LAND & SEA

Silversea organized a full day excursion of breathtaking sightseeing at the world renowned Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. We started by bus to the terminus of Tren del Fin del Mundo (End of the World Train) which was built to move prisoners from the coast to the hinterland to harvest building materials. These mini choo-choo trains are churned by steam engines (made in South Africa) but they failed to 'wow' us older folks of the cruise ship variety. The indigenous vegetation on this wind-whipped land is mainly 'Lenga', mostly covered by 'Chinese Lanterns' or parasites that hang from the branches. Sitting on the border with Chile almost all the mountain ranges we saw from the park were on Chilean soil.

What followed, a 2-hour cruise on a catamaran to return us to the city via Lapataia Bay, Beagle Channel and Sea Wolves which more than made up for the monotonous land segment. Against an epitome backdrop of blue-on-blue ie blue waters against blue sky we visited the natural habitats of sea birds, mostly Comarants, and sea lions. Regrettably we did not see penguins but it was still an amazing eye opener. We literally saw masses of them at close range, making it one of those reflective moments when the question of how our Creator creates begs an answer.