After a splendid week exploring the southern Chilean fjords, we find ourselves sailing between South America and Antarctica crossing the famous Drake Passage, a stretch of water feared by some but greatly anticipated by those who love nature. It is here that we have a chance to experience some of the most magnificent creatures that live in the open oceans. It is also here where we have time to fully comprehend how far Antarctica is from the rest of the world and to earn serious bragging rights for overcoming this almost ritualistic crossing!
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 11 Feb 2025
Drake Passage, 2/11/2025, National Geographic Resolution
- Aboard the National Geographic Resolution
- Antarctica
Santiago Imberti, Naturalist
An ornithologist, photographer, fisherman, climber, and writer, Santiago Imberti was born and raised in southern Patagonia, Argentina. He obtained a degree in tourism and later in ornithology, which allowed him to combine his love for nature and the ...
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Antarctica and Patagonia: Legendary Ice and Epic Fjords
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3/8/2025
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Torres del Paine
Can the weather get any better? March is mid-fall here, equivalent to October back home. It was still dark when we boarded buses for our full-day tour of southern Chile’s iconic Torres del Paine National Park. We drove north. A rosy glow at the skyline slowly transformed into golden light, casting slanted shadows as the sun rose over the hills to the east, illuminating the mountains in front of us. Some of us were on the panoramic tour, visiting key scenic lookouts and finishing at Rio Serrano for a traditional Patagonian asado, or barbecue. Whole lambs had been roasting over lenga wood fires all morning. The rest of us were on a slightly longer tour, with two lovely hikes breaking up the bus ride. (We still enjoyed the lamb barbecue!) We were blessed with blue skies, sunshine, and no wind, which is very unusual for southern Patagonia. Well, that is, until our second hike, up a high hill called Cerro Condor, where the wind was so strong that it was hard to walk…at times, even to stand! After our delicious barbecue, we headed back to National Geographic Explorer , where it was docked at Puerto Natales, ready to continue our adventure.
3/7/2025
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Bernal Glacier and Kirke Narrows
We were up before sunrise this morning to watch the pink glow as it descended over the mountains and glaciers around us. A short hike brought us to the foot of Bernal Glacier just when the colors were at their most brilliant. We had a second opportunity to stand in awe as we contemplated the sheer power of ice needed to carve this beautiful landscape. Back on board, we stretched our minds in an abstract direction with a workshop on the use of watercolor to document our expedition from Naturalist Shannon Malone. Our timing was planned around our passage through the Kirke Narrows. We needed to pass through at slack tide to navigate the strait, which is barely three times the width of National Geographic Explorer .