We took the Viking South America and Chilean Fjords cruise in January 2023 and as usual, I am writing a series of articles about the cruise, what we did and what we wish we had known before we went! The cruise starts in Santiago in Chile, sails south along the fjords towards the glaciers of South America, visits Ushuaia in Argentina on its way to Cape Horn before taking a long detour out into the Atlantic Ocean to the remote Falkland Islands. Then back to Argentina at Puerto Madryn and on to yet another country – Uruguay and then to the final stop in Buenos Aires. Quite a journey!
The cruise has six days at sea in its 17 days, so you do need to be comfortable with a life at sea and potentially pretty rough seas at that. As usual with Viking, there is always something to do on these sea days, both educational and fun – we always enjoyed the Team Trivia contests that are normally held in the Explorer’s lounge and there is always something very nice to eat!
I usually try to cast my mind back to my overall impressions of the cruise in this first article – the details of each day will follow in subsequent articles. But if you asked me what I thought of this cruise, I would say it was slightly less interesting than I expected. I’m a keen photographer and I have seen magnificent photos of the Chile mountains, and I expected we would have at least seen some of that, but to be honest, some of the sailing days are quite a way from the coast and what could have been a highlight, the sailing through the Chilean fjords took place in heavy seas and even heavier rain and so there was really not that much to see of the land except for the ports that you visit along the way. The weather is what it is, but perhaps you are more likely to get bad weather in these remote areas of the world. There are some real highpoints – Cape Horn is spectacular, as are the glaciers, and the penguins on both the Falkland Islands and at Puerto Madryn are fantastic opportunities to see these delightful birds up close and personal! So, my bottom line would be that I enjoyed it, but I have enjoyed other cruises more, if that helps!
Things to know before you go
At the time we went on this cruise, there were no specific visas you needed (as US traveler) although at the time we did need proof for Covid vaccination. We didn’t change any currency before we went, and I don’t actually recall changing any with my ATM card – we used dollars for the optional tips on the ship and for guides and drivers.
As far as clothes are concerned, there are some pretty big changes in temperature as you sail south and then north again, and so we took plenty of layers. Around the tip of South America, and at Cape Horn in particular, it was extremely windy, so be ready for that. It then gets much warmer coming north up to Uruguay but was still windy.
As far as photography on this trip goes, I used my Sony A7R5 with a 24-105mm lens and also a 100-400mm lens that was very useful on the ship and particularly at the glacier. It was great for penguins as well!
Finally, we sailed with Viking for many years before realizing we were missing out on a significant discount. You can read more about that discovery in this article.
Valparaiso
We arrived after a long flight at Santiago and as usual, were met with Viking representatives and we huddled in a group awaiting our transport to the ship. The port of Valparaiso is about 90 minutes away and the coach was only partly filled, so we had a relaxing trip through the hills down to the coast. Valparaiso is a large city and port and so the ship is docked among tourist boats and larger freight ships, but with a nice panoramic view of the city.
The first day was simply a rest and get to know the ship day. We usually make our way to the bookings for the specialized restaurants, in particular the Chefs Table, as there are always some reservations available, and you can also browse the menus to see which food style you prefer.
On the following morning, we took the included tour that included a coach ride around Valparaiso and Vina del Mar with a visit to the Museum of Archaeology and History Francisco Fonck, which features stone moai sculptures from Easter Island and shrunken heads. The weather wasn’t great on this trip and so the views along the beaches of Vina del Mar made it look rather cold!
The museum was interesting and gave a great introduction to the area:
After this, back to the ship for lunch before our next excursion! We chose the Villa Victoria and Heritage sites for our optional tour in the afternoon. Villa Victoria is an old house built in 1904 in the older part of town, that is now a living shrine to life in the very prosperous days in the early 1900s when Valparaiso was at its peak at a major port.
There are various art installations as well as demonstrations of live in the early 1900s in Chile. Interesting!
Then we were dropped off in the main square of Valparaiso and taken in our small group to the famous elevators that were built to help people get up and down the steep hills surrounding the port. Originally there were a labyrinth of interconnected stairways, cobblestone alleys, with the majority of houses on the hills being constructed between 1880 and 1940. At its peak, 31 elevator station houses were perched along the hills taking people and their goods up and down from the coast. Security was pretty high as we lined up to go up in one of these elevators with various guards watching for any trouble. We saw none, of course, although waiting in line for the elevator is not something that seems to be the rule when we were there!
The view from the top along the Paseo Yugoslavo shows this vibrant city – not an art worthy picture perhaps, but it shows just how interlinked the city is – and the Viking Jupiter is just visible in the center of the frame.
Our destination on the hill was the historic Palacio Baburizza, a beautifully preserved mansion with many European architectural features. Green, copper-tiled roofs and white walls and an intriguing spire topped turret!
I always like the little details on these visits – this is the ornate lantern by the entrance to the mansion:
After wandering at our leisure around the house, we could stroll around the promenade with its views of the city and then meet again for the ride down the elevator to the main square. Valparaiso has some interesting architecture of old and new. It lost its prominence when the Panama Canal was opened as ships no longer needed to make the hazardous journey around Cape Horn, but many of these historic buildings still stand, sometimes just as a shell:
Lots of local color in this main square as well:
Back to the ship then for a rest up on the top deck with the sights of Valparaiso behind as the ship prepares to depart that evening:
And later that afternoon we departed from Valparaiso and headed towards the sunset on our first day at sea on the way to Puerto Montt in Chile.
You can find the full set of articles in this extended review of the South America and the Chilean Fjords cruise on the Viking Jupiter here:
Amalia Glacier and the Chilean Fjords
The Penguins of Bluff Cove in the Falkland Islands
Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands
