CRUISING CHILE'S INSIDE PASSAGE
ON THE PATAGONIA EXPRESS

Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll

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A sound like plowing through gravel drowned out the classical Spanish guitar music permeating the ship. Our catamaran's double hulls were noisily parting a flotilla of diminutive aquamarine and diamond icebergs in the Laguna San Rafael.

Passengers depart in Zodiac from the twin-hulled Patagonia Express. Chile.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

As we ventured farther into the inlet, the icebergs grew more immense and more colorful. We searched for words to describe their hues: menthol-blue, ice-blue, powder-blue, baby-blue, mint-blue, stained-glass-window blue.

A thundering crash diverted our attention to the source of the crystalline mountains of ice: the San Rafael Glacier. It calved a house-size iceberg which slipped into the sea, creating a cloud of spray and undulating ripples that gently rocked our boat. Black-backed gulls flocked to the site, to scoop up fish stunned by the impact.

Laguna San Rafael National Park

Stretching three kilometers across, and 40 meters high, the glacier is the focal point of the 1.7-million-hectare Laguna San Rafael National Park. The icy tongue is only an offshoot of the massive northern Patagonian ice sheet.

At the end of the last Ice Age, its retreating glaciers eroded the valley bottoms to such a degree, that the ocean eventually flooded them, giving rise to the fiords that now splinter the coast.

Backed by the 4,058-meter-high Monte San Valentin, the highest peak in the southern Andes, the glacier is an intimidating spectacle, especially when viewed from a tiny Zodiac.

We donned vibrant orange life-preservers, and boarded the small vessel, eight at a time. (The Patagonia Express holds 56 people. We were a polyglot group, coming as we did from Argentina, Australia, Britain, France, Spain, the U.S. and Canada.) Cameras in hand, we were all on deck, photographing our fellow passengers on the rubber raft, dwarfed by the jagged fragments of floating ice.

Passengers in Zodiac explore the San Rafael Glacier. Patagonia, Chile.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

When our turn came, we eagerly boarded the craft, in spite of the somber clouds that gathered, like heavy curtains, over the glacier. Without the sun, the blue colors were even more intense.

Glacier ice cools our pisco sours

We zoomed along the glacier's crevassed facade, darting between wallowing icebergs. A curious black face popped out of the water and eyed us intently. Satisfied, the seal dove back in, only to poke his ebony head out of the sea, on the other side of our Zodiac.

A crew member used a pronged stick to coax a punchbowl-sized iceberg into a net bag, which he hauled into the boat. With our booty stowed onboard, we navigated back to the ship, making a grand entrance between the twin hulls of the catamaran.

As the Patagonia Express departed from Laguna San Rafael, the bartender chopped the chunk of 30,000-year-old glacial ice, to cool our pisco sours — Chile's margarita-like national drink. We raised our glasses in a toast to one of the world's most awesome cruises.

More glaciers than Alaska

With more mountains than the Alps, more glaciers than Alaska, and more fjords than Norway, Denmark and Sweden combined, Chile's filigreed southwest coast is indeed something to celebrate.

We threaded our way between forested islands that are actually the verdant tops of the submerged coastal Andean range. Isla Magdalena is a national park. The rest of the archipelago is equally unspoiled.

On the Patagonia Express, the roomy padded seats recline. You can put your feet up on the footrests and enjoy the view, read or watch videos about the local flora and fauna on the television. Meals with wine, afternoon-tea, onboard drinks, tours and local transportation were all included.

The Patagonia Express docks at Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Despite these advantages, there was another reason why we selected the Patagonia Express, instead of another Chilean Inside Passage cruise. Rather than sleep onboard in cabins, rocked by the sea, passengers spend the night at Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa, a pristine wooden lodge, accessible only by boat.

Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa

We arrived after dark, when amber lights glowed from the windows and a fire blazed in the fireplace. Welcome drinks waited, as did a four-course dinner of crab-stuffed chicken and grilled salmon with herb sauce. After indulging in a dessert buffet of parfaits, tortes, crepes and pies, we waddled to our peaked-roofed wooden chalet for the night.

We awoke early to birdsong. Yellow dahlias, blue hydrangeas and red roses surrounded our chalet. Vibrant pink fuchsias draped themselves over the roof, attracting squadrons of tiny hummingbirds.

Father and son outside home in Puerto Puyuhuapi. Patagonia, Chile.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Mist rose from the emerald bay, in front of the lodge, where the Patagonia Express had docked for the night. We followed a path skirting the bay to a waterfall that cascaded in four tiers through a profusion of ferns, bamboo and Kermit-green moss.

There's plenty to for passengers to do at the hotel, from hiking and fly-fishing to soaking in steam baths and Jacuzzis in the only Thalassotherapy Center in Chile.

Hanging glacier and thermal pools

Some guests opted to visit Queulat National Park, home to a sizable hanging glacier and the world's smallest deer, the pudu. We made a short excursion to the fishing village of Puerto Puyuhuapi.

It was Sunday, and most of the villagers were singing hymns in the blue-painted, wooden-shingled church. A young boy rode a pony bareback, as his father and a neighbor played tejas, a game similar to horseshoes. Smoke billowed from chimneys as Sunday dinner baked over wood fires.

Back at the lodge, we indulged in a bountiful seafood buffet. As the sun dropped, like a gold coin into the horizon, we wrapped ourselves in thick white terry robes, and followed a stepping-stone path to where puffs of steam rose above the foliage. Beneath the clouds, we found three thermal pools, naturally heated by babbling hot springs.

Thermal pool at Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa. Chile.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Our favorite was a romantic grotto, surrounded by elephant ear-size tiaca leaves and lacy ferns. We sat on the smooth pebbled bottom and steeped ourselves in the 40°C water, until our skin turned watermelon-pink. Above us, a flock of green parrots roosted in the trees, while clouds played hide-and-seek over the snow-covered mountains.

Steaming hot springs and icy glaciers. Aquamarine icebergs and jade forests. Grey dolphins and green parrots. A sleek catamaran and a cozy wooden lodge. A cruise along Chile's inside passage combines all of these. Few contrasts can be so satisfying.

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa: www.patagonia-connection.com

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Punta Arenas Chile - City at the End of the World

Exploring The Giant Milodon Cave in Puerto Natales Chile

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