The day finally arrived in Puerto Montt for me to board the Navimag ferry to Puerto Natales. It was an overcast, miserable day, not the sort of weather I was hoping for on a four day, three night cruise.
It was rainy, overcast and windy at times but we were quite lucky to have decent weather for most of the trip. Even the 12 hour stretch of open water in the Pacific Ocean didn't seem as rough as the 3-5m wave predicitions would warrant. I still took a sea-sickness tablet but felt no ill effects, others weren't so lucky...
It was a pleasant trip with several documentaries shown and lectures given about the native flora and fauna, and even a bingo tournament on the final night!
I was a bit dissapointed by the trip, I expected to sail through valleys of snow and icy fjords. Only once did we spot a glacier, far in the distance, whereas the halls of the ferry were decked with photos of the Navimag sailing through spectacular icy vistas. It was the same with the animals, a few whales were seen in the far distance, even rarer were penguins, dolphins and sea-lions.
Still, I'm now in Patagonia, time to do some hiking....
More photos here