An expedition cruise to Chile’s Cape Horn reveals awesome nature at the end of the world
A 5-day cruise to South America’s southern tip stuns with fiords, penguins and wind-blasted cliffs reached via the world’s deadliest waters
Early in the morning, shortly after five, the tension is mounting. Dawn is breaking, and the sea lies deep and dark as foam dances on the waves. Behind the window in the cabin, it is cosy. Barren rocky outcrops pass by in the distance.
Can Captain Omar Galindo make it past Cape Horn so that we can cross over to land in the stable inflatable boats?
The manoeuvres are tricky, and safety always comes first. The wind is allowed to blow at a maximum of 30 knots. This is not a regular cruise. We are travelling on an expedition cruise ship with a passenger capacity of 200. There are no shows, no Wi-fi and no telephone network.
At quarter to seven, expedition leader Francesco Ravilet, 34, sails up in one of the dinghies to check the jetty in the bay. He gives a very welcome green light.
The dinghies quickly leave the ship, rocking through the waves. After disembarking, we clamber up a steep staircase through the bushes. A sign announces the Chilean Cape Horn National Park.
Jetties lead to a monument with a stylised albatross commemorating all the shipwrecks around the cape, and to a wooden chapel next to a lighthouse. Below, the surf thunders against the cliffs. The sky glows orange in the morning sunshine.