February 1 - The Fjords and El Brujo glacier

Internet is back for the moment so here goes.

During the night we entered the Chilean fjords and we’ve just been to the most spectacular glacier we’re able to reach, El Brujo, which means "the Witch."  Our time here will be abbreviated because of yesterday’s compass problems, but that’s okay.  Just for some reference, Chile has the third largest ice fields in the world after Antarctica and Greenland. We can only get a limited glimpse of it because it’s  inland in the mountains lining the fjords and we only can see the glaciers moving into the ocean.

I got up early, threw some clothes on and dashed upstairs to take some photos of the glacier. One of the expedition team was giving commentary over the PA system.  Wouldn’t you know it, just before I got out on the open deck she said “oh. Look!  There’s a giant chunk falling off (calving).”  Drat, I missed it.  Well, we hung around for a while with the captain turning the ship around in circles for nearly an hour so we could all get good views from every perspective.  There was no more calving, but perhaps I’ll see some down in Antarctica.

A couple of photos of El Brujo. It's too bad that there's nothing to give perspective of how tall it is. Trust me; it's massive.

Now we’re sailing out of the fjords on our way to Punta Arenas tomorrow.  There’s another full day today. In fact, I’m having a hard time doing everything that sounds interesting. There’s trivia, of course.  There are a couple of lectures, another one on photography and one on wildlife we may see.  They’ve had a couple of art classes that I haven’t been able to fit in and there’s another today but I don’t think I can make it.  Too many choices!  I may have to take a vacation when I get home.

A view of one of the fjords.  Honestly I think the fjords in Norway and Alaska are more spectacular, but these are pretty too.

Tonight I’m dining with another one of the expedition team.  I can’t remember what his specialty is.  I’ll let you know later.  And tonight there’s another show by the Soul Sisters. 

While I think of it, I have to say that you meet some really interesting people on the ship.  I had lunch with a fairly young couple from Toronto. He wrote a book that made the Wall Street Journal Non-fiction Bestseller list last year – I can’t remember the title.  Two nights ago when I dined with Iggy, the expedition team leader, I sat next to a gentleman who didn’t say a lot until someone asked Iggy about green flashes.  The gentleman, whose name I can’t remember, began explaining the phenomena.  Turns out he has PhDs in both astrophysics and applied mathematics.  I’ve had breakfast and drinks with a lovely lady named Mary who retired from being a senior analyst at one of the largest mutual funds.  My experience as a housewife in Virginia kind of pales by comparison, but that’s okay because I find I’m learning all kinds of new things from these people.

I’m back.  After lunch we were called by deck to go down to the club at the aft of the ship with our boots and to be assigned a color group and given the appropriate armband.  The Antarctic protocols won’t allow more than 100 people from the ship at a time to go ashore.  I’m in the purple group and we had to deposit our boots in cubbies, just like in elementary school.