Scenic Cruising Amalia Glacier and El Brujo Glacier

 February 6, we awake to very cold, overcast and low hanging cloud day and wonder will we actually see the glaciers.  The ship was gliding through the fjords ever so slowly and as we got closer and closer to the Amalia glacier more and more ice chunks and mini icebergs floated around.  And then miraculously the low hanging clouds lifted and allowed us to see the majestic glacier.   This glacier skirts the northern rise of the Reclus volcano located right behind it.  The ice flow goes all the way into the water.  This area was once the world’s largest continuous ice field, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.  Today it is merely a fraction of it’s former self.  Though still very impressive.   There we were also blessed with a glimpse of  some marine otters.  The ship did a 360 to make sure everyone was able to view the glacier.  

We continued at a slow speed to the next glacier the El Brujo glacier even more impressive than Amalia,  The towering mountains to each side of the ship, the quietness of the fjords made for an awesome experience that is truly hard to describe.  The quiet was only briefly interrupted as the ship’s horn blew to alert us to another ship coming towards us.  It was the Vikings Explorer Ship,  Jupiter.  It is just a bit smaller than us and generally outfitted for more adventures activities in various regions such as the Antarctic, the Arctic and so on.  We all waved to each other.   

The rest of the day continued with simply unbelievable culinary delight for the eyes. I will share a few pictures; as they say “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  I could not do it justice.   

Approaching Amalia Glacier

Getting closer and the low clouds are lifting enough for us to get a good view 

Getting even closer and while you probably can’s spot them and few marine otters greeted us

Now at El Brujo. Wow. It was massive

A closer look at El Brujo

occasionally we had to retreat to our cabin to warm up and this was our view.  What a site!

Oh, forgot to mention:  they lowered one of our tender boats and a few brave crew members were sent out to fetch an iceberg.  Suited in dry suits two jumped in and tried to secure a net around it.  They had succeeded but then as they were trying to tow is to the ship the mini iceberg rolled on them and was once again free drift the chilly waters.  The crew tied again and again with no luck.  Got to give them credit for their determination.  Finally they decided to go for a smaller one. After several tries they finally got one on board.  It was going to be an ice sculpture to be displayed in the pool area.  I think something may have gone wrong, for we never saw the Ice Sculpture.  No problem!  The entertaining part was watching them fetch a glacier, which turned out not to be an easy task.  Though,  very entertaining for the guest.  We cheered them on all the way until they were safely back on board and the tender was hoisted back to its hold.  It really does not take much to entertain a bunch of seniors.