Beagle Channel Wildlife Cruise

click images to enlarge

Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego)
Argentina

On Day 7 we followed in the wake of Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, who sailed on a five-year voyage around the tip of South America.

Beagle Channel was named after the HMS Beagle, the ship that carried him on that voyage.

He wrote the famous book On the Origin of Species which explained his revolutionary theory of natural selection and evolution.

The ship docked in Ushuaia, but we still gathered in the Wheelhouse Bar to check in to get stickers for our tour.  When our group was called we were escorted to the gangway.

Once dock side we met the tour guides who escorted us to one of the two awaiting catamarans.  We passed some shops along the way and figured we'd check them out on our return.

Scenic Highlights

We cruised past Mount Olivia and Mount Escapardo, two of the surrounding snow-capped peaks.  The captain of the catamaran got us very close to several stopping points during the cruise.
The first stop was at a small island for picture postcard images of the towering "Les Eclaireus" Lighthouse.  The South American sea lions were camped out on this island.  They were quite entertaining during our brief stop.

There are several species of Cormorants including Imperial and Blue-Eyed that live in rookeries along the channel.  Our catamaran approached several small islands for a close-up look the birds in their natural surroundings.

Viewing

There were plenty of outdoor and indoor seats to accommodate everyone's preference.  When we approached one of the stops the captain would circle so that no matter where you were seated you'd have the chance to view the birds or other wildlife.

Dress in layers for this excursion because the weather changed during the trip.  At times it was quite sunny and warm and other times it was cloudy, chilly and windy.  You won't go wrong if you have a hooded sweatshirt as one of your layers.

We highly recommend this excursion which you will must likely need to book through the cruise line (as they will book up all the available times).



Click on the image to the right for more Blog posts about this trip.

Related Album:

Beagle Channel


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Silversea's Explorer No Match for Mother Nature

Silver Explorer in Antarctica courtesy Silversea Cruises

Wave Crashes into Ship

Injuring Crew

Interrupts Voyage

 
Silver Explorer departed Ushuaia, Argentina, in early January, for an 18-night cruise to Antarctica.On January 12th, somewhere between Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctica,  a wave came crashing into the ship's bridge injuring four crew members.   They were treated in the medical center onboard the vessel and according to Silversea Cruises all 133 guests and 113 crew are safe.

Impacts Current & Next Cruise

   

According to reports, the damage was severe enough to interrupt the current voyage and cancel the upcoming Antarctic sailing scheduled for January 21st.   If reports are accurate, the wave would have struck the vessel about 30 feet above sea level.

The ship was returning to the embarkation port in Argentina where it will then proceed to an undisclosed location for repairs.  It wasn't clear how long those repairs would take, but the line said it 

anticipated that Silver Explorer would resume its normal Antarctic schedule with a 10-night voyage departing Ushuaia on January 31st.

Impacted passengers have been notified by the line or their travel agents.   It is believed that the line is offering discounted future sailings or refunds to the affected passengers.

While it is unfortunate that the current voyage was cut short, and an upcoming voyage cancelled, dashing hopes of passengers visiting the arctic region, we are happy to report there doesn't appear to be any serious injuries as a result of the incident.   

Learn More about Silver Explorer (click here)