Check in at 1385 O’higgins Street (Arturo Prat Port) between 13:00 and 17:00. Board at 18:00 (6 PM). After a welcoming toast and introduction of captain and crew, the ship departs for one of the remotest corners of planet Earth. During the night we cross the Strait of Magellan and enter the labyrinth of channels that define the southern extreme of Patagonian. The twinkling lights of Punta Arenas gradually fade into the distance as we enter the Whiteside Canal between Darwin Island and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.
By dawn the ship is sailing up Admiralty Sound (Seno Almirantazgo), a spectacular offshoot of the Strait of Magellan that stretches nearly halfway across Tierra del Fuego. The snowcapped peaks of Karukinka Natural Park stretch along the north side of the sound, while the south shore is defined by the deep fjords and broad bays of Alberto de Agostini National Park. We go ashore at Ainsworth Bay, which harbors copious bird life and a colony of southern elephant seals which can sometimes be spotted from the Zodiacs. Two guided excursions are available: one is along the edge of a stream, peat bog and beaver habitat to a waterfall-and-moss-covered rock face tucked deep inside a pristine sub-polar forest; the other is a more strenuous hike along the crest of a glacial moraine. Both afford views of Marinelli Glacier and the Darwin Mountains.
Leaving Ainsworth Bay behind, we sail west along the sound to the Tucker Islets. After lunch, we board the Zodiacs again for a close-up view of the Magellan penguins that inhabit the tiny islands. More than 4,000 penguins use Tucker as a place to nest, give birth and nurture their chicks. Many other bird species also frequent the area including king cormorants, oystercatchers, Chilean skuas, kelp geese, dolphin gulls, eagles and even the occasional Andean condor. In September and April — when the penguins live elsewhere — this excursion is replaced by a short walk to a glacier at nearby stunning Brookes Bay.
Overnight we sail around the western end of Tierra del Fuego via the very narrow Gabrial Channel, Magdalena Channel and Cockburn Channel. After rounding the remote Brecknock Peninsula, Stella Australis tacks eastward and enters the Beagle Channel again. By morning we are entering Pia Fjord and boarding the Zodiacs for a shore excursion to Pia Glacier. After disembarking we take a short hike to gain a panoramic view of the spectacular glacier, which extends from the mountaintops down to the sea or a longer much more difficult walk up a lateral moraine of the old Pia Glacier.
No one knows for certain how the hulking mass of snow and ice got its feminine moniker, but one theory says it was named for Princess Maria Pia of Savoy (1847-1911), daughter of the Italian king.
Back onboard the ship, we continue east along the Beagle Channel through an area called Glacier Alley. Living up to its name, the passage features a number of impressive tidewater glaciers flowing down from the Darwin Mountains and Darwin Ice Sheet on the north shore. Most of them named after European countries — Holland, Italy, Germany, Spain and France.
During the early morning we navigate the narrow Murray Channel between Navarino and Hoste islands and drop anchor at historic Wulaia Bay, one of the few places in the archipelago where the human history is just as compelling as the natural environment. Originally the site of one of the region’s largest Yámana aboriginal settlements, the bay was described by Charles Darwin and sketched by Captain FitzRoy in the 1830s during their voyages on the HMS Beagle. This area is also renowned for its mesmerizing beauty and dramatic geography. After a visit to the Australis-sponsored museum in the old radio station — which is especially strong on the Yámana people and European missionaries in the area — passengers have a choice of three hikes (of increasing degrees of difficulty) that ascend the heavily wooden mountain behind the bay. On all of these you will be strolling through an enchanted Magellan forest of lengas, coigües, canelos, ferns, and other endemic fauna to reach a panoramic viewpoint overlooking the bay. Before leaving Wulaia Bay, drop something into the wooden mail barrel inside the museum – letters or postcards meant to be hand delivered by future travelers – an ancient mariner tradition revived by Australis.
In the afternoon we cruise across Nassau Bay into the remote archipelago that includes Cape Horn National Park. Weather and sea conditions permitting, we shall go ashore on the windswept island that harbors legendary Cape Horn (Cabo de Hornos). Discovered in 1616 by a Dutch maritime expedition — and named after the town of Hoorn in West Friesland — Cape Horn is a sheer 425-meter (1,394-foot) high rocky promontory overlooking the turbulent waters of the Drake Passage. For many years it was the only navigation route between the Pacific and Atlantic, and was often referred to as the “End of the Earth.” The park was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2005. The Chilean navy maintains a permanent lighthouse on the island, staffed by a lightkeeper and his family, as well as the tiny Stella Maris Chapel and modern Cape Horn Monument.
The following morning we sail into Argentine waters and dock in Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city. Australis is scheduled to arrive at 8:30 or 9:30 AM depending on the date of departure.
ITINERARY MAP
SPECIAL RATES
TICKET CONTRACT
The issuance of the ticket contract shall be made by the ship operator prior to the vessel’s departure. The ticket contract is governed by the provisions published on the Company’s website (www.australis.com), which is an integral part and which the holder of the reservation declares to know and accept along with the reservation, in accordance with the terms of these conditions. These conditions also govern the ticket reservation made by the passenger, as deemed appropriate.
The terms “the Company” or “the Ship Operator” refers to Transportes Marítimos Geo Australis S.A. or Transportes Marítimos Via Australis S.A., to which the reservation is made and which shall be the carrier on the reserved voyage, by means of the issuance of the corresponding ticket.
RATES
The Company reserves the right to modify the rates published in these pricing conditions without prior notice, which will be valid from the publication date
CHECK-IN, BOARDING, AND DEPARTURES
The Company reserves the right to modify the departure dates published in these pricing conditions without prior notice, which will be valid from the publication date. The hours of check-in, boarding, departure, and arrival are approximate. The vessel may be delayed, without liability for the Ship Operator, due to weather conditions, by order of the maritime authority, due to the welfare, health and safety of one or more passengers or due to an act of authority or other event constituting force majeure or fortuitous event, and the passenger shall not be entitled to any compensation for such circumstance.
The check-in, boarding, and disembarkation times may be modified to ensure social distancing or for other health reasons without affecting the ship’s departure time for this reason.
INCLUDED IN THE PRICE
Rates include accommodations, sea transportation, all meals, open bar on defined hours (free of charge on wines, drinks and spirits), shore excursions and on-board entertainment.
NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE
Gratuities (US$ 15 per person per night is recommended), calls from the onboard satellite phone, boat shop purchases, optional tours outside the Australis route itinerary, port transfers visa fees, national park fees or Chile and Argentina port fees.
Total port fees per person for bookings are as follows:
PAYMENTS
A US $400 deposit per person is required to secure a reservation. Full payment of the ticket price must be made to the Company no later
than 60 days prior to departure.
CANCELLATION TIMEFRAMES
The following charges apply in case of cancellation of a reservation as of the date the Company receives a cancellation notice in writing:
CANCELLATIONS
The Company may cancel one or more voyages due to force majeure or acts of God, i.e., the sanitary measures imposed by the national authorities in the port of departure or landfall that prevent the departure or landfall and/or the restrictions imposed by the national or international authorities that restrict or prevent the access of passengers to the port of departure or carrying out maritime tourism voyages.
Furthermore, the Company may cancel, without any liability whatsoever, one or more voyages if circumstances arising from the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on the maritime transportation of passengers and/or on the tourist cruise market prevent, discourage or affect in any way the feasibility of such voyages. This situation shall be deemed to include the circumstance that the trip in question does not have a sufficient number of passengers to justify its execution, either from the economic point of view or from the point of view of the necessary human or material resources, as well as any other factor
that prevents, hinders or makes it more burdensome to have such resources available. The qualification of this circumstance shall correspond to the exclusive judgment of the Company, which shall neither express nor prove its origin, all of which is expressly accepted when the reservation is formulated.
The Company shall not be liable for any rescheduling of sailings or cancellations of the voyages it performs, when the conditions foreseen and/or in force at the beginning of the voyages determined by the sanitary emergency caused by the COVID 19 pandemic prevent sailing on the scheduled dates.
In the event of cancellation of the trip for any of the above mentioned reasons, the Company shall only be obliged to reimburse the value of the amount paid for the reservation, being deemed understood that any indemnity action for any reason, including consequential damage, loss of profit or moral damage, has been waived by the mere fact of making the reservation. The waiver shall apply in case of rescheduling of the voyage.
COVID-19 RELATED CONDITIONS
Each passenger must be fully vaccinated with all COVID-19 vaccine doses necessary for their immunization, following current health standards and with a type of vaccine accredited with the official certification issued by the health authority.
Each passenger, directly or through the travel agency that made the reservation, must send via email and at least 45 days in advance their vaccination certificate. The Shipowner will communicate to the passenger, directly or through the respective travel agency, any doubts or observations regarding
their official certification. The passenger must correct the corresponding doubts or objections. Notwithstanding the preceding, each passenger must show the corresponding official certificate without pending observations before sailing. Without a proper vaccination certificate, the passenger will not be able to board the ship.
Additionally, and before boarding, the Shipowner may require the passenger to perform a Covid-19 antigen test provided by the Company for this purpose, which, if negative, will allow them to board the ship. In no case will this antigen test replace the vaccination certificate.
Likewise, the passenger’s responsibility is to have all the necessary documentation required by the authorities to enter the Magallanes Region, which must be shown to the Shipowner if needed.
NOTE
The trips described in the itineraries are usually possible. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company reserves the right to alter, change or disregard part of this itinerary without prior notice, whether motivated by the welfare and safety of passengers, for the proper preservation of the environment or due to any extraordinary circumstance, fortuitous event or force majeure. Furthermore the departure or arrival of vessels may be subject to possible changes.
Thus, it is not possible to guarantee bird and animal sightings, since the precise location may change.
