Cape Horn, The Movie

Here is the third installment of our South American journey.

Early in the morning of December 16 our expedition cruise ship, the VIA Australis reached, 55 degrees 56′ South latitude, the southern tip of South America. From our cabin we had our first glimpse of Cape Horn and we were soon on deck hoping to hear if the weather conditions would permit a landing. After a bit of a wait we were told to don our warm and waterproof layers and jackets, gloves and hats. It was a go!

This was our first boarding of the Zodiacs that would ferry us to and from Cape Horn and 6 other excursions in the Chilean fjords over the next few days. We had a cold, windy and wet trip to the tiny landing area on Cape Horn and then proceeded to climb 157 steps up the sheer face of the Cape to a more or less level boardwalk that took us to the summit. It was a typical day on Cape Horn: cold, windy, cloudy, sunny, rainy, snowy and dry, all within one hour. We visited the various monuments on the summit, witnessed the wind damaged massive wing sculpture, met the new resident Argentine Navy caretaker and stopped by the windblown chapel.

Having read about Cape Horn all my life, this visit was a must on my bucket list. Because of the harsh and changeable weather, only 40% of visitors get to land on the Cape, We were lucky and very happy to have stood upon this unique piece of the earth.