A ferry through Patagonia

On a cold and rainy night, we waited inside the Ferry terminal in Puerto Montt for our ferry to arrive. The next few days will be spent in a small four bedroom cabin down the straights of Patagonia and the channels of Chile.

The 20 odd souls dressed up in warm jackets eyed each other, a few already acquainted talking quietly in the large hall.

At around 8 at night a bus pull up to the main door and we are ushered through the storm into the bus, a short journey brings us to the loading bay of the ferry. As we get off Marius stands to the side and takes a quick snap with his iPhone.

The Navimag Amadeo I is a huge ferry, it weighs 9737 tons and was built by TROSVIK VERKSTED in Brevik, Norway.

– We took this photo of the ferry when we arrived in Puerto Natales

We walk down and into the lower deck of the ferry, where they are busy loading in trucks and as we bundle together on the huge lift we go up a few stories to the 2nd deck. The crew quickly shows us to our cabins and we meet Sam and Sam who will be our bunkmates for the next 4 nights.

– Picture of the ferry on the lower deck, where they fill it up with a lot of trucks

After a few beers in our cabin, we headed to the dining area for dinner.

Through the night the crew loaded truck after truck onto the ferry and around 3 am while all the passengers were in dreamland the ferry set off on its journey to Puerto Natales. We woke up around 7 am the next morning to view the sunrise over the Andes mountains. Chiloé Island on our right lined the skyline with white cliffs.

– Sunrise over the Andes and the bay of Chiloé.

As the day continued on we kept an eager eye out for Whales and were rewarded with amazing views of the Volcanos and glaciers

Marius and Sam spend most of the day reading on the upper deck of the ferry watching the world pass by.

As the first day continued on the scenery were just becoming more and more beautiful.

– The 2nd deck of the ferry also loaded with trucks and wagons.

– View of Island Chiloé

– As the sun sets over the bay, Marius is squinting for a picture

We woke up the next day and it was all misty outside, our ferry now turned and we were heading into the Pacific ocean just below Chiloé and by that evening we would reach the ocean. Our Captain dosed us up on anti-nausea tablets for the night.

As the cloud cover was clearing up the channels started to narrow.

Seagulls and Albatrosses were flying all around us and islands are scattered all about.

At certain areas, the channels become so hazardous to navigate that a few ships have gotten stranded and had to be abandoned. The photo below is of the Wreck of the Capitan Leonidas in the Messier Channel.

– Wreck of the Capitan Leonidas

As the day continued and we navigated the tricky channels, everybody was outside, soaking in the last rays of the sun and enjoying the spectacular scenery.

The ferry turned into Villa Puerto Edén in Paso del Indio to pick up a few more passengers heading with us to Puerto Natales.

Villa Puerto Edén is a Chilean hamlet and minor port located in Wellington Island, in Natales commune, Última Esperanza Province, Magallanes Region. It is considered one of Chile’s most isolated inhabited places together with Easter Island and Villa Las Estrellas. The village is known for being the home of the last Kawéshkar people.

– Villa Puerto Edén

– Sam, Trip, Matt and Sam having a glass of wine

As we left Puerto Edén and the sun started setting the brightest stars came out, lighting up the night sky above us. I think that this must be the most beautiful and brightest stars we have ever seen.