February 3, 2023
Today’s excursion was, without a doubt, one of the most unique we’ve ever enjoyed. We docked today not at a port, but in the middle of the Chilean Fjords, where we were met by a covered catamaran that ferried us off to our final destination.
Laguna San Rafael National Park is located on the Pacific Coast of southern Chile. Its name comes from the San Rafael Lagoon formed by the retreat of the San Rafael Glacier. The park covers an area of over 6,700 miles and includes the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. It is also home to the tallest peak in the Southern Andes Mountains and a total of 19 glaciers. The park consists almost entirely of inaccessible fields of ice. The San Rafael Glacier is where we’re headed today, and we traveled down a fjord more than 10 miles long to get there. The day began with lots of clouds, but we were fortunate that just as it was our turn to board the catamaran the clouds began to lift.
Our guide told us this area averages more than THIRTEEN HUNDRED FEET of rain each year. On average it is dry only 35 out of 365 days. How lucky were that this turned out to be one of them!
The views along the way were stunning. On one side of the fjord were scenes that looked like Florida; on the other, the Andes Mountains.
As we continued our journey, it was clear that the water was getting colder. We began to experience ice floes, then icebergs, then bigger icebergs…
And then suddenly, there it was! The massive 2-1/2 mile, 9500′ tall San Rafael Glacier!
To give you a perspective of its size, the tiny red spot you see in the photo below is a boat like the one we were on. They’re right next to the glacier. We weren’t able to capture it on camera, but as we watched the glacier calved at least five times!
As we were leaving we noticed this Leopard Sea Lion trying to nap on one of the icebergs.
On the way back we enjoyed views of the Northern Ice Fields, located behind the Andes Mountains, and another small glacier.
JodockWorldTravel 
Makes Seattle seem like a dry environment.
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