Day Fifteen - Agostini Fjord

 

At 9:00 AM the Octantus arrived in Agostini Fjord, named after Alberto de Agostini, a Salesian priest and mountaineer that explored the area.   This region is part of the Agostini National Park, the third largest in Chile.  Ships are the only way to access this park.

Our dependable zodiac landed us ashore on a rocky beach.  From the landing area, we trekked 2.1 miles to reach the Agostini Glacier. 

The walk to the glacier was well worth the effort.  The scenery was spectacular and the calories burned justified two desserts at lunch!

Gene was so busy taking photos of the gorgeous surroundings he nearly missed the last zodiac returning to the ship.  Fortunately, the chef had made plenty of desserts!

Late afternoon, Gene and Jan boarded the special operations boat (SOB) for an expanded tour of the fjord.  The light rain reduced our visibility but plenty of birds were still feeding.  This is a flock of kelp gulls, a prominent bird in the southern hemisphere.