Punta Arenas & Antarctica March 14, 2014

We arrived in Punta Arenas, about an hour late, not sure why.  We were up at 5 AM, if we had known we were going to be as late as we were we could have slept more and that would have been good.  As we needed all the energy for what was to come.

We finely boarded, our tender about 9AM, and then a long walk to the bus.  When we got on the bus, our guide was so excited to tell us that we had a GO!!!  Now our hearts were really beating,,, we drove to the Airport and after some confusion about where we were going, we boarded our plane.  A nice little BAE 146 200.  There were 44 of us.  Ed and I had a nice seat up in the forward part of the plane with no one in the middle seat, heaven.

We arrived Antarctica about 11, landing on a gravel runway, the pilot kissed the runway on landing, I didn’t think that was possible on a gravel runway, but he was good.  After debarking,  we walked down the runway, and down to the area that was the Russian area where we broke into groups, of 15 to go to the Zodiac's to go to Ardley Island to observe the Penguins and antarctic wild life.  It had just snowed two days before so the walk was heavy, but we had made it to ANTARCTICA!!   Wow how about that!  It was fabulous, and we will have many stories to tell, for years to come.  So I will show you some photos, that tell a lot.

Wow we are really here!

And in Russia too!


Now it was on to see the Penguins.

The birds were trying to take this penguin out, they are vicious!

he got away!

March 12, 2014

March 12, 2014

I will tell you about yesterday later, but right now I must tell you where we are….. they have canceled our scenic cruising Cape Horn, we are experiencing 65 knots winds across the bow of the ship, and to say we are bouncing around is putting it mildly!  So we are going straight for Ushuaia, we still won’t get there until morning, but it is suppose to be a better ride, we shall see as it is already almost 3PM and it is not better.

Port Stanley and our wonderful trip to the Penguins,

Our trip to Stanley was great, the weather was good and the sun was shining.  And the Penguins were all posing for pictures.  The drive to get there was an adventure or endurance contest in its self.  But I am glad we did it as it was all worth it.  The biggest surprise of theFalkland Islands was how large they are.  Vast to say the least.  Our maps don’t really show us the size and scope of these islands or for that matter, just how large SA is!  The people on the Falklands are VERY BRITISH!  How the Argentines, thought they could make this part of Argentina again, meant they hadn’t met or talked to the people.

The Penguins are really special to see, the road, or lack there off is something unbelievable, even the bouncy ship today is not as bouncy as that trip was.  You will just have to experience it as no way I can really give you the full understanding of it.  So I will let the photos show, how special these guys are and why you would want to go there.  

Here we are with all our little friends

Moms and Babies

Buenos Aires, and Montevideo,

Thursday March 6, 2014  Buenos Aires, Argentina

It has been a very exciting few days, that has kept us very busy, with little time to kick back and write on the blog, and on top of that I managed to catch a nasty cold, so brain is not working well. I am feeling much better today, so I hope I can make sense of all that has taken place.

We had two  sea days after Ilhabela, and it was a good thing, we needed to just chill for a bit, and get ready for Buenos Aires.  The sail to Buenos Aires was uneventful except we didn’t realize that BA is on a river the Rio de la Plata, the widest river in South America, it is over 120 miles wide, and all fresh water, not fresh enough for me to want to drink it!  It looked like the muddy Mississippi, in color.  And we also picked up a bunch of moths on our window, and mosquitos too.  Well it is South America,,,,, after all.  

We arrived in Buenos Aires, on time and met our private tour of 8 people with Craig, but by the time we got started the tour guide had added two more couples, so we were 12.  We had a nice bus and started on our city tour.  It is a pretty city, but the government is not stable, so the exchange rate, is all over the place, the people are experiencing 23% inflation every year, so there are lots of “black markets”  for almost everything, especially  money.

First major stop was at the was the Recoleta Cemetery.  It is livery large, and crowded, this is where Evita Peron was berried, she we are told it is revered and reviled.  Her body once disappeared, for 16 years, so is now buried under several feet of concrete to prevent a repeat disappearance.  Her black crypt is simply marked “Eva Peron”  over the inscription “ I will return and be millions."  

We went on to the old town, to see  the Plaza de Mayo where BA began in 1508, and here we did a wee bit of shopping and had lunch and saw some great Tango, by two very talented people.  And the lunch was very good too.  Then it was back in the bus to see the Pink house, they like to compare to our White House, it is the office of the President,  but he doesn’t live there.  It is called the “Pink” house as many years ago they painted it with a mixture of beef fat, blood and lime.  

We arrived back to the ship about 5, full and exhausted and as we entered our room, and Ed realized that he had lost his little black wallet, somewhere in the terminal as he had it to get in.  It had his drivers license and AMX in it.  So needless to say he was upset, he went down to the terminal and told someone with a uniform on what had happened and the man said “Come with me”  thinking he wanted him to fill out papers, he went and low and behold they had the wallet!!!  When he got back we ran into Ken and Claudia, who are next door, so we had sail-a-way on the balcony and skipped dinner as we were too full.  They told us about there trip to Iquazu, falls, if we ever come back to South America, we will want to see that.  We left on time, now it was on to Montevideo.  

Friday & Saturday March 7 & 8, 2014, Montevideo, Uruguay 

You wouldn’t think it would take all night to go across a river, but it did, and we were still late, we were suppose to dock at 10 AM and we couldn’t get in until noon!  We were in a holding pattern for over an hour and a half.  Luckily our tour guide waited for us, the people that booked with princess, for the same type tour had their tours canceled.  That was a shame as we were spending the night here.

Montevideo, Uruguay, is a very pretty city.  We had a very good day here.  We went to ground zero and walked around Independence Square and then through to old Gate to the old town and on to Constitution Square, which had a pretty fountain, and some vendors, with some interesting things for sale.

We bought a mug that holds a herbal drink, not sure I will drink out of it, but it is a cool to dad.

Then it was on to the Ranch Granja San Francisco, where we got a great tour and and lots of hors d’oeuvers before we set down to a stake Barbecue, Uruguay style (on a sword).  It was fun and we all drank too much wine, and eat too much, so we skipped dinner once again, and we were too tired to go and see the show, in the theater, and that was too bad.  As they didn’t have the dancing, they promised on the tour, oh well another day.

The second day in Montevideo, we decided to go as a group shopping, trying to shop as a group, doesn’t work well, and after a time Carole and John went off to look for yarn, and other things while Claudia and I were just looking, we never bought anything, but we had a GREAT lunch in this huge building with lots of other restaurants, all like little bistros.  Ken had a huge bone in Rib Eye steak, it had to be 4 inches thick!  And was cooked to perfection, these people do know how to fix steak.  After we were full, came back to the ship and had a sail-a-way get together for all six of us on the balcony, and we all talked about our day, Carol, never did find the yarn and walked so far, that they took a taxi back to the ship, they also didn’t have lunch, so, John and Carol went to dinner the rest of us were too full to eat dinner.  We went to bed about 11:30 and woke up late this morning, but managed to get up to Sabatini’s for breakfast this morning, as we haven’t eaten any thing in….. some hours!

Today at sea, Sunday March 8, 2014

Tonight is our 4th formal night, so we are doing a bit of house cleaning and writing.  We will meet John and Carol for dinner and the Champaign waterfall, it should be a fun evening.  

We got some paperwork on our Antarctic expedition, and it was very curious, as they said that the largest waterproof boot covers available was a mens 9 1/2!  We went down to check on it and they don’t know anything, they said the letter was put out by the tour operator, so we are not sure what is going to happen.

Right now we are on our way to Stanley and the weather looks good, but internet is VERY SLOW so.

To be contended……...