After leaving Ushuaia we made our way via Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. With two weeks before we get Navimag ferry to Puerto Montt we had some time to kill and no plans. It seems that most people on our Antarctic adventure had the same idea and we bumped into many of them in our first couple of days in Natales. We spent some time catching up on news from home (making the most of the fast internet connection), catching up with a friend here and trying to decide how to spend the next two weeks. After considerable deliberation we devised a plan. Rather than trek the traditional 'W' route through the park, we would go on a three day mountain bike tour through the park, camping on route (with a handy Landrover backup with guide just in case the hills get too steep, the rain too hard or the wind more ridiculous than normal!). I know that I'd said no to bikes of any kind on this trip but I've given in just this once (the truth being that I just don't want to do any more trekking at this point). We had also heard about a mysterious place/company called Whalesound based on a small island called Carlos III where you can go and watch humpback whales close up by boat or kayak. Simon and I had both been really keen to get some sea kayaking into our trip somewhere and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.With plans laid down we headed back to Punta Arenas and were collected from our hostel there by our Whalesoun
d guides on Thursday morning (6th March). To be honest, the allure of whale watching from a kayak had us both so hooked that we didn't ask many questions about the logistics of the trip and therefore had absolutely no idea what to expect from one day or hour to the next. We were collected by a pick-up with a kayak strapped to the back and driven an hour out of town to a small beach where a large zodiac style boat was waiting for us. As the sun shone and I added layer upon layer to my now clown like body I began to wonder what sort of boat ride this would be. At the time I thought that the enormous survival suits and oil skins were a little over the top but I hadn't realised that a 5 hour zodiac ride to the camp lay ahead. A five hours in which we would end up soaked to the skin and very cold but one with an unimaginable treat at the end. As the camp came into view we spotted the first whale ahead (the distinctive blow of water rising from the surface of the water) and made our way towards it. As we got closer we saw that hundreds of sea lions and albatross were in the same area: the sea lion
s going crazy in the water, jumping and flipping themselves over and the birds circling low overhead. As the captain idled the engine we drifted towards the frenzy and found that two very large (about 16-17 metres in length) humpback whales were feeding at the surface causing the commotion. It was a spectacular sight, the whales circled and swam beneath our small zodiac occasionally exposing their heads and huge mouths as they fed and the sea lions put on the most amazing show of agility as the leapt out of the water. We floated amongst the chaos for about 20 minutes seemingly unnoticed and certainly causing no disturbance to the whales, thus afforded an opportunity to get within centimetres of these truly amazing creatures. This was just a taste of what was to come!
We arrived at camp wet and hungry but exhilarated by our zodiac ride and first close-up whale encounter, ready for the next 3 days. The camp consists of several white pod-like tents raised off the ground on stilted platforms and connected by raised wooden walkways. Inside our tent we had low wooden framed beds with thick mattresses, sleeping bags and fleece liners waiting for us and our bathroom, which was a few steps along the board walk, contained a glass sided shower overlooking the trees and bay beyond.
The few days we had at Whalesound were magical. We spent our days kayaking and zodiac cruising amongst the whales and sea lions and our evenings eating delicious food in a spot so remote that whales sleep just a few metres from the shore (so close that as you drift off to sleep at night or wake with the sun in the morning you can hear the lazy breathing of the massive creature in the bay below). It's hard to do the experience justice in this short blog entry (in person I'll do a much better job I hope) but for me it was far more than I'd imagined. We paddled our double kayak to within 10 metres of a humpback that was three times longer than us; we paddled to the front of a carving glacier as the ice dislodged into the fijord echoing off the surrounding mountains; we sat in our kayak as hundreds of sea lions played in the water around us, leaping and dancing just for fun and we accompanied the resident scientist as he attempted to collect skin biopsies for DNA testing of the humpback whales. As I said, there are not words to describe this adequately. Luckily for me, memories last forever.
d guides on Thursday morning (6th March). To be honest, the allure of whale watching from a kayak had us both so hooked that we didn't ask many questions about the logistics of the trip and therefore had absolutely no idea what to expect from one day or hour to the next. We were collected by a pick-up with a kayak strapped to the back and driven an hour out of town to a small beach where a large zodiac style boat was waiting for us. As the sun shone and I added layer upon layer to my now clown like body I began to wonder what sort of boat ride this would be. At the time I thought that the enormous survival suits and oil skins were a little over the top but I hadn't realised that a 5 hour zodiac ride to the camp lay ahead. A five hours in which we would end up soaked to the skin and very cold but one with an unimaginable treat at the end. As the camp came into view we spotted the first whale ahead (the distinctive blow of water rising from the surface of the water) and made our way towards it. As we got closer we saw that hundreds of sea lions and albatross were in the same area: the sea lion
s going crazy in the water, jumping and flipping themselves over and the birds circling low overhead. As the captain idled the engine we drifted towards the frenzy and found that two very large (about 16-17 metres in length) humpback whales were feeding at the surface causing the commotion. It was a spectacular sight, the whales circled and swam beneath our small zodiac occasionally exposing their heads and huge mouths as they fed and the sea lions put on the most amazing show of agility as the leapt out of the water. We floated amongst the chaos for about 20 minutes seemingly unnoticed and certainly causing no disturbance to the whales, thus afforded an opportunity to get within centimetres of these truly amazing creatures. This was just a taste of what was to come!We arrived at camp wet and hungry but exhilarated by our zodiac ride and first close-up whale encounter, ready for the next 3 days. The camp consists of several white pod-like tents raised off the ground on stilted platforms and connected by raised wooden walkways. Inside our tent we had low wooden framed beds with thick mattresses, sleeping bags and fleece liners waiting for us and our bathroom, which was a few steps along the board walk, contained a glass sided shower overlooking the trees and bay beyond.
The few days we had at Whalesound were magical. We spent our days kayaking and zodiac cruising amongst the whales and sea lions and our evenings eating delicious food in a spot so remote that whales sleep just a few metres from the shore (so close that as you drift off to sleep at night or wake with the sun in the morning you can hear the lazy breathing of the massive creature in the bay below). It's hard to do the experience justice in this short blog entry (in person I'll do a much better job I hope) but for me it was far more than I'd imagined. We paddled our double kayak to within 10 metres of a humpback that was three times longer than us; we paddled to the front of a carving glacier as the ice dislodged into the fijord echoing off the surrounding mountains; we sat in our kayak as hundreds of sea lions played in the water around us, leaping and dancing just for fun and we accompanied the resident scientist as he attempted to collect skin biopsies for DNA testing of the humpback whales. As I said, there are not words to describe this adequately. Luckily for me, memories last forever.
2 comments:
I was there in 2014. It was soooooooo great!
Check this: http://phototravelnomads.com/reisen/rundreise-chile-puerto-arenas-puerto-natales/
Greets
Nils
Post a Comment