We left the dock at 1:11pm from Ushuaia. Since we are further south the days are much longer and we had plenty of daylight. The sunset was 9:39pm. We headed west to begin our sea voyage from Ushuaia and took the north leg of the channel to view of some of the glaciers along the Beagle channel
The Beagle Channel is a strait separating islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, in extreme South America. It separates Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego from several smaller islands to the south. Its eastern portion is part of the border between Chile and Argentina, but the western part is completely within Chile. The Beagle Channel is about 150 miles long and is around three miles wide at its narrowest point. To the west the Darwin Sound connects it to the Pacific Ocean.
The biggest settlement on the channel is Ushuaia in Argentina followed by Puerto Williams in Chile.
The channel is named after the British ship HMS, Beagle, which was in two hydrographic surveys of the coasts of the southern part of South America in the early 19th century. During the first, under the overall command of the Australian Commander Philip Parker Kig, the Beagle's captain Pringle Stokes committed suicide and was replaced by captain Robert FitzRoy. The second is better known as the voyage of the Beagle. It is famous for Captain FitzRoy taking Charles Darwin along as a gentleman's campanion, giving him opportunities as an amateur naturalist (1833-34).
On our sea voyage to Punta Arenas along the north leg of the Beagle Channel we saw six spectacular glaciers. The weather during the journey changed a couple of times but allowed us good views of the glaciers. It began with some blue skies and deteriorated to low hanging clouds and changed to blue skies. The last two glaciers were spectacular.
The first large glacier we saw as we turned onto the north leg of the channel was the Holanda Glacier. Although the clouds were low and extended over the tops of the mountains we could get good views of the Glacier as it spills into the channel. The Holanda glacier lies tucked away along the Beagle Channel in Southern Chili. It can be reached by foot, but the reading I have done say it is a big challenge, since you are required to hike for many hours through beaver swamps etc. It does have a glacial lake with many icebergs.
The second large glacier we saw as we turned onto the north leg of the channel was the Italia Glacier. The clouds were low and still extended over the tops of the mountains but we could still get good views of the Glacier as it spills into the channel. The Italia glacier also is tucked away along the Beagle Channel.
The third largest glacier we saw was the Francia Glacier. This glacier was high in the mountains and never reached the Beagle Channel however the fresh water melt did reach the channel and in the third image you can see the separation of the fresh water from the salt water.
The fourth largest glacier we saw was the Alemania Glacier. It appeared that this flat flowing glacier meandors through the mountains over long distances.
The fifth large glacier we saw was the Romanche Glacier. The sun now began to shine and the blue skies appear giving a great contrast between the white of the snow and the blue of the skies. The waterfalls from this glacier added to the beauty.
The sixth and last large glacier we saw was the Espana Glacier. It was the most spectacular of all because you could see not only the glacier but the back mountain range which gave a potcard view of the snow covered Andes Mountains.
