list below.

THE CONDOR'S FEATHER is due July 2009.
To order at a BIG discount price and with FREE WORLDWIDE DELIVERY go to:
THE BOOK DEPOSITORYis an on-line bookshop which not only gives discount prices but provides Free Worldwide Delivery.
UK buyers can order postage Free and with a discount from www.halebooks.com

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My Website and Blog 

Margaret Muir - author - blogspot
Vaiety is the spice of life - tall ships, cruising, travel, goats and books and hisotry.
Margaret Muir - author - website
Fairly static site but you can CONTACT ME through these pages

Have you visited Antarctica or would you like to go? 

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by throughglasseyes

Hi, my name's Margaret Muir. I'm an author and I live in Tasmania (Au). I enjoy writing and have had four novels published. I also love tall ships and...

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