After the Falkland Islands, our next highlight was Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. One doesn't stop at the cape, merely goes around it, an act that in past centuries that could cost your life. The waters that flow past the cape are some of the most dangerous in the world. Before the Panama Canal opened in 1914, any trip around the world had to go "round the Cape." Many of those ships didn't make it and all aboard died in the rough waters. On the Cape itself is a Chilean lighthouse and a monument of an albatross honoring those sailors who died rounding the cape.

The act of "rounding the Horn" is one of the very special highlights for sailors (the others are crossing the dateline and crossing the equator) and for a highlight, there must be a ceremony. Sailors are baptized with the waters of the Cape as they make their way around the peninsula.

Click a picture to see a larger view.

Viewing Cape Horn

The Automated Lighthouse

The Flag Staff

The Albatross Monument

The Baptism Ceremony

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