Christmas at the end of the world.

We parted ways with Cory in Puerto Natales as she headed north to El Calafate, then Buenos Aires and eventually North Bay for Christmas. It was great to have some company for a while, and Cyd really enjoyed catching up with her friend after many years. We headed south to... the end of the world. When you travel in Patagonia, you see the phrase "El Fin Del Mundo" everywhere, and it often feels like it. Patagonia's position as the southernmost land on the planet (excluding Antarctica) is a big part of the marketing for the area.

Ushuaia, Argentina calls itself the southernmost city in the world. Puerto Williams, Chile is south of Ushuaia across the Beagle Channel on Navarino Island and disputes Ushuaia's claim.  Although it would be hard pressed to call itself a city, Puerto Williams is a registered municipality, so perhaps the southernmost town in the world would be a fairer statement. Then on the east coast of Navarino Island and slightly south of Puerto Williams is the fishing village of Puerto Toro. They settle on the "southernmost permanently inhabited community in the world." With the competing claims of Ushuaia, Puerto Williams and Puerto Toro we visited all three just to be safe.

First we hopped on a bus to Punta Arenas, Chile for a few days. Punta Arenas is the largest city in Patagonia with a population well over 100,000. It is a flourishing port and tourist hub with old downtown mansions leftover from the Patagonian wool boom.

December 23rd was my birthday. While we spent Cyd's birthday in September dealing with snowstorms and floods in Utah, I got to spend my birthday on the high seas. We boarded a ferry at 6:30 pm for a two hour ride across the Strait of Magellan to Isla Magdalena where we spent an hour in the wind and rain hanging out with 120,000 Magellanic penguins. The island is pretty much completely bare, and completely covered with penguins as far as we could see. They hung out in their burrows with their babies, conducted important looking debates in small groups, and purposefully strutted around the island as only penguins can. They were smaller than we expected - one of 17 species of penguin, Magellanic penguins max out at about 30" tall - but just as cute as we'd imagined.

Penguins everywhere you looked.

Penguin parenting is obviously very tiring work.

The next day we enjoyed a Chilean/Canadian Christmas dinner. We were staying at a small "residencia" where a lovely Chilean couple and their college age daughter lived on one side of a large second floor apartment, with four rooms for rent on the other. When we booked the room online, we received back an emailed invitation to Christmas dinner on the 24th. Our host Jose then researched Canadian Christmas traditions on Google and prepared a fantastic meal of ceviche, tourtiere, turkey with stuffing, panna cotta for dessert, with champagne and red wine to wash it all down. It was a thoughtful treat and a wonderful way to spend Christmas on the road.

We checked out on Christmas Day, and jumped on another ferry at 6:00 pm. This was a 30 hour ride due south through the Patagonian islands almost to the open Pacific Ocean then west through the Beagle Channel to Puerto Williams. The ferry wasn't particularly big, with room for about 20 vehicles and 100 passengers. We had booked full camas (seats that fold down into beds) and the ticket included all meals during the trip.

Cyd settling into her cama.

In some ways it felt similar to ferry trips we've taken on the Alaska Marine Highway with mountains, glaciers, and seals alongside. But the much smaller ferry, the rougher seas and high winds, and the knowledge that Antarctica was straight ahead made it feel like much more of an adventure. We pulled into Puerto Williams at midnight on Boxing Day and were allowed to stay onboard overnight for free before disembarking the next morning. The trip was definitely one of the highlights of our travels so far.

The sun starting to set as we cruise
towards the Beagle Channel.

Looking back at the fresh snow that fell overnight.

One the many glaciers along the Beagle Channel.

Puerto Williams is a town of about 2,500 people on Navarino Island on the south side of the Beagle Channel. Argentina lies just on the other side of the channel. In sailing circles, the "yacht club"  is a famous required stop for boats on around the world trips or others who just want to round Cape Horn for the fun of it. Yachts must register with the Chilean Navy before making the trip, and usually wait around for a few days for a favourable weather forecast. When we were in town, about 20 sailboats from around the world were in port.

We missed out on a sixty foot yacht looking for two crew for a trip to the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas - don't want to offend any Argentinian friends too much) by about two hours. However we did catch a ride to Puerto Toro the day after arriving in town. Puerto Toro is a tiny village where only five families live. It is locally renowned for its crab fishery, although its prime purpose seems to be as a sovereignty marker for Chile.

Sadly we missed the crab season by a month.

With no road access, the Chilean government provides a small boat to take residents to Puerto Williams to shop every 15 days, and once a month, the ferry we travelled on takes a small dump truck and loader to Puerto Toro to pick up garbage. The four hour return trip is free for anyone who happens to be in Puerto Williams, so on a rare sunny and calm day we traveled east and south to spend two hours in Puerto Toro and ensure we really did make it to the end of the world.

Returning to Puerto Williams with the
Dientes de Navarino in the background.