Punta Arenas, Chile

Punta Arenas has enjoyed two heydays.  The first lasted from about 1850 to 1914, when it was the principal coaling and supply station for ships rounding the Horn, as well as a major world supplier of wool.  It was also, by virtue of its strategic location, one of the busiest ports in the world.  Its first golden age ended abruptly in 1914 when the Panama Canal opened and ships no longer needed to round Cape Horn.  The situation grew worse as wool from New Zealand and Australia began to compete with its major product.

Punta Arenas more or less languished until oil was discovered nearby in the 1940s, and with the subsequent improvement in roads, it has recovered its previous status as an important commercial center as well as a popular destination for tourists interested in exploring the "Uttermost Realm."

The city is the capital of Magellanes Province, named for Ferdinand Magellan, whose ship was literally blown through the strait that also bears his name by a series of gales in 1520.  The first European to see these windswept shores, he was so relieved to reach the calmer water to the west of the strait that he give it a name we still use - Pacific Ocean.

The weather is really bad, winds 50 mph, sea is upside down and temperature is 40 degrees.  They had to cancel tours as the tenders were too difficult to board, especially for the elderly.  Sometimes there was a 3 foot drop between the ship's platform and the tender.  Gary & I went in but didn't stay long.  The ride back to the ship was a roller coaster with dolphins racing along side.  Very invigorating!  Pictures on new SD card that won't fit in ships system.  Will upload from home.

Ushuaia

Ushuaia is a Yahgan Indian word meaning "a bay penetrating westward."  It was born a mission town, then became an Argentine naval base, then a convict settlement, and today a bustling city of about 80,000 people that rightly claims to be the southernmost city on earth.  It is the main jump-off point for tourists and international scientists heading for Antarctica.  As the southern terminus of the Pan-American highway, it is literally at the end of the road; it is the capital of the Argentine portion of Tierra del Fuego.  It is spectacularly situated overlooking the Beagle Channel (where the Atlantic meets the Pacific).

We left the ship around 10:00 and headed up the hilly streets to a restaurant we had patronized twice before, the last time being 2003.  It was a steep climb and took a while to get there.  Gary made a reservation for 12:30.  We walked down to a street filled with shops & restaurants and spent a while there.  When here before we went to Tierra del Fuego Park which was absolutely beautiful.  When I get home, I'll upload pictures.  After our walk around town, we decided not to make the climb back to "Kaupe" restaurant and chose a great local cafe called "Banana."  They were packed and food was great.  They had "Cape Horn" beer and it was great fun.  We had to be back on board at 3:00 so time was not our friend.  Ushuaia is the most rugged, picturesque city we will see on this trip.  We just love it.

Once again, I can't upload any pictures from Ushuaia as the card reader on the boat can't read the newer SD cards and the card I put into my camera just before Ushuaia is the newer SD card.  I'll have to check the others I brought.

Stanley, Falkland Islands

The Falklands are known by two names, the Falkland Islands or The Islas Malvinas.  The islands are a British protectorate and Britain confirmed that sovereignty by fighting and winning a short bitter conflict over them.  Argentina lost that conflict but still believes the islands belong to them.

Historically, the Falkland's economy has been based on sheep farming, however, a world-wide slump in demand has left them struggling for survival.  Farmers are now financially supported out of the revenues generated by the fishing industry, which currently produces about 50% of the Falkland Island government revenue.

We tendered in at about 10:00.  The weather was very cold, probably in the 40's along with a 40 mph wind making it especially uncomfortable for those from the warmer states.  As we were here twice before and visited their museum, we just walked along the shoreline for a couple of miles and visited the war memorials.  It started to rain making it really miserable.  We only spent a couple of hours there then took the tender back to the ship.  We had lunch on board then went to see "The Book Thief" in the theater, great movie.

Montevideo

The vast grasslands that makeup Uruguay were the birthplace of the symbol of the Pampas - the Guacho.  These South American cowboys arose in the 18th century and made a rough tough living capturing the wild horses that escaped from the developing large ranches and then using them to capture the escaped cattle.  They had few possessions apart from a horse, saddle, poncho & knife. Today Montevideo is a city of about 1,800,000 people, almost entirely of European extraction, chiefly Spanish & Italian stock.  It is the largest city in the country, home to half the country's population.

Gary & I took a shuttle to the center of town and walked around looking for an old friend that owned a music store.  Unfortunately, along the way a thief tried to pick Gary's pocket.  He caught the fellow's hand but he was a kid and took off immediately.  Gary, of course, tried to catch him but couldn't.  Being a pretty smart traveler he had nothing in that pocket.  Most of our money/credit cards/cruise card, etc., were elsewhere.  The day could have been a complete disaster, but ended well...the thief got nothing.

2nd Day -

We went to the internet cafe at the dock and sent a few e-mails.  Afterwards we walked to an interesting area near the ship.  Several vendors selling trinkets & jewelry and some really nice restaurants.  They all had open grills cooking everything from fish to lomo & sausage.  Once again we had lomo for lunch (when in Rome) and again it was great.  Walking further, in the old train station were many huge individual grills surrounded by large bars with several stools. The hall was filled with people also seated at small tables eating lunch.  There were hundreds of people everywhere.  It was incredible!  Check out the video, it's worth a thousand words.

 

 After 2 days at sea we leave for Stanley, The Falkland Islands.  Most of the time ships cannot stop there due to high seas.  We have been very lucky to have made it in twice before.

Buenos Aires

Most Argentines refer to Buenos Aires as "La Capital" and most English-speakers call it simply B.A. Its full name is the City of Our Lady Holy Mary of the Fair Winds.  Buenos Aires means "Fair winds." Buenos Aires beginnings were inauspicious indeed when it was founded in 1536.  It was a malarial, swampy area surrounded on three sides by the treeless Pampas, and on the remaining side by a muddy river.

My mistake, we are only here for 1 day and in Montevideo for 2.  Can't imagine why it's not the reverse.

We had a wonderful day today.  Left the ship about 9:30, caught a shuttle that took us to the Plaza Hotel where we changed money.  The hotel is on Florida St, a shopping street with no cars. We stopped at a cafe to have Capuccino and a croissant and walked around for quite a while. Leather stores are in abundance here and every other shop carries either shoes, purses or jackets.  It was the closest thing to heaven.  From there we took a taxi to a restaurant to have lunch, but instead decided to walk to Recoleta which is a wonderful a park. Evita's tomb is in a cemetery adjacent to the park. The last time we were here, '03, we ate at a great restaurant off the park.  We decided to again have lunch at one of the restaurants off Recoleta.  We found one called "Montana Ranch," (sounded more like a restaurant in the U.S.) where we had Lomo (fillet).  Steak is also in abundance here and cuts like butter.  We are gaining weight steadily. After lunch we took a taxi to another part of town where they tango on the street.  It's called La Boca. Lots of outdoor cafes with dancers doing the Tango, brightly colored buildings and people selling trinkets & paintings.  Really interesting area.  We stayed for a long time and got some great stills & video of the Tango.  By the way, that's me at Montana Ranch.

 

 

 

Ilhabela

80 miles of coastline, calm waters & strong winds have earned Ihabela the reputation as Brazil's National Capital of Sailing while the varying hues of green, blue, turquoise & sapphire are a photographers delight.

The original inhabitants, an indigenous tribe called Tupinambas, named it Ciribai, meaning tranquil place.  The world would later come to know it as Sao Sebastiao island after explorer Americo Vespucci discovery in 1502.  It was later renamed to Ilhabela.  We tendered in the short distance to the island.  Truly a beautiful island with sailboats (and power) everywhere.  We walked from the dock about a mile to the Yacht Club.  A fellow sailor happened to be a the entrance as we walked in and signed us in as his guest.  We met some fellow sailors that asked us on board their boat.  We stayed for only a few minutes then walked along the docks.  The temperature was close to 100 degrees and it was very humid.  Afterwards we walked along the shoreline for about 3 miles, stopped to hear a band similar to Getz & Gelberto, had a cool drink then back to the tender.  If we both hadn't been sick we probably would have gone diving or snorkeling.  I understand both are great here.  The island is just gorgeous, I hope to return one day.  We have 2 days at sea then stop in Buenos Aires for 2 days.

Rio de Janeiro

The first Portuguese expedition explored the Brizilian coast between 1501 and 1502 visiting sites around Rio.  By 1763, Rio became the administrative capital of Brazil.  After Brazil became independent from Portugal, the city became the capital of the empire.  In 1960 the capital was moved to Brasilia.  While Rio was the capital, Brazilians from all states in Brazil were sent to Rio along with diplomats and businessmen.  Because of this, even after losing economic leadership to Sao Paulo, Rio retained the status of cultural capital of Brazil.

Perhaps at no time is the city's festive reputation better displayed than during Carnival which enlivens the city for 3 solid days with music, singing, parties, balls and street parades of brilliantly-costumed dancers performing the samba.

We were here during Carnival (how's that for timing).  We docked early Saturday morning which was the first day of Carnival.  the city was teaming with about 8 million people from all over.  Most of them dressed in costume, from extreme to simply a face mask or head dress of sorts.

We started our day by visiting the son of an old friend that had passed away.  He owns a jewelry store in Ipanema.  We spent about 2 hours together then Gary and I walked the neighborhood.  We passed Ipanema beach where throngs of people were celebrating.  When we returned to the ship, in the terminal were people selling tickets to Carnival that evening.  The bus left at about 9:00 and the mass of humanity in the streets along with all the traffic converging at the same point, made for a 45 minute bus ride.  As the seats in the stadium were just cement bleachers we were given cushions and beach towels to sit on.  There was no assigned seating and we were all the way at the top, but I was able to make my way down to the railing at the bottom so I could take pictures without somebody's head or arm in the photo.  Gary sat about 5 or 6 rows behind me with a lovely couple from Montevideo.  As you can see, it was fabulous.  there were at least 30,000 people in the stadium.  It takes about 1 hour for each school to pass.  They all had their own theme floats and work the entire year making their costumes and floats.  It was a spectacle I will never forget, you can see that it was absolutely amazing.   How great to have experienced Carnival in Brazil!!

Not sure how it will come out at home, but if you click on the pictures with an arrow, it will be a video that, hopefully, you will be able to play.