Chile, San Rafael Glacier

By the time we arrived at the Skorpios Terminal expectations were high. We were going to San Rafael! Seven days and nights on this fully escorted tour. The ship was not leaving until the next morning, as some of the passengers did not arrive until late. They came from all over the world. We were sitting with 5 other Australians at the table and luckily, we clicked right away.
Life on board this ship was very easy going. All meals and drinks are included on the Skorpios2 and we usually started with a few pre lunch cocktails. Naturally we had to taste them all and I can report they were all delicious. Not too much alcohol in them at lunch time, but pre dinner - that was another story. We also had the choice of either red or white wine with our meals. This was one happy ship!
We set off from Puerto Montt and sailed through the Chilean fjords to our first stop, a little fishing village called Punta Aguirre. The village children were waiting for our arrival on the dock and took us up a steep hill to a lookout where we had a magnificent view over the islands.
That night we had a typical Chilean dish with mussels, pork, chicken and dumplings. It was Yumm.
The next morning we made our way through the San Rafael canal to the glacier.
Icebergs started to drift past us and the excitement on board was palpable.

San Rafael Glacier is nearly 2km wide, about 80m high and is truly amazing.
We were taken for a closer view of the glacier by Hercules and the highlight was the actual taking of 30 000 year old ice from the floating icebergs which was then served with 12 year old Scotch. The ice from the glacier above the water line is milky, but it is crystal clear when it comes from below the water line.

We watched the glacier for almost 2 hours, saw some spectacular falls of Ice. The scotch was running freely and with each drink the merriment increased.
We went back on board for lunch, but then returned once more to the glacier. This time the captain turned the engine off and we could hear the glacier. It moved and groaned and sometimes it sounded like a shot was being fired.
The colours of the glacier ranged from a deep dark blue to pale blue and white.
I was mesmerised.

We left San Rafael with sad hearts, stopping at a few other places on our way back to Puerto Montt. There was one more especially noteworthy event.
The last night Gala dinner.
What a spread. The only word that comes to mind is ‘fabulous’. On top of that it was delicious. Crabmeat, Abalone, giant oysters, Avocadoes filled with seafood – it truly was a feast.

The next morning after saying good bye to our new found friends we were taken to the airport for our flight to Punta Arenas.
Another adventure was waiting for us in Torres Del Paine.