Nov.16, 2011 - Buenos Aires

We docked in Buenos Aires at about 2 PM and soon after we were on our bus tour to see the highlights of Buenos Aires. First we visited the famous Recoleta Cemetery that has the tomb of Evita Peron. Then we drove on the 12 lane wide Avenida de Mayo and saw the impressive Congress building. Then we continued to San Telmo that is the oldest district of Buenos Aires. We drove by the Colon Theatre that has had many famous performers play there. We spent time in the colorful La Boca area where Dorothy did some shopping and of course purchased a tango CD. Our guide also showed us some of the slums of Buenos Aires that housed some of the less fortunate. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city and now I can appreciate why it is called the Paris of South America.

Recoleta Cemetery where Evita Peron is buried.

Evita Peron’s tomb

Dorothy and Con in the park next to the Recoleta Cemetery . The purple jacaranda trees are in the background

The Yacht Club of Argentina and the skyscrapers of Buenos Aires

Caminito Street where tango CD’s and paintings are bought.

The Government House’s balcony from which Evita Peron addressed the people in the square

Monument to Evita Peron behind the purple Jacaranda tree

The Colon Theatre where world famous artists have performed

Dorothy and Con on Caminto Street before the store that sold them the Tango CD

The first Argentinian war ship that is now a museum.

Nov. 15 & 16, 2011 - Sea days from Falkland Islands to Buenos Aires

Seas days can be a time to catch up on reading but on this cruise ship there are so many other activities that one has to pick and choose what to do on sea days. We have Explore our World lectures on such interesting talks as the 4 explorations of Columbus to the new world. We have Explore Food and Entertaining where one can learn to cook delicious items from professional chefs. We have Explore Technology that deals with Microsoft Windows Live computer programs. This is where I choose to spend my time. Also we have Explore Wellbeing that deals with exercise and sport items. Besides our shore excursions that I have been writing about in this blog, we have a lot of things to do on board this cruise ship.
We are near Buenos Aires and we have 2 very interesting days of shore excursions to look forward to.

Nov. 15, 2011 - Stanley on the East Falkland Island

We had a favorable westerly tail wind that put us early into Stanley. The ship anchored at Port William, just outside the city of Stanley and we were taken by tenders to Stanley. Our time for the tender was a little late so we got off on a late start for our Vintage Double Decker tour of Stanley. This rather concerned us as we were to meet a lady from Stanley at 1 PM, have lunch with her and give a gift from a person in Windsor that had communicated with her by email for a number of years. We got very nice seats on the Double Decker bus on the top floor so that we could have a great view on our tour. We headed east along Ross Road that is the main street that follows the harbour. We saw the Cross of Sacrifice and the memorial wood to commenorate the people who lost their lives in the 1982 war with Argentina. We visited the Falkland Island Museum that had interesting items of the 1982 war and spoke to a lady who was held prisoner during the war. We saw Government House, the hospital and the high school and near the hospital every thing just went wrong - the bus broke down as it tried to negotiate a steep hill. As it was approaching 1 PM which was our appointed time for lunch with the person we were to meet from Stanley, Dorothy and I looked at each other and decided to not wait for a replacement bus and be on time for our appointment.
We met the lady and her daughter on time and she drove us in her Landrover to a restaurant that has a magnificent view of the harbor. We had a delightful lunch and as we had missed some of our bus tour she took us for a great tour of Stanley showing us Gypsy Cove where there was another memorial of the 1982 war, the airport, the Lady Elizabeth and Jhelum ship wrecks, World War one guns that were to protect Stanley and to a garden where there were over 100 statues of small elves. We had such a delightful lunch and afternoon tour with the lady and her daughter from Stanley. She got us back to the Public Jetty on time before the last tender was to leave for the ship. Our ship left Stanley a little later than scheduled for Buenas Aries, Argentina but we were very satisfied with the great and memorable day we had in Stanley.

Falkland Islands Museum and Britannia House

Dorothy in front of the double decker bus.

Memorial near Yorke Bay to people who died in the 1982 war

Wreck of the Lady Elizabeth

100’s of ceramic elves in a garden

Residence of the Governor General of the Falkland Islands

Con at the Battle Memorial

WW1 gun emplacement near Yorke Bay

Another memorial for the 1982 war.

Jhelum that was recently wrecked in a storm.

Nov. 13, 2011 - Cape Horn

This morning I got up early to see the famous and most southern land mass - Cape Horn. It was a bright morning and the wind was quite strong. The captain put the ship in the lee side of Horn Island so that we could go out on the deck and get great pictures of Cape Horn. Before that the wind was so strong that it was impossible to go outside on the deck to take pictures. We took many pictures of this famous cape that has seen over 50 ship wrecks. We were scheduled to go around Horn Island but the captain decided as the winds on the windward side of Horn were blowing over 100 miles an hour, that this trip around the famous cape would we unwise. We went further south of the cape into Drake Passage that is between Cape Horn and Antarctica and then turned east towards the Falkland Islands.

Con with Cape Horn in the background.

Cape Horn

The weather station and a small cruise ship from Ushuaia

The waves breaking over the rocks of Cape Horn where 50 ships have perished.

South of Cape Horn in the Drake Passage

Nov.12, 2011 - Ushuaia, Argentia

This morning we travelled down the Beagle Channel towards Ushuaia. Both sides of the channel was lined with high mountains that were capped with snow. From some of the mountains we saw small to massive glaciers. I got up at 5.30 am to see this magificient site and took many pictures that I will be sharing with you when I get home. We docked at Ushuaia at 2 PM and immediately went on the shore excursion - The Train to the End of the World. This train was built by convicts that were sent here to settle the area and establish a settlement. The train ride was for 11 miles and went through an area with high snow capped mountains. The train was pulled by a steam engine on a 50 cm narrow gauge track. The carriages were very narrow but quite confortable. At the end of our train trip we were picked up by our bus and taken to see the beautiful Teirra Del Fuego National Park. More beautiful views of this country.
Ushuaia is a city with a population of 70,000 that also claims to be the most southern city of the world. It has a international airport that brings tourists in to catch ships that visit the Antarctica. There were several of these ships in port docked close to our ship.
Tomorrow we are headed to Cape Horn and then to the Faulkland Islands.

A glacier at the foot of snow-capped mountains in the Beagle Channel

Another larger glacier with beautiful snow-capped mountains

A large glacier breaking up into Beagle Channel

Con in his el paco before a large glacier at the Beagle Channel

A series of beautiful snow-capped mountains at the Beagle Channel

Ushuaia harbor with snow-capped mountains in the background

A steam train at the railway station waiting for passengers to board.

A stream flowing next to the railway line with a mountain in the background

Our steam train passing a stream.

Our steam train arrives at the terminal station

Dorothy at the Bahia Ensenada Lake in the Tierra del Fuego National Park.

Nov. 11, 2011 - Punta Arenas

Our ship docked at 7 AM and we were off at about 8.30 on a shore excursion to see Otway Sound and the Penguin Reserve. We headed north over a paved road and then turned into a gravel road into the reserve. We had magnificent views of the Pinto Range at the reserve. We reached the caves where the Magellan penguins live and nest. We came at the time when the penguins nest and have their young. We saw a couple of penguins nesting and 2 small penguins that were hidden under the wooden walkway that we had to walk on. We had to walk from the bus for about a mile before we saw the lookout where there were many penguins near the water. The penguins here were the small variety not the king penguins that we see in many pictures. Also we saw at the Reserve wild geese, sheep, horses and a bird that looked like an emu. Punta Arenas is a small city with a population of 120,000 and claims to be the most southern city in the world.

Small sized penguins near the shore at the Penguin Reserve

Two penguins crossing a stream near the wooden walkway

One penguin sitting on an egg while her mate is protecting her

Dorothy and Con bundled up for the cold on the wooden walkway at the Penguin Reserve

The view of the city of Punta Arenas from the top deck of our ship.

Nov. 10, 2011 - Chilean Fjords

We left Puerto Motte and headed south to cruise the Chilean Fjorids. In the morning we were close to the famous Amalia Glacier. When we got there it was misty but the site of the massive glacier was fantastic. However our pictures turned out mostly in black and white. In the afternoon the sun cleared and we had magnificent sites of the snow covered mountains and some smaller glaciers. I just have to show you the pictures when I get home.

Amelia Glacier in the rain and mist.

Amalia Glacier taken in the rain and mist

Amelia Glacier in the mist.

Snow-capped mountains

Rain and mist have cleared in the afternoon and pictures have greatly improved

Ship is passing through a narrow channel

Beautiful scenes of high snow-capped mountains

A wreck of a rusting ship near the ship channel