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16 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | AUGUST 2026 Had to ride a train from El Tren del Fin del Mundo, the train at the end of the world A "City of Music" with a waterfront promenade along Lake Llanquihe Port in Puerto Montt, Chile By Elizabeth Westbrook Last year's journey to the Patagonia (Breeze, January) only whetted our appetite to continue exploring the coastal areas of Argentina and the Chilean Fjords. A cruise on a small ship was the only way to reach the passages and the maze of fjords. The fair weather can also increase the possibility of experiencing even more. But first we had to get around Cape Horn. I did not say the southern tip of South America because your image of this continent would have been the same as mine. One continuous land mass. I found out there are more than 40,000 islands on the Chilean side. Cape Horn is the rocky headland at the southern tip of Chile's Tierra del Fuego archipelago. This tip is where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet and is known as the northern boundary of Drake's Passage. Since we're in the Chilean Antarctica region, the excursions provided by our cruise allowed us to enjoy the sub-Antarctica vegetation and the welcoming presence of penguins and seals. We brought our own high-powered binoculars to get an up-close view of the mountains and the waterfalls. Sailing from Ushuaia, Argentina for an hour on the Beagle Channel, we were treated to many dramatic, gigantic glaciers. Nature's brushstrokes of thick and thin, fine blue lines showed the crevasses — I was overcome with emotion with the realization of my time on this planet was just a flicker of light. Sailing in the fjords that were once themselves massive glaciers gave us a partial view of a fractional segment of one of the world's largest continuous ice fields, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, at Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. I commented to a fellow traveler that compared to the Inside Passage in Alaska, the views and landscapes were incomparable. He concurred. After four days of sailing through untouched wilderness and then anchoring in Puerto Montt, founded in 1853 by German settlers, we were surprised to find a metropolis and charming architecture from Old Europe and local crafts in Frutillar. The area teemed with vacationing Chileans. It was summer after all. If you are interested in following the paths of historic figures: Sir Francis Drake (Drake's Passage — where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet), Willem Schouten (Cape Horn — southern tip, famous for treacherous waters with more than 800 sunken ships), Charles Darwin (Beagle Channel — authored the Voyage of the Beagle), and Ferdinand Magellan (Strait of Magellan — 350 miles of tortuous sea route yet safer than going around Cape Horn), then this voyage is for you. The Chilean Fjords