One of my favourite moments aboard the Evangelista (usually known by the name of the ferry company Navimag) was our arrival at Puerto Eden early on the second morning. The previous day had been overcast and damp, so it was nice to wake to blue skies and sunshine here at the only inhabited location between Puerto Natales and Puerto Montt. As we lowered anchor, at least a dozen small boats left the shore to take delivery of the twice-weekly supplies. With only about 275 residents, it seemed as if the entire village was coming out to meet us, and with the backdrop of snowy mountains on Isla Wellington I half wished I had opted to stay here until the ferry returns on its northbound leg next week.

I was now of course on my second journey through Chile's fjords, having sailed for a day and a half from Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas on the more basic and much smaller Yaghan ferry. After spending the night in Punta Arenas on Christmas Day where the only food available was from one fast food restaurant, I travelled to Puerto Natales by bus where this three-day, four-night epic journey begins, thus providing the only direct connection with central and northern Chile (bar flying of course). I ensured that I had a good meal in Puerto Natales, and called this (seafood masala) my Christmas dinner.

The vessel is essentially a cargo ship which has been decked out with cabins, dorms, bathrooms and a bar for use by foot and car passengers. But they do actually provide a lot more than just the basics with informative lectures about glaciology, flora and fauna. And on the last night after a hilarious game of bingo, we partied until the early hours whilst occasionally sneaking out on deck to see the amazing night sky before the distant light pollution from Puerto Montt obscured it. And I was very lucky to find a great bunch of travellers on board from multiple countries and continents.

Of course the scenery was pretty spectacular, with glaciers, narrow straits, snow-capped volcanoes and hundreds of wild, untouched islands. There were occasional rumours of blue whales ahead, but as ever with marine wildlife, we just got brief glimpses of some of the usual specimens, which in these waters were seals, fin whales, orcas, and toninas (bottle-nosed dolphins). Of the bird life, the one that fascinated me was the flightless steamer-duck. This is so-called because it powers its way across the water using its legs in the fashion of a Mississippi steamboat, which looks very odd.

Obviously this post wasn´t made from Puerto Eden, but I wanted to get that place on the map so that it gives some idea of the route that we took, which mainly made use of the fjords to head in a general northerly direction, veering out into open sea for only 12 hours to avoid a large peninsula.

Posted from Castro on January 1st, 2012.