Falkland Islands and Montevideo

We get up early again to observe our passage through Cape Horn, passing the imaginary boundary between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We learn that we are among .005 percent of the world's population who have done this. Pretty cool.

Another sea day means looking at that damned daily schedule of activities once again, checking off a few things and then proceeding to do none of them. At this point the previously ignored LGBT (we're so naive we didn't even know what the initials stand for) and "Friends of Bill W." (we've been told this is an AA group) gatherings are starting to look more appealing. Except we'd be tossed immediately from both groups.

We opt for room service coffee, the gym, a late breakfast after the Death Row crowds have thinned out, then an afternoon of who knows what. We hunker down to the max that evening, ordering room service, enjoying our last bottle of wine from Casablanca Valley, skipping the magic show, and hoping for a big day in the Falkland Islands before heading north to Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires.

Blue skies--calm waters--YES, we're getting off the ship for our big outing in the Falklands! We'd pushed all our chips to the center of the table, Vegas style, because we wanted to get up close and personal with penguins and when planning the trip this last stop looked like the best opportunity. Except we didn't know that dicey weather often kept passengers from coming ashore.

And except we almost didn't get to do the excursion anyway. Holland America does a lot of things right, but getting folks off the boat here wasn't one of them. Our excursion was leaving at a specific time because we had a long drive each way to the area where the penguins live.

For those of you who have never been on a cruise before, there are two disembarkation options--either the ship docks directly or shuttle boats called tenders transport passengers back and forth. Port Stanley in the Falklands is a tender port. It took us forever to get on a tender (in fact we had to demand to board ahead of our turn because we were running out of time), then we discovered that the ride to shore took a full 25 minutes.

We rushed off the boat and learned our guide had already left with the rest of the group. We were crushed. Fortunately everybody knows everybody in a town of 2000, and a local pointed to a lady and told us he thought she still had room on her tour. We inquired and she said, yes, she was waiting for passengers in the same predicament as us, but if they weren't on the next tender she absolutely had to leave and we could take their spots. Fortunately for us they weren't (sorry, anonymous folks) and we were off to Volunteer's Point where three different penguin species reside, including the gorgeous King penguin.

The terrain of the Falklands is vast and austere. It is often extremely windy and no native trees grow there.

Veins of granite-like rock run throughout the islands.

After a short drive on a paved road we zigged, zagged, and bumped our way across this rugged land in 4X4's for about an hour and a half. Then right on the coast there we were in penguin land.

All three species of penguins peacefully coexist in their own rookeries. The small Gentoo's live in burrows.

Magellan penguins are about a foot and a half high.

Then there are the magnificent King penguins. They walk around like Snoopy in Charlie Brown cartoons.

Like the animals on the Galapagos Islands, these birds have no fear of humans so you can get quite close.

What a once-in-a-lifetime privilege it was for us to observe so many of them in their native environment instead of seeing a couple of sad specimens in a zoo somewhere. It's molting season for the Magellan's.

You might notice all of the King penguin brown chicks are kept in clusters in the middle of the rookery.

We felt particularly blessed when told the perfect weather we enjoyed basically never happens there. It was only fitting, then, that this amazing sunset ended a glorious day.

Let's not dwell on the last two sea days before we arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay. If you've read the other posts you know our routine--meals, workouts, hot tub, drinks, naps, maybe a little reading, shows. We're about ready to exit the boat.

Sadly, Montevideo doesn't really resonate with us. Nothing really wrong with the city--it has all the requisite colonial architecture, parks, and museums.

It somehow just seemed so vanilla. And it was damned expensive, at least food-wise. Cynthia, a friend, and I ordered two big beers and four sausages. The bill was $41US!! Ouch.

I'm happy we visited, though, so I could take this awesome photo at a museum there.

The next week and final post of this series on our journey--Buenos Aires!

Punta Arenas (not), Glacier Alley, and Ushuaia

We went to bed last night looking forward to a scenic hike in a forest called Reserva Magellan in Punta Arenas. We wake up and immediately know something is wrong. What is that noise?? I look out the window, see lots of waves moving in the same direction, and realize the sound we are hearing is the wind whipping around outside. Soon the announcement comes from the captain--unexpected 70-80 mph winds, port is closed, we'll keep you informed. Translation: yet another day ashore has been cancelled.

And that means another day at sea. SIGH----. This is turning into a repositioning cruise! I give major props to the ship's staff, especially the food and beverage employees, when shenanigans like this happen. They're expecting a quiet day with most of the passengers ashore. Then, like firemen, they've gotta instantly get it in gear because everybody is still here.

Of course a new activity sheet is soon in our mailbox, but choices that seemed like fun a few days ago are looking a bit stale. We resist the temptation to participate in "Target Toss with Show Host Mike" or to receive our free tongue and pulse analysis. In fact the whole day passes and, except for attending the Marriage Game we somehow manage to not do a damn thing. Dinner, a disappointing production show, and we go to bed hoping for a better day tomorrow.

And we are not disappointed. We're awakened to an announcement that we are in the Beagle Channel and "Glacier Alley," so we quickly get dressed and go out to the bow for spectacular views on a bracing and glorious morning. Here are several photos to give you an idea.

After lunch we arrive at Ushuaia, the "City at the End of the World," for a wildlife tour.

The Weather Gods continue to smile on us with blue skies and calm waters.

Our first stop is Alicia Island, which is packed with sea lions.

We are in a small boat and able to get really close.

Next we cruise over to aptly named Bird Island, home to king and imperial shags.

We go past Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse

on the way to a short hike on Bridges Island, where at its highest point we are treated to spectacular views of the Beagle Channel and Patagonian mountains.

Now this is what we came all this way to see! What a fantastic day. We are exhausted from our long and busy day so we eat an early dinner and get ready for----another sea day!

Cruise time!

After knocking around on land for a week we were ready to get our cruise on! We had heard tales of possible 30 foot swells, so we'd booked an inside cabin in the middle of the ship. The day before boarding, however, I called Holland America and inquired about possible upgrades. When I was offered a bigger stateroom with a large window for less than $100 we decided to take our chances and said "Hell, yes!."

By mid-afternoon we were aboard.

Our stateroom was bigger and nicer than we had imagined. We unpacked and wandered around to get our bearings on what was where. There were about 15 other folks from Cuenca on this cruise and we randomly bumped into many of them. That first night we watched the production show with the onboard entertainers and were nostalgic about our daughter performing on just such a stage with her first job out of college.

Our first full day was at sea. We quickly learned not to go to the Lido buffet during prime time. As was repeated throughout the entire cruise, too many of our fellow passengers behaved as if they were death row inmates and that every single meal was to be their last, pushing and breaking in line to pile plates with food. I kept thinking, "They'll bring out more; you can get another plate and come back." It was bizarre.

We also discovered that morning a spot where we could always be guaranteed separation from at least 1190 of the 1200 passengers--the gym. The Lido may have been swarming like a kicked ant hill, ah but here, just a handful of exercisers. We kidded ourselves beforehand saying we would kind of "ease into" our two weeks on board, but that just isn't how we roll. No, after breakfast and our workout I'm off for a tour of the ship's kitchen--Cynthia's at a Champagne Art Auction--we're taking dance lessons. What the heck--we're here to have fun!

That night is the first of three formal nights, and I must say Cynthia was stunning.

We had a big day lined up for our stop the next morning in Puerto Montt. This is the Chilean lake country and several of us planned to rent cars and take in as much scenery as possible.

The smell of smoke is something you never want to wake up to on a cruise ship. I lay in bed waiting for the "go to the lifeboats" alarm, then looked out the window and saw we were already at our destination. Turns out there were major wildfires nearby that sadly kept us from going ashore. Oh, well, an unexpected sea day-----.

Our next stop, Puerto Chacabuco, was by no means “picturesque.” The little town is frankly a dump, but it’s the last possible place for a cruise ship to stop before heading into glacier country. We hired a taxi with another couple and went off into the countryside. It was quickly evident that whether in a big tour bus, a van, or a taxi, there was one route everyone took, so we were glad we chose a more frugal option.

The terrain at times looked like Ecuador—Italy—Switzerland, with very green (it rains every day) and unfamiliar vegetation. We stopped at a waterfall

and a couple of scenic overlooks

before ending up in the town of Coyhaique for lunch and an hour walk-around. Not an outstanding tour but it was good to get off the boat and briefly see a different part of the world.

The scenery at day's end was really special from the Crow's Nest bar.

Before dinner many evenings Cynthia and I would drop by the Martini Bar. We drank more martinis on this cruise than we have in our entire lives! Why? Because each night there was a $3 special on two different cocktails and, while listening to the piano/violin duo who played each evening, it was a fun and inexpensive way to sit around being "sophisticated."

We went to bed early since rough seas were correctly predicted. It was a fitful night with high seas, lots of rocking, opening and closing drawers, and a banging medicine cabinet door.

The next morning was more of the same. Room service delivered our standard coffee/tea order. A couple of minutes later it crashed to the floor—broken dishes, spilled coffee—oof. Once we headed into the fjord passages things quickly settled down and we enjoyed a quiet day learning to cha-cha, going to Dutch High Tea, and seeing an old ship wreck

and our first glacier.

Another sea day. What does that look like for the Staton's? Oh, the usual--yoga in the gym—late breakfast—cooking demo in the Culinary Arts Center—long mid-day nap—relax in the hot tub—light lunch—hang out in stateroom reading.

Here’s something interesting for us about ship life—you get lots of mail every day! Over the last five years we’ve gotten maybe ten pieces of mail in Cuenca, so it’s awesome to find items in the “mailbox” outside our stateroom all throughout the day.

Another thing: having everything done for you is quickly addictive. Coffee is delivered right on time each morning—your room is always clean with fresh towels in the bathroom—no food to prepare (or even think about)—for sure no damn dishes to wash. You don’t even really have to plan your day; you only choose what someone else has already arranged for you.

Big hike planned at our stop tomorrow. Let's pick up the narrative there next time.

Casablanca Valley, Viña del Mar, and Valparaiso

Santiago is ideally positioned within easy driving distance of numerous valleys where excellent Chilean wine is produced. Our guide Carola Neubauer picked us up early for a day in the Casablanca Valley en route to our next stop in Viña del Mar on the coast. I can't say enough good things about Carola, by the way. She met us at the airport, took us on a private city tour, and was now showing us around the wine country. She became a good friend and I highly recommend her (carola.neubauer@gmail.com) if you are in Santiago.

Casablanca Valley is Chile's newest wine region and, because of the cool coastal breezes, specializes in whites (although Pinot Noir has recently been introduced). You perhaps have visited or seen photos of the rolling hills of the vineyards in California and Oregon. We were surprised to find the terrain in Casablanca quite flat and dry.

Our first stop was Veramonte, a modern winery that has been open for almost 20 years.

We were fortunate to arrive just as a large group was leaving, so we enjoyed a private tour of the facilities.

And a private tasting.

Next we were off to lunch at Indomita winery, perched high on a hill and better known for its restaurant than its wines.

The reviews I had read didn't disappoint. We enjoyed a fab meal with lovely views of the valley.

Our final stop in Casablanca was Viña Mar, a boutique winery with no distribution in the US. The main building was gorgeous,

and after another private tasting we were in a great mood.

On to our oceanfront apartment in Viña del Mar, a resort area that borders the bay at Valparaiso where we would board the cruise ship. What a find this place was--killer views and perfect hosts. Carolina sure knew how to get the day off to a great start!

And each evening we were treated to spectacular Pacific sunsets.

We were doubly fortunate to discover that Carolina's husband Michael was a highly-regarded tour guide known as The German Pirate. With a moniker like that how could you go wrong, so the next morning we joined him and two other couples to explore Valparaiso.

Michael explained how the economy of Valparaiso, once an important port for ships to and from Europe, was devastated when the Panama Canal opened and the South American coast was immediately abandoned as a shipping route. It was so interesting to gain an understanding of this event from a totally different perspective.

Although Valparaiso shares with Cuenca the designation of a UNESCO World Heritage site, I found the city to be gritty and dodgy. While renowned for its high quality street art,

a lot of the streets were filled with graffiti and looked like this.

Valparaiso is built into the sides of hills surrounding the bay. Cable cars sit in strategic locations to get folks up and down.

Building exteriors were often constructed from corrugated sheet metal. To me it was an odd look even though lots of them are colorfully painted.

It's always enriching to visit and learn about other places, and one day in Valpariaso was just enough. On the way back to our apartment I discovered a startling treasure that put a big grin on my face!

Next up: cruising around the horn of South America!