We flew from Denver to Dallas and then overnight from Dallas to Santiago, Chile. Of course, there was no sleeping on the overnight flight, so we were very tired when we got to our Hotel in Santiago only to have to wait around in the hotel bar area until we could get into a room. A couple of hours later, we collapsed into the room and slept for a few hours. Then after some dinner, slept again to get ready for our cruise adventure the next day.
view from plane arriving into Santiago
We got up in the morning, had included buffet breakfast outside by the pool at the Sheraton Hotel which was quite nice and then got on our coach for the transfer to Valparaiso, it took about 1.5 hrs (77 miles, 123 km) to travel to Valparaiso. Once we got to the cruise terminal it was maybe a 15 min wait in line to do our registration and have our picture taken and get our room cards. we had booked an outside cabin on deck 3 but got a very reasonable upgrade to a vista suite 7076 (port side aft) a few days before the cruise. We got onboard and quickly checked out the room before heading to the main dining room to have our first food of the cruise, which of course was delicious. After that, we wandered around the ship to get our bearings, and signed up for the internet plan (seems they were still selling the old style plans by the minute, I had hoped they would have had the new unlimited per day plan and a newer system but that was not to be). The ship isn't too large so it was fairly easy to navigate, our cabin was very close to the Lido, just a short walk from the room to the aft stairs and up 1 level. That evening we had our first dinner in the main dining room, we had chosen late dinners at 8pm for the cruise. We got to meet our waiters for the first time and had dinner. The food was excellent all cruise, I especially liked the soups and maybe only had a different appetizer on a couple of occasions.
In Santiago
Scenery on route to Valparaiso
Valparaiso
Someone got flowers
How the flowers looked later in the cruise
Nice day to relax and futher explore the ship. Stephanie got a massage. We attended the Art Auction and got to know the Art Auctioneers (Roni and Isabela). We have enjoyed collecting some art previously and they always have nice things to tempt you with.
Today we did the Taste of Chile, Fresh Fusion excursion, this was an interesting and different excursion where we met up with a local chef, Richard (originally from Germany) and 9 other people from the cruise. We went to the fish and vegetable market with our chef. Everything was so fresh, the fish did not smell. The produce was beautiful. Lettuce, tomatoes, berries, cherries. A very large squash cut into slices with a saw. And the garlic - absolutely huge! There are dogs everywhere in Chile - at the market they were hanging out in boxes/beds outside. We then drove to Puerto Varas to get to the restaurant near Lake Llanquihue, a very large freshwater lake. On a clear day you can see the volcano across the lake, but we were not so lucky. We could help prepare the meal, but because the kitchen was so small, Stephanie chose to wander around town instead. She also learned to make pisco sour, a surprisingly strong drink. The meal itself was fabulous. Clams and mussels, ceviche, fried seaweed, cheese and olives (minus the olives for us since we don't like them), bread and olive oil, wonderful soup with fish stock and smoked shellfish, perfectly cooked fish, the food just kept coming. Dessert was a sauvignon with berries, and all the fresh cherries you could eat (and Stephanie ate a lot). We would certainly recommend this excursion, expecially if you like seafood.
At the Market
Dogs outside the market
In the Kitchen
The main fish course
Puerto Varas town
Today we walked around town on our own. There is a large colorful church that we could see from the ship. So I got dragged up the hill to see it. I had caught Stephanie's cold (which she was basically over at this point) so it was slow going. The church was not open, but was still nice to look at. And there were some craft stalls in the town square. We then went to the other side of the hill to look at the houses on stilts. These are built jutting out into the bay, and are also very colorful. We then wandered back, window shopping along the way. Everywhere in Chile there is street art, some obviously done by request, but also a lots of "freelance" work. Overall a pretty quiet day.
Castro
Holland America Zaandam
Around Castro
Patagonian Sierra Finch
We did the Northern Patagonia and Coyhaique Excursion today, it was a bus tour. The countryside was beautiful, and the weather changeable - we had everything from rain to cloud-shrouded peaks to sunshine. The roadsides were covered in flowers, but I was surprised that they all were plants Stephanie knows - lupines, foxglove, daisies, scotch broom. The area has cattle and sheep farms mixed in with the nature reserve. There were a number of scenic stops, a stop for some snacks, some pisco sour and local wines. We also wandered around the main square and did some shopping in Coyhaique, getting a sweater. One of the highlights was the Virgin Falls scenic stop.
Puerto Chacabuco
National Park plants and flowers
Making friends with the local dogs. Stephanie and Gordon.
Coyhaique
Buff Necked Ibis and Southern Lapwing
River Aysen. Virgin Falls.
Crossing River Aysen
Merry Christmas! The day started with a visit from Santa and his elves - the few kids on board were excited to see him. We visited Captain Leonidas' shipwreck (wrecked in 1968) and the Tempanos Glacier. It was a gala night, with extra yummy food. And of course it was my birthday, so I got the noisy dutch birthday song from the waiters and a birthday cake. Stephanie had sneaked off at some point earlier and got me some chips and chocolate which were waiting in the room after dinner with Yoda!
Santa on the Zaandam
Chilean Fjords
Captain Leonidas' shipwreck
Tempanos Glacier
Dressed up for dinner
Birthday Cake
Stephanie with the after dinner mint elf
Yoda with gifts
Although the beginning of our vacation in Santiago was very warm (almost 90 degrees) the weather since then has been much cooler as we move south, and today was quite chilly with a high of only 45, and quite hazy. So the scenery was mostly various shades of grey, but still beautiful. We saw another shipwreck. Don't remember the name of this one, but it had a very interesting story. It was hauling sugar, and the captain and crew decided to sell the sugar on the black market and then purposely ran the ship aground to sink it and claim the insurance money. The insurance company got wise to the scheme and asked why there was no evidence of the sugar in the wreckage. The captain said it all dissolved in the water, but that didn't explain the lack of the bags, etc, so he ended up in jail. The Chilean navy used the wreckage as a target for years. Stephanie took a cooking class and learned to make ceviche and poblano stuffed chicken breast and then got to eat the dish afterwards (made by the chefs in the kitchen - US health regulations don't allow participants to eat what they make).
Stephanie's cooking class
Hard at work
Stephanie's poblano stuffed chicken breast
Showing off with the chef
Chef's version of poblano stuffed chicken breast
We were late getting into port due to high winds. The winds also resulted in the cancellation of our excursion (Speedboat to Magdalena Island to see the Magellan Penguins). Frustrating, but you can't control the weather. Due to this excursion being cancelled, we then signed up for the Punta Tombo excursion from Puerto Madryn for a 2nd chance to see Magellan Penguins up close. We went into town and bought some gifts (spending the last of our Chilean pesos). When we got back to the ship, we noticed some whales hanging out somewhat near the ship, so we sat on the balcony and watched them for over an hour. We thought they were humpbacks but we really didn't manage to get any decent pictures of them, best efforts below.
We woke to a very grey and rainy day. We were cruising through Glacier Alley, and we could still see the glaciers, but many of the mountains beyond were shrouded in clouds. When we got to Ushuaia, "at the end of the world," the wind was still very high, cancelling another excursion, cruising the Beagle Channel. Argh! We didn't get to go on our wildlife tour, but we we did get some good shots of local birds when we went into town. The flowers are beautiful, and we got to do some more shopping, this time picking up some earrings for Stephanie (who is in much more desperate need of extra ears than earrings).
Glacier Alley
Cape Gull
Dolphin Gull
Juvenile Giant Petrel
Ushuaia
Christmas Penguin
Cute penguin wall art
Flowers in Ushuaia
Today is one of the main events - rounding Cape Horn! It was again rainy and windy, but not bad by Cape Horn standards. Seamen can wear a gold hoop earring in the ear that was closest to the Cape when they sailed past it - so we can now officially wear a hoop in our right ear since we sailed past going east to west (even though most of our trip has been west to east up to this point). And now on to Antarctica, the true main event!
Changable weather - these two photos were taken 10 minutes apart
With calm weather we made good time and officially entered Antarctic waters about midnight, putting us almost a half day ahead of schedule. In the morning we got to Dallmann Bay and could see land. We were greeted by amazing weather - blue skies, calm seas, and the temperature just below freezing - not bad for summer in Antarctica. The landscape is so beautiful, snow and ice covered hills and insanely pointy mountains. And tons of wildlife. Penguins and seals and whales, oh my! Highlight of the day was seeing a pod of orcas. We sailed through Schollaert Channel, Gerlache Strait, Neumayer Channel and ended the day going back out to open ocean - don't want to meet any unexpected icebergs in the night.
First iceberg spotted
Cape Petrels
Scenery
Lonely Chinstrap Penguin
Crabeater Seal
Humpback Whale
Pod of Orca Whales
Gentoo Penguin Colony
At 6 am this morning we picked up 16 people from Palmer Station who came aboard to give a couple talks (and get haircuts since they don't have a barber in the station - there are only 40 people there). They talked about their research and life at the station. The station manager is from Littleton, Colorado (just like us)! and he knows a couple people a year or two ahead of Stephanie in high school. Talk about a small world. Unbelievably, the weather was even nicer today than yesterday. There was no wind, so it was actually almost warm. Every time I think I can't be any more amazed, something even more amazing comes along. I can't believe how rugged and sharp the many of the peaks are. We went partway through Lemaire Channel, also known as "Kodak Alley" for the picturesque scenery, but got stopped by several large icebergs at the end of the channel. The Captain said he has only made it all the way through this narrow channel 3 of 10 times (3 of 11 now, I guess). We also went to Paradise Harbor and passed Waterboat Point and saw the historic shack, the station and the penguins there. We continue to see lots of wildlife - seals, penguins, and whales. We even saw a leopard seal! We stayed up until midnight to welcome in the new year. Big party on the ship complete with Father Time and two Baby New Years (not sure why there were two). It was strange that it was still light out when we went to bed. Although the sun goes down, it never gets dark where we are at this time of year.
Iceberg
Palmer Station Zodiac
Palmer Station Zodiacs leaving later
Southern Right Whale
Humpback Whale
Scenery Lemaire Channel
Me and Pikachu
Whale Tail
Old shack and Penguins
Leopard Seal
Crabeater Seal
Danco Coast, Antarctica - we started the day at Deception Island which has one of the largest colonies of chinstrap penguins. We came around a huge rock and spire, and there in front of us were approximately 80,000 penguins. And there were tons in the water too. I figured out the flash burst mode on the camera which allows it to take about 30 frames quickly when you shoot, and we finally got REALLY good pictures of them swimming. We also passed by an enormous iceberg that was about the same size as the ship. Wouldn't want to encounter that unexpectedly.
Deception Island
Chinstrap Penguins
Lots of Chinstrap Penguins
Chinstrap Penguins swimming near Deception Island
Chinstrap Penguin out of water mid swim
Ship sized iceberg
Hope Bay and Admiralty Bay, Antarctica - Another early morning, we arrived at Hope Bay at 6 am. Hope Bay is another place the ship often can't get to, but this time we were in luck! Right next to Argentina's Esperanza Station is a very large colony of Adelie penguins - 120,000 pairs. They covered multiple hillsides, there were penguins everywhere you looked. This is where we got our "Abandon Iceberg" video. Soooo cool to capture that. We then sailed to Admiralty Bay, passing a number of very large tabular icebergs (many much larger than the ship) along the way. And then we had to say goodbye to Antarctica. What an amazing experience to get to see such an unusual place.
Esperanza Station
All those little dots are Penguins
Adelie Penguins
Adelie Penguins Abandoning an Iceberg as the ship was a little too close
Hope Bay
Large Icebergs in Antarctic Sound
Admiralty Bay
Goodbye Antarctica - now heading for Falkland Islands
Today we did ... NOTHING! It was a gray, misty day at sea. We went to the "How to Arrange Your Art" seminar and the art auction, and then took a long nap. Very quiet day. And when we went to bed, it was actually dark outside (in Antarctica although the sun went down, it never got dark)
Port Stanley
Pishing Doon! (Scottish)
Cute Rockhopper Penguins
Who's looking at who?
Rockhopper Penguins being themselves
Rockhopper Penguin drinking water
Cross country by Land Rover
Church with whalebone arch in Port Stanley
Sea Lions on the Pier
Another day of glorious nothing, but this time it was nothing with some rough seas thrown in. You know they expect it to be rough when the containers of sick bags show up next to the elevators. Luckily it didn't affect us, and we just had a quiet day, enjoying the comedy of everyone walking around like drunk people - it was impossible to walk in a straight line.
The tour today was to Punta Tombo to see Magellan penguins, a replacement tour for the one we missed in Punta Arenas. But instead of a speedboat to get to the colony, we had a 2.5 hour drive through a flat, boring desert scrub landscape. Being from Colorado I can appreciate the austere beauty of deserts, but this one has nothing at all to recommend it. Except that there are 150,000 pairs of penguins at the end of it. And the occasional group of guanacos - a wild relative of llamas and alpacas - so elegant looking. Magellan penguins dig burrows rather than building nests on the ground, and they build them right up to the path, so there were many opportunities for close-up photos. Although there were burrows and penguins right next to the parking lot, our guide had told us to just keep going. The main part of colony was further on and it was a 1 km walk to get to where they go into the ocean. We saw all sorts of activities - sleeping, preening, feeding, pooping, even two doing a mating dance (watch the video). One of the cutest things was a group in a small cove bathing and playing in the water. They were splashing around, rolling on their backs, swimming sideways, just having a great time. And we also saw Lesser Rheas - they look like smaller ostriches. We only had an hour and 15 minutes at Punta Tombo, which was just enough time to walk out to the end, taking pictures along the way, and get back. I wish we could have had more time. But the ship awaits.
Guanacos
Magellan Penguin with Chick
Chick in burrow
Chick close-up
No touchy the Penguins
Magellan Penguin house hunting
Penguin highway to the sea
Beachfront Punto Tombo
Magellan Penguins entering and exiting the sea
Magellan Penguins playing in sea
Lots of burrows
Juvenile Magellan Penguin, doesn't have his stripe yet
Lesser Rheas
Backstroke, Sidestroke and Duck Pose
It is hard to believe that the trip is almost over. This is our last sea day, and there are just two ports left.
Our excursion today included a brief tour of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, and then going over to Punta del Este, a resort town known for its hand sculpture on the beach. Unfortunately, the tour guide's English was pretty bad, so we only understood a little more than half of what she was telling us. But Punta Del Este was nice (if a bit warm, we weren't really prepared for full-on summer) and the sculpture was interesting. There were some art galleries we would have liked to explore, but we didn't have time. I think normally, the ride to Punta del Este would take abou 1.5 hrs, but it was a Sunday and in holiday season. End result was we only got 2 hrs in Punta del Este instead of 3 and that didn't leave much time to do anything too exciting.
Montevideo
Punta del Este beach
Punta del Este hand sculpture
Agapanthus - Stephanie loves these and wishes they would survive in our climate
Stephanie with Gaucho saddle and flags of Argentina and Uruguay
Time for another culinary tour! After a great tour of the city (our guide was awesome - very knowledgeable and interesting, but I didn't get many pictures), we went to some local neighborhood restaurants to try authentic Argentinian food. The walking part of this tour was very minimal, we wandered along a couple of blocks between restaurants. The food included chorizo sandwiches (the chorizo is very different than what we have in the States, with big chunks of meat in it), empanadas (every region has their own unique flavor, the one we tried was fabulous), and, of course, steak with chimichurri sauce, and some local Malbec wine (which I liked even though I am usually not a fan of red wine). Everything was delicious, and we finished it all off with gelato - part of the Italian cultural influence in Buenos Aires. The mango-banana was to die for!
Kinetic flower sculpture (should be open in daytime, but wasn't working)
Restaurant 1
Restaurant 2
Gelato shop
Eva Peron monument
After a somewhat early morning (we were off the ship at 8:15 - they want us off early so they can get ready for the next bunch of people), we had (another) tour of Buenos Aires (always nice to get a slightly different perspective, and a few more pictures this time). We stopped at Evita's (Eva Peron's) grave. There are not many monuments to her - really just the one we saw yesterday - because the dictatorial regime that followed shortly after her husband's presidency tried to wipe out the memory of her. We then went to lunch (more yummy Argentinian steak) and a tango show - beautiful music , singing , and amazing dancing. Then it was off to the airport for the long overnight journey home.
Dog walkers of Buenos Aires
Graveyard where Eva Peron and her family are buried
Cats of the Graveyard
Duarte Family Mausoleum - Family of Eva Peron
Eva Peron Plaque
Someone that liked their dog
July 9th Ave, widest avenue in the world with 14 lanes of traffic, named for Argentina's Independence day in 1816
Obelisk of Buenos Aires, commemorates 400 years since the city was formed (1536 - 1936)
Likeness of Eva Peron on side of building
Pictures around Buenos Aires
Tango Show
Heading to the airport
