Ocean Escapes
THE
DEEP
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Any Owner who explores Patagonia sails in the wake of maritime greats. This is a destination shaped by those who didn’t just push boundaries of voyage and discovery, they also left a legacy and history for today’s avid explorer.
“Patagonia is a feral wilderness where civilisation is the novelty, not the norm.”
Tristan Rutherford, Journalist & Travel Writer
Pioneering History
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan navigated through what we now call the Straits of Magellan. Today a million zebra-striped Magellanic penguins also bear his name. Dutch captain Willem Schouten was the first to round Cape Horn, which he named after his Netherlands hometown Hoorn.
British naturalist Sir Charles Darwin pioneered a third Patagonian route on his exploration vessel Beagle. The Beagle Channel allows Owners the opportunity to wave at rockhopper penguins and Andean condors, while connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific. These same frigid seas form the migration route for humpbacks and blue whales.
Ice Age 2
In Patagonia, the first inhabitants had to fight off monsters. Over 10,000 years ago, new arrivals battled with the Smilodon, a 400 kilogram sabretooth far larger than a tiger. They dined on Lestodon, a gigantic four-ton sloth. Stone Age hunter-gatherer communities survived into the 20th century. Make no mistake, you are sailing through a feral wilderness where civilisation is the novelty, not the norm.
Yet as the austral winter ends, hope springs eternal. Meltwater gushes through pampas plains, which are home to wild horses descended from the Andalusian stallions that galloped free five centuries ago. Wildflowers illuminate valleys best seen by helicopter or hang glider. At the Perito Moreno Glacier, watch icebergs calve before your eyes.
Patagonia’s diverse and changing landscape provides the ideal
terrain for adventurers looking to head out of their comfort zone.
Continental Divide
Patagonia is split between two nations: Argentina and Chile. Argentina’s buzzing entry point is Ushuaia, the world’s most southerly city. Pair a glass of Mendoza with an ‘Oja de bife’ steak, then explore.
Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego National Park starts just south of Ushuaia. Here snow-capped peaks and raging rivers are serenaded by austral parakeets. Check out Ushuaia’s former prison, which once held South America’s toughest cons. Because of the surrounding no-man’s-land, only two inmates ever escaped. Welcome to the edge of the world.
The Chilean section of Patagonia has wildlife aplenty. Set your GPS for Alberto de Agostini National Park. Darwin scaled an ice field here to study Andean foxes and llama-like guanacos. Both rank among Instagram’s cutest creatures. At the western end of the Strait of Magellan sits Kawésqar National Park. Kayak to spot southern whales and Chilean dolphins. Be aware that this vast reserve is solely accessible by sea.
The Last Explorers
One of Patagonia’s greatest explorers was a woman — dressed as a man. In the 18th century, discovery was a masculine endeavour. So the French botanist Jeanne Baret renamed herself ‘Jean’ and sneaked aboard Louis-Antoine de Bougainville’s around-the-world expedition, the first French circumnavigation.
In Brazil, Miss Baret found a pink flowering ivy. It was named Bougainvillea after her captain. In Patagonia, she discovered the Commerson’s dolphin, which was named after her male mentor. Tragically, not a single species discovered during de Bougainville’s epic circumnavigation bears Baret’s name. Although the modern biography The Discovery of Jeanne Baret attests to her bravery.
Two centuries later, English travel writer Bruce Chatwin penned hypnotic prose about the vast region. In Patagonia describes Chatwin’s six-month daydream where he communed with animal spirits, ranchers and prostitutes. This “little masterpiece of travel,” as the New York Times described it, should be packed aboard every superyacht sailing south.
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