Always up for unique transportation options, Mr. Wander found a 30 hour ferry that would take us to one of the southern most cities in the world, Puerto Williams. We spent several days relaxing at our lodge after the hike but did use their bikes to visit the town.
Boarding the Glacial Ferry
It was a short 3 hour bus ride that took us from Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas. We walked a few blocks from the bus station to our hotel where we checked in and enjoyed a quiet dinner before turning in. The next morning after breakfast we had plenty of time before we needed to check into the ferry at 4pm. After checkout we decided to slowly walk our way across the city, walking along a boulevard with plenty of statues and gardens along the way
We continued until we reached a mall to find some lunch. I also managed to get some more contact solution and we picked up snacks for our journey. It was interesting, the Pharmacy did not have the contact solution, instead I had to go to an optometrist, so thankfully there was one in the mall as well.
We ordered some fast food chicken and empanadas and enjoyed relaxing awhile. Soon it was time to finish our little hike and we walked a few more minutes to the Tres Puentes port. When we arrived we found our friends from Nepal that we had met up with on the W hike. They decided to join us on this journey south, as she was really hoping to see some of the glaciers in the fjords.
We chatted for awhile until it was time for us to board. We checked our big bags into a storage room and then went upstairs to find our chairs. There were several semis and cars on board heading to Puerto Williams as well but it was mostly foot passengers. The chairs are called “semi-cama” meaning half recline. They had a bit more room than airplane seats, and had a platform you could fold down to support your feet and lower legs. Along one side there were several full cama seats, meaning they fully reclined to a lie-flat, but only Chilean citizens can purchase those.
I appreciated they had a map with our path and the viewpoints along the way, with estimated arrival times. Shortly after the boat was underway they were ready to serve dinner.
It was served cafeteria style and they had other chairs and tables for everyone to eat at. This first meal was roasted chicken with potatoes and an orange. They also had hot water with tea or instant coffee, cold water, and a juice similar to tang available. It was better than I was expecting for the food.
After dinner we were granted some playful dolphins swimming along side the boat as we meandered through the Magellan strait. We ventured outside some to catch the sunset and soon it was dark and time to try and sleep. Unfortunately, so many people kept scrolling videos loudly on their phones, and many stayed up until 2 or 3am talking at the cafe tables. I only got some sleep thanks to some ear plugs!
In the morning breakfast was at 9am which included some muffins, a banana, and I think just a cake. Most of the day we alternated between taking pictures outside, or coming inside. I spent some of it trying to catch up on some notes for posts. At one point, Mr. Wander saw a ship that looked very familiar pass us, it was the sister ship to the one we took to Antarctica, the Seabourn Pursuit.
For lunch they served sandwiches and mroe fruit. That afternoon was the treat of the trip landscape wise, as we were going past several of the big Glaciers, many producing waterfalls in the late summer melt.
One of them was melting so much that several pieces fell off just in the time we were watching!
It had started to rain off and on so we eventually went inside to stay dry and soon it was time for Spaghetti bolognse for dinner. After the sunset we relaxed in our chairs trying to determine when we might arrive. The schedule said 12:30am but so far we had been getting to different landmarks later than their schedule had suggested.
Not too long after it got dark, we got to see glittering lights on the shore and looking at the map that was Ushuaia! We still had 40 miles to cover and to dock but we actually were getting off the ship not long after Midnight. Our hotel host picked us up along with 3 others and took us about 6 miles out of town to our Eco Lodge. He showed us to our rooms and we settled in and got some well needed sleep!
Relaxing in Puerto Williams
Since we didn’t really do any check-in the night before, we didn’t know any of the ins and outs of the hotel, but we made it to breakfast not long after it opened, and our friends joined us as well. They had an amazing spread and my favorite part was this homemade carrot cake, just wow! It was so moist, with the perfect crunch of pecans, and the frosting, I couldn’t quite place it, it didn’t have the tang of cream cheese but it was still very thick.
That morning the owner had us do the check in and he had offered several tours where he works with locals, including those of the indigenous Yahgan community. All 4 of us signed up for Kayaking the next day and the other two were thinking about horseback.
We hung out a bit in the morning, enjoying watching the beautiful channel. I thought the lodge itself had some unique touches as well. So peaceful!
They let us borrow 4 mountain bikes for free to ride into town and we explored a little, finding a small lunch at a bistro. We had papas bravas, which were actually potato chips instead of fries, and they had light cheese sauce made with the merquen spices we had back in Puerto Natales. This might be something we try to replicate, but probably only works well with freshly made chips.
We managed to waste enough time until the museum opened which was free to visitors and shares the Yahgan way of life, and some of the events when they were first exposed to explorers in the 1800s. Before that, they had lived on this island and surrounding areas for 1000s of years. The people survived in the cold by hunting for seals and penguins from canoes and rubbing their fat on their bodies for extra warmth. They would even light fires in the canoes to keep themselves warm.
The museum was really neat, but it was harder without any English Translations. I put google translate to the test but it was pretty slow. At the top of the museum they had a nice lookout where you could see the ferry, the tiny airport, and even the cruise ship docked, as Puerto Williams is where Silversea launches their cruises from.
It was just under 6 miles to get back to the ecolodge and we were very ready for a nice shower. We relaxed, sometimes venturing out to take pictures of the landscape, until it was almost time for dinner.
That evening was a special barbeque he was hosting for several of the crew aboard the ship that was docked. They had a rack of lamb over the fire they had started right as we left that was smelling so good. W
We enjoyed very delicious chicken and lamb as well as several salads, vegetables and dessert. We made a few new friends as well, a woman who was going to board the Silversea cruise for her job, as she works with Royal Carribean as a meterologist, trying to predict weather and provide information for captains as they navigate the Drake passage and other areas.
The other couple were originally from Spain but now live in Iceland and have their own tour company. They tend to stay in colder climates but they do multi day hikes in Iceland in the fall, and this time of year they have a nearly 2 week trip where they hike across the Isla Navarino (the one we were on), then board a sail boat to explore the fjords. This couple does all the sailing and planning! I saved their information in case we wanted to book a trip with them in the future.
It was fun talking to them, but we were all pretty tired so soon we ventued off to bed. The party was slated to go until 3am but by 1 the crew must have went back to the ship and the DJ turned off the music.
The next morning dawned pretty rainy, and we learned that unfortunately we were not going to get to kayak. One of our friends decided to go horseback riding instead and we stayed in, enjoying the lovely bed and beautiful scenery. Mr. Wander was getting excellent at capturing birds, and he got a few of the horses that wandered near the lodge.
We shared dinner at the lodge, which was three courses with a ravioli main. I got a special one that was without mushrooms but the other three had a very intensely mushroomy sauce. I think the filling varied and likely contained leftovers from the bbq the night before.
We had one last day in Puerto Williams but for our friends they were flying back to Punta Arenas before the next stage of their South American Adventure. We said farewell and spent most of our day planning out future sections of our trip.
That evening they had a steak dinner with surprisingly spicy potatoes! We had a quiet evening to ourselves and then went back to the room to pack before our flight the next morning.
A Return to Punta Arenas
We soaked up as much of the scenery as we could that next day until it was time to get a ride to the airport. It was pretty tiny as it usually just has one flight in and out to Punta Arenas on a little prop plane. Some days they have charter flights in and out to accommodate the extra cruise traffic and for that they use normal small jet planes.
On our way to the airport we shared the car with a couple from Scotland who had just finished several days aboard a sailboat that traversed all over the chilean Fjords, what an adventure! We talked a bit about travel while waiting for the plane to arrive.
I think this is a similar model to the plane we took when leaving Lukla to Kathmandu last year after our Everest Trek. We were still able to see the pilots but this time there wasn’t a flight attendant. The flight was really pretty and went along the valley, with views of gorgeous mountains, and sparkling lakes and rivers. It was a little turbulent to start but eventually we were high enough it was quite stable.
After landing, we found an Uber to take us to a different hotel that must have been an old Palace. We took a walk around the area and to a little local place that only sold two kinds of tiny sandwiches, Choripan and Choriqueso. They called the sauce a chorizo which looked tomato base but I’m not sure it contained any pork, perhaps just the spices used for chorizo. The inside was very eclectic and we each had a sandwich with cheese and a large banana milk, and I think we spent less than $5. If we didn’t have other plans for dinner you could probably eat 2-3 of these easy if that was all you ate. The best part though was the banana milk, because it was made with real bananas and had such a nice flavor.
As we headed out we decided to walk closer to the water to get a few pictures and found a statue of the captain who saved Shackleton and his men from their disastrous expedition. Unfortunately the next spot closed just a few minutes after we got there so they didn’t serve us, so instead we headed to the Shakleton Restaurant and bar within the a hotel. We enjoyed some delicious cocktails, made with Shakleton whiskey!
As we were about to leave, our friends from the flight showed up and we chatted a little before heading back to our hotel for the night.
Next Time
After two more travel days through Chile and Peru, we finally make it to La Paz, Bolivia for the start of a group tour with GAdventures, the same company we used in Vietnam and Cambodia last year. We feel the effects of the altitude right away as La Paz is at about 12,000ft. After meeting our companions for the tour around Bolivia, we begin with another early flight to get to Sucre, where we spent several days exploring the culture and culinary delights of Bolivia.
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