Day 59 January 7th 2007, The End of the World - Cabo de Hornos, Chile

Even though I have spent a little bit of time on the high seas in moderately rough weather I have always managed to get in a good nights sleep. The approach to Cape Horn was a little bit rough but perhaps it was the anticipation of reaching this famous place at the very tip of South America that kept me awake most of the night. Surprising given the amount of Gin I had the previous evening. At 05:30 AM I consigned myself to the fact that I was not going to get in any more Zzzzzzzzzzz, got dressed and headed to the lounge at the font of the ship in search of some coffee.

Ushuaia to Cape Horn

A landing at Cape Horn is only possible by a launch such as a zodiac or by helicopter, given the absence of a helicopter we would be using the first option. Only possible if the sea is not too rough. The Infinity Cruise ship which was moored up next to us in Ushuaia was here last week in force 10 conditions and unable to visit the island. By 07:00 hours it wasn´t quite that bad but a landing was not on the cards. By 07:30 hours we could just about make out the lighthouse and Chilean flag on the Island and the conditions were starting to mellow a little.

A couple of the ships zodiacs

With all the passengers now awake, dressed in wet weather gear and life jackets we awaited the captains decision, encouraged by the launch of the zodiacs which hovered with their drivers just off our stern, we waited at the back of the boat for another 10 minutes before being given the green light. GO GO GO GO

A view across Cape Horn with the edge of the Island in the background

Although not comparable to the achievement of sailing round Cape Horn it was exciting to be this far south. With wind and rain blowing we climbed the 140 steps to the lighthouse and then out across the island to the Albatross Monument. From here was could see the edge of Cape Horn and the end of the World 55°59′00″S, 067°16′00″W. With winds reaching 140km /h at times the Chilean flag on the Island has to be replaced once a month, once the flag only lasted for 3 hours.

The Chilean Flag being shredded by the wind

Shelley in front of the Albatross Memorial

Myself and Shelley bracing the wind with the edge of Cape Horn in the background

As we gazed out into the open ocean towards Antarctica it was easy to see how 800 ship´s have been wrecked off the cape and in the distant haze we could see a tanker slowly crossing from West to East. I´m not sure how many ships still cross the cape given the Panama canal and the straight of Magellan. I did hear that the Panama canal is too small for some of the newer and larger supertankers with many more now using the Magellan channel and bringing some business back to Punta Arenas.

Given the isolation and the weather conditions you wouldn't expect the island to be inhabited. Living at the light house is a naval officer, his wife and their 3 year old child. After about 40 mins on the island, including a signing of the guest book we headed back to the ship for breakfast.

After leaving Cape Horn we retraced our route and stopped off at Wulaia on Navarino Island for a bit of a walk to stretch the legs.

Cape Horn to Wulaia

Visiting a view point on the Island we could see one of the old Estancia´s (Farm) There have been several attempts to run Estancias but these have all failed with the animals left to run loose on the Island causing havoc. First of all came the horses and pigs which are now completely wild. Someone then tried to set up a beaver colony for the fur, this failed and the Island became overrun by Beavers. To stop this the authorities introduced Weasels to eat the Beavers, instead they started to eat the bird life. So to stop this Foxes were introduced to eat the Weasels with little effect. In a final bid to fix the problem hunting of anything non indigenous is now permitted on the Island.

Highlights: Visiting Cape Horn