Cape Horn is the famous southernmost point of South America, the meeting point of Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It is named after the city of Hoorn in the Neherlands by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire who sailed around it in 1616. Even though it is notorious for stormy seas, strong winds, currents and icebergs, this time the sea was was calm (below).
The 240 km long Beagle Channel was named after HMS Beagle that surveyed it in 1826-1830. The Beagle carried onboard also Charles Darwin, who saw glaciers for the first time and praised their beauty. However, since those days the glaciers in the so-called Chilean Fjords have diminished considerably. Below, a glacier turning into a waterfall.
The Chilean fjords and channels were explored in colonial time by the Spaniards seeking to Christianise the local indigenous people (Chono, Alacalufe and Yaghan).
The channels are used by ships in order to avoid the frequent heavy weather in the Drake Channel south of Cape Horn. Some still do not make it.
Puerto Williams founded in 1953, is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, a naval base, and the center of the region (below).
The rapidly changing weather creates fascinating light and cloud effects throughout the region.
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