December 3, 2025

Puerto Williams, Chile

Wednesday Morning. Sitting at the dock of the bay….. Ok, sitting in the Arts Café on the very nice cruise ship, sipping a cappuccino and enjoying a brioche, by the dock on Beagle Channel at the “fin del Mundo”. The only way life could be better is if we were underway to Antarctica, however weather has come in giving us three-four-meter waves, make passage right now impossible. Safety first is ok with us.

Breakfast is the Arts Café. Much like the Regent Café on the world cruise, here they have a coffee bar, and a permanent buffet of items all day long. At 06:30 it consists mainly of breakfast items: fresh fruit, various pastries, miso soup, oatmeal, an assortment of breads, jam, yogurt with an array of accompanying toppings, just about anything but eggs and sausage.

Just after it has gone 08:00 I returned to the room with a cappuccino and brioche for Mary. The welcome onboard reception and voyage overview was at 09:00 in the Explorer Lounge on Deck 4. Richard and Susan joined us, and we listened to Martin, the entertainment host, and Michael, the expedition leader, tell us about the day's activities and a little about some of the various excursions available today.

Susan and Richard decided to take one of the walks this morning and we opted out. I opted for a hot stone massage on the Optivum Spa on Deck 5. The assured me that they would provide a better hot stone massage better than the first one I got in Hawaii at the Ritz Carlton on Maui, probably twenty-five years ago. The Hawaiian’s maintain that a hot stone massage can only be done using lava stones. They claim the stones evenly distribute the heat due to the volcanic properties, and that they stones hold on to the heat longer, making the massage last longer.

Well, after the massage I didn’t say anything to the staff, but it wasn’t close to the one in Hawaii. In all fairness, no one offering a hot stone massage over the last twenty-five years had matched it or really even come close. There was the couples hot stone massage we had a the Wickaninnish Lodge. The massage room was in a beautiful wooden “hut” designed by Henry Nola, a renowned wood carver, which sits on the outcropping on Clayoquot Sound between Chesterman Beach and an ancient forest of giant evergreens. The side of the “hut” which faced the Pacific Ocean was open and the sounds of the waves crashing over the rocks combined with the barking of seals made the experience very unique.

Hut probably isn’t a good description. It was a small cottage. No kitchen or dining area, just two massage tables in a room about 6 meters square. It was built of beautiful light naturally tan logs finished in a high gloss. Three sides were “closed” but the fourth opened on the to large boulders separating it from the ocean. There was a fireplace to keep the room nice and warm. It is a fond memory.

We joined Susan and Richard for lunch in “The Restaurant”, which is what the main dinning room is called on Deck 4. The selection of items on the menu was very small, totally different from the menu on the world cruise. We chose to eat here because the Grill on Deck 5 was featuring a “Taste of Greece”. These are the two choices for lunch.

After lunch we joined Susan and Richard on the Laguna Zañartu Scenic Walk. The area of Chile we are in is actually an archipelago, a large group of islands. The description varies with how much of the region is included. It is referred to as the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Region, within the Cape of Horn Biosphere Reserve. It is located almost 55° S of the Equator making it the southernmost inhabited area in Chile.

Today we will be taking our nature walk on Navarino Island on the southern shore of the Beagle Channel which separates Chile form Argentina. Here we stopped and visited Batería Róbalo. Now an historical site but back in 1977 was the heart of an disagreement between the Military Junta of Argentina and Chile.

In early 1977 the United Nations made a decision on the boundary in Beagle Cannel between the two nations. Chile accepted the arbitration, and Argentina declared it “irrevocably null”. Things came to a head in 1978. Batería Robalo was established and coastal artillery units were deployed. Puerto Williams became a rather large naval base for Chile.

The Pope in Rome, the Holy See, had to intervene to calm the situation down. De-escalation was formalized with the Montevideo Act on January 8, 1979. The process concluded with the Treaty of Peace and Friendship (signed on November 29, 1984, and ratified in 1985), which established rules for maritime delimitation and navigation and normalized bilateral relations. The open-air museum Batería Róbalo brings together remains of the artillery, quonset huts, and other military equipment used in the conflict. The location also provides great views of Argentina across the channel.

We then walked down the hill to small peninsula where Laguna Zañartu is located. We walked along the shore admiring the birds, flora and fauna of the area. It is really quite beautiful. At the time of our walk there was also a bicycle race on the same road. So, it was quite fun. We walked back to a parking area where the bicycle racing people where to meet our buses to go back to the ship.

This is us at the p[ick-up point.

We were, of course, among the first to arrive at the pick-up point. One of the guides said if we wanted to, we could walk back to the ship. It was docked about 2 km away. We decided that was still a good stretch of the legs and took off for the ship. We didn’t get far when we realized it was an uphill walk most of the way. We went back to the pickup point and said we changed our mind.

It took about thirty minutes for the pickup buses to come and pick us up. In the meantime we talked a woman and her daughter. They were from Dublin Ireland. You couldn’t miss it for the accent.

Once on the bus we were really greatful that we didn’t finish the walk. It was a lot of uphill walking, the road was mostly unpaved, there were construction trucks throwing up dust all along the way, and it was more than 2 km. In fact, we passed several of the people who had chosen to walk. They weren’t far from the ship, but we still beat them on board.

Once on board we went back to the cabin and changed for the recap and briefing from the expedition team in the explorer lounge. After which we headed to The Restaurant for dinner. Mary and Susan ordered the Maine lobster tail with green pea risotto for dinner. Richard ordered something. I chose to have a NY strip and a baked potato.

When dinner was served Richard looked at Susan and Mary’s dishes and decided he chose inappropriately and incorrectly. I told him he could change it if wanted to, but he resisted so I asked the waiter to please swap out Richard’s chosen meal for the lobster. The waiter was glad to do. Richard was very pleased that it was even possible. Such it the life of cruising.

Lobster Bisque which Richard and I had as an appetizer

Lobster Ravioli which Susan and Mary had as an appetizer

Main Lobster with green pea risotto which Mary, Susan and Richard had for dinner.

We had wanted bananas foster for dessert as it appeared on the menu. The waiter came out after we finished our meal and informed us that the chef wasn’t going to make bananas foster because the bananas weren’t sufficient ripe to have the dish come out well. So, we ordered alternatives. About halfway through our alternative dessert, the waiter returned with one order of bananas foster saying the chef felt bad about not having it and found a banana which was sufficient ripe to prepare one order. An order which he had delivered to us.

After dinner was time for my after-dinner cigar. I left Susan, Mary and Richard at the dinning table and headed off to the Connoisseur’s Corner. I had my cigar and then headed up to the cabin for the night.  

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria