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13 Night Patagonia Adventure Cruise and Land Tour from Santiago (Valparaiso)

Ship: National Geographic Explorer

Cruise Line: Lindblad Expeditions

Sailed: Friday, Oct 27, 2023 from Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile

Ended: Thursday, Nov 9, 2023

The itinerary information below reflects the original day-by-day port of call schedule for the Friday, Oct 27, 2023 departure of the National Geographic Explorer. If Lindblad Expeditions modified this itinerary for weather or operational reasons after departing , the modified schedule would not be reflected here.

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Itinerary

Day by Day Summary and Map

Day 1 - Friday - Oct 27, 2023

Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile

Depart on an overnight flight to Santiago, Chile. We check in to the centrally located Mandarin Oriental Hotel (or similar) before our guided overview of this vibrant city backed by the inspiring Andes. Discover sites like the Plaza de Armas and get a feel for the mix of old and new that makes this city so great. This area is excellent for photos! In the early evening, we gather for an informal reception and a drink at the hotel.

Day 2 - Saturday - Oct 28, 2023

Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile

Air Travel

Punta Arenas, Chile

Bus Travel

Puerto Natales, Chile

Today we take a commercial flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, Chile's southern gateway to Patagonia. From there, we will drive to the outpost of Puerto Natales and check into our hotel for the evening. Enjoy a group dinner before retiring. (B,L,D)

Day 3 - Sunday - Oct 29, 2023

Puerto Natales, Chile

Bus Travel

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Drive into this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and spend three days at Tierra Patagonia Hotel or Explora Patagonia Lodge, discovering one of the most wildlife-rich areas in the Americas, covering 450,000 acres of glaciers, forests, grasslands, rivers, and colorful lagoons. Choose among a variety of possibilities, including walks and hikes, horseback riding, sailing among icebergs to the foot of the immense Grey Glacier, visiting the Salto Grande waterfall, and seeing the towers of the central massif from the Blue Lagoon. Look out for guanacos, gray foxes, rheas, and Andean condors. (B,L,D)

Day 4 - Monday - Oct 30, 2023

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Day 5 - Tuesday - Oct 31, 2023

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Day 6 - Wednesday - Nov 1, 2023

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Bus Travel

Cruise Begins

Puerto Natales, Chile

We have a final morning to explore Torres del Paine National Park. We then drive to Puerto Natales, where we embark our ship. Be on deck to look for condors and other wildlife on our way out of Puerto Natales as our Captain and local pilots guide us through the Kirke or White Narrows, accessible only to small ships like National Geographic Explorer or National Geographic Resolution-always a challenge to navigate because of the powerful currents that flow through the pinch point. (B,L,D)

Day 7 - Thursday - Nov 2, 2023

Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile

Today and during the following days you'll be treated to the spectacular features of an active glaciated landscape with hanging valleys and tributary glaciers. This region was navigated by Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, and it took most of November 1520 for his ships to find a way through the channels that lie between the continental mainland and Tierra del Fuego to the south. We'll look to make a first stop in the extensive maze of channels and islands of the Chilean fjords, where we may go out by Zodiac and kayak. (B,L,D)

Day 8 - Friday - Nov 3, 2023

Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile

Day 9 - Saturday - Nov 4, 2023

Karukinka, Argentina

Tierra del Fuego is one of Patagonia's crown jewels. We visit its newest and largest protected area: Karukinka Natural Park. Established in 2004 through a gift from Goldman Sachs, Karukinka is one of the largest donations ever made for conservation. We're thrilled to have special permission from the Wildlife Conservation Society to visit this private reserve, which spans 1,160 square miles and harbors endangered culpeo fox, Andean condors, albatross, grebes, petrels, fulmars, shearwaters, and many other kinds of wildlife. We may explore Jackson Bay, backed by a skyline of rugged mountains, and look for wildlife including black-browed albatross that nest on one of the nearby small islands. We may walk a trail to a lovely waterfall and look for elephant seals resting not only on the beach but also high in the grass meadows and even in the small river draining the valley inland. (B,L,D)

Day 10 - Sunday - Nov 5, 2023

Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile

We'll explore more stunning wilderness as we see the fjords and glaciers of the region by Zodiac, kayak, and on foot. A vast area of soaring, snowcapped mountains, gigantic glaciers, thousands of verdant islands, serene lakes, and waterfalls-the archipelago is scarcely touched by man. Take Zodiacs out to explore these protected waters and rugged shores, the blue and white of ice contrasting with greens of the forest highlighted by splashes of flowering plants. Look for the Andean condors, albatrosses, grebes, petrels, fulmars, shearwaters, and many other birds that inhabit this otherworldly realm. Then we sail the Beagle Channel and will look to hike and kayak one of the wild areas in this region of beech forests, mountains, and wild rivers. (B,L,D)

Day 11 - Monday - Nov 6, 2023

Cruising Cape Horn, Chile

Today we visit Cape Horn, near the southernmost tip of the South American continent, named in 1616 for the Dutch town of Hoorn. These waters are famously difficult to navigate, and over the centuries have been the graveyard of many ships-which before the opening of the Panama Canal had to round the Cape to sail between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Of course, we'll use our modern equipment to explore safely. Weather permitting, we'll take our Zodiacs ashore and walk to the top of the hill for panoramic views and to see the memorial placed there in 1992, showing an albatross in silhouette. (B,L,D)

Day 12 - Tuesday - Nov 7, 2023

Isla de los Estados, Argentina

We have been given special permission to visit extraordinary Staten Island, and our ship will be one of the few expedition ships ever allowed here. It's a place of superlatives, barely touched in recent decades and visited primarily by a few scientists and those who man the tiny naval observatory. The island was named by Dutch explorers in 1615. Its mountainous, forested landscapes and rugged fjords are beautiful, and we'll find a great deal of interest here. Our exact schedule will remain flexible to take best advantage of conditions. We'll search for southern rockhopper and Magellanic penguins, many other water birds, and fur seals and sea lions. We'll also look for otters on our landings ashore, and we'll see the replica of the 1884 San Juan de Salvamento "lighthouse at the end of the world", which inspired Jules Verne's novel by the same name. There will be also chances to walk in the southern beech forests. These days are bound to stand out as a unique chance to explore very remote places. (B,L,D Daily)

Day 13 - Wednesday - Nov 8, 2023

Isla de los Estados, Argentina

Day 14 - Thursday - Nov 9, 2023

Ushuaia, Argentina

Cruise Ends

Air Travel

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Disembark in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Take a charter flight to Buenos Aires and connect to your overnight flight home. (Day 15: B,L)