A view of Ushuaia

 

This is a test post using Windows Live Writer

Sunday 31st January 2010

Today is a 'sea day' as we prepare for arrival tomorrow in the Falklands. We are now out of the Magellan Strait/Beagle Channel/Drake Passage area and feeling the effects of the South Atlantic. I am doing a trip to Bluff Cove Lagoon. This is supposed to be the 'Innovative Shore Excursion of the Year 2009'. We will see. The trip involves minibus to Bluff Cove Farm. Then I transfer to a 4 x 4 vehicle, (Land Rover) for an 'exhilarating 30 minute off-road adventure to the Bluff Cove Lagoon penguin colonies. The drive is through stunning vistas but also, presumably involves white knuckles. When we get to our destination there will be awaiting us, I assume in full black and white uniforms, a colony of 1,000 Gentoo penguins and an 'expanding colony' of King Penguins. On the beach there will also be Magellanic penguins. There are also many other birds there. Other highlights of the trip include:

• Walking along the beach and beachcombing.
  
• Calling at the Sea Cabbage Café on the beach which serves up hot drinks and snacks which include fresh scones and 'Diddle Dee' jam!! Plus, of course, fresh farm cream.
  
• There is also a museum with lots of exhibits of life in the islands, wrecks, handicrafts as well as the items from the war of 1982.
  
• There are some demonstrations of spinning and weaving and, of course, the obligatory gift shop.
  

I think this may be one of the highlights of the trip and I am very much looking forward to it. I am sure that my camera will be red-hot to the touch by the end of the day. So far the weather on all the trip[s has been favorable but as my cruise companions are not coming on this one with me and they have certainly been good-luck talisman with the weather up until now, I am hoping that I can keep up the good weather record. I really don't care what it is like I have wet weather gear and will take it as it comes.

The trip above takes three hours and the ship is there from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. so as I start out first thing in the morning, I should be back by lunch time and able to spend some time in the town where there is a cathedral and 'English pubs'!!!

I am hoping, when I get back home and get a better internet connection either to update the daily blogs with relevant photos or otherwise just to publish one single blog with photos with descriptions underneath. As there are several of my cruise companions who are also taking photos, I hope that we will be able to exchange them at the end giving a complete record of the journey.

Slightly curiously for a vessel which is registered in the Marshall Islands which are as I recall a US dependent territory they seem to have a penchant for arranging 'British' events. The passenger complement consists of quite a number of Canadians, a few Dutch, some British but the majority, I would guess are Americans. There is an on board lecturer and also a husband and wife comedy/magic duo who are British so I am at a loss to explain why there should be such a British focus. Those who know me will hardly be surprised to learn that I have avoided these gatherings!!!

Ushuaia 30th January 2010

I woke up early and went on deck. It was misty and rainy but you could see the mountain peaks, snow-capped in the distance as well as the lights of Ushuaia. We approached the port slowly and berthed at the pier, the other side of which was occupied by a Maersk ship, the Maersk Funchal, loading what seemed to be empty containers.

We made an early start on our day's excursion and boarded buses which took us a few miles thought the countryside to the 'Train at the end of the World' This train, which was built in the early 1900's was originally used to service a high security prison which was established in Ushuaia in temporary buildings in 1896 with the permanent buildings being commissioned in 1920 after a building period of 18 years. The train commenced service in 1910 and the line was extended gradually until 1920. The establishment of the prison was mainly to give the area some purpose and upon the base of the prison. It was modeled on other 'escape proof prisons such as Devil's Island and Alcatraz. Ushuaia grew to a large town as it is today. The prison was in the town and the rail line was used to take the prisoners to the forests where they cut down wood for building and heating. The cruelty and rigors of being incarcerated in this part of the world and made to work under these circumstances are difficult to imagine. The prison was closed in 1947 but the rail line was preserved and re-opened as a tourist attraction in the 1990'sWe reached the station and boarded the small train (only 60 cm gauge track but pulled by a small steam engine. It was raining lightly but the scenery which is through what is now a National Park (established at least partly so as not to allow neighboring Chile to move the border between Chile and Argentina!!) was wonderful although there is ample evidence of the depredations of the prisoners with large areas of tree stumps. We crossed and re-crossed the Pipo River which is named after a convict who tried to escape from this (at the time) desolate place but whose frozen body was found later in the Beagle Channel after it was washed down the river that now bears his name. After a stop at a halfway station to see some waterfalls and get a better view of the landscape we continued on to the end of the line. Here we re-boarded the buses for a drive through the National Park. Our guide, Victoria, was extremely knowledgeable and interesting pointing out many things on the way such as:

• Beavers were introduced from Canada into the area for the fur they produce to make clothing. Unfortunately, the beavers developed hard and short fur to cope with the conditions and this was of no use for clothing so the beavers simply multiplied in the predator free environment and have caused much damage by making dams which then flood the land and kill the trees. A program to try to cull the beavers is under way.
  
• Rabbits were also introduced into the area and bred like, well…….rabbits and gave also caused many problems and are also being culled by the introduction of the grey fox which is more of a predator than the native red fox and also by chemical means. The eradication progress can hardly be described as a success as we saw many of the little devils who romped very close to the paths and roads.
  
• Various fungi and 'false mistletoe' on the trees which either lived happily with its host or not.
  
• Upland geese with young as well as steamer ducks and other bird life.
  
• She also handed around a stuffed beaver's head which was a bit gruesome!!
  

Eventually we disembarked the bus and boarded a catamaran which took us out into the Beagle Channel. We had a lunch on board and then we ventured out in the channel. We wet along the coast and close by an island colony of king cormorants, another island with a colony of sea lions and then on to the 'Lighthouse at the end of the World' (this is what the Argentines call it as Cape Horn is in Chilean territory). The trip was in great weather and was a wonderful experience with the backdrop of the Andes Mountains.

When we arrived back at the ship a new vessel was also docked at the pier, one of Swan Hellenic's ships, the 'Minerva' which goes to the Antarctic. It had had an engine failure somewhere down south and had to proceed back here at severely reduced speed. The passengers all missed their flights home and were, I assume, less than pleased.

Everyone agreed that this was a really great day out. We disembarked the catamaran and went into town for a shopping expedition. Most of the souvenirs were of penguins and other miscellanea but not of great attractiveness. However, I bought a bottle of the local 'champagne' from the end of the world!! We also bought some local cheese, crackers and sausage so that we could have a small cocktail party before dinner which we will have in Joan and Bill's stateroom as it is rather larger than mine.

We did inquire again about a trip by helicopter to Cape Horn but this is not possible. I wish now that I had tried to do this from Punta Arenas. Cape Horn is Chilean territory and the Chileans and Argentineans are not the very best of friends. You CAN go to Cape Horn from Ushuaia but first they have to go to Chile to get a Chilean Air Force officer to accompany you. The lady in Ushuaia said that the two governments don't hate one another but they don't want to make life easy for each other either!!

Ushuaia is a medium sized but smart and thriving town which compares favorably with Punta Arenas its Argentine neighbor.

I do have some good photos of the trip and I know that my traveling colleagues do too and I hope we will be able to exchange them at the end. Then, when I get home with a decent internet connection, I will load a lot of them onto the blog.

At 6 p.m. this evening we leave for Port Stanley, Falklands Islands, (which the locals and all maps here in Argentina staunchly refer to as the Malvinas). All the maps have the Falklands, South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia claimed by Argentina. I suppose there can be no further negotiation until Lady Thatcher passes on, if even then. Still borders down here are jealously kept (see above regarding the National Park), and I suppose the richness of the fishing and the potential for oil and gas are as much to blame for this as anything.

Punta Arenas, Chile, 29th January 2010

We docked in Punta Arena, the southernmost port in Chile today at about 7 a.m. After breakfast we walked ashore, having no fixed excursions. The town is quite a thriving place with smart houses for the most part and a mixture of old and new buildings. The most striking feature of the town is the large number of banks, local and international. One or more on every block, so it seemed. Quite why there should be so many is not clear. There are a few old and interesting buildings including:

• The Braun House – built in 1895 – it a very beautiful example of the French beaux artes style. The draperies and woodwork were very impressive.
  
• The Magellenes Museum which is housed in another of the grand houses of the city owned by a family of Braun-Menendez. This house is largely preserved the way it was as a dwelling but also has a number of exhibits from the surrounding area such as bones of prehistoric animals and relics from the indigenous Indians, now all disappeared, who lived here when the European arrived.
  
• The maritime museum which contains many nice exhibits of the maritime past. One of the most impressive events in this museum is an old film, taken in 1929 by a Captain Johnson of a voyage he took on the sailing vessel Peking (yes the one which is in the South Street Seaport in NYC). The film is remarkable when considering the time in which it was taken and the conditions of the voyage which were simply awful, even though the storms which they endured where winds reached 100 mph were described as the 'best storms they had ever been in'!! The shots from the top of the masts in the heaving seas and of the Captain's dog which was trained to bite slow-movers around the ship were incredible. The camera seemed to get submerged many times but still kept on working and the intrepid Captain Johnson took film from all angles in all conditions. I cannot think of any better representation of what it was like to round the Horn than this. The voyage started in Hamburg and due to a huge storm in the North Sea took 14 days to get into the English Channel. Thereafter it was plain sailing until Cape Horn when things really got exciting. I believe that the film is in the Mystic Seaport Museum and if so and anyone is visiting there, it is well worth seeing. The other exhibits in this museum were also good and well laid out.
  

  
   

The Indians were decimated either by the greater fire-power of the Europeans or the disease which they brought with them and to which the Indians had no defense. This whole area has a most rich past with visits by as diverse a bunch of people as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who escaped here from North America when things got hot up there, a bandit named Red Pig, Darwin and Fitzroy, (who kidnapped some natives and took them back to UK), all sorts of eccentric Scots and British farmers and sheep farmers as well as the sundry seafarers who were wrecked in the area and stayed. The book 'In Patagonia" by Bruce Chatwin which I was advised to bring with me is a fascinating account of the author's wanderings in the region and of the people he met and the tales of their forebears.

We sailed for Ushuaia at 2 pm today and we will be there tomorrow. We have an excursion which takes us on the 'train to the end of the world' which should be interesting. I did try to see if I could arrange a helicopter or plane trip out over Cape Horn but it was not possible as the area is a military zone and permission needs to be obtained in advance. Pity, I wish now that I had investigated further earlier.

January 28th 2010

Last night we went in and out of the fjords and the weather changed almost by the hour. We had some quite violent squalls but now we are back inside the lee of the land and will remain there until we leave the Straits of Magellan and head out for the Falklands which is not for a few days yet. This morning the ship stopped for about an hour at the end of one fjord for us to view the Amalia Glacier which is very impressive but the weather was rather rainy and misty so, unfortunately it was not as beautiful as it might have been on a good day. Sitting on one of the upper decks is a small bird which must have got blown on board and is now wet and bedraggled. I hope that it will recover and fly away.

Today is a day steaming through the fjords but with no port calls. Tomorrow we arrive at Punta Arenas. I have no organized excursion there but perhaps a group of us will take an independent tour with a guide in a van. I guess we will then be back, temporarily in civilization and I can get my Blackberry to work again although I am not sure that this is such a boon!! I refuse to have it on aboard the ship as the charges are rather high and the service is very slow.

Every day there is a quiz and Michele is so competitive, she and Bernie have won several days running but I have to admit that I have connived by using my internet connection and Wikipedia to find out some of the answers. As the questions are all about Mediterranean countries and especially about Picasso and other artists, they are often not so easy to know as a matter of general knowledge.

Day 6

Above are a couple of shots of my cabin (stateroom!!)

Well we have two full days at sea before Punta Arenas so it may be time to review the first impressions of the cruise experience. The ship is very pleasant although the décor is a bit old-fashioned for my taste. The crew are outstanding, very attentive polite, cheerful and professional. They come from every country on the globe it seems. Many from Romania, Philippines, Serbia, Italy, UK, Sweden, you name it. The food is also outstanding and a tendency to waistline growth could certainly apply if not careful. There are four or five places to eat. Toscana is an Italian restaurant, Polo a steak house, the Grand Dining Room which is a full restaurant type menu. Then there is the Terrace Café which does lighter food and tapas in the evening. There is also a burger and hot dog bar out on the deck.

The activities on board haven't changed much since I was at sea with bingo, bridge, dancing lessons and some evening cabaret. There are also some lectures on ports of call, wellness, and some cooking demonstrations. On deck there are the usual games as well as putting and that sort of thing which are not too easy to play in heavy seas. So far, I have not been tempted by any of these.

My cabin, (stateroom) is adequate if small but there are much larger and grander rooms on the ship. The 'owner's suites' of which there are several are extremely grand and I was invited to one of them for drinks and I must say that they are very nice with outside verandahs, butler service and all the trimmings. I still could not envisage myself wanting, needing or paying for such facilities but then I am a 'penny potato' traveler by nature and have had so much fun traveling 3^rd Class that I am loathe to give it up.

Although food is all included there are some rather annoying small charges for soda and bottled water which I would have thought they could have supplied gratis. The internet connection is appallingly slow and very expensive. I have turned my Blackberry off whilst at sea and I will wait until I can get a shore station before I turn it on again. The data charges on board are ridiculous. So for those connected via Blackberry, you will get some black-out periods when I do not respond to any message directed to me. I am writing this blog in MS Word and then just posting it after I have finished. This is the best way not to use up all my expensive minutes on the internet connection.

The ship, for some reason has a very lumpy movement, perhaps because she is so short v her beam. Today there are moderately heavy seas and she is all over the place. We are out in the open Pacific but should be back in the fjords this afternoon and the seas will be calmer.

I think that this experiment of cruising may have been worth it for the parts of the world it reaches but I am not sure at this stage I would repeat the experience. This has nothing to do with the ship or the facilities which I am sure are as good as it gets. Those veteran cruisers on board (and there are a lot), all compliment the ship and the cruise in comparison with others they have taken. There are too long periods of inactivity, especially for someone who is not innately sociable.

I have met some spectacularly nice people on board and we have had some great times. Last night 7 of us met up for martinis before dinner and then we had dinner in the Italian restaurant which was a really fun time. Bernie and Michele's friends Joan and Bill Clark are very nice indeed. They are the ones on their 50^th anniversary cruise. They are from California. We have also met up with Harvey and Barbara, also from California (they are in the owner's suite) and are both very funny – they have actually been married 55 years!! Their constant repartee is very amusing and they have stories by the hundred so our table was just one peal of laughter all through dinner. As a single, I have been a bit of a 'fifth wheel' but they have been very good at including me in things and that has certainly made the time pass. I have also met others, some from UK, a very interesting couple who have married each other twice!! Also a nice Australian chap who had been to sea years ago and with whom I could exchange experiences.

For me the ports are the places I want to get to and see so the sea passages in between are a bit tedious but necessary, I suppose.

Laguna San Rafael 1/26/2010

We took a trip on a motor catamaran southward to Laguna San Rafael, starting at 0730 this morning. The trip took an hour or so winding amongst narrow channels with low land on the west side and the snow covered Andes on the east.
The glacier which is receding fast, due in part to global warming is pretty impressive and is nearly 2 kms wide when it enters the lagoon.

Hopefully these pictures give some idea of the scene with broken ice in the bay through which we threaded our way. Areas of the glacier and some of the small bergs were a very intense blue due to the refraction of the sunlight. The glacier if moving at 11m (about 35 ft), per day and although we did not see any, large pieces are frequently breaking off and floating into the bay.

There was, again no great abundance of wildlife although there was a swirl of water which our guide said was a sealion, (well, maybe!!). It was certainly cold but that was to be expected.

Monday 25th January 2010

Today we stopped at Puerto Chacabuco. . The way in was via the fjords and this was a wonderfully scenic approach with snow-capped mountains and narrow channels. The town itself was rather small and disappointing being the major salmon farming and freezing town of a few hundred inhabitants in the area. We walked around the town and to a rather fine hotel on a rise above the town. We were followed for a long way by a rather down-at-heel dog who needed a very good wash and brush but was very cute and had those appealing eyes which said, when we arrived back at the tender to take us back to the ship "You can't leave me here", but, of course we had to and we did but he was obviously very disappointed.

We were invited to a cocktail party in one of the owners' suites with Harvey and Barbara from California. They are a wonderful couple who are very engaging company. Harvey is a constant wise-cracker who keeps everyone in stitches and his wife of 55 (count 'em fifty five!!!!) years, Barbara, is an equal match. Their suite was gorgeous and we had a great time there. Then it was off to the Grand Dining Room for dinner which was also excellent.

I have a 7.15 a.m. take off to go glacier visiting tomorrow, so it is to bed early tonight.

Puerto Montt, Chile 1/24/2010

Arrived this morning at Puerto Montt. The m.v. Deutschland, a German passenger ship had arrived just before us, having left Valparaiso about an hour before us. Anyway, she grabbed the only berth here (isn’t that always the way with the Germans, they grab all the sun loungers and they grab the berth in ports too!! First come first served I guess. We anchored outside the port and the weather was quite windy with a nasty chop on the sea. The crew had quite a job getting the tenders organized and the platform from which the passengers embarked on them rigged. It took until about 10 a.m. until the first passengers on the tours got away. We waited until about 11.15 a.m. and then they let the ‘independents’ (those not going on organized tours go. The boat ride ashore was quite bumpy but without incident. We decided not to go on a trip with some others in a taxi to the volcano but just to wander around the town. The town was full of people, some from the Deutschland but many locals who, it seemed, had come in from the country side as it was Sunday. We reviewed the craft fair and ended up at the fish market which was very busy and colorful. As it was lunch time we then had a great seafood lunch in a very tiny little restaurant where you ordered the food and they went below to the market to buy the fish, brought it upstairs and cooked it in a miniscule kitchen. We had oysters, clams, mussels and a really wonderful piece of grilled wild salmon. We then wandered into the small town and Michele found what she believed to be the hotel she stayed at here 35 years ago!!!! It had been modernized since but she was almost sure it was the place. Then it was a cab ride back to the pier and into the tender for the trip out to Insignia. The weather which had started off rather unpromisingly perked up and we were able to spend some time around the swimming pool aided and abetted by some cold beer.
This evening there is a wine tasting and also many people are glued to some so-called football games which will decide who will play in the Stupid Bowl. Tonight we sail south again and tomorrow we will arrive in Port Chacabuco also in Chile.

Day 3

Day 3 Sunday 24th January 2010.
Yesterday was a lazy day with just book reading and relaxing. I am reading the book ‘Committed’ by Liz Gilbert which is a treatise on marriage and very interesting and well written.

We had a very nice dinner last night in the ship’s Italian restaurant, which is called Toscana.

The sea has calmed down a bit now and we should arrive at Puerto Montt this morning. This place is the capital of the 10th region of Chile and has a population of about 110,000. It is the center of the German settlement in Chile. It is an area of national parks and volcanoes. We just intend to stroll around town and do not have any formal trips planned. Disembarkation from the ship is by boat to the shore.
More news and hopefully some photos later.

Pictures

Pictures are proving a problem. The connection is molasses slow and uploading is a real chore. I am going to try some alternatives and I hope that I will get there soon.

I need to try to work offline and then upload at the last minute.

This blog is a work in progress!!!

This is a picture of Bill and Joan my 50th wedding anniversary fellow passengers which I could not upload yesterday.

The ship is heading south into a lumpy sea with winds about Force 4 or 5. We are at about 36 deg South and 73 deg West heading SSW at 15 knots. For the technically minded the ship is diesel electric propulsion with 4 Wartsila (Ugh) diesel engines.

Well I am headed to the gym for a morning workout.

Days 0 & 1

Day 0 & 1
Usual situation on the LIE, still cab driver Saywar Muhammad (that was the name on the license) did a good job to get me to JFK in good time. Just as well as the flight which alleged to be American Airlines was actually LAN Chile which is, of course at a different terminal. Still again, kudos to JFK the AirTrain got me there in short order.
The flight was not full and was as comfortable as any 10 ½ flight can be in Economy. I had a spare seat beside me so that wasn’t so bad. We left on time and arrived on time and that must, these days be some sort of a record.
Arrival was well organized by the cruise line by the authorities in Chile are no better than anywhere. They charge a ‘Reciprocity Fee” to all US and Australian citizens because both those countries charge for visas to enter theirs. Then, I had a half-eaten pack of peanuts which was destined to cause a major incident but which, in the end was easily dealt with. They were more interested in the paperwork than the peanuts!!
We boarded a bus to Valparaiso and were engaged by a chatty tour guide who tried to teach a bus load of bleary eyed seniors (My goodness I feel young amongst this lot), some Spanish and also something about Chile. I didn’t envy her; she didn’t get a lot of response. We stopped a roadside place for bathroom break and to sample the local food and some sort of high –sugar brandy which they have. I sampled this last time I was here so passed on that. It tastes pretty awful and is very strong. I am pretty sure it is the same place we stopped at when we were here a couple of years ago. It has one moth-eaten male llama in an enclosure and I swear I recognized him and he recognized me and we shared our mutual dislike of one another. They are bad tempered spitty things not cuddly and wooly at all.
Arrived at the ship which looks very spiffy, photos to follow), there were endless checking in processes including promises that I did not have any awful disease. Then a bit of a wait to get to my cabin which, since I was at sea, is now called a stateroom. Lunch was offered in a Terrace café which was very nice and a buffet which was a heart attack waiting to happen. Note to self, better take it easy on the food or spend longer in the gym. I met a few of my fellow passengers, many seem to be Canucks from Toronto and all of them seem to be prehistoric in age.
Meanwhile, being entertained by a small string quartet (we used to call them the ‘prickly heat trio’ in my day). At this point I wonder if I am going to survive 19 days of this without ‘going postal’!!
My baggage was a bit late arriving at my stateroom and my camera was in that so I am a bit short on photos for now but I will do better later on.
Things got better and we all attended Safety Drill wearing our lifejackets although the age of the passengers certainly doesn’t bode well for them getting into the lifeboats in an emergency. I am certainly below average age!!
Still it all brought back memories of when I used to do this sort of thing and it always served as a chance to eye up the single women on the cruise and exchange notes amongst fellow officers afterwards.
Immediately after that we sailed with a small mariachi band playing on board.
In the upper deck pool area, people were swimming in the pool this afternoon but tonight, due to the ship’s movement, it is empty and I doubt that the weather will be warm enough for swimming as we get further south.
We then retired to the cabin of Bill and Joan who are friends of Bernie and Michele
Bill and Joan
and who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on this cruise. We were able to watch the vessel sail from their stateroom verandah and the view was much enhanced by a glass of champagne which they kindly shared with me.
We then all repaired to the Terrace Café restaurant where they serve and informal Tapas Menu in the evening. There are three formal restaurants on board… all for other nights. We had a very convivial dinner and all then repaired to bed, passing up on the ‘Homecoming Ball’ entertainment on offer… Oh well, another night maybe.
The ship is pitching fairly gently although every now and then it gives a moderate lurch as we sail south into a head swell. It is taking me a little while to get used to the movement.
Tomorrow will be our first full day at sea and on Sunday we reach Puerto Montt, Chile.

I don't seem to be able to get pictures to upoload at this point but I will work on it.

More tomorrow.

Countdown

Well the day has arrived and it is only hours until I leave. What to pack? The cruise covers a big span of latitude from 37 1/2 degrees South of the Equator to the Straits of Magellan which are nearly 55 degrees South, then back up to Rio at 23 degrees South almost on the Tropic of Capricorn.

So there will be a good span of weather to cope with and some of the excursions are a bit rugged. Fortunately dress on the ship is not formal so at least I don't have to have anything 'dressy'.

Three weeks is a long time to try to provide for and bringing all the connectors for cameras and electronic devices is a bit of a chore but I am sure that I have enough lists to make sure that I don't forget too much.

A few more things to do and then it is off to JFK and southward bound.

Itinerary

This is the ship I will be traveling on she is called Insignia and here are some details
Ship Facts
Launched - 2003
Registry - Marshall Islands
Passengers - 684
Crew - 386
Tonnage - 30200
Length - 594 feet
Width - 84 feet
Draft - 20 feet
Cruising Speed - 18 knots
Decks - 11
Ship Facilities
Dining Rooms - 4
Elevators - 4
Bars/Lounges - 8
Swimming Pools - 1
Jacuzzis - 3
Medical Center
Internet Cafe

This is the itinerary for the cruise

Friday 22nd January
Valparaiso
7:00 AM
6:00 PM
Saturday 23rd January
Cruising the Pacific Ocean
Sunday 24th January
Puerto Montt
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Monday 25th January
Puerto Chacabuco
12:00 PM
8:00 PM
Tuesday 26th January
Laguna San Rafael
7:00 AM
9:00 PM
Wednesday 27th January
Cruising the Chilean Fjords
Thursday 28th January
Cruising the Chilean Fjords
Friday 29th January
Punta Arenas
8:00 AM
2:00 PM
Saturday 30th January
Ushuaia
9:00 AM
8:00 PM
Sunday 31st January
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Monday 1st February
Port Stanley
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd February
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Wednesday 3rd February
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Thursday 4th February
Montevideo
8:00 AM
6:00 PM
Friday 5th February
Buenos Aires
8:00 AM
6:00 PM
Saturday 6th February
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Sunday 7th February
Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Monday 8th February
Santos
8:00 AM
6:00 PM
Tuesday 9th February
Rio de Janeiro
8:00 AM
Wednesday 10th February
Rio de Janeiro


Return home by air.

Cruise to the deep south of South America

On Friday 22nd January 2010 I will set off on a cruise from Valparaiso in Chile, down the coast of South America, through the straits fo Magellan and up the east coast to Rio de Janeiro. I will be on board the mv. Insignia of Oceania Cruises. I will be posting news and pictures of the voyage on this blog for those who are interested.