MS Fridtjof Nansen – that’s the name of the cruise ship that took us down the coast of Chile, through the fjords of Patagonia, and onwards to Antarctica. It’s an incredible boat. It’s not a standard cruise ship, it’s an expedition ship, so there are no nightly shows or extravagant entertainment services. Instead, there are lectures on the wildlife, geology and history of the southern regions, workshops on clouds, knots and feathers, and briefings on how to use zodiacs (small dingy boats that allow us to explore glaciers and icy regions that the large cruise boats can’t access). It’s also focused on sustainability, so the engines are hybrid, the water used to cool the engines becomes the hot water in the showers, and any time you decline room cleaning services the cruise line donates to charity on your behalf. Despite all of this minimalism, it was still the most luxurious ship I’ve ever been on. Previously we’d been in inside cabins with no porthole, but this time every room was on the outside of the boat, with not just a porthole but a large window offering incredible views. The bed was huge, the shower was huge, the TV was huge. We even had our own thermostat for the room and the bathroom floor was heated, what luxury! The rest of the boat is fantastic too – hot tubs on the top deck, a large all lounge with panoramic windows and a pianist playing for 8 hours every day, and a science lab with high tech microscopes and skeletons of the coolest polar animals. The star of the show is the sauna, which has the classic Scandinavian wood cabin feel, with floor to ceiling windows allowing you to enjoy the steam while watching the icebergs float by outside.

We embarked on the 1^st November, and spent the next two days at sea, enjoying the amenities, lounging in our luxurious cabin, and making good use of the all inclusive food, drinks and hot tubs.

Our first port of call was Castro on Chiloe Island, in the Lake District Region of Southern Chile. The island is known for its colourful stilt houses, and our walking tour of the town included many viewpoints of these iconic buildings. We also crunched across a beach made almost entirely of muscle shells, visited a UNESCO Heritage listed catholic church, explored a hill top cemetery, and perused the artisan markets on the waterfront. It was a nice stop, though very rainy. I should admit at this point that this is an extremely expensive cruise (if you couldn’t guess) and the only reason we can afford to be here is because I received a significant discount thanks to being a travel agent selling this cruise line (it’s called Hurtigruten and if you fancy a cruise any time soon with this line or anyone else please do get in touch!). Ordinarily we would not pay for any excursions at cruise destinations as we are more than happy to explore ourselves, but our walking tour in Castro was an included excursion which we were happy to make use of. Of course, once back on board, we settled ourselves into the hot tubs to watch the boat pull away from port.

We then had two more sea days before our next port. Chile is an extremely long country, it turns out. This time we had some slightly less nerdy activities, including a salsa class and a live band made up of various crew members, mostly from the kitchen staff with one of the assistant captains on guitar. We were due to have an additional stop within this time, but a few weeks before departure we were informed that this stop wouldn’t be possible due to tide timings. We had been pretty frustrated with this, as the port would have been one only accessible by sea, so we won’t ever make it back here, and as far as we’re aware tide charts are knowable years in advance, so this shouldn’t have been a last minute change. We ended up still sailing through much of the fjordland in this area, which was our main interest, and so missing out on the port didn’t end up being so bad. It also meant we had some extra time before our next port, and were able to make a stop at Amalia Glacier. Here we boarded the small zodiac boats, 10 at a time, and managed to get up close and personal with the end of this massive glacier, watching pieces calve off and plummet into the sea, before weaving between chunks of floating ice as we made our way back to the ship. Again, we headed straight to the hot tubs, because what else is there to do when cruising by a glacier but get in the hot tub? I’m so privileged. It was incredible.

The next stop was Puerto Natales, where we spent 2 nights in port. We were able to join another included excursion here on the first day, spending a brief period of time exploring the town, before heading to a large cave where bones of a prehistoric species of enormous sloth have been discovered. The cave itself is big but otherwise not super exciting. The interest comes from the various paleontological discoveries here, which included remnants of the milodon (the enormous sloth relative), an ancestor of the modern day camel with a snout like an anteater, and other extinct horses, foxes, and humans. Unfortunately no remnants remain in Chile, as most were stolen and sold to museums in various European and American locations.

The next day most guests from the cruise headed to Torres Del Paine National Park on paid excursions. This is an absolute highlight of the continent, let alone the region, and something that’s been on my bucket list for a long time. Because of this, we will be returning to this area after the end of the cruise, in order to spend more time doing a multi-day hike through the park. So this time, we didn’t feel the need to spend cruise ship prices to visit something we will come back to and visit in more depth on a lower budget. We therefore had a very free day, where we wandered the town a little more, and joined a waterfront wander with the science team who also had very little to do, learning about sea birds, seaweed, and the history of Darwin’s journey through this region. We were also able to leave a bag at the hostel we will stay at when we return here in two weeks, with our camping equipment and excess gear that we don’t want to travel with between now and then. And, of course, we made use of the hot tub while we were some of the only guests left on board.

The next day and a half was spent sailing past more glaciers, learning about oceanography, drinking cocktails and steaming in the sauna. For our final stop before leaving the continent, we attempted a landing on Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. It’s where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet, and the last stop before the Drake Passage, known to be the roughest sea crossing because it’s the only place in the world that the ocean can flow continuously around the globe, with no land to slow it down. This makes Cape Horn a difficult landing if weather is rough, and our captain had only a 25% success rate after years of sailing these waters, but the conditions were in our favour this time. We were able to wander around the rugged clifftops, visit the lighthouse and small chapel, and view the many monuments commemorating the sailors who lost their lives attempting to sail around the cape over the past few centuries. After this we headed due south towards Antarctica.

Thanks for following along on my crazy adventures!

 Ros ♥

If you’re interested in how I got here, or where I went next, check out the rest of the story!