Stella Australis - Day 4 Cape Horn & Walaia bay

March 10, 2020

10 March 2020 Stella Australis day 4: Cape Horn & Wulaia Bay

During the morning we travelled across Nassau Bay into the remote archipelago that includes Cape Horn National Park. 

Weather and sea conditions initially prevented us going ashore, but luckily it improved and we travelled by zodiac ashore to the windswept island

Cape Horn is located on Isla Hornos in the Hermite Islands group, at the southern end of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. It marks the north edge of the Drake Passage, the strait between South America and Antarctica. It is located in Cabo de Hornos National Park.

 

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 walkway was added in 1992

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.

A monument (foreground) and sculpture

A  large sculpture made by Chilean sculptor José Balcells featuring the silhouette of an albatross, in remembrance of the sailors who died while attempting to "round the Horn". It was erected in 1992 through the initiative of the Chilean Section of the Cape Horn Captains Brotherhood.

It represents an albatross in flight - a marine symbol of the souls of the sailors lost at sea. 800 ships were shipwrecked causing the loss of over 10,00 seamen occurred between the 16th and 20th century.


The waters around Cape Horn are particularly hazardous, owing to strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs. The need for boats and ships to round Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of the Panama Canal in August 1914.

Cape Horn has two lighthouses: One is at the Chilean Naval Station, which is the largest and most accessible to visitors. The second, smaller one—coming in at 13-feet-high—is located about a mile away from the naval lighthouse on the actual "horn." The smaller of the two lighthouses is not readily accessible

The tiny Chapel of Stella-Maris is situated next to the main lighthouse at the Chilean Naval Station. The one-room chapel is only about a 3m long, but its doors are often open, welcoming visitors.

Later we made a visit to the ship's bridge and viewing the birds about the ship

That afternoon we sailed the narrow Murray Channel between Navarino and Hoste islands and dropped anchor at historic Wulaia Bay.

It is one of the few places in the archipelago where the human history is just as compelling as the natural environment. 

I

 

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.

We climbed along a path on the heavily wooden mountain behind the bay. 

 The brochure said we climb through an enchanted Magellan forest of lengas, coigües, canelos, ferns, and other endemic fauna. It was very interesting

The panorama of the Bay was very beautiful.

       Jos & your truly enjoy the view          

Ushuaia - we dock early the next morning

March 10, 2020 Tags : Cape Horn , Charles Darwin , Robert Fitzroy , Tamana people , Walaia Bay

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