We were awakened about 8 am by the Captain announcing we were approaching Cape Horn.  Cape Horn is on Hornos Island off the southern tip of Patagonia and south of it is the Drake Channel.  We approached from the north and proceeded to circumnavigate the island going through the Drake Channel itself from west to east (apparently that’s easier.)  We were fortunate to have a very calm day and so proceeded without incident.  Then we returned north to the Beagle Channel and, sailing portions of it for the third time, proceeded past Ushuaia west through the Channel.  I missed taking pictures of two fantastic glaciers because I didn’t bring my phone to dinner…

But there were more great mountains and glaciers the next morning—though, of course, the glaciers are receding and have been, I believe, since the 1960s.  Go soon if you want to go (the same applies to Alaska, of course.)  The ship’s crew went out in a tender and retrieved a couple of pieces of glacier ice, now on display on the pool deck (probably not for long but they may last through lunch…)

It was such gorgeous morning sailing through various fjords that I skipped church…  In the afternoon four of us played bridge though bridge was not officially scheduled today and we arrived at Punta Arenas late in the afternoon. 

Punta Arenas is the furthest south Chilean port–on the Magellan Strait across from the northern side of Tierra del Fuego.  If I’d kept up with the lectures, I’d know more about the geo-political aspects of this jockeying between Chile & Argentina that includes trying to bolster the population at these two southern ports.  Climate-wise there seems to be a world of difference!  It was in the 70s when we arrived—at least 20 degrees warmer than in Ushuaia—with bright sun and no wind.  For the first time in several days we could eat dinner on the back deck comfortably.  Not as impressive a backdrop as Ushuaia—the mountains are a little farther away.