Around Cape Horn (by Laura)

Arriving in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, after a 14-hour bus ride across the unimaginably flat Tierra del Fuego, certainly felt like we had reached the end of the earth. But just 12 hours later, we had unexpectedly booked ourselves on a cruise to take us even further south around Cape Horn and back through the Chilean fjords.

We bagged ourselves last minute, cut-price tickets on the penultimate cruise of the season (see boat, top). At one-third the normal price, we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, especially when we were shown into probably the plushest accommodation we've had all trip.

Although it was a great feeling to have reached Cape Horn, where one poor Chilean soldier is posted for periods of eighteen months at a time to man the lighthouse station, the highlight of the trip was in fact travelling through the endless untouched and relatively unvisited fjords of Chilean Tierra del Fuego.

Here we passed countless glaciers, many spectacularly active, as well as beautiful autumnal forests, coming right down to the water´s edge (see various photos, below). It was also easy to spot sealions and dolphins either from the ship's deck or from the zodiac boats which were used to ferry us to and from the various landings we made.

The excursions were a great aspect of the cruise, meaning that we got out and about and enabling us to get close to the glaciers and wildlife (see left). However, they also set off at unearthly times of the morning, perhaps a cunning ploy to discourage people from making the most of the free bar. This was only mildly successful - all-inclusives of course always inspire gluttony and spectacular hangovers.

All in all, we felt incredibly privileged to be there, feeling these really were places which few people are able to visit. It was a fantastic trip.

Laura