2025_26 Oosterdam, Chilean Fjords...

I was up very early this morning in the pitch-dark waiting for daylight to see the Brüggen Glacier/Pio XI Glacier. I really couldn’t believe that I was out on the forward decks in the dark…  Should have stayed in bed a bit longer…  I was excited to see this glacier for the first time from the water on this adventure. We were fortunate to fly over the ice fields and see this glacier from the air earlier in the year on our flight between Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas en route to Torres del Paine National Park. Located in Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, Pio XI Glacier, named after Pope Pius the 11th and also known as Brüggen Glacier, named after the German geologist Juan Brüggen Messtorff is the largest glacier in South America. The glacier is about 41 miles (66 km) in length, with a surface area exceeding 1,265 km2 or 488 sq mi, it is the largest of the glaciers making up the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This gigantic ice field is the third largest ice mass in the world. The glacier grows 164 feet (50 meters) in height, length and density every day. This is a unique quality, as all the other glaciers in Patagonia and the world are losing mass (due to a combination of melting and less new snow accumulation), whereas Bruggen/Pio XI keeps growing daily. Straddling the southern Andes Mountains, it’s breathtaking natural setting that inspires sheer wonder and awe and only accessible by boat or helicopter. Our day was spent cruising through the scenic Patagonian fjords. Paso del Abismo (Canal): This is a narrow Patagonian channel located in the Aysen Region of Chile. It is part of the intricate network of fjords and channels in the south of the country.