Australis in 5 days: From Punta Arenas to Ushuaia

5 days - 4 nights

From Punta Arenas to Punta Arenas

Fjords of Tierra del Fuego: Our Patagonia cruise tours follow the fjords of the southern edge of Tierra del Fuego highlights the stunning, natural beauty of Patagonia and several of its most important historical sites. Whether you are sailing aboard M/V Stella Australis, this four-day journey includes visits to wildlife rich Ainsworth Bay, massive Pia Glacier and Glacier Alley, as well as mystical Wulaia Bay and the legendary Cape Horn. For more information about our Patagonia cruise tours, contact us!

Day 1 - Punta Arenas

By the afternoon, we will make the check in at Punta Arenas, so then we can embark in one of the ships of Australis Cruises: Mare, Via or Stella. The city of Punta Arenas is also considered as "the capital of the Chilean Patagonia", it is also famous because of its port in the south limit of Chile and point of South America.

Day 2 - Ainsworth Bay & Tucker Island

We will start our fifth day of navigation on board of the Australis Cruise at dawn, now we are close to Seno Almirantazgo, a fjord which is located in the west coast of Tierra del Fuego. Between the important sea biodiversity and underwater we will be able to sight sea elephants and black - eyebrow albatrosses. Then, we will do the first descent in the Marinelli Glacier, Ainsworth Bay, the largest glacier among those which come from the Darwin Mountain Chain´s Ice Field. This giant of ice will surprise us with its ice walls about 40 metres high. This is the place where we will do some hiking so we can sight varied fauna and nature from the Magallanes woods: dams built by beavers and a great quantity of sea elephants which constrast with the amazing landscapes. Later on, we will go to Tucker small island, a certain point which delimits the northwest of the Whiteside Channel. The region has become now into a very valuable territory thanks to the natural nutrients which gave origin to the wonderful fauna that we will be able to watch.

We will navigate in zodiac boats so we can appreciate the presence of several sea birds such as cormoranes, chimangos, skuas and Magallanes penguins, among others. If we cannot sight penguins, due to the end of the reproduction period in April, we will do an alternative route to Brookes Bay, where we will disembark so we can do a trekking in the area around the glacier. This big depth bay reaches its highest point in the Darwin Mountain Chain. It is a very famous bay because of its several waterfalls which are formed in their cliffs and impressive mountains´ elevations. During the hiking, we will be able to enjoy its floral and nature beauties which hide in the woods. We will come across ñires, a tundra region, southern dolphins, cormoranes and otters, among other species.

Day 3 - Pia Glacier & Glaciers Avenue

During our next journey, the route card in the Australis cruise will guide us to navigate through the main arteria of the Beagle Channel, we will get into by the northwest side of the Pia Bay chanel, so then we can make a descent in the glacier which has the same name. This snowdrift introduces in the Darwin mountain chain and it drains by the Waters of its bay. We will continue our crossing on the Australis to the northwest of the Beagle Chanel so we can gaze at the amazing "Glaciers Avenue" which is a narrow way in the Beagle Chanel where we will be able to watch many spectacular ice tongs that descend from the Darwin mountain chain to the sea. The name for this way was in honor to the glaciers which are particularly located one beside the other and very short distance between them to navigate. Those glaciers are: Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands and Romanche.

Day 4 - Cape Horn & Wulaia Bay

According to our fixed route, we will continue navigating by the Beagle Chanel and Murray Chanel, so then we can try to disembark (if weather conditions allows us to) and appreciate the nature beauties in the National Park Cape Hornos. We can realise about our arrival to this southern point, once we come accross with a 400 metres high hill. This place marks the most distant limit of the Group of the "fueguinas" islands, which is the most southern point in South America. It is also the point that defines the north extreme of the Drake Passage, it a sea which divides the American continent of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The National Park is located in the "End of the World", has been declared as a Biosphere Reserve in the 2005 by the UNESCO. During sunset, we will disembark in Wulaia Bay, current archaelogical place which was home of one of the most greatest tribes in the region a long time ago: the Yámanas. It was in this very same bay that Fitz Roy, who discovered the Beagle Chanel, found the main anglican mission during his second expedition with the famous english naturalista Charles Darwin. During our tour along the bay, we will have the opportunity to appreciate its magnificent flora and geography. We will do a trekking in the "magallánico" woods which will be waiting with a great quantity of floral species like lengas, coihues, ferns, among others, and then we will arrive to a viewpoint where we will have an Amazing view.

Day 5 - Arrival to Ushuaia City, Tierra del Fuego

In the morning we will disembark in the City of the End of the World, Ushuaia. During our visit to this city we cannot miss the famous "Presidio de Reincidentes". we will also visit the natural charm of the National Park Tierra del Fuego and its beautiful lakes. The national park is a strict Natural Reserve, which was home of the natives Yámanas in the past, where we will able to find several archaelogical sites that belonged to this Group.