South America/Antarctica Photos
I selected some pictures and made a Shutterfly album. If you didn't receive an invitation to view it, let me know (suekate@bellsouth.net) and I'll send you one.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Homeward Bound, 1/31/16
My good intentions were to write this final posting on the plane trip home. Instead I had a glass of wine and fell asleep watching a movie. So this is a week or so after the fact...
We left the ship at 8 am Sunday morning with our passports, Chilean visas and affidavits swearing we were not bringing fresh produce or meats ashore firmly in hand. A quick trip through an old and creepy terminal where we handed over our visas and affidavits and we set off to tour Valapraiso and some of the wine country en route to the airport in Santiago.
The port side areas of Valparaiso have been devastated by various earthquakes and tidal waves over the years so most of that area is new while the people live in the surrounding hills. It's like a seedy, trash and graffiti covered San Francisco with hovels next door to mansions. Zoning appears to be a non-issue here and pretty much every where else in South America.
It was a long day driving to Santiago by way of a lovely, lively beach resort just above Valparaiso and a ranch maybe 30 miles inland. There we were greeted with Pisco Sours and empanadas (Jim's favorite food discovery of the trip) before we watched the cowboys maneuver their horses then had a delicious lunch featuring more of the fabulous grass-fed beef.
The good news: Our luggage had been taken from the ship the night before with assurances that it would be at the Santiago airport when we arrived and, miracle of miracles, it was! The bad news: we were there at 4:45 pm only to learn that the Delta agents wouldn't begin checking us in until 6:45. Oh, well, made the wait shorter for our 9:45 pm flight.
The best news: we touched down at the ATL at 6 am and walked through our front door at 7:30 am.
It was a wonderful trip with so many special memories. I'm going to make a Shutterfly album of pictures in the next few days. I'll put up one more blog post with that info.
Thanks for following me.
My good intentions were to write this final posting on the plane trip home. Instead I had a glass of wine and fell asleep watching a movie. So this is a week or so after the fact...
We left the ship at 8 am Sunday morning with our passports, Chilean visas and affidavits swearing we were not bringing fresh produce or meats ashore firmly in hand. A quick trip through an old and creepy terminal where we handed over our visas and affidavits and we set off to tour Valapraiso and some of the wine country en route to the airport in Santiago.
The port side areas of Valparaiso have been devastated by various earthquakes and tidal waves over the years so most of that area is new while the people live in the surrounding hills. It's like a seedy, trash and graffiti covered San Francisco with hovels next door to mansions. Zoning appears to be a non-issue here and pretty much every where else in South America.
It was a long day driving to Santiago by way of a lovely, lively beach resort just above Valparaiso and a ranch maybe 30 miles inland. There we were greeted with Pisco Sours and empanadas (Jim's favorite food discovery of the trip) before we watched the cowboys maneuver their horses then had a delicious lunch featuring more of the fabulous grass-fed beef.
The good news: Our luggage had been taken from the ship the night before with assurances that it would be at the Santiago airport when we arrived and, miracle of miracles, it was! The bad news: we were there at 4:45 pm only to learn that the Delta agents wouldn't begin checking us in until 6:45. Oh, well, made the wait shorter for our 9:45 pm flight.
The best news: we touched down at the ATL at 6 am and walked through our front door at 7:30 am.
It was a wonderful trip with so many special memories. I'm going to make a Shutterfly album of pictures in the next few days. I'll put up one more blog post with that info.
Thanks for following me.
At sea, the last day, 1/30/16
We left Puerto Montt yesterday about 5 pm and now are steaming along at close to 20 knots to reach Valparaiso by early Sunday morning.
The last day is always a little bittersweet. It's been a wonderful trip, but by day 20 or so people are ready to head home. Well, I did learn of one passenger who's staying aboard to make the same trip, but west to east this time.
We had a couple of talks given by the expedition experts. The last was a Q & A. Lots of questions about the Ozone Hole, easily the most important discovery in Antarctica among other things. The four men agreed that it was a special trip. None had ever seen so many huge tabular icebergs and to have the weather cooperate so we were able to visit every port on the itinerary is almost unheard of.
Now we have documents certifying that we did indeed visit the Antarctic Territory, charts showing our actual route and of course, a photo with the penguin. This is the ship's photographer who drew the short stick and thus spent the morning in the penguin suit posing with the passengers. Silly but a crowd pleaser!
The packing was a struggle. Although I bought just a few (small) things I couldn't get it all in the bags I started with so had to hustle down to the ship's store and buy a collapsible HAL bag for the overflow. I was not the only one...
We left Puerto Montt yesterday about 5 pm and now are steaming along at close to 20 knots to reach Valparaiso by early Sunday morning.
The last day is always a little bittersweet. It's been a wonderful trip, but by day 20 or so people are ready to head home. Well, I did learn of one passenger who's staying aboard to make the same trip, but west to east this time.
We had a couple of talks given by the expedition experts. The last was a Q & A. Lots of questions about the Ozone Hole, easily the most important discovery in Antarctica among other things. The four men agreed that it was a special trip. None had ever seen so many huge tabular icebergs and to have the weather cooperate so we were able to visit every port on the itinerary is almost unheard of.
Now we have documents certifying that we did indeed visit the Antarctic Territory, charts showing our actual route and of course, a photo with the penguin. This is the ship's photographer who drew the short stick and thus spent the morning in the penguin suit posing with the passengers. Silly but a crowd pleaser!
The packing was a struggle. Although I bought just a few (small) things I couldn't get it all in the bags I started with so had to hustle down to the ship's store and buy a collapsible HAL bag for the overflow. I was not the only one...
Puerto Montt, Chile, 1/29/16
Puerto Montt, out last port of call before we debark in Valparaiso Sunday morning.
We discussed, researched and decided on our excursions before Christmas, so sometimes it's hard to remember what we chose and why. And so we found ourselves taking a tender to shore before 8 am (it's all a vast right wing conspiracy to get me up and at 'em every morning) and off on an eight hour tour!
With Gabriel as our trusted guide we set off to explore the Lake District of Chile. For a long, skinny country it certainly has a lot of variety. We first went to Lake Llanquihue and boarded a nice sight-seeing boat for an hour on the lake. The water is this strange milky aqua color, quite beautiful. The lake is in a national park but this being Chile there are some private homes along the shore. Gabriel indicated with a shrug of his shoulders that money changes hands and things happen. It reminded me of an uninhabited Lake Tahoe if Lake Tahoe had a soaring, snow capped volcano (Osorno) on one side! Very dramatic. At first the summit was cloaked with wispy clouds but slowly they parted. Just above the volcano was the moon. The cameras were clicking like mad.
Afterwards we went down the road to another part of the park to visit a waterfall. It sounded like a waterfall as we got closer but it was really the river spilling over a series of rocks. The water was that same gorgeous aqua color. There is river rafting downstream from the falls. We continued to drive around the lake to Puerto Varas, one of the resort towns on its shores where we had lunch at a very nice hotel. Since it's high summer there were oodles of kids swimming in the lake. That water comes from the Andes, it's gotta be brisk! A little time in the little town and then back to the ship.
Since it was a two hours drive TO the lake we figured a two hour nap FROM the lake. Gabriel said we'd spent too much money on the excursion to sleep so proceeded to talk about this and that all the way back! I must admit he was right; better to learn a bit more about the surroundings. We can sleep on the overnight flight home on Sunday.
Back on the ship we had dinner with two couples from northern Italy. One woman spoke English and her husband did, sort of. The other man understood some English but his wife neither understood or spoke it. Conversation was an adventure.
Puerto Montt, out last port of call before we debark in Valparaiso Sunday morning.
We discussed, researched and decided on our excursions before Christmas, so sometimes it's hard to remember what we chose and why. And so we found ourselves taking a tender to shore before 8 am (it's all a vast right wing conspiracy to get me up and at 'em every morning) and off on an eight hour tour!
With Gabriel as our trusted guide we set off to explore the Lake District of Chile. For a long, skinny country it certainly has a lot of variety. We first went to Lake Llanquihue and boarded a nice sight-seeing boat for an hour on the lake. The water is this strange milky aqua color, quite beautiful. The lake is in a national park but this being Chile there are some private homes along the shore. Gabriel indicated with a shrug of his shoulders that money changes hands and things happen. It reminded me of an uninhabited Lake Tahoe if Lake Tahoe had a soaring, snow capped volcano (Osorno) on one side! Very dramatic. At first the summit was cloaked with wispy clouds but slowly they parted. Just above the volcano was the moon. The cameras were clicking like mad.
Afterwards we went down the road to another part of the park to visit a waterfall. It sounded like a waterfall as we got closer but it was really the river spilling over a series of rocks. The water was that same gorgeous aqua color. There is river rafting downstream from the falls. We continued to drive around the lake to Puerto Varas, one of the resort towns on its shores where we had lunch at a very nice hotel. Since it's high summer there were oodles of kids swimming in the lake. That water comes from the Andes, it's gotta be brisk! A little time in the little town and then back to the ship.
Since it was a two hours drive TO the lake we figured a two hour nap FROM the lake. Gabriel said we'd spent too much money on the excursion to sleep so proceeded to talk about this and that all the way back! I must admit he was right; better to learn a bit more about the surroundings. We can sleep on the overnight flight home on Sunday.
Back on the ship we had dinner with two couples from northern Italy. One woman spoke English and her husband did, sort of. The other man understood some English but his wife neither understood or spoke it. Conversation was an adventure.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Castro, Isla Chiloe, Chile, 1/28/16
Today we hit the wall. We're anchored in a lovely bay with a lovely view of a lovely little, hilly town but we just looked at each other and said, "Not gonna happen." Thus hits nearly everyone sometime on a cruise. You just wake up that day and admit you just don't want to do whatever you've planned to do. Castro has a square with a cathedral and shops. And even though the bay is absolutely flat so the tender ride to the pier is a piece of cake, it's still a tender ride and it's a steep hill up to the square and so inertia has set in and we're having a ship day. The perfect time to grab a latte at the deserted coffee bar and snag one of the coveted easy chairs in the library. Perhaps lunch in the dining room and then a movie. Recharging the batteries, as if they need it. One more port tomorrow and then straight to Valparaiso for debarking early on Sunday.
Today we hit the wall. We're anchored in a lovely bay with a lovely view of a lovely little, hilly town but we just looked at each other and said, "Not gonna happen." Thus hits nearly everyone sometime on a cruise. You just wake up that day and admit you just don't want to do whatever you've planned to do. Castro has a square with a cathedral and shops. And even though the bay is absolutely flat so the tender ride to the pier is a piece of cake, it's still a tender ride and it's a steep hill up to the square and so inertia has set in and we're having a ship day. The perfect time to grab a latte at the deserted coffee bar and snag one of the coveted easy chairs in the library. Perhaps lunch in the dining room and then a movie. Recharging the batteries, as if they need it. One more port tomorrow and then straight to Valparaiso for debarking early on Sunday.
Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, 1/27/16
Today we crossed the Andes. We took the 90 minute bus ride from the damp and green coast (4,000 mm of rain per year) up a two lane, mostly except when it was one lane because the road or bridge was under repair, highway to the drier area (1,000 mm of rain per year) and the regional capital city of Coyhaique City.
This is the northern edge of Patagonia, the largest region (like a state) of the country but the smallest population. It's the gateway for outdoor recreation--fishing, hiking, camping, white water rafting, etc. It is also very isolated. Puerto Chacabuco (easily the most fun to say) is accessible by air or ferry, in the summer. Coyhaique is accessible by road or air, in the summer. Both towns (neither is large enough to be defined officially as a city) are virtually closed to visitors in the winter. The weather, rain and wind on the coast and snow in the mountains, wreaks havoc on air and sea schedules.
Our guide, Makarena, is a native of Coyhaique. She went away to university to study translation (her English is perfect, American rather than British) but didn't like the big city so returned home to work as a guide in the summer and wool artist in the winter. She's a walking encyclopedia of the area. As she said, "I grew up here so I know about the people, history, geography and nature." She did concede that the quiet life is not for everyone. The regional government is headquartered in Coyhaique but most of the governmental employees are there for just two years. Too quiet.
We stopped at a restaurant set in a beautiful riverside farm on the way back to the ship for a spread of Chilean wines, Pisco Sours, empanadas (Jim's new favorite food), cheeses, salmon (farmed salmon all over Chile) and sweets. Nothing like a couple of Pisco Sours each to make the ride back to the port jollier than the ride from the port!
It took two days to get from Punta Arenas to Puerto Chacabuco. We sailed through the archipelago of thousands of islands off the coast of southern Chile, past fjords and a few impressive glaciers and saw not one other vessel large or small. The entire area is uninhabitable. Absolutely gorgeous, though, with steep, tree-covered mountains rising straight up from the sea; no beaches at all. Gradually we left the snow-covered peaks behind but not the clouds, occasional rain shower and always, always the wind. It's also getting a bit warmer every day. In fact today the winds subsided and we saw the sun! The heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves are back in the closet. It's supposed to be in the low 60s tomorrow.
Today we crossed the Andes. We took the 90 minute bus ride from the damp and green coast (4,000 mm of rain per year) up a two lane, mostly except when it was one lane because the road or bridge was under repair, highway to the drier area (1,000 mm of rain per year) and the regional capital city of Coyhaique City.
This is the northern edge of Patagonia, the largest region (like a state) of the country but the smallest population. It's the gateway for outdoor recreation--fishing, hiking, camping, white water rafting, etc. It is also very isolated. Puerto Chacabuco (easily the most fun to say) is accessible by air or ferry, in the summer. Coyhaique is accessible by road or air, in the summer. Both towns (neither is large enough to be defined officially as a city) are virtually closed to visitors in the winter. The weather, rain and wind on the coast and snow in the mountains, wreaks havoc on air and sea schedules.
Our guide, Makarena, is a native of Coyhaique. She went away to university to study translation (her English is perfect, American rather than British) but didn't like the big city so returned home to work as a guide in the summer and wool artist in the winter. She's a walking encyclopedia of the area. As she said, "I grew up here so I know about the people, history, geography and nature." She did concede that the quiet life is not for everyone. The regional government is headquartered in Coyhaique but most of the governmental employees are there for just two years. Too quiet.
We stopped at a restaurant set in a beautiful riverside farm on the way back to the ship for a spread of Chilean wines, Pisco Sours, empanadas (Jim's new favorite food), cheeses, salmon (farmed salmon all over Chile) and sweets. Nothing like a couple of Pisco Sours each to make the ride back to the port jollier than the ride from the port!
It took two days to get from Punta Arenas to Puerto Chacabuco. We sailed through the archipelago of thousands of islands off the coast of southern Chile, past fjords and a few impressive glaciers and saw not one other vessel large or small. The entire area is uninhabitable. Absolutely gorgeous, though, with steep, tree-covered mountains rising straight up from the sea; no beaches at all. Gradually we left the snow-covered peaks behind but not the clouds, occasional rain shower and always, always the wind. It's also getting a bit warmer every day. In fact today the winds subsided and we saw the sun! The heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves are back in the closet. It's supposed to be in the low 60s tomorrow.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Punta Arenas, Chile, 1/24/16
The announced plan was to arrive very early in Punta Arenas so the 42 people who coughed up the big bucks to fly to Antarctica could set off at 6 am. The standard practice is no ship wide announcements before 8 am, so imagine our surprise when the captain 's voice was heard at 6 am. He had been trying to dock for the past hour but the winds were against him. He said if we couldn't dock by 11 am (!) we would be moving on. That got our attention! Finally they went old school and a couple of tugs were used to nudge the ship dockside a little after 7. The Anatrctic-bound folks were quickly rounded up and off they went.
At 7:30 we were supposed to go by ferry 20 nautical miles north to Monumento Natural Los Pinguinos, a 97-hectare island home to 60,000 breeding pairs of Magellanic penguins. This excursion was also available by speed boat (45 minutes travel time as opposed to the two hours each way by ferry) but the winds were near gale force and the seas were as fierce as you would expect so all the speed boat excursions were cancelled. Much to our surprise the ferry trip was a go.
The Melinka makes the trip from Punta Arenas to Isla Magdalena daily between October and March. I'm guessing it could hold two or three cars but it really is just for people, about 200 of us sitting shoulder to shoulder, knees to knees for quite the two hour ride. Once again I am ever so grateful that I no longer get seasick!
The island is wind-swept with no vegetation or fresh water. It does have a still-functioning lighthouse manned during the summer otherwise it's jus penguins! Tens of thousands of penguins. Magellanic penguins are 24" tall, weigh about ten pounds and have absolutely no fear of or curiosity about humans. We were asked to respect the marked path that runs along the shore between the sea and the penguin nests, which are, like the Gentoos', burrows in the earth. The birds, however, are going here, there and everywhere but mostly into the sea to feed and then back to their chicks. They practically walked across our toes. The chicks are nearly as large as the adults and many were almost through molting. As soon as the fluff is gone, replaced by waterproof feathers, they will also go into the sea.
It's such fun to watch the adults raise their wings and then waddle like mad; so clumsy on shore, so graceful at sea. They didn't have to go far into the water to feed. Dozens of them swimming together in packs. That ever-present wind didn't seem to bother them in the slightest. We were given an hour on shore. Jim and I lasted maybe half that long before we returned to the Melinka.
(Wow! I'm writing this 24 hours later on Monday afternoon as we sail up through the islands of southern Chile. We're heading towards the Brujo Glacier. I just looked out the window to discover we're in the midst of thousands of chunks of ice. Not giant bergs, but a zillion baby bergs nonetheless. Wow!)
The wind was at our back going back to Punta Arenas but it still took two hours. There was time to go into town after we got back to the ship but we were cold, not much would be open on Sunday and we didn't have any Chilean pesos. Besides, what could top our visit with the Pinguinos?
The announced plan was to arrive very early in Punta Arenas so the 42 people who coughed up the big bucks to fly to Antarctica could set off at 6 am. The standard practice is no ship wide announcements before 8 am, so imagine our surprise when the captain 's voice was heard at 6 am. He had been trying to dock for the past hour but the winds were against him. He said if we couldn't dock by 11 am (!) we would be moving on. That got our attention! Finally they went old school and a couple of tugs were used to nudge the ship dockside a little after 7. The Anatrctic-bound folks were quickly rounded up and off they went.
At 7:30 we were supposed to go by ferry 20 nautical miles north to Monumento Natural Los Pinguinos, a 97-hectare island home to 60,000 breeding pairs of Magellanic penguins. This excursion was also available by speed boat (45 minutes travel time as opposed to the two hours each way by ferry) but the winds were near gale force and the seas were as fierce as you would expect so all the speed boat excursions were cancelled. Much to our surprise the ferry trip was a go.
The Melinka makes the trip from Punta Arenas to Isla Magdalena daily between October and March. I'm guessing it could hold two or three cars but it really is just for people, about 200 of us sitting shoulder to shoulder, knees to knees for quite the two hour ride. Once again I am ever so grateful that I no longer get seasick!
The island is wind-swept with no vegetation or fresh water. It does have a still-functioning lighthouse manned during the summer otherwise it's jus penguins! Tens of thousands of penguins. Magellanic penguins are 24" tall, weigh about ten pounds and have absolutely no fear of or curiosity about humans. We were asked to respect the marked path that runs along the shore between the sea and the penguin nests, which are, like the Gentoos', burrows in the earth. The birds, however, are going here, there and everywhere but mostly into the sea to feed and then back to their chicks. They practically walked across our toes. The chicks are nearly as large as the adults and many were almost through molting. As soon as the fluff is gone, replaced by waterproof feathers, they will also go into the sea.
It's such fun to watch the adults raise their wings and then waddle like mad; so clumsy on shore, so graceful at sea. They didn't have to go far into the water to feed. Dozens of them swimming together in packs. That ever-present wind didn't seem to bother them in the slightest. We were given an hour on shore. Jim and I lasted maybe half that long before we returned to the Melinka.
(Wow! I'm writing this 24 hours later on Monday afternoon as we sail up through the islands of southern Chile. We're heading towards the Brujo Glacier. I just looked out the window to discover we're in the midst of thousands of chunks of ice. Not giant bergs, but a zillion baby bergs nonetheless. Wow!)
The wind was at our back going back to Punta Arenas but it still took two hours. There was time to go into town after we got back to the ship but we were cold, not much would be open on Sunday and we didn't have any Chilean pesos. Besides, what could top our visit with the Pinguinos?
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