In anticipation of wanting pictures from this trip, I took three cameras. The first was on my Samsung S22 phone, the second was a Canon SX60HS which has a great zoom and a special setting for snow (along with a myriad of features I don’t yet know how to use), and the third was the one in my head. As much as I want mechanical pictures recorded with cameras, I don’t want to miss the mental pictures recorded with my mind. Mechanical images capture what our eyes see, render the likeness of the physical properties we observe, and are printed in pixels. Mental images capture the senses and emotions, record the feelings we experience, and are printed in letters.
I’m often writing these entries on my phone in snatches of time or late at night, searching the internet for information when I have access, and trying to upload those last pixels as we are pulling away from port and connectivity so sometimes the episodes end abruptly with less letters – or more – than I would like. But the inclusion of both mechanical and mental images preserves experiences to be shared, remembered, entered into, and even learned from, again and again.
As I close out this trip, there are many more pictures – and more personal insights – that I could share, but I’ll end with the following, and a few pixels from the camera that I couldn’t access on the ship.
I read an article titled, ” “Why travel should be considered an essential human activity”. One portion stated, “travel…demands a leap of faith…to board a plane for some faraway land, hoping, wishing, for a taste of the ineffable”. Ineffable, “incapable of being expressed in words; unspeakable; unutterable; indescribable”. Travel can be one means to pursue it, and we have certainly sampled it on this trip, in the ever-increasing wonder of penguins, whales, albatrosses, the dessert of Antarctica, Chilean waterfalls and fjords, endless seas, and sunsets on the ocean. The precious presence of God, revealed in His creation and graciously gifted through His Spirit in the calm of quiet and the excitement of quest, in the presence of majestic magnificence and the humble realization of human significance in the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Desire for the ineffable in life exists in each of us, instilled to draw us toward relationship with the source of life, God Himself. May these travels encourage us to take that leap of faith.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Monday, February 19 was our final cruise day and last day at sea as we continued to sail north to the port of San Antonio. After arrival, we would disembark and travel an hour or so inland to the international airport in Santiago.
The disembarkation process actually starts several days prior. Instructions are delivered to each cabin, and you have several options from which to choose: 1) you can pay for a transfer from the ship to the airport through the cruise line, in which case you put your luggage in the hallway the night before to be taken away by staff, and are bussed to the airport the next morning where you pick up your luggage and check it with the airline, 2) you can find your own way to the airport or wherever you choose to go, but you can still leave your bags in the hallway the night before to be taken away and left in the port terminal for you to pick up after you disembark, 3) you can keep your bags in your room and carry them off the ship yourself and make your own way to the airport or wherever you want to go. Each of the first two options requires a colored and numbered tag on which you write identifying information to be placed on the luggage. The colors and numbers identify the preset times at which you should disembark and will be announced over the intercom system when it’s time for that group.
We chose Option #2 and picked “Grey 1” – the first number of the last color to disembark (there was 1-3). Since our flight was not leaving until 11:45 Tuesday night we had booked a hotel room near the airport and saw no need to rush off. After breakfast on Monday, we packed our bags so that would be done and attached the appropriate grey tags. We spent the day relaxing as we sailed on calm seas, went to a couple of events, and of course – ate! That evening we placed all three of the bags in the hallway, one large black, one small black, one medium brown. You may remember from the beginning of the trip that one of the wheels on Genny’s medium brown bag was about to fall off and we did a lovely temporary repair with duct tape. I was really concerned that it wouldn’t make it home, so added some additional tape that made it decidedly unlovely, but hopefully functional.
On Tuesday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and returned to our cabin to wait for our turn to disembark. When our tags were called, we took our time walking off the ship, and boarded a shuttle bus to ride to the terminal. Inside, we walked into a madhouse! Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but after the calm morning, all of the people milling around trying to locate their suitcases and exit through one roll-up door seemed a bit mad. We walked toward the section for our color tags and saw our bags all sitting together. One large black, one small black, one medium brown – with the wheel still on. Whew! We grabbed the bags and out the door we went.
Outside was even worse as we had to pull the bags over broken pavement toward an external gate quite some distance away. We had decided (on good advice) to call for an Uber instead of using the taxis and wanted to get to the “Uber spot” before doing so – but we had to find it. The scant signage was in Spanish and the “Tourist Information” booth was actually a front for selling seats for tours. At one point we paused to regroup, and when I looked down at the bags, I realized the large black one looked funny. I looked closer, and realized it wasn’t mine!!! AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! Genny stayed with the pile of stuff while I hotfooted it back to the terminal. As I paused to enter against the flow of people, a nice Scottish man said (in his beautiful accent), “pardon me, but might you have the wrong bag?”. You think!?? It belonged to his wife, who fortunately had exited the ship a few minutes later than us but was bewildered as to what had happened to her suitcase. They were SO very nice (they were Scottish after all) and waited to be sure I found mine. We walked out together as he told me about a time when he made it to his hotel with someone else’s ski bag and two sets of skis.
Finally, we figured out where we could wait for Uber, along with about 50 others, and used the app to order up a ride. One was 5 minutes out, red vehicle with all the usual identifying info – until I had a message from him offering to handle the transaction “outside of the app” – for more money than the app was charging. Unhhh?? I declined and within seconds he declined the trip. The app assigned someone else, 15 minutes out. He arrived and found us, jumped out, put our bags in the back, we got in, and as he got in, what we believe to be the port police stopped him. They were speaking in Spanish so we have no idea what was up, but he had to provide licenses and cards and all kinds of papers. The policeman tapped on my window so I rolled it down and he asked “Habla Español” (did we speak Spanish) to which I replied in Spanish, “no” (same as English). He turned to the driver and said, “Inglés?” (English?) to which he replied, “no”. I held up my phone to show my screen and said, “Uber” in Spanish (same as English) to which the policeman responded, “aaaaaaaaaaa” – in Spanish. The policeman took the driver’s papers and walked away to make a phone call while the policewoman – with scotch tape wrapped around the handle of her revolver – stood with the driver. I sat with the window still down on my side and Genny sat with her hand on the door handle on her side. Eventually they let us all go, and obviously we made it safely to the hotel, with google maps on the phone surreptitiously telling us whether he was going the right way.
We spent the day at the hotel, rested up for the 9.5-hour flight and ate in the restaurant, took another Uber five minutes away to the airport, and did all the stuff you do these days to get checked-in, clear security, and get to your gate. The flight home was uneventful, and we cleared customs and got our bags in record time, landing at 6:45 a.m. and picking up our bags at 7:20. Our “glutton-for-punishment personal Uber friend”, Dianne met us outside and took us home, and all she asked in return was for us to bring her a penguin. How were we to know she meant a real one?
Thank you for your prayers for our safety and well-being. Grateful to be home, we’ll post more pictures shortly.
Our last land day started early as we arrived in Puerto Montt about 7:30 a.m. We had an eight-hour excursion planned so had an early breakfast at 6:45 and were in place ready to go at 8:00.
After tendering in from the ship, we boarded a bus for our excursion that took us an hour and a half away, through a portion of Chilean rainforest, to the Petrohue Waterfalls and River Rapids, to the Osorno Volcano with Lake Llanquihue sparkling far below us, and to an upscale expedition lodge for lunch.
Even though our first visit was to the Waterfalls, I have to start with the Osorno Volcano. It is 8,701 feet tall and is known as a “conical stratovolcano” or “composite volcano”, primarily because of the many layers of lava and tephra – material that is produced by the eruptions. Some say that it marks the northern end of Chilean Patagonia. The volcano was capped in snow and glaciers and looked much like Mount Fuji in Japan. We stopped along the roadside to take pictures as we could see it clearly from more than 20 miles away.
Back on the bus, we continued to the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park and Petrohue River Rapids. The rapids are fed by glacial melt and flow over rocks made of basaltic lava left by previous eruptions of the Osorno Volcano. There are over 2500 volcanoes in the country of Chile with about 5% currently considered active, including Osorno and several others nearby (although the last eruption for Osorno was 1869).
After departing the National Park, our bus driver took us to Osorno and drove up and up and up the switchbacks and hairpin curves until we were about a third of the way to the top. Beside the parking area there was a small cafe with a restroom where you could use the facilities for $1, hiking trails, two cable car rides – one longer than the other, and a fantastic view of Lake Llanquihue and beyond. The guide told us there are usually 230 days of rain per year, and much of what you read talks about the clouds obscuring the view – of the volcano – and from the volcano. But our day was sunny and bright and close to clear! I don’t know for sure how far we could see, but I’m pretty sure I glimpsed my nephew, David, driving his pick-up in NC.
There are other volcanos close by, including the Colbuco to the south.
Chile has a volcano alert system that goes from green to yellow to orange to red based on the number of tremors and activity. If it reaches red, everyone within 20 miles has to evacuate immediately. It sounds similar to the Emergency Preparedness Zones around nuclear power plants in the U.S.
Walking was not easy on the small volcanic pebbles – sort of like trying to walk in pea gravel but much more slippery. Even with the fabulous beauty stretching out all around us, I only had to look at my feet to find more, growing right up from the rocky soil.
After the chair lift riders returned, we traveled slowly back down the curvy road to the highway, and about a half hour away stopped for lunch near Ensenada at an upscale adventure/expedition lodge named Yan Kee Way Lodge, built on the shores of Lake Llanquihue (pronounced Yan-kee-whey – hence the name of the place).
The owner is an American, who discovered fly-fishing in Chile in 1966, and offers an adventure lodge with the opportunity to catch King Salmon and other fish in the lake and nearby estuaries, along with other activities. Interestingly, according to their website, the Lodge’s kitchen was designed and built in the U.S., then containerized and shipped to Chile where it is a highly recognized kitchen. We were served a delicious meal including fresh salmon from the lake, in a beautiful setting where we could gaze back across the water at the volcanos.
Our final very brief stop was in Puerto Varas, the “City of Roses”. This area of Chile was settled by Germans in 1853 and is known for its German culture. It is a vibrant, active community that we unfortunately only had 20 minutes to experience as we had to make it back to the port for the all-aboard no later than 4:30 p.m. But from the looks of it as we passed through, I’m sure it would be a lovely place to visit!
On the return drive, our extremely informed and excellent communicator and guide, Victor, told us about the non-native invasive plant (the name of which I cannot remember) that has been a problem for farmers and ranchers in Chile. Although burning is against the law due to unusually dry and windy conditions, some have ignored the warnings and huge wildfires have developed. Less than a month ago, just north of where our ship will dock for disembarkation in San Antonio, out of control fires caused the loss of more than 14,000 homes and the deaths of many (112 were reported as of February 5 with hundreds unaccounted for at the time). Many were reported to have had only a ten-minute warning to flee. One of the reasons for Victor telling us about this was the smoke rising from fires on the hillsides we were passing. At one point we could see the flames shooting into the air and fire trucks screaming past us.
After riding in a tender back to the ship, we stood on our aft balcony and watched the active fire pouring smoke high into the air.
We heard the water begin to flow past the propellers of the azipods as the ship began to move forward, away from our final port of call for this voyage. This had been such a fantastic experience that we were glad to have one more sea day to reflect, and to manage the transition back to everyday life. As we sailed toward the sea, we stood and watched the volcanos fade into the distance.
We departed about 5:30 p.m., sailed through the channel and out to sea, and turned north to arrive in San Antonio the next day by 7:00 a.m.
Today’s stop is in the colorful town of Castro, on Chiloe’ Island, where we arrived in port at about 10:00 a.m. It is known for the brightly colored palafitos or stilt-houses that allow the water to flow under them during high tides and prevent flooding during storms.
We passed through the beautiful channel coming into Castro while having breakfast, where homes and businesses dotted the hillsides and shoreline to port,
and controversial Salmon farms lined the starboard side.
Castro is Chile’s third oldest city in continuous existence. It was founded in 1576 by Spaniards, looted several times by Dutch pirates, destroyed by an earthquake in 1837, made a comeback with a railroad, and hit again by the Valdivia, Chile earthquake (about 250 miles north) in 1960, recorded as a 9.5 and said to be the most powerful in recorded history. It caused a massive tsunami that traveled north and west across the Pacific Ocean at over 400 miles per hour and devastated coastal communities as far away as New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan – over 10,000 miles away. Hilo, Hawaii was hit by a 35-foot wall of water 16 hours after the quake, but the tsunami warning system that had been established in 1948 predicted the time of arrival within one minute of accuracy. But I digress, back to Castro!
We decided to spend some time walking around town so took a tender to shore. (The boats below were on the other side of the tender pier – they are not the tenders!)
The streets from the waterfront up to the city center were steep, but we managed nicely and stopped along the way to poke into some cute shops. When we reached the Plaza de Armas or “Parade Ground”, which is the center of town, we passed through the lovely, well-kept park, down a sidewalk lined with lofty trees on either side whose branches joined above us to provide shelter from the sun – or what quickly changed to rain – and back again. We walked through the local artisan’s market and crossed the street to the tall yellow and purple Church of San Francisco.
The original church was built there when the city was begun, but it was burned down and rebuilt several times until this one was raised in 1910. Designed by an Italian architect, it is built in a Neo-Gothic and Classic style which is different from other churches in the area. It houses several images, including one of the Archangel Michael victorious over Satan.
While the church is built entirely of wood, it is covered externally and on the roof with galvanized iron. It was beautifully constructed by local craftsman with a master builder providing oversight – with no nails. Instead of iron nails, reinforced wooden joints were used to hold the building in place, using techniques historically practiced in the area’s ship building. The church withstood the 1960 earthquake. It is an active Catholic Church, and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site that depends on a group of dedicated volunteers for its preservation.
The builders used native woods that they described as “red”, one of which is the Alerce Tree, also known as Patagonian Cypress, that grows only in Southern Chile and the Argentinian Andes. The tree was so highly prized that Alerce shingles were used as currency in the 18th and 19th centuries. But so much was cut, or destroyed by fire to clear land for settlers, that it was made illegal to cut in 1976. Many of the older houses in the region are covered in Alerce shingles. Because it is a type of Cypress, it is bug free and long lasting.
We sat for a while and just admired the workmanship and beauty.
Eventually we rambled back to the port and returned to the ship where we spent time enjoying the incredibly good weather on the balcony, watching the seagulls and cormorants diving in the water, and hoping to see more of the dolphins we spied on the way in – but they were a no-show.
On this ship there are two “specialty restaurants” at which you can pay an upcharge and make a reservation for dinner. One is a steak restaurant named The Pinnacle Grill, the other is Italian, Canaletto. We had a reservation for 6:00 p.m. at Canaletto, so were there enjoying dinner by the 9th deck windows when we left port. In addition to the warm Italian bread with olive oil and balsamic that was provided, we shared starters of Canaletto salad with goat cheese, and veal and sage meatballs. For the main course, Genny had grilled scampi with almond cream, baby spinach and roasted bell pepper with a side of pasta. I had Ossobuco on a bed of mascarpone saffron arborio risotto (I just drooled on the keyboard) with asparagus and roasted carrots.
For dessert, Genny had the chocolate hazelnut (translate that to Nutella!) tart and I had tiramisu, and we shared the trio of…Gelato!! There were three tiny sampler sized servings (see how I justified that?) one of malaga (rum raisin), one pistachio, and one bacio (chocolate hazelnut…where have I heard that before??) It was all beyond SUPERB!!!
It took us a while to recover from dinner, but we kept watch as we sailed through the channel to the Pacific, then slept well as we cruised north along the Chilean coast to our last port of call, Puerto Montt. The ever-present and oh-so-beautiful Albatrosses followed us out to sea.
One more port, then one more sea day, and we will head home. We talk a lot, with sincere gratitude, about the wonders of this voyage. Thank you for enjoying it with us, and your joy has returned to increase ours.
I totally missed telling you about the Peale’s Dolphins that approached our ship yesterday while we were parked in the bay at Punta Arenas! We were watching whales that were blowing too far away to see without binoculars, when one of the whales popped up a shorter distance away at the back of a cargo ship. We kept looking for it to come back up, when suddenly, what looked like small Orcas started jumping from the water, swimming straight for our ship! I knew they weren’t big enough to be killer whales, but what in the world were they?? They came so close we could see them even without the binoculars and I knew they were some sort of dolphin – later identified as Peale’s. They were having a great time playing and jumping, and we had a fantastic time watching them!!
Thursday was spent exploring more of the Chilean Fjords as we transited the Fallos Channel. All of the pictures I have posted to date have been from my Samsung S22 phone, which has a fantastic camera. But I have another camera with a better zoom that I have used as well. Apparently, nearly all of my picture taking that day was with the other camera, but I do have a few beautiful shots of sunset.
Friday morning, we arrived before 7:00 a.m. to the port of the tiny town of Puerto Chacabuco. Sunrise on the surrounding mountains was gorgeous, and clouds moved in shortly after.
The town prepared wonderfully for our cruise ship, with well-placed matting on the tender piers, covered walkways and several agriculture inspectors at the ready. Chile is very serious about not allowing foods – especially agricultural items – to be brought into the country, so we were well and repeatedly warned to leave all food on the ship or face hefty fines. We complied!
We did not have an excursion that day, so I walked about town and enjoyed the fresher than fresh air that seems to abound in Patagonia. A shuttle van took us to the “center of town”, which turned out to be just up the hill, where there were white, domed tents housing local artisans and their wares. The knitted sweaters, ponchos, scarves, and hats were so beautiful, but way too warm for wearing in my part of the world. The houses were mostly small, reminding me of some of the homes in remote parts of Alaska. Much of the siding was metal as opposed to wood. There was a large park with walkways and memorials, a few shops for local goods and groceries, and several restaurants. I took a few extra turns just to get some walking in for the day because the town was so small. But the people I met were kind and welcoming.
I’ve really enjoyed the various land and seabirds that I’ve never seen before. I always think of my woodcarving friend Allen Aardsma who carves and paints stunningly realistic critters. You can check out his work at Pondsidestudio.net. The Southern Lapwing posed for me here.
The Silver Seas ship was in port at the same time.
We left the beautiful port of Puerto Chacabuco about 4:00 p.m., and sailed back out into the Chilean Fjords, at some point turning to the northeast and allowing us to see another glorious sunset.
Two more stops, and our amazing voyage will be complete. I hope you are enjoying the beauty we have been able to share. Many blessings to you all.
Tuesday morning we arrived at the city of Punta Arenas, Chile. Chile is divided into 16 regions with further divisions into 56 provinces. Punta Arenas is the capitol of the southernmost region. Known for rainy and often stormy weather, with temperatures in the 50’s ( and this is their summer season) we prepared for a cool, wet day. Instead, we were gifted with a beautiful day of sunshine and low 60’s. There was a fierce wind, especially along the coastline, but what a gorgeous day!
We booked an excursion for this location that took us through the city to local sites including the Maggiorino Borgatello Salesian Museum started and run by Salesian Missionaries. It contains historical, biological, and ecological information about the area. The highlight was a visit to a site overlooking the Strait of Magellan that is privately owned and contains a full-size replica of the Nao Victoria, the only ship of the five in Magellan’s voyage that made it all the way around the globe and returned to Spain. Funded by King Charles I of Spain, Magellan was looking for a trade route with the Moluccas or Spice Islands, in Indonesia. He left Spain in 1519, sailed west across the Atlantic and found what later became known as the Strait of Magellan, where they were the first known Europeans to reach the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, there were illnesses and shipwrecks and mutinies that reduced their ships and crew, and during a stop in the Philippines Magellan was killed by a poisoned arrow while attempting to aid a tribe with whom they had formed an alliance. Magellan only made it 3/4 of the way around, but what was left of the expedition (1 ship and 18 crew) reached the Moluccas and returned to Spain in 1522, proving that the world could be circled by sea – and that it was much bigger than was known. What struck me the most was how these men traveled with absolutely no knowledge of what was before them. And they were in what we would now call tiny ships. I just hope they got to see the penguins.
The following day was February 14, Valentine’s Day. That’s a special day for me personally, because on that day as a young child I made the decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ. I didn’t know a lot of theology, but I knew I was a sinner, that Jesus had died for my sins, and I trusted Him for His gift of forgiveness and eternal salvation. Now, knowing a little more theology, and a lot more about sin and forgiveness, I have also learned of His grace and presence and steadfast love and faithfulness that never falters, no matter what I do. I’ve learned that my place in Heaven is assured because of who He is and what He has done – not because of my “good works”, and that my life here is best lived in the transformative power of Scripture that renews us day by day and protects us from the evil one who would so like to destroy us. I say “learned”, it seems that I have to “relearn” these lessons over and over. Whether I am surrounded by His beautiful creation in nature or in the midst of turmoil and human fear, He is the same; the rock on which we can stand fast, the peace speaker, the only one who can give us life.
So on this day, we got to experience more of His presence in the midst of more of His creation, as we cruised the Chilean Fjords. By definition, Fjords are long, deep, narrow sea inlets between cliffs or steep slopes, created by glaciers. We were traveling through the Summer Pass and the Sarmiento Channel into a branch known as the Asia Fjord on our way to the Brujo Glacier. In the morning the clouds and fog laid low on the cliffsides, sometimes obscuring the view, sometimes opening up to give us a glimpse of their beauty.
At one point, the Silver Seas ship we had seen in Antartica came out of the mist like a ghost ship.
Mid-day, we were able to see trees on the hillsides, and waterfalls in abundance, even while still surrounded by a few growlers (remember Peggy’s earlier iceberg lesson?) and small bits of ice. In many cases, instead of blue or white, the ice was clear.
We could tell when we were nearing the glacier by the increased bits of blue ice in the water. It is difficult to get a sense of the enormity of a glacier from pictures. El Brujo is a mile wide and more, but narrows down to about 6/10 of a mile where it meets the sea and is roughly 165 feet tall at that same point.
After leaving the glacier we had dinner in the Main Dining Room. Tonight’s menu included some upscale items, so Genny had the Escargots Bourguignon and Grilled Lamb Chops with Smoked Eggplant, and Crème Brûleé. I had the Pineapple Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail and Shrimp, Andouille, & Grits, and the Valentine Heart.
Afterwards we enjoyed a little more scenery to end the day.
Thanks again for traveling with us. Happy Valentine’s Day!
After reluctantly leaving Palmer Station on Friday evening, we sailed west, then north/northwest through the Bellinghausen Sea. I found this picture from the Palmer Station webcam, that shows their view of our ship, complete with icebergs (sorry, couldn’t resist one more shot of Antarctica).
Eventually, on Sunday, we made it to the Drake Passage and shook our way north to the southernmost part of South America, Cape Horn. Named by a Dutchman in 1616 for the Dutch town of Hoorn, the Cape is on the small Horn Island, only about 5 miles long.
I’ll spare you the details of what makes Cape Horn such a treacherous place to land or even sail around – but it’s fascinating and you really should look it up!! The danger requires all ships to have a Cape Horn pilot on board before approaching, so we sailed north past the Cape, picked up our pilot, then sailed back south to the Cape – circled in red (the yellow line is the ship’s path).
There is nothing there, except a lighthouse with a house for the keeper, a chapel, a small supply shed, a Chilean flag, and a memorial to the estimated 10,000 lives lost off the Cape which depicts an Albatross in flight.
The contract to live and work there runs one year at a time, and a family of four is in their third year. I wonder if they might consider taking a few months off for vacation, and let me fill in while they’re gone? They could still have the salary, if I could have the solitude.
Leaving Cape Horn, we turned toward Ushuaia (pronounced Ush-u-why-a), Argentina, billed as “The End of the World”, the southernmost city in the world (although it seems that is being contested by the growing Puerto Williams, slightly further south). Located on the southwest of the Tierra del Fuego (Fire Island) that makes up that curved tip of South America, it is the jumping off point for most of the “Antarctic Expedition Sailings” that sail small ships (100ish to 200ish) to travel to and use small boats to land on, the Continent of Antarctica.
It feels very much like a gathering place for expeditions, with the craggy mountaintops rising up immediately on three sides and the Beagle Channel.
The channel was named for the HMS Beagle which sailed from England in 1831 on a five year exploration with Charles Darwin on board. Below is a replica of that ship that we saw at the next port.
Only 22 years old at the time, and an amateur naturalist, he was hired on board and used many of his observations to later develop his theories of evolution.
This was another tender port, so we took the small boat in to the port.
Near the end of the pier there is a memorial to the Italian, Yugoslavian, and Spanish people who helped settle that area.
There was a local artisans market that made us wish we lived in cold weather back home to justify buying some of the beautiful hand-knit alpaca and sheep wool seaters and hats. We walked around town, going into several local stores as well as tourist shops. We like to check out the local groceries and stores even more than the souvenir shops.
Apparently, no matter where or how far from the U.S. we travel, the most popular destination is the U.S. Route 66. I really should start a collection of these signs from around the world, as we have seen them in so many other places!
Also near the port is a memorial to the one time President of Argentina, Juan Perón and his wife, known as Evita. She seems to be, simultaneously, the most loved and hated woman of Argentina. Another interesting story I’ll let you research on your own!
The next two days were spent navigating through the beautiful Chilean Fjords. More on that and next stops in the next post.
This final morning in Antarctica began with sunrise just after 4:00 a.m., and a few hours later, slow movement forward as we left Culverville Island behind and sailed southwest toward the Neumyaer Channel.
Today’s destinations include the Neumyaer, Channel, the Lemaire Channel (#6 on the map), and Palmer Station (#7), a U.S. Research Station.
There was a chance that Neumyaer would be blocked by icebergs that break from the icy slopes and crash or splash or simply slip into the sea, which would cause us to have to turn back, as has apparently happened with each of this year’s previous cruises.
The Captain carefully eased the ship into the passage, with Anvers Island on our right, and Wiencke Island on our left. He maneuvered through the channel, around enormous icebergs and gently through the bergy bits. It is cold, and still. The ever-changing scenes, layered upon the accumulated experiences of the past few days invoke wonder that is beyond my capability to express. So I share these tidbits, quietly, humbly, gratefully.
And then, woohoo!!!! We made it all the way through the channel!! Later in the afternoon we stopped briefly at a British station where the replica of the Europa, now a three masted ship used for training and trips to Antarctica was sitting (how exciting it must be to sail the Drake Passage in THAT!!).
The ship dipped down into the Lemaire Channel and back out, then headed north to Palmer Station. We paused there for awhile to deliver supplies and share food goods from the ship. It had begun to snow and we waved goodbye to the penguins on shore (yes, the black dots) and finished our “Antarctic Experience” in grand fashion, as individual snowflakes lasted long enough in the cold to have their picture taken.
And now we head north, across the Drake Passage to Cape Horn, and north through Chilean Fjords. We’ll leave you with a few bergy bits in the snow, and some pictures of pictures taken by others.
After leaving Charlotte Bay we slowly sailed through the Gerlache Strait to Culverville Island (red circle/ white #5).
The island houses around 7000 pairs of nesting Gentoo penguins, and I think we saw – and smelled – most of them. We also saw hundreds and hundreds swimming through the waters at what seemed breakneck speeds. Sometimes they would stop and float along or play in place – or maybe they were having a snack. They would bob around in a gaggle (not an official term) and suddenly take off again. It was nearly impossible to get their picture, but here is a chop of some video.
The island was covered in the sea birds as far as we could see. The white areas are snow and ice, rocks are dark, the brown is packed down penguin poo. We watched through binoculars as they waddled around, going about their day, raising their chicks, swimming and eating and doing penguin stuff. I just want to indulge in great belly laughs every time I see these magnificent little creatures. I know the pictures aren’t great, but perhaps you can get a sense of the island’s appearance.
After a long but extraordinary day filled with humpback whales, orcas, krill swirls and bubble nets, thousands of penguins walking and running on snow and rocks – and swimming and leaping in the sea, seabirds harnessing the wind as they ride the currents and glide behind the ship, drifting along the Antarctic Peninsula past ice covered mountains over 9000 feet high and the most inhospitable but fabulously beautiful landscape on our planet, and navigating amongst icebergs from massive behemoths to bergy bits to growlers and sea ice, we settle into this last night at the southern “end of the world”.
Rather than sailing through the evening, the ship will sit quietly overnight just short of reentering the Gerlache Strait. Tomorrow morning we will begin our final day here, and start back to civilization. I find myself becoming melancholy at that thought.
Standing on the balcony at the back of the ship, even with lights and heat and civilization just steps behind me and under my feet, it is easy to gaze at the scenes before us, get lost in the stillness, and slip away into mental and spiritual solitude.
Psalm 8 says, in part,
8 “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens…
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Slow, nighttime cruising southwest along the topside of the Antarctic Peninsula brought us 125 nautical miles from Hope Bay to our morning’s destination of Charlotte Bay (red circles with white #4).
My travel buddies, Little Frog and Peggy, spent some time outside on whale, penguin, and iceberg watch, as this is an area that should be very active. Peggy has declared herself an “iceberg expert” after having made the most of her in-port time to study up.
Britannica Encyclopedia defines an iceberg as a “floating mass of freshwater ice that has broken from the seaward end of either a glacier or an ice shelf” (we won’t delve into Peggy’s distinctions of the types of glaciers, etc.). However, she does want you to know that to qualify as an iceberg the ice has to be at least 16.4 feet tall. Icebergs that are less than 3 feet tall and 15 feet across are called “growlers”, bigger than that up to the size of a small house are “bergy bits” or “baby bergs”, bigger are – well, bigger, and some are so big they are called behemouths. And just so you know, there is also sea ice that has formed from salt water. As the bergs and ice float they slowly melt, changing shapes and color.
Glaciers and ice shelves make up nearly 70% of the world’s fresh water. According to Peggy’s research, most Antarctic icebergs calve (break off) from “floating ice shelves and are a magnificent sight, forming huge, flat, ‘tabular’ structures”. An iceberg of this type would typically be between 700 and 1400 feet thick with only about 10% (think 7 to 10 story building) showing above the water, and they can weigh several billion tons.
The ice shelves float, but sit against the continental ice sheet that covers bedrock and defines 98% of the continent of Antarctica. Many icebergs are blue in color. Peggy says that the simplest explanation she can provide (she’s becoming a bit of an iceberg snob) is that air in the snow or newer ice on top reflects light, while the deeper ice (in the glacier from which it broke) has had air squeezed out by the weight of the ice and forms large, dense crystals. The old ice absorbs the long wavelengths of light and scatters the shorter blue, which we can then see.
Some are the whitest white, some glacial blue, some have dark lines of rock picked up as the glacier moved slowly forward toward the sea.
Gliding through icebergs is sort of like waiting for the next float at a cotton parade, or watching clouds drift by. Each is unique, and can be delightful, surprising, stunning, even awe-inspiring. Some tower over others with perfectly flat tops or sides, impressive in their sheer size and the appearance of engineered lines. Some are whimsical, revealing different aspects as they bob past, looking like a leaping dolphin from the front, and a spouting fountain from the back.
One had a seal resting from his narrow escape after an encounter with a killer whale, another, a penguin catching a ride.
Each day while in Antarctica, doors to the bow of the ship and several other decks that have open space at the front have been opened. There is a special group of Antarctic experts who have conducted research on the Continent who have provided presentations on various aspects, and one who has provided narration throughout portions of the scenic cruising. The picture below was taken of the TV in our cabin of the view from a bow camera that displays 24/7 on this channel. You can always see what is in front of the ship by tuning in. Here we were accepting items from another ship to deliver to a later stop.
The bow opened at 7:00 a.m. today, and we were on our balcony even before that. After a rough and rainy couple of days, it was terrific to see the sun coming through. There was still a cloud layer which hung low over the snow-covered mountains and ice fields, which made for incredibly interesting depths of field when trying to separate snow from ice from reflections from clouds.
Charlotte Bay was a prime location for possible whale sightings, and they did not disappoint!!! Scanning the area off the balcony, we saw a spout, then another and another and more!! As we watched, humpbacks appeared on the surface in a classic swim, revealing heads and torsos several times, then diving deep and “waving” their tails to reveal their distinctive flukes. The flukes are the two sides or lobes of the tail, and every individual whale can be identified by their flukes. We continued to watch with binoculars and Genny got these two pictures. (I have to resize pictures to make them small enough to post so don’t know what you’ll be able to see.)
A few minutes later we noticed bubbles in a circle on the water just below us. Humpbacks will gather and swim in circles below the surface to swirl the krill (small shrimplike humpback food) into a huge “bubble net” and then swim up through it with mouths open to consume tons of krill in a single pass. As we watched the circle, three humpbacks suddenly rose to the surface, blowing air from their blowholes and trumpeting like elephants!!! WOWSIE!!!! Some experts seem to think they are making feeding calls and “talking with their mouths full” when they do this. While our hearts jumped back into place, we watched them feed and dive below us as they moved farther away from the ship.
And if that wasn’t enough for this stop, we saw one last unusual occurrence when Orcas, aka, killer whales, appeared right alongside the humpbacks. Orcas eat larger marine life like seals and even penguins (which our expert called “Magnum bars” for an orca) but will on ocassion nibble the krill swirled up by the humpbacks, and today they did!
By the time we left Chrlotte Bay we were overflowing with the combination of good weather and amazing experiences. We still have another stop today – but I’ll leave that for the next episode.
For now, enjoy a few more icebergs and glorious scenery.
“Awesome” – inspiring great admiration, reverence, or fearful wonder
“Antarctica” – “awesome“
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above, ye Heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen, Amen.
We crossed the Drake Passage Monday night and Tuesday in good shape, albeit a little more slowly than anticipated due to the roughness of the storms. We definitely shook even more as we entered the 600 mile-wide passage and crossed at an angle on a southwesterly heading. It made the trip a little longer, but allowed the worst of the bands of weather to cross behind us. The ship was slowed to reduce shaking and we arrived a few hours later than planned, happy to be there.
As we reached Snow Island near the southern end of the South Shetlands we turned to a southeast heading in an effort to get to Deception Island and get out of the strong winds. See blue numbers 1 & 2 on the map below.
What was interesting – and very cool – was that on the southeast heading, the swells were now following us. It was fascinating to watch and made for smoother sailing even while still stormy. And it certainly gave more profound meaning to the wishes for, “fair winds and following seas”. Perhaps you can see a little of it in the photo.
Finally arriving at Deception Island,
we rounded to port and the northeast and found shelter from the worst of the winds and much calmer seas in a cove at the mouth of the entrance. The temperatures were around 30 degrees with cloudy skies and wind most of Tue and Wed, but we came prepared and layered up so we could spend as much time as possible outside.
While the ship was sitting pointed into Deception Island, we took pictures of the rock formations just off the island, and scanned the sea from our aft (rear) balcony with binoculars for sealife.
Suddenly we began seeing what we initially thought were small dolphins swimming and jumping through the water. They were so very fast that it was hard to get a look as they popped out of the water and back in at incredible rates of speed. As they got closer we realized they were penguins!! YES!! WOOHOO!! We had hoped to see them swimming and there they were!!! This variety was known as Chinstrap penguins, due to a black line that runs along their head and face giving it the appearance of a – chinstrap. They would swim in groups – sometimes a half dozen, sometimes dozens of them – with exact distances between them, zipping through the water just below the surface and popping up and down like popcorn starting to pop in a pan, right back into the water at breakneck speed without ever missing a beat. They – were – fantastic!! I must figure out how to upload video!
Eventually the ship backed out of the cove, turned to starboard (right) and began our east/southeast traversing of the Bransfield Strait, between the South Shetland Islands and the north end of the Antarctic Peninsula (between the blue 2 and 3 on the map). When we reached the tip of the Peninsula, we turned south toward Hope Bay, across from Joinville Island. Most of the islands and bays and stations and such are named for an explorer, the first discoverer, a related event, or such. I could make guesses as to “Hope Bay”, but imagine the collection of those stories would be an interesting read. Hmmmmmm……
As we traveled we watched for penguins, whales, seabirds, and other wildlife, including the amazing Albatross. There are different species, and I’m not sure which one(s) we are seeing, but it is a good bet that it is the Wandering Albatross. They can have a wingspan of up to 12 feet. This, and their locking elbows enable them to maintain speeds of 75-80 mph, and soar over 500 miles a day. They are masters at “dynamic soaring” in which they actually extract energy from wind shear in a continually curving path. They go for a year or more without touching down on land, where they go to raise chicks. They only touch water briefly to eat because of sharks, so spend most of their time flying. And they can live to be more than 50 years old. I believe we watched two of these amazing birds following the ship through a long portion of the rough ride. They are known to ride the wind currents in rough seas.
Upon leaving Hope Bay we traveled south long enough to pass Joinville and Dundee Islands on the port side, and dip our ship’s toes into the Weddell Sea, the sea that trapped Shackleton and his ship, the Endurance. Afterwards, we turned back to the North and eventually back to the West for that night and the next day, doing scenic cruising as we sailed around the top end of the Antarctic Peninsula, past Trinity Island, and on to Charlotte Bay, never traveling more than 10 knots.
The weather was mostly cloudy with periods of fog and rain and changed constantly. It was a wonderful two days of antarctic rocks and cliffs, snow and ice, ice floes and icebergs, some glacial ice (you can tell the difference by the bright blue color), penguins swimming, and brisk temperatures.
Tomorrow there is a lot more snow and ice, and whales!!! Such enormous gifts to experience and share with you. Thanks for your emails and notes. And may I ask you to pray for a dear friend who always enjoyed our trips – even made us a scrapbook of a trip to England, and is in a Hospice facility waiting to meet Jesus face to face. What glory she soon will see!
After successfully leaving port in the Falklands Sunday night, we headed south toward the South Shetland Islands and the northernmost part of Antarctica, Elephant Island. If you are familiar with the story of the famed explorer of the early 1900’s, Sir Ernest Shackleton, and the failed 1914 expedition – but miraculous rescue of his entire crew – to the South Pole, you have heard of Elephant Island. If you haven’t read the stories of Shackleton, please consider doing so. You can get a sense of the challenge as you read the advert he placed for the crew for the trip.
On December 5, 1914 they sailed in the HMS Endurance from South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic Sea for Antarctica. The ship was trapped in the ice and drifted for ten months before being crushed by the ice pack.
The team drifted on ice floes for another five months before escaping the ice and making it to Elephant Island, where Shackleton and five others started an impossible journey across 800 miles of dangerous ocean in a small whale boat. After 16 days they landed on the south shore of South Georgia Island, made the first land crossing of the island and found the base where they started the expedition. Four months later after four different attempts, Shackleton made it back to his crew and rescued them all. The stories of his leadership, insightful guidance of his team members, and extension beyond all physical and mental limitations to save all 28 men, are instructional and inspiring. And as a footnote, in 2022, 107 years after she sank and on the exact day of the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s funeral, the HMS Endurance was found, 10,000 feet down on the bottom of the Weddell Sea. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60662541
But back to 2024, where once again, the weather is impacting our plans (it seems the last few posts have been about weather – but that is obviously an important factor in sailing – especially in this part of the world). The Captain held a talk at 10:00 this morning to explain, complete with weather charts, what is expected to occur. The bottom line is that the weather is getting worse, and we still have to cross the Drake Passage. We will cross this 600 mile wide gap between the tip of South America and the Peninsula of Antarctica both going to and returning from Antarctica. It is known as the most treacherous stretch of water in the world, from roughly the 40th through the 60th parallels. With no land mass to break the strong winds, references are often made to the “roaring forties, furious fifties, and screaming sixties” (parallels). While the crossing can be calm and smooth – known as “the Drake Lake”, it is more often extremely turbulent, known as “the Drake Shake”. It appears we will experience a good bit of the shake going south with sustained wind speeds of 65 mph, 24 foot waves, and significant swells. Again, being in a somewhat larger ship will lessen the impact.
Perhaps these maps will give you a little sense of where we are headed. The first is a map from Shackleton’s days of the Continent of Antarctica as a whole. You can see the Peninsula to the far left and at the tip of that are the South Shetland Islands with Elephant Island marked at the end.
The next is a map of just the Peninsula area including the Islands. You can see Elephant Island (looks something like the head of an elephant) at the top, and Deception Island – nearly a circle – just above the word “DE” in the Spanish name of that body of water between the Islands and the Peninsula “MAR DE LA FLOTA” (with red circles around each).
The decision has been made to travel south for a bit longer, then change to a southwest heading to cross the Drake Passage and make for one of the southernmost islands in the chain, Deception Island. Hopefully the strong front heading toward us from the west will blow through behind us, but there is more weather to dodge and traverse as we sail tonight. If all goes as planned, we should roll our way into the polar region around 11:00 p.m. (below the 60th parallel), cruise through the night, and reach the “slow-down zone” around 10:00 a.m. where we slow to 10 knots (11.5 mph) due to possible whales. Woohoo!!!
You can see the original plan crossed out, with a new line showing the newly planned route. The dates are written European style – month first then date.
Once we “shelter” behind Deception Island the winds will reduce to 30 mph gusting to 40 with 10 foot waves. A walk in the park – just not all on flat land.
Some of you may be bored with this but check out the chart below. The black dot to the right represents the ship’s location. Generally speaking, the colors depict the weather conditions with the bright greens and blues being good, the orange where we are worse, going down to red, pinkish, blue, and purple – with blue and purple being, in the words of the Captain, “you don’t want to be there”. The lines represent milibars in barometric pressure, and the combination of winds and pressure define what we may be familiar with in terms of tropical storms and hurricanes. The Captain stated that in order to have a hurricane the pressure must be down to 980 with wind speeds of 74 mph. The winds in the southern hemisphere flow clockwise and the closer together those milibar lines are, the worse the winds. The low pressure systems are moving west to east, which means that what is coming toward us are blue and purple colors. The pressure where we currently are is 973, and dropping.
Even I can see that “we do not want to be there”, so Elephant Island is out, and the race to shelter is on! We can’t stock up on bread and milk like we do in the South for a snow storm, but we are making do with chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, in case the 100+ steps to the elevator is too difficult. Shackleton would be amazed at our hardiness.
And we are amazed at your hardiness in sticking with us on this journey. Hopefully the coming views will be worth the wait. Many blessings and fair sailing to you all.
We made it! Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. You may be aware, but these islands off the east side of the southern coast of South America are a part of the United Kingdom. British is spoken here, or the “King’s English” as they say, and the currency is the British pound. But the most important language spoken here is Penguin – and they have a lot to say!
Our excursion was scheduled for 1:30, with a need to tender ashore about 12:30. Sunday morning at 9:00 there was a church service, always led by volunteers – in this case a retired Presbyterian minister. We opted for a late breakfast afterwards, then left about 11:00 to go ashore a little early and see some of the town.
We hoped the weather would hold long enough to make it to Bluff Cove for our visit with the Gentoo and King Penguins. In a briefing for passengers, the Captain instructed everyone to listen for the ship’s horn while ashore. If it began to blow over and over, we were to return immediately to the ship. Having the ship get stuck in port was not what anyone wanted, but far worse would be getting left in port because you didn’t go back when told!! We were glad we left early because the tender took six attempts to tie up at the town dock, as the wind and waves kept pushing us out.
Walking around turned out to be more difficult than we anticipated as the winds were howling and it started to rain. We did make it along the waterfront to the local tourist office, past the Jubilee Building, flats (apartments) built in a British style in honor of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, to the local Anglican church built in the mid 1800’s, and past the upright jawbone of two sperm whales which demonstrate a “great fish” would have had no trouble at all swallowing Jonah. Our last stop was the local supermarket with a clothing shop and cafe attached, where we drank the most delicious hot chocolate ever (I learned it was Cadbury).
At 1:15 we arrived at our meeting point by the pier, were given a pink sticker assigning us to our 15 passenger van, and loaded up with our driver and guide, Frank, for a Penguin party!
Thirty minutes later we arrived at Bluff Cove, disembarked our vans, were given instructions such as keeping our voices low, how close we could get (pretty close!), etc., and walked through a solution designed to disinfect our shoes. The Penguins did not care whether the winds blew or rains fell – and at that point we were so happy to see them – neither did we.
How exciting to walk across the hillside and see the Penguins there in their natural habitat. They stood in groups, Gentoos together and Kings together, but seemed to share the same areas across the rocks to and from the beach.
The Kings were gorgeous and regal with their brilliant orange, perfect lines, and a late evening sunset on each breast. Many had baby chicks tucked under their fur in a fold in front of them. They spent most of their time standing in place, grooming, seeing to their chicks and sometimes squawking loudly – and I do mean loudly. No one told THEM to keep their voices down! Having not learned the language I have no idea what the fuss was about, but they ensured all Penguins knew! The Kings are the second largest Penguin species (only Emperors are larger, think “March of the Penguins” movie”), about 3 feet tall and weighing in at over 30 pounds.
The adult Gentoos have peach colored feet, white stripes along the edge of their flippers, and white feathers above and to the rear of their eyes that look like costume eyelashes done with the strokes of a master make-up artist. And they were hilarious. I’m sure they don’t see the humor as they just do “Penguin stuff”, but we humans tend to project human characteristics onto God’s creatures, especially when they stand upright and “act like we do”. Several times the younger ones seemed to be playing a game of chase with two birds chasing a third, weaving in and out among the adults, up and down the rocks with all three squawking and calling. Just when you thought it may be getting serious, the chased would turn and become one of the chasers and off they’d go again. The Gentoos are the third largest Penguin, about 2.5 feet tall and average only about 11 pounds. They are the world’s fastest underwater birds, reaching speeds of up to 22 mph. Maybe those lovely eyelash feathers are actually racing stripes!
An adult…
And a chick…
They all go to the sea for food, and when we were there the tide was out, so there was a lot of beach. Some would go out, and there were always several walking – waddling – back to the group. Suddenly, you would see a lone Penguin break from the group and start running toward those returning from the sea. Had they been separated for a long time? Were they enthusiastic newlyweds who couldn’t wait to be back together? The kids on their own for the first time and out past curfew? “I thought you’d never get here with lunch!”? It was evident that the runner was looking for a specific individual or group of Penguins, as it would run past several, sometimes pause for a quick word or peck, then continue until it reached the one(s) it sought. So cool!
We stayed and watched as long as we could stand the wind and cold, then walked about 300 yards to the Sea Cabbage Cafe, where there was a warm stove, hot tea, cocoa, or coffee, and fresh baked goods hand-made by Hettie who ran the Gift Shop. I asked if she would come and bake for the ship – hers were so delicious!!
After getting warm I walked down to the beach and watched a few of the Penguins swim in and out. They can go quickly with seemingly no effort from running to sliding forward on their bellies to back up and running, are so very agile – and fast – in the water. Such amazing creatures!! And there they are – right there! Incredible!!
It finally came time to leave. Frank sprayed the bottoms of our shoes as we entered the van and drove us back to the tender pier. The weather continued to worsen, and the tender ride back to the ship took nearly 30 minutes instead of the usual 20. Genny and I sat by a door which would not fully close. About halfway back it got really rough, and wave after wave washed over and through the door, wetting our jackets and clothes. A nice man on the opposite bench tried to close the door but couldn’t, so we pulled up our hoods, accepted the sympathy of those around us – and asked the ship for a one-time free laundry to wash out the salt water, which they graciously provided.
What an incredible, glorious day!! Once we are home and I can download the pictures from the other camera, I hope to have a page of better Penguin pictures and upload some video. Watching them walk and run with flippers outstretched or flapping behind them is just pure joy!! For now, I hope you can enjoy these few, and praise God along with us for the beauty and splendor and absolute awesomeness of these fantastic creatures.
As we left Puerto Madryn, Argentina Friday night, we knew there was no guarantee that we would get into the port at our next stop in the Falkland Islands on Sunday, due to weather. It is not unusual to have strong, and sometimes competing weather systems in this part of the ocean this time of year. In fact, that will likely be a theme for the next few days, and we were prepared for the fact that the itinerary could change.
Even if we made it to Port Stanley, getting to our excursion site for Sunday afternoon’s visit with the Gentoo (Gen-too like Gentle) and King Penguins at Bluff Cove might not happen, as the bad weather was supposed to deteriorate further in the afternoon, and our excursion was scheduled for 1:30.
Also, Port Stanley, as most of the remaining ports we will visit, is a tender port. That does not mean that it is kind and gentle. It means that we cannot park the ship (my friend Karen, a retired naval officer, must be so proud of my keen use of technical nautical terms) next to a dock and walk off into town. In tender ports, we ride in one of the ship’s enclosed lifeboats known as tenders, between the ship and a small dock. If the weather was to get too bad to allow the tenders to navigate and/or dock, the visits would be cancelled. Here is a picture of a tender in a calmer port.
Each morning (and at other times) the Ship’s Cruise Director makes morning announcements about various activities. Sometimes the Captain will begin the announcement, with information related to weather or events that may be impacting the progress or route of the ship, and such. At noon each day, the Captain provides nautical and meteorological updates, including location and time, distance, and speed to the next destination. If announcements are just routine, they are typically made over an intercom system that projects into the hallways and common areas, and can also be heard on a particular TV channel in your stateroom if you so choose. But if the information is deemed important enough that all need to be sure to hear, it will also be played through speakers in each stateroom.
Suffice it to say that from Friday night to Sunday morning, announcements were made directly into each stateroom. Apparently, two low pressure systems were colliding around the Falklands, and we were sailing south into them through yet a third system. Cool! It was going to get sporty!
Sure enough, beginning during the night Friday night, the gentle rocking of the ship that causes one to sleep so well began to increase to a more pronounced roll, with intermittent shudders and an occasional thud that felt like a nautical speed bump thrown in for good measure. The Captain later explained that we were experiencing something called “confused swells”, resulting from when the ship meets swells coming from two different directions simultaneously.
Because we are in an aft cabin (back of the ship) we get a little more motion than midship, but maybe not as much as those forward.
Our cabin is situated so that the head and foot of the beds point toward the sides of the ship. While I might prefer the opposite in calm seas to rock gently from side to side, I think there is an advantage to rocking head to toe in rough seas. At least I don’t feel like I will roll off the side of the bed! Of course, all the blood rushes to my head when we roll to starboard, and everything pulls toward the bottom of the bed when we roll to port. It’s sort of like getting a massage without going to the spa.
The doors and drawers all face – and open – toward the sides as well. Where we had been lightly closing the bathroom door, we now needed to ensure it latched or it would swing open – and SLAM shut. The closet door with the full-length mirror kept opening, then waving back and forth flashing reflected light like Morse code until it would apparently complete it’s message and close with a bang.
A lower drawer on a side table kept sliiiiiiding open, and sliiiiiiding closed, as did the curtains covering the balcony doors. We popped up and down through the night to put a suitcase in front of the closet doors, shoes under the drawer, and find what was roooooolling toward the front of the cabinet – and roooooolling to thump against the back – the bottle of Downey Fabric Wrinkle Remover. We finally had everything secured and slept for awhile, until the curtains parted on their own after sunrise, flashing a neon daylight wake-up call.
The confused swells and winds were whipping up 18 foot seas most of the day Saturday. But the crew added sea water for ballast to make the ship heavier and less prone to be tossed about, put out the stabilizers, and dodged as much of the worst of the weather as possible. We were still able to make a brisk 18 knots. The trick is balancing the need for speed to reach the next destination at the designated time, vs the effect of speed on the motion of the ship. The Captain mentioned in the morning briefing that it might be a good day to enjoy in-room movies, and he concluded all of his announcements with the words, “…and above all, stay upright!”.
Let me quickly add that on a ship of this size we were never in “danger” as defined by imminent threat to life or limb, but were more in a state of constant and vigilant caution when moving about. Most activities went on as planned, with the exception of the closing of the outside decks and the pools (the pool was kind of mesmerizing to watch as the water rolled and splashed from one end to the other).
We’ve seen worse than this and it may get worse later. The greatest desire was to follow the Captain’s admonition to “stay upright” and avoid injury.
The second greatest desire was to not be seasick. There is medicine you can take to help with that, but they say to take it before experiencing symptoms if you are prone to seasickness. I’m not sure how anyone knows they are prone to seasickness – until they experience the symptoms. So if you take the medicine just in case, and don’t get seasick, was it because of the medicine or because you aren’t prone to be sick anyway? Humph. And supposedly, most of it either makes your mouth really dry – or makes you want to sleep all day. There is a product called “Sea Bands” (and other brands) that provides a wide piece of elastic to fit tightly around each wrist with a small button-like piece of plastic attached. You place the button at a certain place above your wrist, and it acts on a pressure point to reduce or eliminate seasickness.
We have used the Sea Bands in the past if the conditions were sporty for a bit, with good success. Whether because of the bands – or because of not being prone to seasickness, who knows?? This time, because it was supposed to get even rougher on Saturday and be prolonged through the night, we each took a little of the generic version of Meclizine that I had read good things about. I have no idea whether it helped with nausea as I felt none, but I did determine that if I wanted to enjoy the rest of the cruise I needed to pass on taking more, as all we wanted to do was sleep!!
The weather stayed bad through Saturday night and beyond. We, of course, prayed for good enough weather to allow visits to the Penguins on Sunday. Seemingly miraculously, we made it into Port Stanley about 8:00 Sunday morning to partly cloudy skies. The weather deteriorated through the day – but I’ll leave that for the next episode. We did learn that the port had been closed on Saturday and a smaller Viking Line ship that was supposed to also arrive Sunday had cancelled. The man who ran the Tourist Bureau did not think our larger ship would make it, so was scrambling to get the farmers and retired folk in to town who drove and managed the tours because he didn’t think we were coming! We were very glad the Captain held the ship steadfastly through the storms. The experience itself, and the view at the end, was so worth it!
There are many analogies in the relationship between man and nature, and man and The One who created nature. Is this one too obvious? We know there will be storms, but we have technology that can tell us when, where, what type and provide warnings. We also have shipbuilders who can design and build ships to withstand some amount of those storms. We have officers and crew who are trained to read the charts and the winds and know the tolerances of the ships in those environments. If we didn’t trust the ship builders, the weather instrumentation, the meteorologists, the captain and crew, we would not board the ship to begin with.
Is it too trite to remind ourselves that in our sea of life, we also know there will be storms? We have history filled with examples that can tell us what to expect and provide warnings for us to heed. We have the Bible to tell us clearly how our Creator designed us to function in this world that He designed for our good, how to recognize and prepare for the storms, and where to go for shelter. And we have available the very presence of the Ruler of the Universe, who says He will hide us under His wings and place us on a solid rock so that we may rest in Him, and “stay upright”, without fear. The question is, do we trust Him enough to get onboard and let Him take us in His steadfast love, through the storms? If we do, the experience itself, and the view at the end, will be so worth it.
Today we arrived at Puerto Madryn, a town on the southern east coast, in the area known as Patagonia.
Our destination was approximately 75 miles south (which took 2.5 hours with one quick bathroom break) to Punta Tombo, to the world’s largest penguin rookery. According to our guide, Stella, there are 17 different species of penguins in the world. Punta Tombo houses over 400,000 Magellan Penguins through their spring and summer seasons. This is the time when the 2-foot high sea birds swim south from the waters of Brazil. There, they live in the ocean. Here, they come ashore to nest, lay eggs, hatch and raise their chicks, and grow a new set of feathers that prepares them to return to the sea with their new families. Then they swim back to the warmer waters of Brazil for the autumn and winter.
The rocky area near shore is reddish volcanic rock. The sand is whitish. Apparently, the type of sand and rocks here are good for building nests. To do so, they lay on their sides and dig with their feet. The nests can go down a foot or more and even further horizontally. Many times they are in the shade of a low, spiky bush.
When return from wintering in Brazil, the males arrive before the females. The first time the male arrives, he builds a nest, convinces a female to join him, and they finish the nest together. They are now mated for life. The already mated couples will return to the same nest after they first build one. They do not build new ones, just rearrange and redecorate the old.
If the female arrives and her mate is not here, she will mate with someone else. After all, the clock is ticking and she only has so much time to build this family. If the female does not arrive, the male will wait for her through this season – but next year is a new story.
The female lays two eggs, four days apart, and they incubate for 39 days. The mom and dad take turns sitting on the eggs, but they hatch with the female – (how do they know??) four days apart. They are gray when born with fluffy feathers that are not waterproof. The parents take turns sitting with them, and going to the sea for food for themselves and their babies. That didn’t mean much until we walked from the bus to the grounds and immediately began seeing nests with Penguins – a looooooong way from the sea. Hopefully you can see that in a couple of the pictures.
The parents eat a lot to rebuild body fat. After a month the babies are losing their gray fuzz and getting their waterproof coats. By March, the parents will have shed and grown a new coat, and be ready to swim north to Rio and warmer weather.
The average lifespan is 25 years. Even though you are literally walking within feet – and sometimes inches of the penguins, this is a nature reserve – not a zoo. If the park rangers see birds attacking the eggs or other penguin disasters occurring, they record it, but they do not interfere.
It’s just incredible to walk along and see real, live, wild penguins waddling straight toward you. As Genny said, it seems to show some of God’s great sense of humor. And His amazingly well-planned and detailed design. So here are a few stars. Can you tell the mature from the chicks??
Today’s stop was in the capitol city of Uraguay. After sailing south through the night on calm seas, we arrived around 9:00 a.m. local time. Custom’s officials cleared the ship and people were allowed to disembark.
Genny and I had decided to have “brunch” aka a late breakfast in the Main Dining Room (MDR) and then walk into town instead of going on an excursion. We have never had breakfast in the MDR, so this was a new experience.
I ordered banana bread french toast coated with oatmeal with a berry compote and maple syrup, and a boiled egg. Genny ordered corned beef hash with scrambled eggs, which came with hashbrowns. They always do such a nice job preparing and serving the food, and it is typically really delicious. When you consider how many people they are feeding at once, it is really remarkable.
After brunch, we headed to town (that’s how we would say it in NC where I’m from). Due to Port requirements (a shared commercial port), we took a shuttle bus to the end of the dock where two other ships, one from the Seven Seas line and one from MSC, were both docked. No matter how many cruise ships I see, I am always impressed.
As we were waiting to cross the street, we began to notice how dark the sky was becoming. Then we heard thunder. We looked at each other and realized that both umbrellas, both rain jackets, and all of the little 99 cent plastic disposable ponchos we brought with us were still on the ship!!
We ducked into the Tourist Office just as the rain started to pound down. After a few minutes it dried up enough to make it to the shopping area where we bought an umbrella. Aaaaaannd shortly after that, it stopped raining.
We only saw portions of town within walking distance of two “mature” ladies. There were typical touristy shops, local businesses and markets, some second-hand stores which I always like to find, small plazas, and lots of restaurants, including one that cooked the meats and sausage over wood just like in Buenos Aires, but more compactly.
There was a store dedicated to local artisans. I loved this mirror framed in leather.
And in this small market, there were BUCKETS of a caramel type sauce called Dulce de Leche – VERY popular here.
Tuesday morning started early as we had an excursion to catch! You can book tours (excursions) through the cruise line, with large-scale tour operators like Viator or Get Your Guide, or directly with local operators either prior to or when you disembark the ship in port. The catch is that if your return to the ship is delayed past the time for the ship to depart for the next port, it will only wait for you (or pay your way to the next port if it cannot wait) if you are booked through the cruise line.
When we cruised to the Panama Canal, we took a tour boat through to the Pacific end of the Canal. The ship motored around in Gatun Lake, where buses were to bring us back to continue our cruise. Unfortunately, our little tour boat was delayed several hours as enormous container ships and others were given priority (ships have reservations years in advance). Fortunately, our excursion was booked through the cruise line – along with more than 200 of our closest friends. The ship waited for our return, the crew hustled us off the multiple buses onto the ship, and the Lido staff offered us hot food for our 11:00 p.m. dinner as the ship sailed away.
We were also on a ship that was pulling away from the dock in another country when two couples came running to the gate. Everyone was waving goodbye from the ship, when the Captain made the decision to go back. He made it very clear in a presentation the next day that the action would NOT be repeated in future ports!
Today’s excursion was called, “Gaucho Life on the Pampas”. There were about a hundred of us who filled three buses and took a 1.5 hour ride to a working ranch outside of Buenos Aires. There we were greeted by an Argentine gaucho – or cowboy – on his beautiful horse, given refreshments of hot empenadas (fried turnover style pies) filled with meat and veggies (de-li-cious!) and our choice of beverage (wine, water, Coke, or Sprite (made me feel like I was in Atlanta).
After arriving, we were seated at tables on the lawn in front of the Hacienda and treated to a show of Argentine dance by two professional dance couples. Afterwards, we were allowed to roam the grounds of the Hacienda, take pictures of the more than 200 years old house that has been in this family for four generations, and meet the owner and patriarch, Mr. Mauricio Carraujes, who appears to be in his 80’s.
In one section of the ranch were cattle, in another, horses. They were used both for the cattle and for shows put on by the gauchos to exhibit their skills at riding full-tilt toward objects hanging from overhead that they were to spear with small quill like instruments and long sticks. In another section there were peacocks and peahens, ostriches, ducks, chickens, and geese. The peacocks strutted around calling loudly.
Near this area were men cooking sides of beef on tall skewers around a fire, and steaks and chicken on a long, flat grill. Wowsie, did it all smell good!!
We sat under trees with the temps in the low 90’s and a steady breeze, watching the flocks and herds and dozens of bright green parakeets flying hither and yon with what sounded like hundreds more in the surrounding tree tops.
After the horse and gaucho show, it was time for lunch. We were now herded into a large building filled with tables laid out with 10 place settings at each and unlimited choices of the same beverages offered upon our arrival.
After we were seated, bowls of salads were brought out. One was made from shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and onions; one was just tomatoes and lettuce; and one was finely shredded carrots and boiled eggs. Each had a light oil of some kind, and all were refreshing and delicious. Then the gauchos started bringing in platters of meats, hot off the grill, and by the time we were finished had offered each of us a steak, chicken, and a different cut of beef still on the bone. There was bread and chimichurri to put on the meat (a mix of spices and oils), and just as we thought we were finished, a dish of the whitest homemade vanilla ice cream I’ve ever seen with a swirl of some delicious berries, and Argentine coffee which is hot, strong, and sweet. I can’t believe I didn’t get pictures of every course!! I did, however, manage to get a picture one of the ferocious Argentine guard dogs who joined us for lunch. Impressive!
After the outstanding meal, the Professional dancers treated us to more samples of beautiful traditional folk music and dance, including large drums known as bombos.
And at the end, they each did special demonstrations of the use of “boleadorras” with music. These are traditional weapons made of a piece of rope with hard balls made from stone at each end – or three balls on a single rope, etc. covered in leather, used by the gauchos to hunt or protect their herds from wild animals. Let me just say that ALL of my respect went to these four who could twirl and spin those extremely dangerous instruments of death with such force and speed – and most importantly, control. I wish I could upload the videos, especially after I realized I only took videos!
After the performances as we left the hall, we were given a delicious flaky pastry and a cup of very sweet hot tea known as “mate”. It is actually a caffiene-infused herbal tea that is a very cultural drink made a special way in individual containers. It was excellent!
We walked outside to finish our final portion of the meal and found a wooden log in the shade. A lone peahen moved in for a snack, and as soon as Genny shared a nibble, we were surrounded by birds!
I held out a small piece, but the peahen grabbed the big one and shot off to enjoy it by herself as several others gave chase. As we walked to the bus, one of the peacocks decided to give us a full display of his beauty. A nice way to end the day – and this post.
Grateful for the sharing of new cultures and experiences in another part of God’s world. Praying to walk in His kingdom, in honor of Him. May He bless each of us with knowledge of and humility in His Presence today.
It’s boarding day! It is hard to believe it’s finally here.
I don’t usually write while cruising, as I’m too cheap to buy the internet packages so have limited connectivity along the way. I made an exception to this one (about writing – not about the internet) and hope you won’t mind too much the long pauses in between postings when we are out of contact for several days.
Most of these are written on my phone, so please excuse if (when) I miss a needed correction.
I’ve received a lot of questions about cruising, so will include some pictures of the ship along the way, and information that might be helpful – and hopefully interesting.
We have learned that some traveler usually sets up a Facebook group for the particular cruise, and found one for this trip that has been informative and helpful. Some folks who were on the cruise before us joined and provided updates along the way (they bought the internet package!).
Typically, in order to board, we would take our luggage and go to a large cruise terminal where there might be several glamorous cruise ships docked along the quays. There we would leave our luggage at the curb, go inside and check in, and walk from the terminal aboard the ship – usually through a series of walkways similar to jetways that you pass through for an airplane.
Some people arrive the day of the cruise and go directly from the airport. We choose to arrive the day before to hopefully avoid missing the ship due to travel delays (it happens more than you might think!). So far that has worked well.
Today there seemed to be some consternation among our Facebook fellow travelers about where to go for check-in related to damage to the cruise terminal from a storm a few weeks ago. We decided to follow the instructions on our boarding pass (imagine that) and go to the terminal. Apparently, that was the right decision.
Our taxi driver, Carlos, (with my travel companion, Little Frog directing him), dropped us at an obviously temporary location and entrance. We waited inside in a line to leave our bags with the cruise line and sat in an un-air-conditioned waiting area (it’s a humid 85 today) for only about 20 minutes before boarding a bus that took us to a commercial shipping container port.
From the bus we entered a terminal, went up the escalators to check in, through passport control, to another desk where the cruise line took our passports to keep until the end of the cruise (we travel with copies), and out the back way to another bus that would take us to our ship.
After weaving through and among multiple and enormous stacks and rows of shipping containers being constantly moved about by giant arms with dangling magnetic puppets,
(The operator sits inside that cabin underneath and “drives’ the giant yellow magnets below)
the bus driver found our ship – the Oosterdam (pronounced O-ster-dam) of the Holland America Line.
We were welcomed aboard by the typical smiling faces of the crew, and we sighed with relief and gratitude at having made it to the ship – and its air-conditioning.
Our key cards were waiting in a holder by our cabin door and our luggage arrived shortly after. We unpacked and settled in, watched the safety video on the TV, and found and checked in at our muster station, where we could be directed in case of an emergency – Deck 3, Lifeboat #16. We will pre-fit our life jackets to each of us and have them ready in the unlikely event they are needed.
Days can run together onboard, and one of the nice things they provide is a way to tell what day it is. Just open any elevator, and there will be the day of the week. For dates, you’re on your own.
We chose a balcony cabin for this trip, as we will be cruising for days through scenic passages and Chilean fjords, past glaciers, and among ice bergs in Antarctica. We were later able to change to an aft (rear) cabin which provides an amazing view, on deck 5 – which on this ship gives us a covered balcony. That will be great if it rains! The bonus we discovered on arrival is that it is both a significantly longer cabin and balcony. Nice!
An hour later it was time for dinner, which we had in the Lido Restaurant on deck 9. This is where the buffets of food are presented, with tonight’s menu including (among many other good choices) barbecued ribs, prime rib, chicken, salmon, various vegetables, salads, fruits, cheeses, an array of distinctive breads, and of course – desserts from cakes and pies, to flan and mousses, to crepes, cookies, and ice creams.
Typically, we would have been sailing away as we ate dinner, but the ship is remaining here in Buenos Aires until Tuesday (as scheduled)
I’ll share more later about life on board. Tonight, we found the dutch game that we like to play called Sjoelen, where you attempt to slide pucks through holes at the far end, and returned to our cabin to get ready for tomorrow’s excursion, put some TV movies on a “Watch List” for later, and write to you!
Thanks much for the emails and comments. We like hearing from you. If you have specific questions let me know and I’ll try to answer them.
Welcome to the long-awaited and much anticipated trip to yet more places I never thought I would go. When my friend, Genny, began talking about South America, Antarctica, and Penguins, I went from interested, to visions of icebergs and Ernest Shakelton, to “Penguins!?!…are you kidding??, “I’m in!!!” This particular trip has taken the least amount of planning, as it is all cruise, and the most amount of luggage – as the temperatures are predicted to run from 85 to as low as 0 and back to 85 over a three week period.
Our faithful friend Dianne, who voluntarily braved all weather and traffic to get us to the airport, put out the oars and drove through this week’s never-ending rain to drop us at Atlanta Hartsfield on Saturday for our 9:10 p.m. flight. We were scheduled to arrive exactly 10 hours later – at 9:10 a.m. – in Buenos Aires, Argentina (yes, a two hour time difference).
There was a very short wait to check in – which turned out to be a good thing. As I placed one of the larger bags on the scale, we noticed it was canting to one side. Whaaaat? A broken wheel – and we were just getting started!! Fortunately, the guy checking us in was quite patient, and the wheel itself was okay – but the plastic housing was damaged and was close to tearing off and taking the wheel with it. As an Emergency Management professional I always travel with 50% of the “FAD” (Fix Anything Duo) of duct tape and WD-40. Guess which one? Correct!! Duct Tape!
You don’t need to carry a whole roll. Just take a strip of cardboard like the backing of a yellow pad of paper, cut it to the width of a roll of tape and about three to four inches long. Transfer duct tape from the roll to the cardboard, evenly and as thick as you’d like, until you have a flat pack of duct tape. Stick it in an outside pocket of the suitcase and you’re good to go.
I asked the guy if we could make a temporary repair attempt and he agreed, so we dug out the tape and went to work, applying several long strips to hopefully hold it in place. When it arrived in BA, the wheel was still there! Woohoo! We’ll shore it up and see if it makes it home at the end.
The flight was VERY cold, but otherwise uneventful and we each managed to get a little sleep as we flew toward Argentina.
After arrival, it took about an hour to clear immigration, get our bags, hoist them ourselves into an x-ray machine at Customs, and exit the airport to meet our driver Cesar. Another hour later – with some “interesting” driving amongst “interesting” traffic, we arrived downtown at the Buenos Aires Marriott where we were allowed to check in early. We were upgraded to a spacious suite with a balcony that overlooks the “Times Square” of Buenos Aires, complete with large electronic screens, tall green bushes shaped into “BA” – a popular spot for pictures, and the iconic 221 foot high Obelisk, erected in 1936, on the spot where the Argentine flag was raised for the first time over the city.
After settling in and resting a bit, we headed out for a restaurant named “Parilla Peña”, a highly rated, “locals more than tourists” – which we prefer – steakhouse. Here is an explanation of a “Parilla” in Argentina from a Viator site. “What makes Argentine parrillas different from other grilling restaurants around the world is their use of both fragrant wood and wood-base charcoal to cook the meat slowly throughout the day, allowing the meat to tenderize and develop a flavorful crust. Parrillas also cook a variety of meats—including offal (achuras) like intestines, liver, and kidneys; and sausages like blood sausage (morcilla) and chorizo—all together on the same grill.”
When we asked at the hotel for directions, we learned it was closed today (the owners are on vacation), but another was recommended – “La Estancia” – “The Stay”, and it was right around the corner.
After perusing the menu, and munching on delicious bread with various dipping sauces of spices and oil or tomatoes and onions, we communicated enough with the waiter to choose a sampler of different meats that came with fries. He said it could feed one or two – it could have easily fed four!!
Unfortunately, one of the pictures blurred so you can’t see the other side of that pile of meat, which included suckling pig ribs, rolled flank steak filled with spices, and two sausages that had to have weighed a half pound each. One was chorizo and one was blood sausage – which we had told him we did not want. He took the blood sausage away but brought a second chorizo in its place! You can see the size of the sausages on a similar platter in the corner of the picture below. The picture on the left is of the sides of beef, pigs, and lamb being cooked in one room, with the sausages, cheese, steaks, and other items being prepared on the right.
The meat was sizzlin on the pan with a wood-charcoal fire underneath, and was all outstanding – exceptionally tender, flavorful, and filling! When we finished, the waiter took it away, never offering a doggy bag, and we had to wonder what happens to the leftovers.
After dinner we walked through a bit of the downtown, past the candy and sundry shop that is open 25 hours a day, and returned to our hotel for a full night’s sleep and preparations for boarding the ship the next day.
We are excited about and grateful to God for the adventures ahead. We pray to honor Him and bless others as we enjoy His gifts on this continent of the world. Thanks for going along with us – I’ll try for two more updates before we depart Buenos Aires. One tonight, and one tomorrow after our excursion to “Gaucho Life on the Pampas”.
