Fiordos de Chile (Fijords)

Today we are sailing in the open seas off the southern coast of Chile. Yesterday we had good weather as we sailed the “inside passage” along the coast of Chile which are world renowned for its Fjiords. The water in the Fjiord’s is almost 9,000 feet deep, allowing for a very calm effect as we make our way north. Everything is desolate and seemingly uninhabitable but for the occasional porpoise or sea bird. Except for the little bit of blue in the sky, the landscape is almost colorless. It is mostly barren gray mountains, a flat dark green for the trees and bushes and the white snow caps on some of the highest mountains. This harsh environment is beautiful and unspoiled. This is exactly the scene that Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew members saw as they were circumnavigating the world in 1520.

In the afternoon the Captain sailed into the bay that allowed us to get a close look at Skua Glacier. Now the color of the ice changes due to the scraping of the rock and soil as the glacier moves endlessly toward the water in the bay. The compression of the weight of the ice squeezes out the oxygen in the frozen water giving it an eerie light blue color. We did not see any calving of the glacier while we were there, but the floating bits of ice in the water are evidence of the continuous process of the glacier moving and breaking off.

The next two destinations for us are San Rafael and Puerto Chacabuco, both a considerable distance south of the earthquake area.

Museos de Punta Arenas (Museums)

We took a bus tour of Punta Arenas today and went to several museums. Saw many artifacts from the early settlers of the region as well as some relics of the indigenous people who were living in this area upon the arrival of the European explorers and later settlers. Weather today is clear, but extremely windy, 30 to 40 knots strong. We expect to sail tonight heading north along the coast of South Chile. Some of the photos depict much of the early steam equipment used in building early roads and farming.

Quake Tierra en Chile (Earth Quake)

It seems that ever since we left Montevideo, Uruguay, we are in another world. The weather and the seas have not been cooperating for travelers to South America. Luckily we have been this way before and have already had the opportunity to see the beauty of the Patagonia under very different conditions. The wind and the rain have put a serious damper on much of our South Argentina visit so far. We will soldier on!

The Captain of the Sunset Seas made a good decision for safety purposes to bypass the next port of call Puerto Madryn. It would have been necessary for us to travel at too high a speed for the height of the seas for the safety of the passengers. We will miss seeing the penguins and sea elephants in Puerto Madryn. We have had one brief period of calm seas and clear sky’s on the way south.

We hear early Saturday morning about the 8.8 earthquake that has occurred in the middle of the night near Concepcion, Chile. Although I am not sure of any details, it will have a major impact on our trip. We have CNN International News with a live broadcast on the ship and it has captured everyone’s attention. We have several ports of call on the schedule including Puerto Montt and Valpariso over the next several days. We will have to wait to see what will happen

At the moment we are in Punta Arenas, a charming old city in the Tierra del Fuego region of Chile. This city is on the Straits of Magellan and is more or less immune to the potential tsunami caused by the earthquake. We arrived in port a day ahead of schedule due to bypassing Puerto Madryn in Argentina. We have noticed a large number of young men in military uniforms in the city. Evidently, the National Guard has been activated to assist the government with any need that may develop here in the southern most city of Chile.

We are drinking a local beer, Austral, in a local pub and watching live local TV broadcast of the earthquake aftereffects. The TV footage shows that there has been extensive use of rebar in the construction allowing most affected people to survive despite the severity of the quake.

Alta mar suba Cambio Horario (High Seas Change Schedule

This morning the sea swells are about 12 feet and the ship is pitching. We are sailing southwest into strong headwinds and the ship is sailing at about 8 knots. The seas are rough all day with swells reaching a high as 15 feet. Strong winds continue to buffet us and we are not able to make the normal speed required to arrive at our next port of call Puerto Madryn, Argentina by early tomorrow morning. Many of our shipmates are sick and it shows in their faces.

We expect better sailing conditions tomorrow and our next port of call is in two days at Punta Arenas (sandy point), Chile.

Montevideo, Urugay

We met with the bus tour guide at about 8:30 this morning for our “Highlights of Montevideo” tour. The city is old and its architecture was clearly influenced by the early European settlers that were artisans in brickwork and masonry. The beauty of the buildings makes the tour very worthwhile. There are many monuments and statues throughout the city, mostly in parks and public squares situated in all the neighborhoods we visited.

The monuments honor military heroes for the most part, but we also saw a beautiful series of slightly “larger than life” size bronze sculptures depicting the early settlers with their ox drawn wagons and horses. Sadly, there was also a bronze grouping of five indigenous people of Uruguay that were said to depict the last surviving “Indians” of the region. Evidently in the 1800’s one of the military leaders decided to force all the native peoples to the northern part of the territory and then proceeded to kill them all. Clearly this is a sad and dark part of Uruguay’s history.

We had a great dinner on ship that night. Later, we had our usual nightcap and reading before turning out the light. During the night the winds picked up and the sea swells began to rise, so we rested, but not completely. I was glad when the alarm clock rang at 6:00 a.m. the next morning so we could get up and get going.

Vela en Sunset Mares (Sailing on Sunset Seas)

It’s Monday morning and we woke up about 9:00 again after a good nights sleep. We had the hotel’s standard breakfast and packed our suitcases and off we went to find our home for the next 30 something days, Sunset Seas.

Boarding the cruise ship, Sunset Seas, was like coming home; we have traveled this cruise ship many times and with a great degree of satisfaction. Today was quiet and we spent our time getting settled on the ship. I made sure to get signed up for shipboard internet service, DVD’s to watch and other essentials. We had a nice dinner at the Tuscany Villa restaurant on the tenth deck on the ship. Back to the room for nightcap and to bed so we can be ready for our adventure to start tomorrow!

Otro día en Buenos Aires (Another Day)

Sunday morning, we had another delightful breakfast at the hotel; coffee and sweet rolls, yogurt and fruit cocktail. Afterwards, we walked to the subte and then rode on one of the newer trains, probably from the 1970’s, to the Plaza de Mayo station. We rode out to stop number 5 Boca for a look around the neighborhood and get a sample of tango dancing in the streets.

At the end of the line we got off the tour bus and walked to a nearby restaurant Café La Junta, a confetiteria, a plain table restaurant like a cafeteria, but with waiter service. I had Merluce, the equivalent of fish and chips and Alice had a Neapolitan pizza, and we both had a very nice glass of Balun, a local draught beer. Total, not including tip was $79 pesos, about $20 US. By now you realize that the US dollar really goes a long way here in Buenos Aires!

We took the subte and headed back to the hotel, however we got off at the Peru station to look at the giant photographs on display in the subway station, a series of photos taken at the time of the construction of the subterranean railway. We took the next train to our stop, Castro and walked to another supermarket to buy wine and spirits to carry on board the ship the next day. Prices for good Argentinean wine is about $3 to $4 US dollars each. We returned to our hotel, relaxed, drank some wine, watched a little TV and went to bed about 11:00 p.m.

Phase one of the Adventure in South America has just ended and phase two is about to begin.

More pictures to come!