Best of Chilean Patagonia: From Torres del Paine to Cape Horn

Fly by private charter flight to Ushuaia, Argentina. Soar over Patagonia before landing in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. If the weather is fine, then there will be a chance to view the spectacular mountains rising out of the Beagle Channel as you enjoy lunch on a catamaran cruise. Embark the ship and set sail.

With special permission to visit extraordinary Staten Island, your small ship is one of the only expedition ships ever allowed here. It’s a place of superlatives, barely touched in recent decades and visited primarily by a few scientists and those who staff the tiny naval observatory. The island was named by Dutch explorers in 1615. Its mountainous, forested landscapes and rugged fjords are beautiful. A great deal of interest is found here and the exact schedule will remain flexible to take best advantage of conditions. Look for southern rockhopper and Magellanic penguins, many other water birds, and fur seals, otters and sea lions. See the replica of the 1884 San Juan de Salvamento lighthouse at the end of the world, which inspired Jules Verne’s novel by the same name. There will be chances to walk in the southern beech forests. These days are bound to stand out as a unique chance to explore a very remote place.

Today visit Cape Horn, near the southernmost tip of the South American continent, named in 1616 for the Dutch town of Hoorn. These waters are famously difficult to navigate, and over the centuries have been the graveyard of many ships—which before the opening of the Panama Canal had to round the Cape to sail between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Of course, the ship’s modern equipment enables safe exploration. Weather permitting, take Zodiacs ashore and walk to the top of the hill for panoramic views and to see the memorial placed there in 1992, showing an albatross in silhouette.

Today explore more stunning wilderness while viewing the fjords and glaciers of the region by Zodiac, kayak and on foot. A vast area of soaring, snowcapped mountains, gigantic glaciers, thousands of verdant islands, serene lakes, and waterfalls—the archipelago is scarcely touched by man. Take Zodiacs out to explore these protected waters and rugged shores, the blue and white of ice contrasting with greens of the forest highlighted by splashes of flowering plants. Look for the Andean condors, albatrosses, grebes, petrels, fulmars, shearwaters and many other birds that inhabit this otherworldly realm. Then sail the Beagle Channel and hike and kayak through the wild areas in this region filled with beech forests, mountains and wild rivers.

Tierra del Fuego is one of Patagonia’s crown jewels. Visit its newest and largest protected area: Karukinka Natural Park. Established in 2004 through a gift from Goldman Sachs, Karukinka is one of the largest donations ever made for conservation. Explore, with special permission from the Wildlife Conservation Society, this private reserve, which spans 1,160 square miles and harbors endangered culpeo fox, Andean condors, albatross, grebes, petrels, fulmars, shearwaters and many other kinds of wildlife. Visit Jackson Bay, backed by a skyline of rugged mountains and look for wildlife including black-browed albatross that nest on one of the nearby small islands. Perhaps walk a trail to a lovely waterfall and look for elephant seals resting on not only the beach but also high in the grass meadows and even in the small river draining the valley inland.

Today be treated to the spectacular features of an active glaciated landscape with hanging valleys and tributary glaciers. This region was navigated by Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition and it took most of November 1520 for his ships to find a way through the channels that lie between the continental mainland and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The captain and local pilots guide the aptly sized ship through Kirke Narrows. Hope to make a first stop in the extensive maze of channels and islands of the Chilean fjords, where possibilities exist to explore by Zodiac and kayak. The captain and local pilots guide the ship through Kirke or White Narrows, accessible only to a small ship and always a challenge to navigate because of the powerful currents that flow through the pinch point. Be on deck to look for condors and other wildlife as the ship makes her way to Puerto Natales.

Drive into this UNESCO Biosphere reserve and spend 3 days at Explora Patagonia Lodge or Tierra Patagonia Hotel, discovering one of the most wildlife-rich areas in the Americas, covering 450,000 acres of glaciers, forests, grasslands, rivers and colorful lagoons. Choose among a variety of possibilities, including walks and hikes, horseback riding, sailing among icebergs to the foot of the immense Grey Glacier, visiting the Salto Grande waterfall and seeing the towers of the central massif from the Blue Lagoon. Look out for guanacos, gray foxes, rheas and Andean condors.

Enjoy a final morning to explore Torres del Paine, then drive to Puerto Natales.

Drive from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, take a flight to Santiago and connect to your overnight flight home.