December 2, 2025

Santiago, Chile > Puerto Williams, Chile

Tuesday Morning. Managed to sleep until 06:10. The alarm was set for 06:15 so I could put the bags out to be collected for transport the ship. Shaved and got ready to step into the shower when I remembered to put the bath towel on the hook near the shower door. It would have worked except there was no bath towel! I called down to housekeeping to send up two bath towels. It took almost a half-hour for them to get here.

Silver Seas had a breakfast room setup for us. I went down at 07:00 for breakfast. They put out a really nice spread. I had two cappuccini, fresh fruit and a croissant. After breakfast it was time to get a walk in. There wouldn’t be much walking today because five or six hours will be spent on transportation and airplane.

So, I walked down Avenue President Kennedy towards the Parque Arauco Mall, turned right on Rosario Net., then right again on Cerro Colorado. It was a nice walk. The last part put me along side the fifty-five-acre (22 hectares) Parque (Park) Araucano. The park wasn’t open this early, but it was still nice to walk along. The walk was just a little over 2 km. Enough, so the day starts out with 4,000 steps.

Upon returning to the hotel, I picked up a cappuccino and cinnamon-apple roll for Mary. When I got back to the room, she was still sound asleep. When she finally got going, we went down to the breakfast room to meet with Richard and Susan. Silver Seas has really put out a nice spread for breakfast. It has a few more choices than the hotels breakfast buffet, which is saying something.

After breakfast we returned to our room and buttoned up the carryon, relaxed and waited for noon to arrive so we could go downstairs and meet the bus. Just before it had gone noon, we headed downstairs to wait for the bus. Everyone is anxious to get going, so even though it was more than the requested ten minutes before the 12:20 departure, most of the people for the second bus were in the lobby.

The first bus was still here. They were waiting for the stragglers to show up. I realize that it is inappropriate and perhaps insensitive, but they last two people for bus number one were Asian. Based on our experience on the world cruise, it almost always seems to be someone of Asian descent who people are waiting for. The most common alternative to that is the person who is the biggest complainer about the quality and efficiency of the tour staff. They are not always mutually exclusive.

Bus number 2 pulled in almost immediately after bus number 1 pulled out. Our group had it all together and we, with great efficiency, boarded the bus in a timely fashion. The excitement on the bus is palpable. This is finally underway. We are on our way to Antarctica!

The drive to the airport is quick or at least seems so. We go to the private air terminal for our charter flight to Puerto Williams. The terminal is barely large enough to hold the sixty or so passengers for the flight. They process through screening, check our passports and then almost immediately begin the boarding process. The airplane is a Avrò RJ100, a short-haul regional plane. It is a high-wind cantilever monoplane with a T-tail. There are four geared turbofan engines mounted on pylons underneath the wings, and it has retractable tricycle landing gear.  It is known more generally as a Whisperjet.

This particular model is outfitted with six seats across. Three on each side. More fitting to an economy airline than a first class one. However, Silver Sea did the proper thing and only used two seats on each side, making the ride much more comfortable. It is a three-hour-forty-five minute flight from Santiago to Puerto Williams. During that time they served us drinks and a nice meal.

The meal was totally first class. We started with a Chilean green salad and homemade bread. The main course was Charquican, a traditional Chilean beef stew with pumpkin, potatoes, peas, spinach and corn in a meat broth with a touch of coriander. The dessert was a Calafate Mousse. So, what is Calafate? Calafate is a berry much like our familiar blueberries. They are both small, dark blue, antioxidant-rich berries. The calafate has a higher antioxidant capacity, a slightly more astringent and acidic flavor, and grows on a thorny shrub native to Patagonia. They are generally not as widely cultivated as the common blueberry. The key differences lie in the antioxidant level, flavor profile and plant source. Although it was difficult to taste much difference in the mousse.

We landed in Puerto Williams just after it had gone 17:30. From the air the scenery is quite magnificent. Windswept mountains rising above the tree line, regularly dusted with snow, and dotted with shining deep blue lakes. Puerto Williams claimed to be the “southern most city in the world”. Although, across the sound in Argentina the city of Ushuaia makes the same claim. Apparently, it has to do with the definition of “city”. Puerto Williams only has about 2,500 residents while Ushuaia has a population in excess of 82,000.

Both “cities” are resort towns, although Ushuaia because of its size probably has more. Both are located on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, the southernmost tip of South America, i.e. Fin del Mundo, End of the World. Both are windswept towns perched on a steep hillside surrounded by mountains and sitting on the Beagle Channel. Both serve as gateways for Antarctica cruises. We will have to keep Ushuaia in our skill book for when we tour South America in 2027.

We land at Guardia Marina Zánartu Airport (WPU) located on Navarino Island jus across a narrow channel from Puerto Williams. It is a single asphalt runway that is 1,440 meters long (4,724 feet) and is the world’s southernmost airport with regular flights. It is known for its scenic location with approaches over the Beagle Channel.

It is a quick bus ride from the terminal(?) to the ship. On board we check in, watch the safety video, unpack and then I tour the ship making sure to meet the dinner room manager, bar manager, spa manager and the various head waiters of the restaurants. The Hotel Director for the Silver Sea Endeavour is Cemal Ozcelik, a really nice guy. The head barman in the Arts Café, where one goes for the morning cappuccino and brioche is names Harry! His assistant is Gio. This is going to be fun.

Then the heartbreaking news came. Due to weather, 3-4 meters seas in the Drake Strait we will not be sailing. Well, at least not tonight. They are watching the weather and still “hope” to take us to Antarctica sometime in the next ten days. As compensation they have offered us two free cruise days on the future cruise. Like that is going to make up for this. All of a sudden Ushuaia in Argentina in 2027 is sounding more important.

After that news we finish putting our things away and organizing the cabin. Then we tour the ship again. It is now getting on to 20:00. The third plane load of people, with Richard and Susan, is late. We decide we should have some dinner and not wait for them. We decide to try La Dame the French restaurant on board. Normally it requires a reservation, but given it is the first night, it probably won’t be completely booked.

La Dame is small, eight or nine tables. Three table which could maybe hold six comfortably or eight in a tight squeeze and five or six tables which are setup for couples. This restaurant has an up-charge of $60 per person for dinner. We generally have avoided the French restaurants on cruises because they are just too “fancy”. Just before dinner starts Cemal brings the Captain Kai Ukkonen over to meet us. It is good to have friends.

Mary chose the Dover Soul, and I had the lamb medallions. They were both excellent. We had a pistachio soufflé with chocolate sauce for dessert. It was also excellent. As we didn’t take advantage of the appetizer included in the meal, we maybe didn’t get our moneys worth, but given the quality of the food and the attention of the staff, we did.

After dinner, about 21:00, I headed to the Connoisseur’s Corner for an after dinner cigar. It will be two hours before I can go to sleep anyway. I manage to finagle the purchase of a cigar, they can not legally sell you a cigar while they are in port, the I sit and enjoy the cigar before heading off to our cabin.

The cabin is very comfortable, the bed especially so. It is lights-out, at least in our cabin, the sun is just setting now. Here we are almost at the summer solstice, so the sun shines for 18 to 19 hours a day. Sunrise is at 04:50.

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria