Today we woke early to watch as our ship sailed to the largest glacier in South America. It’s named Glacier Pio XI after a Pope. It is also known as Bruggen Glacier.
The morning started out dark, cold and rainy. Bruce and I nestled in our cabin drinking tea and coffee as the skies began to lighten.
The views were breathtaking as we sailed through Icey Channel.
I could only stand out on our balcony for short periods of time. It was very windy, gusting at 40 mph.
We braved the bow of the ship earlier because we didn’t know if we’d get a good view of the glacier. But again we only spent a short time due to rain, cold and wind.
The light and dark water were the fresh water and seawater respectively. We approached the Glacier Pio XI.
We were very close and the captain turned the ship so both port and starboard sides had views from their balconies.
The interesting thing about this glacier is that it is growing rather than receding. From 2000 to 2016 it grew 1.8 kilometers. This may be attributed to the fact that the Patagonia region is unspoiled by pollution from cars, industry, etc which may contribute to the recession of all other glaciers around the world.
Traveling away from the glacier we were surrounded by mountains. During the Ice Age, this entire region was covered in ice.
We spent a good part of the day in the Crow’s Nest on Deck 10 of the Holland America Oosterdam, where we could hear commentary by Ed, our Cruise Director. It’s also where they have the coffee bar!
We continued our sail through the Grappler Channel.
We continue to travel down different picturesque channels.
We traveled a narrow channel into the Paso del Abismo channel. I think the Captain said that at the tightest spot it is 200 meters across making it a tight squeeze for the ship.
Here you can see the pass we are going through – the Captain and crew received a huge round of applause after we passed through.
There were some magnificent waterfalls along the way!
What a beautiful day!
#chili#fjords#glaciers#iceychannel#pioXI#bruggerglacier#pasodelabismo#hollandamerica#oosterdam
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