Cruising to the End of the World with Australis
Ventus in the De Agostini Fjord
If you don’t have a sense of adventure, you don’t need this article or this cruise. Cruising with Australis through Patagonia is a journey to a land of rocky cliffs, snow-capped peaks, glaciers, temperamental weather, and penguins. The landscapes south of the Strait of Magellan appear almost unreasonably dramatic. Sharp granite ridges plunge into icy fjords, glaciers fold down mountainsides as if the last ice age is not so far away, and stubborn forests cling to the coast despite relentless Antarctic winds.
This review covers my full Australis experience, a four-night cruise from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia and a four-night cruise from Ushuaia back to Punta Arenas. There is some overlap in the itinerary, but each is an adventure in itself. In fact, on my cruise, most of the passengers took this trip as a one-way adventure as part of a larger trip in the region.
Australis is not a luxury floating resort. It is a Patagonia adventure cruise, designed to bring travelers to remote places that cannot be reached by road and often not even by foot. If you want a Patagonia cruise that focuses on landscapes, wildlife, indigenous history, and hands-on shore landings, this is the one.
This post will focus on the itinerary. For more about the ship and life on board, read my Ventus Australis Review.
Porter Glacier
Preparing for an Australis Cruise
Expedition cruising requires the right mindset. The ship is comfortable, but the weather dominates everything. Daily briefings emphasize safety, weather, wind, and the fact that plans can change in a moment. In this region, nature is the star and humans are guests.
Language is never a barrier. Guide teams present in multiple languages. English and Spanish are always available, and on our trip, we heard Italian, French, Portuguese, and German. The passengers came mostly from the Americas and Europe, with one man from China who found the cruise to be a clever way to get from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia on a trip that included Torres del Paine and Antarctica.
Mobility Requirements: You do need decent mobility for this trip. The ship has five decks and no elevators. You also need to be able to get on and off a zodiac with assistance. Excursions often include multiple hiking levels, from shoreline nature walks to more challenging climbs with elevation gain. The goal is to bring everyone to shore, not to exclude anyone.
Life vests are provided for all Zodiac rides. The ships carry up to 200 passengers, meaning you avoid crowds and long queues. Each of the cruises I was on had 90 or fewer passengers.
Zodiac Procedures
You arrive with your dry bag with your camera and water bottle, and maybe your walking sticks. You leave your room tag from your lifejacket on a pegboard to keep track of who is off the ship. You step in a puddle of disinfectant to protect the local ecosystem. You are wearing your waterproof pants and jacket with your lifejacket over them ,with all the straps snapped shut.
Boarding Zodiacs becomes routine. Hand your backpack in first. Crew members steady you with a wrist-to-wrist handshake. You step in with a 3-step Chilean Cha Cha Cha, one foot on the ladder, one on the rubber of the zodiac, and then one on the wooden box in the front. Get in, sit, and scoot to the back. You might board in calm waters or when there is motion in the ocean.
Sometimes you go ashore on a dock or gangplank, sometimes you sit on the edge and throw your legs over. In 9 days and 8 nights, I had one wet landing, at least one wave in the face, and many muddy paths.
Reboarding the ship is a similar process.
Guides
The guides are patient, good-natured, and prepared. They identify birds and plants and tell you tales of explorers and of the native peoples of Patagonia, including the Yamana who lived in the Beagle Channel area.
Landscape
While this article focuses on specific excursions, I need to pause a bit before I jump in to say that this trip is more than just these specific spots. For example, on the first full day, as we sailed past the Darwin Mountains, we passed perhaps one hundred different small waterfalls coming down from rough, rocky mountains.
There is beauty everywhere along this trip. When you are not on a zodiac or on land, you will want to be sitting by a window.
Part One: Punta Arenas to Ushuaia Cruise Itinerary
Magellan Strait, Beagle Channel, Cape Horn, and Indigenous Patagonia
Day 1 – Embarkation in Punta Arenas
Embarkation in Punta Arenas was simple. We stayed the night before at the Hotel Cabo de Hornos, which is also run by Australis. The hotel was close enough to the port that we just walked there with carry-on suitcases in tow. We made a stop for lunch on the way at the utterly satisfying The Walk Up Cafe.
There is no sprawling cruise terminal, no carnival atmosphere of rolling suitcases and duty-free shops. Instead, we arrived at a modest building near the pier where staff checked passports and took our luggage. Bags were tagged, collected, and reappeared later inside our cabins.
We could check in between 1 pm and 5 pm. Some passengers checked in and then went back out to explore the city on a rainy day.
At around 5 pm, we were ushered through security, where our hand luggage was x-rayed, into the passenger waiting area. It became clear at that point that we did not have the 200 passengers that would fill the ship, but instead had only 84. At around 6 pm, we headed to the ship in groups of 20 so that we did not have to wait in the rain.
At reception, we turned in a lanyard with our passport and boarding pass and were guided to our cabin, where we were given dry bags and water bottles. We were shown where the filtered water was in the hallways.
When the ship pulls away from the dock, you see the lights of Punta Arenas fade behind you, and the Strait of Magellan opens up ahead. When the winds arrive, you understand immediately why so many explorers struggled in these waters.
The first evening we started what would become a regular procedure, we broke into 3 different groups of passengers by language to receive safety briefings in the 3 lounges before all coming together in the main dining room for a late dinner.
Day 2 – Ainsworth Bay: Alberto de Augustine National Park
Ainsworth Bay
The first landing at Ainsworth Bay teaches you the rhythm of the expedition. After breakfast, an announcement calls the first Zodiac group. There are two groups for this excursion, one will hike along a glacier moraine up to a lookout, and the other will explore the coast o a forest walk. The first has more exertion, and the latter has more information. We opted for the latter.
All of Patagonia was covered by ice during the last ice age, and you can clearly see in Ainsworth Bay the line where the glacier receded in more recent years. When glaciers recede, they leave bare polished rock. Life starts with lichens and then moss. Then bushes like fire bush take root in the shallow soils that are forming, followed by tiny evergreen beech trees (a misnomer, as the Latin name for the tree, Nothofagus, literally means “false beech”).
As you walk away from the show, you can see the passage of time with each step until you get to a line of trees that is a forest. Within the forest, the trees were covered with a parasite called Indian bread that the natives harvested. There are Winter’s Bark bushes, which are a great source of Vitamin C, and Calafaté bushes with a blueberry-like fruit high in antioxidants.
Further on, the forest was dying, turning into meadow and marsh. The culprit is Canadian Beavers. During the Pinochet regime, these were introduced into Patagonia with the idea of trapping them for their fur. The problem was that the beavers had no predators like bears, and that the weather in Patagonia is like a Beaver Caribbean compared to the cold winters of Canada. Apparently, without the cold and the adrenaline from fleeing predators, the beaver’s fur was not commercially useful.
Tuckers Islets: Penguins and Cormorants
Later that afternoon, we took a Zodiac to Tuckers Islets. These rocky habitats are home to Magallanes penguin colonies. The birds waddle up familiar paths and shuffle toward the surf. The Zodiac never lands here. You watch wildlife from the water to avoid disturbing nests. The guides speak softly, and everyone else goes quiet.
On the way to and from the penguin beach, we saw cormorants nesting high up the side of a cliff. With a zoom lens or binoculars, you could make out the blue eyes of the cormorants.
Engine Room Tour
When half of the passengers were looking at penguins, the other half was back on the boat and were given the chance to do an engine room tour of the ship.
Entering the Beagle Channel
After leaving Tuckers Islets, we sailed down around the western end of the island of Tierra del Fuego to enter the Beagle Channel. You briefly enter waters open to the ill-named Pacific Ocean. So in the middle of the night, the ship gets a bit more motion.
Day 3 – Glacier Day
Pia Glacier
Pia Glacier is massive. It is about 1 km (.6 mile) across and 100 m ( 300 feet) tall. The bay in front of the glacier was filled with ice, and the air would fill with the sounds of ice cracking, but on this visit, we did not see any ice calve (fall off) the glacier. Pia reaches all the way to the water, so it is a tidewater glacier.
We joined the sister ship Stella that was anchored in front of Pia Glacier. This is the one place where the two ships meet each week, with one heading to Ushuaia and the other to Punta Arenas. The two ships are similar in appearance. The Ventus was commissioned in 2017, and the Stella in 2010.
There is a smaller, less active glacier to the right of Pia called Sinus, which is a valley glacier. The glacier itself is beneath a moraine of small grey rocks scraped from the valley by the glacier.
There are 3 options for the visit to Pia Glacier. You can do a short walk on the coast, a hike to a lookout, or a more strenuous hike called “Boulders,” where some scrambling is needed.
You land on a large granite rock, which has been scoured by the glaciers and provides surprisingly good footing even on a day when the rock is wet.
We took the lookout tour, which involved some climbing and in places was facilitated by ropes that you could hold onto to steady yourself or pull yourself up the hill. Other parts of the trail were muddy, but the climb was worth it for the views of the glacier. When I mentioned to our guide that I appreciated the work done on the trails, I learned that Australis is responsible for that work on all the stops we made.
Glacier Alley: Five Glaciers in Twelve Miles
One of the highlights of the cruise is Glacier Alley in the Beagle Channel. One enormous glacier after another pours from the mountains into the sea, five glaciers in about twelve miles. Their names echo European nations:
- Romanche
- Alemania (Germany)
- Francia
- Italia
- Holanda.
On this part of the cruise, this is made into an event with appropriate music, snacks, and drinks served in the large Darwin lounge on the 5th Deck.
Day 4 – Cape Horn: Maybe
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is a highlight of the itinerary, but it is not a certainty. Landings depend entirely on conditions. The captain and expedition leader make the final call. On this part of the trip, luck was not on our side. The winds were too strong even to launch the zodiacs. Zodiacs can be launched in winds up to 25-30 knots. The winds that morning were 58-72 knots. The landing was scrubbed. The advantage of the round-trip sailing is that you get two shots at the island.
Cape Horn is not actually on the continent of South America, which is much further north, but it is the southernmost land of the islands just off the coast. Nothing lies south except Antarctica. It is closer to the South Pole than New Zealand or South Africa, nearly 1,000 miles further south than Cape Horn.
Wulaia Bay and Seasickness
Our second stop was Wulaia Bay, but the sea between Cape Horn and Wulaia Bay was a little rough, and for the second time as an adult, I got seasickness. I was in rougher waters off Cape Horn without getting seasick on a previous trip. It is my own fault. I know better than to sit in a warm room and try to read instead of getting fresh air and watching the horizon. We also had not brought any seasickness medication, as we usually don’t need it.
Since we would stop at Wulaia Bay again on the return trip, we opted out on this trip.
Day 5 – Ushuaia Arrival
The winds were strong enough that we arrived late in Ushuaia. We could not enter the port until morning, so we spent the night cruising back and forth in the Beagle Passage between Ushuaia and Port Williams.
Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world according to the UN definition of what constitutes a city. The city is surrounded by snowcapped mountains even in late November. The port looks busy after a week of fjords and wind. The main street has cafés, outdoor gear shops, chocolate stores, and bakeries. Most of the passengers disembarked here for onward travel to other parts of Argentina.
There are numerous tours available from the city. For more information on what to do in Ushuaia, consult Travel to Ushuaia, Argentina – Amateur Traveler Episode 925.
Round-trip passengers like us could board and disembark as we pleased. We could have had lunch on the ship if we wanted. Instead, we did some shopping and had lunch off the ship. Some of the best crafts in town are just to the left of the dock at the craft alley. We had a nice casual lunch at Café Martinez.
We reboarded with our boarding passes and waited for new passengers to join us.
Part 2: Ushuaia to Punta Arenas Cruise Itinerary
The return trip from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas stops at 3 expeditions in common with the other direction: Wulaia Bay, Cape Horn, and Pia Glacier. The rest of the itinerary is new.
Day 6 – Wulaia Bay and Cape Horn
Wulaia Bay
Normally, your first stop would be Cape Horn and then Wulaia Bay, but because the weather would be better at Cape Horn in the evening, the order was reversed for our cruise.
There were again three options for an excursion from more exertion to less: summit (not really the summit), forest-lookout, and beach. We opted for the forest lookout, which was a walk up the hill to a stunning view of the bay with the ship in the distance. It was a picture postcard view. Along the way, the guide talked about the Yámana, showed a recreation of one of their shelters, and gave an introduction to some of the local plants.
Yámana shelter recreation
Before Europeans arrived, Wulaia Bay was an important place for the Yámana, where they could find trees large enough for this year’s canoe. The interpretive center at the landing site houses artifacts and photographs. The center explains how the Yámana traveled by canoe with fire baskets inside their vessels. They did not wear clothing. They relied on body heat, fire, and a coating of seal fat.
In addition, in the interpretation center, you can pick up a postcard to hand deliver when you get home, left by a previous traveler to the island. Like many of the stops on this itinerary, Australis is the only company with permission to land at Wulaia Bay.
Cape Horn: The Edge of the Americas
The decision to change the schedule was the right one, as our second trip to Cape Horn was luckier than the first, and the conditions were such that we could safely land.
We landed at a small sheltered beach and then climbed up stairs to reach the island. There are two main sites on this island. Our first stop was the albatross monument that honors sailors lost in these waters.
Our other stop was the lighthouse, the keeper’s home where a family of 4 lives, and a small chapel. The special thing about Cape Horn is how few people ever reach this “end of the world”.
Day 7 – Glaciers – Day One
Pia Glacier
Our second trip to Pia Glacier was surprisingly different from the first visit, even though they were only 4 days apart. We opted for the leisurely shore walk. The glacier was surprisingly active on this visit, and we watched multiple parts of the glacier calve off with a resounding crack and fall into the sea.
Porter Glacier
The second trip of the day was a visit to the Porter Glacier. Unlike Pia Glacier, there is no landing at Porter Glacier, just a visit by zodiac. Porter Glacier was also active the day of our visit. The very calm waters off Pia Glacier turned choppy as the wind whipped down the glacier and out into the bay.
De Agostini Fjord
Day 8 – Glaciers – Day Two
On the second day of our glacier exploration, we made a stop at the De Agostini Fjord on the north coast of Terra del Fuego Island, where we visited two of the 60 different glaciers that end in this large fjord. The jagged mountains of the De Agostini Fjord rival any I have seen anywhere in the world.
Condor Glacier
Our visit to Condor Glacier was again made in a zodiac without a landing. When we visited Porter Glacier, the waters were calm until we entered the valley in front of the glacier. Condor Glacier was the opposite. We had choppy waters that calmed when we approached Condor Glacier.
As we headed back to the ship, we stopped to see a colony of cormorants, and a sea lion with a large king crab in its mouth poked its head out to say hi.
Aguila (Eagle) Glacier
Landing on the beach for the excursion to Aguila Glacier was our one sort of wet landing. We got off the zodiac at a beach with the waves lapping at the shore. The waters were more choppy on this day, so two extra guides helped steady the zodiac, while three helped passengers on and off. There was only one option for this excursion, which was a beach walk to the glacier.
We landed outside of the lagoon in front of the glacier and walked along the beach exploring the shells and kelp that had washed up on shore. We ventured into the woods that had grown from where the galcer had retreated as guides pointed out some of the same flora we had seen previously at Ainsworth Bay.
The trail ends in front of the glacier. We took our pictures and returned to the ship.
Final Night: Community at Sea
On the last night of each direction, all the passengers gather in the largest lounge. The guides give away the flag from the voyage to one lucky passenger and then auction off the charts from the voyage to Cape Horn.
During the day, the guides gather photographs from passengers and play a slideshow from the trip of Zodiac rides, glacier viewpoints, and penguin encounters. It is a wonderful way to wrap up the adventure, but in this direction, there is one more excursion.
Day 9 – Penguins and Disembarkation
Magdalena Island
Before breakfast, we boarded the zodiacs one last time for an excursion to Magdalena Island, which is close to Punta Arenas. This is a windswept island in the Strait of Mageline that is home to colonies of penguins and seagulls. On the Stella this season, they have had more trouble landing at Magdalena Island than they have had at Cape Horn because of the winds that come through the straits, but this day, the weather was chilly but calm.
On Magdalena Island, you walk without a guide in a 45-minute circuit trail that goes past the penguins and gulls, climbing to the lighthouse and back down again. Penguins will occasionally trapse through the path, but we were instructed to give them room. Somewhere in the distance, a penguin was always vocalizing in a way that sounds like a donkey braying as he or she calls for their mate.
This is a very different experience from Tuckers Islets as it feels much less remote, but much more up close. The island is covered with birds.
Punta Arenas
After breakfast, we put our suitcases in the hall, then gathered up our hand luggage and hung out in the lounge while the crew transferred luggage and started the processes of turning the ship over for another set of lucky passengers. After an hour or so, we were given the all clear to leave, walked down the pier to the same building where our trip had started, grabbed our luggage, and headed on for the rest of our journey.
What to Pack for a Patagonia Cruise
- Layers. Patagonia weather changes in minutes. Wear a quick-dry base layer, a fleece or synthetic puffy midlayer, and a waterproof outer shell. Waterproof pants are essential.
- Footwear. Bring waterproof hiking boots with traction. Leave fashion shoes at home.
- Waterproof Gloves. I actually never post mine as our weather hovered just around or below 50°F or 10°C.
- Hat. A warm hat is non-negotiable. It needs to be something that won’t fly off as you zoom about on a zodiac.
- Camera. You will want a zoom lens for taking pictures of wildlife, but a smartphone camera will work for many shots.
- Sunglasses. The reflected light from a glacier can be blinding.
- Binoculars. When you are trying to see the birds nesting on the cliff above you, binoculars are helpful.
Australis will provide a dry bag, a water bottle, and life vests.
I have read elsewhere online that Australis provides rubber boots, but this is not the case, nor did we find we needed them.
Best times to cruise Patagonia
The cruise season for Australis runs from late September to early April. The ships will be much fuller over the Christmas holidays. The days will be longer near December 21, which is the summer solstice, and will be warmest probably in January or February.
Why Australis Is Worth the Journey
You can hike Patagonia’s national parks and never see these fjords. You can drive Ruta 40 and never reach these glaciers. Australis delivers you directly into places that are otherwise unreachable.
I returned to Punta Arenas with windburned cheeks and a camera full of wonderful shots. I am honestly surprised that there are not more companies providing trips to this amazing part of the world.
My trip was hosted (paid for) by Australis, but the opinions expressed here are my own.
