We´ll board the M/V Forrest, a vessel fully-equipped with everything required for this kind of trip. This will be our home for the next 8 days of our Photo Expedition through the southern channels.

We’ll sail through the mythical Magellan Strait, arriving at the feet of the Darwin Range and the monumental Monte Sarmiento, in the heart of the huge Alberto de Agostini National Park (14.600 km² / 5.640 sq miles). We’ll navigate through fjords and channels visited by prominent sailors from the 16th to the 19th centuries, such as Magellan or Fitz Roy, where we’ll admire gigantic glaciers descending from the high peaks of this mysterious mountain range, surrounded by waterfalls and temperate native forests still untouched by man. In this environment, we’ll have many opportunities to photograph certain flora species such as the southern beech forests (Nothofagus), the rare Guaitecas cypresses or the Blechnum ferns. We’ll also observe a great variety of mammals and birds, particularly humpback whales, sea lions, fur seals, sea elephants, Magellan penguins, wild geese, ibises and cormorants, among others.

Day 0 (Thursday) Punta Arenas
Arrival in Punta Arenas. Evening meeting at the hotel and welcome dinner.

Day 1 (Friday) Otway Sound – Carlos III Island
Overland transfer from the hotel in Punta Arenas to Riesco Island. Our boarding point is Caleta Hately, a small cove. Setting off on our adventure, we’ll sail across the Otway Sound towards Isla Carlos III in the Francisco Coloane Marine Park (672 km² / 260 sq miles).

Day 2 (Saturday) Carlos III Island – Whale Sound
In the early morning we’ll navigate through Whale Sound towards the Santa Inés Glacier. In the afternoon we’ll look for whales in the surroundings of Rupert Isle, where we´ll observe sea lions, penguins, skúas, storm petrels and albatrosses.

Day 3 (Sunday) De Agostini Sound
After sailing all night through the Magellan Strait, we enter the Magdalena Channel and the Kyats Fjord, travelling towards the De Agostini Sound. We’ll visit the Aguila and De Agostini Glaciers.

Day 4 (Monday) Almirantazgo Sound
We’ll set off early into Canal Gabriel, a narrow crossing of extraordinary beauty that leads us into Almirantazgo Sound. From here we’ll continue our journey towards Azopardo Bay to visit a colony of black-browed albatrosses. We’ll then set anchor at Parry Fjord.

Day 5 (Tuesday) Ainsworth Bay
If the weather allows for what was perhaps not possible the previous day, in the morning we will visit Albatross Island. We’ll sail into Parry Fjord to admire a spectacular glacier surrounded by the highest icy peaks of the Darwin Range. We will then set off towards Ainsworth Bay, close to the Marinelli Glacier, where we’ll go trekking in search of the colony of sea elephants which normally come to this area.

Day 6 (Wednesday) Carlos III Island
We’ll visit Tuckers Isle, where we’ll observe a wide variety of birdlife, including the Magellan Penguin. After that we’ll head back towards Carlos III Island to do some whale-sighting.

Day 7 (Thursday) Cóndor Stream
We’ll sail towards Condor Stream, a smaller fjord that branches off Canal Gerónimo, surrounded by the mountains of Riesco Island. This portion of the island is part of the Alacalufes National Park Reserve (23.140 km² / 8.932 sq miles). We’ll set anchor in this fjord and visit the Botella (bottle) lagoon along with other places of interest.

Day 8 (Friday) Otway Sound
We´ll navigate through Otway Sound towards our final destination. After disembarking we´ll be driven back to Punta Arenas to our hotel.

You’ll have the chance to photograph a large variety of wildlife, including the humpback whale, sea lions, fur seals, sea elephants, penguins, cormorants, geese, black-browed albatrosses, giant petrels, spotted petrels, silver petrels and skúas, among others.

We´ll visit the Águila, De Agostini, Santa Inés Glaciers and others amongst very pristine sceneries ideal for landscape photography. Accompanying us, there will always be an experienced nature scientist, knowledgeable of this environment.

Departure Dates 2012
• January 14 to 21
• February 8 to 15
• February 24 to March 2

Price per participant
- US$ 2.900 per person
(8 day sea trip)

Bookings
For bookings and queries, please write to
info@patagoniaphotosafaris.com

Deposit
USD 500 Trip confirmation deposit Minimum number of participants 10, maximum 14.

The price of the expedition includes:
One night in Hotel Plaza, welcome dinner, transport to and from the boat, accommodation, meals, guide services and open bar.

Not included in the expedition price:

Local flights, tips, travel insurance, Chilean entry tax, excess baggage charge, extra beverages, a la carte menu, laundry service, phone calls and any other items or services of personal nature.

Important

During the sea voyage, the activities described in this programme will not necessarily be carried out in this order. We will study the weather conditions on a day-to-day basis to make the best use of our time and of any possibilities of visiting new areas. Some disembarkment points will also vary, depending on the interests of the group or the weather conditions.