Tuesday, 15 December (continued). In a short time we left Argentina and crossed into Chile. I went out on deck several times to watch the scenery, which was magnificent. The Beagle Channel is flanked by low mountains covered with snow above a certain altitude. There were narrow stretches where we passed close to the mountains on both sides, and wide stretches where we could see the mountains for miles. There were also frequent inlets and many islands.

A wide stretch in the Beagle Channel

We came through that narrow opening

The mountains were getting taller

About 6:00 p.m. the ship reached a fork in the Beagle Channel and followed the northern branch, often called Glacier Alley because there are so many glaciers in a row. Fortunately, the glaciers were all on the north side (where the mountains are higher). That's the port side of the ship, so Jane could see them quite well through our window. She ate in the room while I went to the dining room, another formal night. I was careful to sit near a window on the port side so I could see each glacier as we passed.

I was still on deck when we passed the Holanda Glacier about 6:15. I had just been seated in the dining room when we passed the Italia Glacier, the only one on Glacier Alley that still reaches tidewater (therefore a "tidewater glacier"). The next one, the Francia Glacier, ended in the mountains well above the Beagle Channel.

Holanda Glacier

Italia, a tidewarer glacier

Francia Glacier

 

The very blue Romanche Glacier

Alemania Glacier

Next came the Alemania (Germany) Glacier, completely different from the others. It was flat and wide. It seemed to begin higher up as two separate glaciers that flowed together and then spread out around a rock that partially separated them again. Finally, we passed the Romanche Glacier, the largest glacier in this stretch and with the bluest ice. It didn't reach the channel, but a steady flow of water from it did. I was told that all of these glaciers have been retreating.

During the night, the Veendam left the Beagle Channel and passed through Darwin Sound into the Pacific. It followed the coast a short way, then turned north, through the Cockburn and Magdalena Channels, into the Strait of Magellan. (The Beagle Channel does not connect directly with the Strait of Magellan.)