Monday, January 21, Ken and I boarded our American Airlines flight to NY in preparation for a five week excursion into South America via air and water.
We met our traveling companions and friends, Bob and Marvis Gerston at JFK at 2PM Jan 22 for what was a scheduled 540PM departure via Tam Airlines to Sao Paulo connecting to Rio de Janiero. Ken’s sister, Barbara warned us in advance that TAM had a reputation for unreliability. Thus, we were not surprised when we discerned that “on time precision” was not a high priority. Marvis observed that the difference between tourist and traveler is that tourists expect things to go as scheduled while travelers “roll with the punches”. Her observations served us well and we “rolled with the punches”. I “sharpened” my tolerance level, pampered my “patience” and everyone survived in spite of everything.
After a delay boarding our flight, another hour passed after we boarded before the plane actually pushed away from the ramp resulting in our late arrival in Sao Paulo and missed connections to Rio. We were fortunate enough to meet up with a Brazilian exportee who likewise was scheduled for the flight to Rio. At his invitation, we latched onto his coattails as he did the talking in his native Portuguese and, magically, we were soon aboard a cab en route to the downtown Sao Paulo airport for a 1030A departure. It was a hectic ride downtown but in spite of a late departure from Sao Paulo we arrived safely in Rio albeit several hours later than our tickets had promised.
It is hard to imagine a visit to Brazil without a stop in Rio and a visit to Corcovado. Sugarloaf, Copacabana or Ipanema. (We stayed at the Luxor Regent across from Copacabana beach). We filled our brief one day Rio visit with the sights and sounds of the city. We enjoyed a nearby restaurant enough to eat there both nights. Our trip was off to a good start
To view more Rio pictures double click the icon to our on line photo album.
On Friday, January 25, we boarded our TAM flight to Recife where Barbara, a Doctor of Missiology (D.Miss.) met us. Barbara has spent the past 35+ years as a missionary to Brazil and considers Brazil her home. She was our chauffeur, tour guide and interpreter for the rest of our stay in Brazil.
We spent two nights in Recife and on Saturday, we toured Olinda where we visited the sights of that beautiful old city and enjoyed the pre carnival activities, had a wonderful lunch and delighted in the warmth of the climate and friendliness of the people.
On Sunday, we departed Recife and drove through the countryside to Joao Pessoa, where Barbara lives and works. Sunday night, Bob and Ken joined Barbara at church and “winged” an understanding of the Portuguese language. Our week in Joao Pessoa was filled with the sights and sounds of life as it is in a real Brazilian locale, thanks to Barbara’s personal direction as a tour guide. On Monday we visited Fortaleza de Cabedelo,and enjoyed a tour conducted by a young, perhaps no more than 12 year old, girl who impressed and charmed us with her amazing presence and confident presentation of the history of the Fort. Barbara translated for us and a good time was had by all.
The next day, Tuesday, we went to Coquerinho Beach where we actually relaxed and enjoyed the sun, sand and water. After a morning on the beach we had a wonderful lunch at the Coqueirinho Canyon Restaurant and then drove back into town through downtown Joao Pessoa for a first hand look at the city itself.
On Wednesday we took a ferry accross a large river to Igreja do Carmo, a quaint old church on a hill overlooking the river below. We capped off our day with a light snack and watched a beautiful sunset at Jacaré Beach.
On our last full day in Joao Pessoa we visited the Cross-Cultural Missions School (Escola de Missões Transculturais) with which Barbara is affiliated. The assembled staff and students serenaded us with songs in Portuguese and delighted us with their obvious respect and admiration for Barbara, who is Academic Director of the school. The Mission is JUVEP. After our delightful tour of the school and introduction to Barbara's associates, we were treated to a bonafide Brazilian lunch at Barbara’s apartment.
At our Hotel during brief periods in between our tourist duties, we enjoyed the beach, Cabo Branco (White Sand Beach) just across the street from our hotel. It was a delightful week and too soon we were packing our bags and preparing to board our 5 AM plane scheduled to depart Recife for Rio with connections to Buenos Aires and the next leg of our adventure.
Our on line photo album may be viewed at:
Friday, February 1, we arrived Buenos Aires mid afternoon, booked a tour for the following afternoon and at the suggestion of the Hotel desk clerk, trekked down Florida Street (known as the “walking street”) for dinner at a recommended restaurant near the Sheraton Hotel. We were skeptical at the mention of the Sheraton, thinking that it was probably a restaurant run by the hotel. As it turned out, the restaurant was next to the Sheraton and independent. The steaks were outstanding, huge, tender and tasty. Other than way too much food, not a complaining word was heard.
After our feast, we walked the mall which was a delightful area for shopping, found bargains that were too good to pass up and thoroughly enjoyed our evening in Buenos Aires. On Saturday, we enjoyed a tour of the city and especially appreciated a tour of a reincarnated old town where tango dancers exhibited their steps with class and finesse. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city and our visit there was enjoyable. It is an enchanting city. We spent the evening enjoying the street entertainment, window shopping and people watching. The next morning we boarded our ship for our South American sail around Cape Horn.
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Our ship was the Norwegian Cruise Lines’ “Norwegian Dream”. It is 754 feet long, 93.5 feet wide, 164 feet high and has a 22 foot draft. Its average speed is 19 knots with a maximum speed of 21 knots. It consumes an average of 1,1000 gallons of fuel per hour and has a fuel capacity of 475,561 gallons. We understood that it had a capacity crowd of 1,750 guests, and judging from the representative languages guests were from throughout the world.
As is usual, we were greeted by a mandatory aboard ship life boat drill. That turned into a long drawn out affair. Several foreign languages were spoken among the passengers i.e. German, French, Portuguese, Spanish as well as other languages and that may have explained to a degree the number of people who were late for lifeboat drill. Whatever the reason, the 15 minute drill turned into a long wait with nearly one hour wasted while people slowly appeared as a result of the “shipboard head count” that alerted staff of missing passengers. Afterwards, we were greeted with a poolside barbecue and complimentary “hoedown” to launch our adventure on the high seas. Since it was super bowl Sunday, outdoor activities were followed by a “super bowl” party in the sports lounge. Needless to say, we were off to a great start.
Monday, February 4, we docked at Montevideo Uruguay, which was founded by Spain in 1726 in response to Portugal’s growing influence in the River Plate area and served as a fortress against the Portuguese as well as the British, French and Danish privateers who came in search of hides in the Banda Oriental. Our outing into Montevideo was somewhat disappointing inasmuch as the “old town” area near the docks was relatively abandoned. We thought that this was because it was a proclaimed holiday. However, Ken ventured further into a newer area of the city, where activity was more lively and came back with “tales of what we missed”, as is his usual tourist modus operandi.
Our ship was scheduled to depart Montevideo at 4PM but alas, our departure was delayed somewhat by “ill winds”. Maneuvering through the passage was a bit troublesome but thanks to Ken’s good efforts and personal attention and “advice” to the crew, we were able to make the transition from bay to ocean without undue inconvenience to the passengers. (The above is shared, tongue in cheek – inasmuch as Ken felt that his presence was needed to oversee every port entry and exit in order that he personally could observe that the ships routine was appropriately administered.) We came to expect that he would be out on deck whenever the ship was maneuvering in and out of port. It was tough work, but someone had to do it!! After dinner, Vocalist, Daniel Bouchet entertained us in the Stardust Lounge to wrap up our first full day aboard ship.
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Tuesday, Feb. 5 was a day at sea with pool time, sun bathing and food on the agenda of things to do. A Shore Excursion Presentation was available in the morning, a lecture by a guest psychologist was presented in the afternoon along with an art seminar conducted by the art auctioneer who would “offer his wares” at a later date. Beyond that, laziness was the order of the day. In the evening we had our first “dress up or not” event which is NCL’S approach to the formal nights that are customarily associated with shipboard travel. We elected to skip the “dress up” and enjoyed dinner in a more relaxed attire in the sports lounge, if my memory serves me correctly. The evenings entertainment in the main lounge was a presentation of “Rock this Town” by the on board Jean Ann Ryan Company, accompanied by the Norwegian Dream Showband. Formal evenings have long been a contentious subject aboard ship and NCL has attempted to bring their own resolution with a “dress up or not” forum. In retrospect, at the end of the two week period, I personally concluded that I prefer the more structured “dress up” nights, generally limited to two nights each week of the cruise and usually, on “sea days” when life at sea has been sort of laid back and unstructured. To each his own.
Wednesday, February 6, we docked at Puerto Madryn, a port city that dates back to 1865 when 150 Welsh immigrants arrived aboard a ship named the Mimosa. This Patagonian port city located on the Golfo Nuevo, serves as a commercial port, home base for ecotourists and a weekend beach getaway for portefinos, the residents of Buenos Aires. We boarded a bus for transport to Punta Tombo South of Puerto Madryn where we would get “up close and personal” with a large colony of magelanic penguins, where over one million individuals are estimated to comprise a single colony. The trip is normally a 7 hour trip but we arrived late as a result of our delay in departing Montevideo on Monday and thus, we did in five hours what is normally done in 7. The penguin colony was awesome, with the beautiful little “formally” attired birds seeming to extend respect and welcome to the hundreds of intruders who marched down the road with cameras in hand. Literally, thousands of penguins stood where the sea meets the land to form a sea of penguins amid miles of coastal habitat reserved precisely for those beautiful (but smelly) little creatures. It was indeed, a beautiful “eco oriented” day.
The evening’s entertainment included a presentation by instrumentalist Andy Buenger with his musical presentations from the miramba, xylophone, etc. His music was absorbing and provided a great evening of relaxation from another “harrowing” day of pampering on the ‘high seas”.
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Thursday, February 7th was a cool day at sea appropriate for reading, playing games or attending lectures. Marvis, Bob and Ken attended a talk by a on board lecturer on the Falkland Islands in preparation for our landing there on Friday as well as they all sat through another presentation by the resident “psychoshrink”. I found the lectures too “absorbing” and I chose to read and relax and simply rely on my traveling companions to practice “what they learned” on the likes of me. Our entertainment on this night was Elvy Rose, who sang with gusto and exhibited energy mindful of a more “youthful” period in our life. Oh hum!
Friday, Feb. 8 was a cold and dreary day at the Falklands. We anchored in the channel and trips ashore were less than exciting with wind and rain making the 15 minute tender ride to shore a bit bumpy. Those people with shore excursions were transported ashore first and the rest of us were “tendered” ashore for a walk about and “look see”. Neither the wind nor the island provided anything interesting to write home about. The general store may have been the highlight of the day.
The Falkland Islands are located approximately 522 statute miles northeast of Cape Horn. First sighted by Captain John Davis, the Islands today are a dependent of the United Kingdom and have a population of approximately 2,500. Stanley is the administrative capital. Traditional sources of revenue have included sheep grazing and wool export. More recently, licensing of foreign fishing vessels has increased in importance and the development of offshore oil reserves promises to greatly enhance the financial base of the islands. Our brief survey of the island established that the “Land Rover” was the car of choice and the residents spoke with a distinctly English “drawl”. It appeared to be a lonely locale if one prefers crowds but for those who like “space”, there seemed to be plenty of that. Insofar as relations with Argentina, the Falklands are a non entity, a carry over from Argentina’s over reach in claiming it as its own.We skipped the entertainment offering in the Stardust Lounge and called it a day.
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Saturday, Feb. 9 – The day of infamy arrived. It is the day that we will sail around Cape Horn. The weather is spectacular, crystal clear, a cool 59 deg F with a slight breeze. Our crossing time is projected for 730PM and in preparation for this great occasion, Ken, Bob and Marvis attended a discussion and lecture by the on board lecturer, Hersh, who provided an informative talk on Cape Horn and the Antarctica which was followed, after lunch with an “informative” talk about well being by the ship’s resident “psychoshrink”, Dr. Joseph. I am not sure what the good Doctor called himself, but the term “psychoshrink” is my “idom” for his lectures which the attendees seemed to enjoy and I didn’t attend. I have a resident “psychoshrink” at home – I was not going to spend my vacation getting a second opinion.
As the afternoon progressed, the passengers gathered in the observatory and navigation lounge in search of “prime seats” from whence we might view the crossing. Cape Horn was first sighted in 1615 by a group trying to find open passage into the Pacific. For 9 days the crew attempted to negotiate the westward passage. On January 29, with a northeast wind holding, they made the first real progress and early in the morning saw “the prospect of two islands beset round with cliffs”. They named the promontory “Cape Horn” in memory of their home village. Captain Pringle Stokes of the British Royal Navy, sailed HMS Beagle southward in her first voyage of exploration in these waters in 1828. Passage around the Horn has remained a potentially difficult task but on the day of our crossing, the Atlantic, Pacific and Antarctic oceans merged in what for Ken was almost an “anticlimactic” event. Ken has long dreamed of sailing his own vessel around the Horn and in his dreams, the waves would be in excess of 40 foot and his tiny little sail boat would be “hard pressed” to master the wind and the sea except for his superb seamanship and mastery of the elements. His comment as we rounded the “Horn” was a subdued “It’s like a lake out there!” There you have it, our adventure into great ship wrecks and heavy seas.
As we made our crossing around the Horn, we noted another cruise ship which turned out to be Holland America’s HMS Rotterdam. We later learned that they had been scheduled to sail to the Antarctic but they were forced to cancel that portion of their itinerary due to bad weather. After our late afternoon and evening adventure, we skipped the cabaret performance by Deborah Bowman from the Jean Ann Ryan Company in the Stardust Lounge. The day was picture perfect. We had experienced a historic crossing around a mystical and historic locale in a setting that was magical in lore and beautiful in lonely majesty. It does not get any better than that.
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Sunday, February 10, we arrived at Ushuaia at 7:00 AM. It was brisk and a cool 60 degrees F. Our visit to this port was a short one as we boarded a smaller yacht for an excursion around the surrounding islands to view the wild life and get a good view of the beautiful snow capped mountains that surround the town. Ushuaia, is located on the southern coast of Tierra de Fuego (“Land of Fire”). It is squeezed in between dramatic mountain peaks and the blue Beagle Channel. The island is an archipelago spanning almost 30,000 square miles at the tip of South America. It is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. At the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego lie Cape Horn and the Drake Passage, the route used for centuries by clipper ships in transporting goods around the globe. Ushuaia has little historical charm, the main street is like an open air department store and one must look hard for places with an old fashioned pioneering atmosphere. Like two other South American communities, Ushuaia calls itself the world’s southernmost “city” and the setting is majestic, with the granite peak of Mount Olivia dominating the skyline. Only an hour outside of Ushuaia is Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego which preserves the sense of being at the “end of the world”. It is said that trees in the Parque grow with a 45 degree bend as a result of the prevailing wind along the paths that adorn the Park. We were disappointed that we were unable to gain a tour that included the Parque Nacional. We were not fortunate enough to be included in the limited number of tourists permitted to visit the area on a given day which reflects an attempt by those in charge to preserve and maintain the authenticity of the setting, preserve its beauty and retain an eco friendly balance to the environment. We had to satisfy ourselves with an excursion around the islands off Ushuaia and be satisfied with the spectacular pictures of the birds and sea lions that live in harmony on the surrounding islands who posed willingly for the tourist cameras.
Nearby Isla de los Estados or Staten Island, the world’s southernmost lighthouse, Faro del Fin del Mundo stands nobly, as if waiting to beckon sailors from the surrounding seas, although it hasn’t been operational in over a century. The lighthouse was said to be the inspiration for Jules Verne’s novel The Lighthouse at the End of the World – an appropriate symbol for this community which sits almost at the end of the earth.
After our interesting tour of the islands, we boarded our ship for its scheduled 12:30 departure.
We spent the afternoon enjoying our cruise through the Beagle Channel, named after Charles Darwin’s ship HMS Beagle. We basked in the sheer beauty of glaciers that seemed to flow from mountain to sea as the blue glacier water touched the narrow channel. The beauty of the scene before us was magnificent and is forever committed to our memory banks. This was what we had come to experience and we were not disappointed.
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Monday, Feb 11, we docked at Punta Arenas, Chile, also sometimes called “the city at the end of the world”. Punta Arenas has a population of 120,000 people and it is the hub of Magallanes and the first port of call for most foreign travelers. After breakfast, Bob and Marvis, Ken and I went ashore. Ken elected to explore the beach area, while Bob, Marvis and I leisurely made our way toward the town square and checked out the town. On our way back to the ship, we spotted a restaurant which Marvis remembered as being recommended in the Frommers Handbook that they had brought with them and we decided to indulge ourselves. It turned out to be a good decision. Bob had a wonderful crab stew that was outstanding, while Marvis and I enjoyed a similar “fare” that was likewise, excellent, although I am hard pressed to remember the name. Meanwhile, back at the ship, Ken reported that he enjoyed his leisurely stroll ashore and assured us that his “ships fare” was satisfactory. However, he chose to accompany us on our next trip ashore.
Tuesday and Wednesday, February 12-13, we cruised through the Strait of Magellan, the Chilean Fjords, Patagonic Channels and the Canal Moraleda. We had some of the roughest seas of the trip during this period. Ken said that had we encountered this weather as we “rounded the Horn”, it would have been a very different and rough crossing. In spite of the dark and gloomy skies and staggering passengers who seemed overly endowed with “alcoholic spirits”, this crossing provided the naked eye with a breathtaking beauty seldom experienced. Our friend Bob observed that he believed the scenery was more dramatic and beautiful than that found in the Swiss Alps. Only sunlight was needed to fully reveal the outstanding and awesome beauty hidden within the walls of the dark and foreboding clouds. The views were, in my opinion, “over the top”.
As we silently cruised the Peel inlet, we got a first hand view of the spectacular Amalie Glacier which is one of the 48 glaciers that composes the Southern Ice Fields, which are considered to be the third largest reserve of fresh water in the world. The length of time necessary for the creation of a glacier depends mainly on the temperatures and the rate of snowfall. In Chile, where snowfall is heavy and summertime temperatures are high enough to produce plenty of melted water, glacial ice may come into being in a relatively short time, perhaps 10 yeas. In parts of Antarctica, where there is little snowfall, and the ice remains well below its freezing temperatures throughout the year, the process may require hundreds of years.
Thursday February 14, was Puerto Chacabuco with rain showers forecast and rain it did as we boarded our tender for the brief ride into port. The weather on this side of the Andes is frequently wet and windy and our tour guide noted that it rains 360 days per year.
Puerto Chacabuco is basically a very small fishing village. Though charming and quanit it has no services to boast of and the principal economic base is commercial fishing and salmon farming. We had chosen an inland tour through what is known as Simpson Valley to Coyhaique, 38 miles away. The ride through the countryside was delightful with hills and valleys reminiscent of the countryside that one might find in the hills and dales anywhere. I am a “country” oriented person and I enjoy the wide open spaces of pasture land and fields under cultivation. I would be happy never to visit another museum in my lifetime. Thus, our “country” tour “hit the spot” for me.
After our brief visit in the town of Coyhaique, we stopped stop at a quaint roadside park where we were escorted inside a building that seemed to serve as a combination restaurant and meeting place. There, we were met with a delightful assortment of drinks unique to the area as well as a sampling of various Chilean dishes. The selection was magical and the preparations tasty as we sampled not only the foods of Chile, but the excellent wines that Chile is known to produce. It was a delightful experience. As the day wore on, the clouds wore off, the sun shined and we basked in the beauty of the locale.
Friday, February 15 Puerto Montt, a town of approximately 176,000, is the capital of an area known as Region 10. Located on the northern tip of the Reloncavi sound and with its harbor protected by the Tengio Island, the city spreads along a narrow sea board and climbs the slopes enclosing it to the north. Puerto Montt was founded in 1853 by Vincent Perez Rosales with German immigrants. As might be expected, there is a strong German influence in the architecture as well as the population. Wanting to sample the local food, we stopped in a small restaurant just off the main street. We were treated to a well prepared and very tasty steak sandwich that was served to us by the proud proprietor who seemed genuinely pleased that we had chosen his restaurant to sample the local “tastes”. Puerto Montt was a delightful last stop on our 14 day South American cruise.
Saturday, February 16, was “a wrap up” day with packing and decision making as to where all of the purchases from our stops would be stowed. The last day was spent relaxing and lamenting the fact that our trip was over and it was time to review “the rest of our life”.
Sunday, February 17, we were met at the terminal in Valpariso, Chile and transported to our hotel in Santiago.
We scheduled a city tour as a means of getting our “bearings” for places that we wanted to see and things we wanted to do. On Monday, we caught the subway downtown and were duly impressed with the speed and efficiency of their transportation system. We did a walk through the central market, had lunch at a seafood restaurant in the market and returned to the outlying area where we were staying for some shopping and relaxation.On Tuesday, we again took the subway downtown to the government offices where we watched the regularly scheduled “changing of the guard”. Later, we took the funicular which transported us to the top of the hill where we could view the city and its sprawl. After our ride “to the top”, we had lunch, shopped and had one last ride on the subway, which we all found exceptional and impressive in its cleanliness, speed and frequency of service.
Wednesday was “getaway day” with a ride to the airport for our flight to Sao Paulo Brazil and our connection to JFK and from JFK to Los Angeles. We left our hotel in Santiago at 1030AM on Wednesday and arrived home at 5PM on Thursday. It was a long day
It was a wonderful trip with only one near crises. As Ken stepped off the airplane at JFK, he missed the “step down” and landed hard on his left leg which is the leg that has the hip replacement. His walk from the plane was extremely painful and thanks to Marvis who spoke up on our behalf, we were permitted to go ahead of the immigration and customs line and that helped reduce the time he had to be on his leg. We were very lucky and every one was very considerate but we were extremely happy that our “near miss” happened on our last day. Ken’s leg and hip have revived and he is busy planning our next outing.
Our travel agent, Harriet with Sun Travel arranged our cruise and our air reservations as well as hotel accomodations in Rio, Buenos Aires and Santiago. She did an outstanding job. Barbara handled our Recife and Joa Pessoa accomodations and guided us through our stay there. If she becomes tired of being a missionary, perhaps she will take up work as a travel agent. Thanks to everyone and especially to Marvis and Bob who were wonderful traveling buddies.
