Tuesday, February 28

Today was billed as a day of scenic sailing through the Chilean fjords.  That took place from 5:00 am to 8:30 am.  The only problem was that the sun didn’t come up until 7:30 am, so we could see nothing in the dark.  The sun did give us a few glimpses back into the fjords as we left, sailing into much rougher waters.  Since this was therefore basically an at sea day, look here for what we actually did with our time on the ship. (Actually, I think the day was just mislabeled, because on Wednesday, which was billed a “day at sea” we had very scenic sailing to see the Amalia Glacier.)

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Today, we got up, dressed for the outdoors, and went to breakfast armed with our cameras.  At approximately 9:00 am we sailed into the Amalia Fjord, part of the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park.  We got within 3000 meters of the glacier – the closest we could get safely.  It was a wonder. A majestic site from afar and close up, enormous, and hard to gauge the size of what we were seeing as there were no humans or human artifacts to use for scale. I believe this is the first glacier I have perceived – that is, actually see it and understand its shape and its flow. We were told that it contains enough fresh water locked in the blue and white ice to satisfy the world’s population for 50 years.  That’s impressive, isn’t it?  It’s two miles wide here at the outlet and in total covers over 650 square miles.

The ship made a “viewing party” of the event serving mimosas and donuts and churros.  People gathered on various decks, both inside and outside to see and especially take pictures. All in all, we got a fantastic look and some great pictures in the hour and a half we spent in the fjord.

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