by Geena Zick, of the University of Vermont

Journeys through the magical fjords of Patagonia… Photo by Adam Spencer

After a long 30-hour ferry ride, we finally arrived in Puerto Edén! The small dock was bustling with people as we made our way to our hostel for the next week. Patricia, the hostel owner, greeted us as we got settled into our rooms. The next day we went camping across the fjord with some kids and adults from the community. The weather was warm and sunny, something extremely rare for Puerto Edén. Some of us went paddling on the lake and the rest of us went swimming. After drying off in the hot sun, we made dinner and played games. Telephone was a particularly funny game to play because not everyone spoke Spanish and by the end of the line, the sentence was almost always incomprehensible. In the morning, we made our way back to the beach to be picked up by the boat. A bunch of us went swimming while we waited. The water was chilly, but it was another sunny day! Everyone felt grateful for the lucky weather.

Round River Team Tero and some of our friends from Puerto Edén on their first camping trip! Photo by Adam Spencer

We spent another day in Puerto Edén before taking a small boat through the fjords to Fiordo Falcon for a research trip. The wildlife in the fjords was unbelievable. A sealion popped his head out of the water as we passed by through big patches of kelp. Next, there was a Magallanic penguin which a lot of people were dying to see. I was so excited, but had no idea what was to come. A few hours later, we saw some Peale’s dolphins that looked like they were headed straight for us. Suddenly, they surrounded the boat and began to jump out of the water all around us. They were close enough to splash me a few times. The view of them jumping out of the water in front of the snow-capped mountains with the ice floating around them was unforgettable. The dolphins stayed around the boat for at least 20 minutes before going on their way.

Dolphins and rugged mountains!

A Peale’s dolphin swimming next to our boat. Photo by Sophie Karolczak

We stopped at an old fisherman’s camp or “rancho” which was easy to find because the shore was covered in purple mussel shells that crunched beneath your feet. We arrived late in the day, but the sun doesn’t set until 10:00pm so we decided to take advantage of the light and began our first standardized biodiversity monitoring transect. We split into 5 groups: GPS, birds, plants, huemul deer, and amphibians. Every 250 meters, each group recorded data for their species.

Captain Juan’s boat, morning at our first campsite. Photo by Julia Selle

The next morning, we got back on the boat to travel to another area in Fiordo Falcon. We had to bushwhack our way up the mountain for the transects. Towards the top, the vegetation became so thick that I felt like we were in a jungle. Most of the ground was made up of fallen trees stacked on top of each other. There were little hummingbirds, called Green-backed Firecrowns, flitting around us and Thorn-tailed Rayoditos sounding off their alarm calls in the tree tops. We made it back to the boat, all wet and cold, and were surprised by dinner from the captain and first mate. The wind was too strong to sail to our camping spot, so we made brownies on the boat while waiting it out. We camped another night and headed back to Puerto Edén.

Matt stares down a Thorn-tailed Rayadito alarm calling in his territory. Photo by Adam Spencer

We spent our last day in Puerto Edén painting a boat and hanging signs for the town. At night, the whole town gathered to play games. We played tug of war and soccer with them until dinner. For dinner, the captain (Juan) from our excursion through Fiordo Falcon, invited us all over for pizza. Throughout the week, it became obvious that the people in Puerto Edén are some of the friendliest and most generous people I have met. I will always remember this beautiful town filled with new experiences and unforgettable memories. Puerto Edén will always have a special place in my heart. I can only hope to find more places like this.

Puerto Edén. Photo by Sophie Karolczak