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13 Night Best of Chilean Patagonia Fjords Glaciers and Torres del Paine Cruise and Land Tour from Santiago (Valparaiso)

Ship: National Geographic Resolution
Cruise Line: Lindblad Expeditions
Sailed:  Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 from Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile
Ended: Monday, Mar 25, 2024
The itinerary information below reflects the original day-by-day port of call schedule for the Tuesday, Mar 12, 2024 departure of the National Geographic Resolution. 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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Day by Day Summary and Map

Day 1 - Tuesday - Mar 12, 2024
Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile
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 - Wednesday - Mar 13, 2024
Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile
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.
Day 3 - Thursday - Mar 14, 2024
Puerto Natales, Chile
Puerto Natales, Chile      
Bus Travel      
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile      
Day 4 - Friday - Mar 15, 2024
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile      
Day 5 - Saturday - Mar 16, 2024
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile      
Drive into this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and spend three days at the Tierra Patagonia Hotel or the Explora Patagonia (or similar), 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.
Day 6 - Sunday - Mar 17, 2024
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile      
Bus Travel      
Cruise Begins      
Puerto Natales, Chile      
Kirke Passage      
We have a final morning to explore Torres del Paine. 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.
Day 7 - Monday - Mar 18, 2024
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile
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.
Day 8 - Tuesday - Mar 19, 2024
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile      
Day 9 - Wednesday - Mar 20, 2024
Karukinka, Argentina      
Jackson Bay, Chile      
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 are thrilled to have special permission from the Wildlife Conservation Society to visit this private reserve, which spans 1,160 square miles and harbors the endangered culpeo fox, Andean condors, albatrosses, 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 albatrosses, which nest on one of the nearby small islands. We may walk a trail to a lovely waterfall and look for elephant seals resting on not only the beach but also high in the grass meadows and even in the small river draining the valley inland.
Day 10 - Thursday - Mar 21, 2024
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile      
This southernmost corner of the South American continent is also home to Cape Horn, the island at the convergence of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, famously difficult waters that, throughout the centuries, has been the graveyard of many ships from the time before the Panama Canal. Sail the Beagle Channel and look to hike and kayak one of the wild areas in this region of beech forests, mountains, and rivers. We take Zodiacs out to explore these protected waters and rugged shores, keeping watch for the Andean condors, albatrosses, grebes, petrels, fulmars, shearwaters, and many other birds that inhabit this otherworldly realm. We experience more stunning wilderness as we explore the fjords and glaciers of the region by Zodiac, kayak, and on foot.
Day 11 - Friday - Mar 22, 2024
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile
Cruising the Chilean Fjords, Chile      
Day 12 - Saturday - Mar 23, 2024
Isla de los Estados, Argentina      
We have been given special permission to visit extraordinary Staten Island, and our ship is one of the only expedition ships ever allowed here. It is a place of superlatives, barely touched in recent decades and visited primarily by a few scientists and the staff of the tiny naval observatory. The island was named by Dutch explorers in 1615. Its mountainous, forested landscapes and rugged fjords are beautiful, and there is much to discover here. Our exact schedule remains flexible to take best advantage of conditions. We search for southern rockhopper and Magellanic penguins, other waterbirds, fur seals, and sea lions. We also look for otters on our landings ashore, and we 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 are chances to walk in the southern beech forests. These days are bound to stand out as a unique chance to explore a very remote place.
Day 13 - Sunday - Mar 24, 2024
Isla de los Estados, Argentina      
Day 14 - Monday - Mar 25, 2024
Ushuaia, Argentina
Ushuaia, Argentina      
Cruise Ends      
Air Travel      
Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile      
Disembark in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Take a charter flight to Santiago and connect to your overnight flight home. Breakfast and lunch are served on Day 15.