Up the Beagle Channel in the very basic Cargo Ferry, the Transbordadora Austral Broom, surrounded by inspirational breathtaking views.
From Annieontour in Punta Arenas, Chile on Nov 22 '07
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On to the Transbordadora Austral Broom in the drizzle and the greyness and it seemed I would be in a Pullman seat. There was a long seating area in the accommodation side of the vessel about 8 feet wide so JUST enough room for a narrow aisle and 3 seats across – seating for about 18 people in all, and very airless, with heat from the engines bellow!
The rest of the passengers in the Pullman seemed to be Chilean naval families, nobody had any English so I could see 36 hours ahead of me with no sleep and no one to talk to! There were also 3 or 4 cabins, with bunks for 2 in each but I had been told these were all taken – I knew Helen and Andrew had one. Then Ben arrived on board and it seemed there was only him in his bunk room – so the staff very discretely asked us both if we would be OK with sharing – and I got a bed after all! I was SO pleased – sleeping was going to be difficult on the noisy cramped vessel anyway!
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Ben was wanting to film wildlife and record the journey to report back as to what might make a good adventure programme – can’t remember what programme it was, but sharing with him and talking about the landscape and being infected with his enthusiasm set me off drawing!
The landscape was really begging to be drawn anyway……..and I had learnt from Robert, our artist on the Cruise – just DO it!! So I spent the whole day alternately standing on deck drawing quickly with a pen and then taking these down to the galley, where we ate, to colour at the table. I produced quite a few – see what you think of them.
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As in Buenos Aries, it was amazing how much I was able to communicate without language to the crew. Being on deck for so long was very cold and it became increasingly difficult to draw. I managed to ask to do my drawing in the canteen, (I probably looked frozen anyway!) and the galley staff were all delighted – I ended up donating a drawing to one of them!
We had not been out long when we made a stop at a small settlement on the north shore – Yendegaia – to drop off supplies, pick up post etc. I don’t think there was any overland route here, and the some of the crew and passengers went ashore for the ten minutes or so we were there to talk to the inhabitants.
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We then continued up the channel – the total distance was about 500 kilometres and the first part of the journey lead us between some of the smaller islands, with mountains rising into the clouds and glaciers that reached sea level – which shows how cold it was! The two main Glaciers were the Italia and the Roncagli. As we went further north I guess it was too warm for them – those must some of the most northerly glaciers at sea level in the southern hemisphere.
The weather varied a lot though – sometimes we could see blue sky in the distance, which we never seemed to reach, sometimes the sun suddenly was shining brilliantly and there always seemed to be moisture in the air, ranging from drizzle to low cloud, but it never really rained very hard (it doesn't anywhere really, compared to West Cork!)
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When the sun did come out, in the clear southern air the colours of the mountains, the sea and the intermittent wildlife, mainly birds, was stunning. We had quite a bit of sun on the first day and after I had done several quick sketches on deck, I went down to the canteen to do some painting at the table – for anyone interested I used water soluble crayons, which I scribbled quickly with onto a pen drawing as the landscape slid by, took some photos of the scene and then, (when I got too cold up on deck!) went to the canteen to use a brush and water and refer to the image on the camera display to enhance the drawing – I was doing all these with the intention of making larger paintings at a later date, so really they are work in progress. You may be able to identify which shots are of which drawings (or you may not!)
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Then I had to move out of the canteen when the meals started in the early evening so I went to rest on the bunk – luxury compared to what the Pullmans would have been like! With only 3 tables in the canteen the meals were served in 3 or 4 sittings – the last one always seemed to be me, Helen, Andrew and Ben! – and the food was ......... well basic really, with absolutely no provision for vegetarians! But this was a so much cheaper and more authentic way to travel than the tourist cruise boats, so I couldn’t complain. Yet again I wished I could speak Spanish so I could really communicate with the Chilean passengers and find out about their lives, although both Helen and Ben had some Spanish, so I felt lucky that they were there to help with communication on vital things like when and where did we eat! (it was only later when I went to bed that I noticed the ‘Schedule Eaten’ in the cabin!)
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Slept OK, although in contrast to outside it was far too warm in the cabin even though we had turned off the radiator! So I woke very early and went out on deck, trying not to disturb my cabin mate as I did so, although Ben had asked to be woken if I spotted any wildlife. Which I did! After about half an hour, around 6 in the morning, there was a group of dolphins on the starboard side! Was about to go and get Ben when I saw he was over the other side of the vessel, already filming. Well I hope he got better footage than I – have been finding the delay of the digital camera very frustrating for shots of wildlife, maybe that’s one reason why I have more photos of landscapes.
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During the night we had passed out of the Beagle Channel into the very south Pacific – the Chilean Ocean – and back in again to be amongst the islands in the Cockburn Channel en route to the Magallanes Channel. The weather was very grey, we went down to the canteen for breakfast when we were called and then back up on deck in good time to see the ‘Fin del Continente’ the very tip of the the mainland of the whole American continent. I didn’t get any really good photos of it – I tried to capture it on paper though..…
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Our arrival at Punta Arenas didn’t seem long after that – maybe because I spent a lot of the day catching up on much needed sleep after such an early start and we had the meal routine to go through in the evening again – but it was not until 9 in the evening that we arrived. – it was still very grey and we all disembarked unceremoniously compared with my experience of coming off the Orlova in Ushuaia! Then straight onto a taxi – in Punta Arenas there was an amazingly good taxi service – a flat rate of 300 pesos and the taxi picks up people at that rate until he is full, then drops them off in sequence. My hostel was first, a house really, in the outer suburbs of the city, another single storey building.
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Already in residency just for 1 night were 2 Americans, a lady who had travelled to Ushuaia in a VW Combi with her husband in the early 70’s, she was with her niece this time. They had just come back from a return trip to Ushuaia and she had a wonderful picture of herself from the 70's by a signpost in Ushuaia in very hippie garb! They too had been from there to Antarctica, but they had flown out, for only a few hours. Swapping tales I felt my journey had been far more ‘real’ and worthwhile and that I was really getting the best of everything……
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