Patagonian Glacier World - Icebergs and Penguins - 12
The Long Journey Home
Final thoughts and helpful tips
February 17-18, 2026 - Patagonian Glacier World
The departure information was distributed overnight. An unmistakable sign that the journey is coming to an end.
The day begins with overcast skies and rain, sometimes quite heavy. It almost seems as if Chile wants to ease our departure. Yet we still have two glaciers on the itinerary today. We plan to watch the first, the Amalia Glacier [↗], from the deck. For the second, the El Brujo Glacier, another Zodiac ride with a short shore excursion is planned. The latter, however, is still subject to change. Warm weather (it’s a bit over 7°C) and rain can lead to increased calving and thus ice in the water. The expedition team wants to assess the situation first.
Over the course of the morning, at least the rain stops, and every now and then a patch of blue sky peeks through. But it’s supposed to rain again and again. The humidity is at 93%.
Today is Chinese New Year. To celebrate the day, members of the Chinese tour group are preparing dumplings. Unfortunately, at 10:30 a.m., a time when I’m not hungry at all.
This is also the time when we approach the Amalia Glacier. Here, again, the problem is that without a point of reference, it’s almost impossible to really get a sense of its size. Fortunately, a local ship is also cruising in front of the glacier. They probably start in Puerto Williams and, like us, visit various glaciers. I didn’t see any Zodiacs, though, so they’re likely just cruise-by tours. In any case, it’s only by watching the ship that it becomes clear just how big the glacier is.
After about an hour, we set off for the second glacier of the day. It takes a while to get there, and then the expedition team needs another hour to figure out what we actually want to do. The original plan was to land on the right or left side of the glacier and go for a hike there. Unfortunately, it has started raining again. This, combined with the increased activity of the glacier, makes it too dangerous. But they don't want to give up on the idea of landing entirely, so a small island in the middle of the bay is added to the itinerary.
At 4:20 p.m., it's my turn to board the Zodiac. So this will be the last cruise of the trip. Tomorrow we’ll use the Zodiacs again as a shuttle to a small village, but that will be a dry landing, similar to the one in Port Williams.
For this cruise, however, the crew pulls out all the bells and whistles. We navigate through ice fields to the waterfalls that carry the glacier water down the sides of the bay. Then we approach the glacier itself as close as it’s safe to go. Parts of it are so blue it looks like a pop artist dumped a bucket of paint. Smaller chunks keep breaking off and crashing into the water. At the end, we head into a small canyon with a waterfall at its end.
Only the excursion to the island isn’t really appreciated. Of the 8 people in the Zodiac, only 3 wanted to get out anyway. After we saw that it was just a steep path going up maybe 20 meters, and were warned that it’s quite slippery, the number dropped to 1. Never mind, this tour was definitely a worthy finale.
The next morning starts as the last one ended: gray, with scattered raindrops. Puerto Eden [↗] is the final stop before disembarking. This is a small fishing village deep in the Chilean fjords, with fewer residents than even our small expedition ship has passengers.
There isn’t much to see. The highlights are the small hummingbirds that have actually made their way this far south. The village is slowly getting ready for tourism and they have built an arrival hall where locals set up tables and sell homemade hats, bowls, and other items. The boardwalks connecting the individual houses are made slip-resistant with metal grating, and the cats balancing on the railings are happy to have visitors who pet them. A few sailing yachts have also found their way into the small harbor.
After about two hours, I’m back on the ship, and at 2 p.m. we set off for Puerto Montt [↗], where the journey will end. But first, there’s one last day at sea.
For the rest of today, we’ll be sailing through the Inland Passage, a network of waterways between the mainland and nearby island chains. But at night, we’ll have to head out onto the open Pacific again. It’s supposed to get bumpy out there.
At some point, the captain mentions that we could impress people by saying we experienced wind force 12. We should just keep quiet about the fact that it was in the Strait of Magellan [↗] and the wave height was accordingly only 1–1.5 meters 🌝.
Somehow, it already feels like a farewell, even though we still have a whole day left on board. In the restaurant, there’s caviar again (I’ll have some) and lobster claws (I’d rather have the veal fillet today). And to wrap up the day, the captain invites us to a farewell cocktail at 9:30 p.m., including the obligatory lottery for the travel map. But since I haven’t been feeling great all day, I head to bed instead of going out of the cabin.
