Feb 8

 Feb 8

We are now in our fourth consecutive day at sea heading to Ushuaia, Argentina, at the very south end of South America, just north of Cape Horn Island.  Having moved away from the Falkland’s and closer to Argentina, the seas became a little calmer, but we are cognizant of the potential rough seas to come at Cape Horn, the southernmost island of the archipelago.

We turned right to cut through the Beagles Channel and its calmer waters.

The rugged mountains rise out of the water to form the islands.

There is often a buzz on the ship as it approaches a major city.  This is not the case here; everyone is excited about seeing penguins.  We were supposed to see them at the Falkland Islands, but that did not happen.  We have another opportunity to see them tomorrow; however, most of the popular options are already full and now have waiting lists.     We will see if we can get a private tour tomorrow when we go ashore, assuming my back is up to it.  Today is also Super Bowl day.  Most passengers have decided which team to support if they are not already dedicated supporters of one side or the other.  This creates a great atmosphere and, hopefully, friendly opposition among the viewing parties on board.  We have relatives in Seattle, so we will be leaning that way.  As for the halftime show, we have never heard of the fellow???? Nor did we understand him.

Feb 9

We arrived in Ushuaia, in the province of Patagonia, Argentina, just a few miles from the Chilean border.  They pronounce it ‘you-swire’.  The city is known as the southernmost city on Earth.  It was sunny and about 50 degrees.  The wind made it feel much cooler, but in the sun, it was very pleasant.  There were four other cruise ships at the pier -Ultramarine, Seabourne Venture, Ventus Australis, and an Expedition ship ready to leave for Antarctica.

We walked into the charming town center, bustling with people and full of small shops, many with a Scandinavian flavor.  Probably many are from the other cruise ships.  The city sits with a stunning backdrop of snowcapped mountains, which reminds us of Switzerland and Lake Geneva.  In the winter, from May to October, it becomes a Mecca for skiing.

    

   

Due to a snowstorm alert, the cast-off time has been moved to 3 p.m., an hour ahead of the original schedule.  We did not see any hint of that, however.  It did make a delicious sail away in the crisp, clean air.  The mountains and scenery were magnificent, something I will cherish for a long time.

Feb 10

By now, we are in Punta Arenas, Chile, located in the Magallanes Straits.  When sailing ships were the only form of long-distance travel on water, they had to travel around Cape Horn to go around the tip of South America.  These waters were very rough, with strong winds.  With the advent of steam-powered ships, vessels could avoid sailing around Cape Horn by taking a shortcut through Magellan's Strait, a passage discovered by Magellan himself.   This shortcut had much calmer waters and saved time.

Punta Arenas is a city of 160,000 population, the largest city at the bottom of the world.  We took a city bus tour, stopping at an indoor museum that showed the area's development, beginning with the cavemen. 

    

The day was brisk and breezy, with temperatures hovering in the upper 40s. We learned that February is the warmest month of the year here, bringing lots of snow and providing opportunities to ski throughout the rest of the season.   The city is located at the widest point of the Magellan Straight at its western end.

Followed by an outdoor museum

  

It showed a primitive woodshop, which interested me.

  

Clock shop, really interesed me as a Horologist [look that up].

  

And a dentist.  I remember this drilling machine as a kid.

And a cemetery, full of mausoleums, crypts, and graves, adorned by Cyprus trees.

We took pictures from an overlook of the town and the Magellan Straight in the background.

 

We stopped at the city center's main square to honor the large statue of Magellan and the buildings around it.

We cast off at 6pm, heading on through the Magellan Straight into a whole mess of Islands, passing several glaciers.

 

At dawn, we arrived at the Pacific Ocean, and the ship's motion picked up.

Feb 11 & 12

We start two sea days heading to Puerto Montt, Chile.  The seas are again much more aggressive, giving the ship a discernible pitch and roll and requiring caution when walking around.   Chile, in my mind, is the oddest country in the world.  Long and thin stretching 2,600 miles north to south, but only an average of 110 miles wide separating Chile from Argentina by the Andie’s Mountain Range.  It includes over 43,000 islands and a total coastline of 4,000 miles facing the South Pacific.  I wonder if California will end up like that when the big quake happens. 

We have a lovely sunset to conclude two nice sea days.  We often see sunsets at sea, but this one stood out.  In most cases, it is safe to watch a sunset for a few seconds because the atmosphere in the distance softens its intensity.   This sunset had zero distortion and was as bright as the midday sun.  I could only take side glances at its brilliance.

Feb 13

Puerto Montt, Chile, with a population of about 250,000, has a strong German Heritage.  It is located within the Ring of Fire, an area known for active volcanoes and frequent, powerful earthquakes.  The 1960 Valdivia earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.5, is the largest in Puerto Montt, Chile, and world history. The megathrust earthquake struck off the coast of Chile, causing extensive damage in Puerto Montt, triggering a massive tsunami with waves up to 80 feet, and killing 1,000–6,000 people across the Pacific. 

On April 22, 2015, Calbuco volcano began erupting for the first time since 1972. An ash cloud rose at least 50,000 feet above the volcano, menacing the nearby communities of Puerto Montt and San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina).

Our tour began with a city tour of Puerto Montt.  The buildings were all rebuilt after the 1960 earthquake.  We continued to the nearby city of Puerto Varas, nicknamed Rose Town, an upbeat tourist town on the shores of the exceptionally large lake Llanquihue, population 50,000.  We had splendid views of the volcanoes.

And we spent an hour walking along the shore and visiting the charming shops, buying a few things as we went.  Next, we traveled along the Pan American Highway, which is a 19,000-mile network of roads recognized as the world's longest highway, connecting 14 countries from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina.  It opened in the 1960s and connects North, Central, and South America. 

We arrived at Frutillar, with a population of 23,000, still on Lake Llanquihue, which is 1,000 feet deep, and an even nicer, quiet small-town bus for the 169th anniversary of its founding.  The land in this area is very fertile, with generous rainfall to support agriculture, unlike the barren wasteland to the south.

We visited a museum depicting the local history and lovely gardens.

A third volcano came into view from here.

We stopped for an ice cream and sat overlooking the lake on a pleasant sunny afternoon, in the mid 60’s.

This was a tender port, and we anchored near our identical sistership, Marina.  They made sure we got back on the correct ship.

We had a lovely sail away along the fjord, enjoying the snow-capped mountains.  [A fjord is a waterway carved out by glaciers.]

Feb 14

Valentine's Day and a weekday, heading towards Santiago De Chile.  Santiago, Chile’s capital and largest city, sits in a valley surrounded by the snow-capped Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. Plaza de Armas, the grand heart of the city’s old colonial core, is home to 2 neoclassical landmarks: the 1808 Palacio de la Real Audiencia, housing the National History Museum, and the 18th-century Metropolitan Cathedral. La Chascona is the home-turned-museum of poet Pablo Neruda.  Most of the city lies between 1,640 and 2,133 ft above sea level, with recent urban growth extending into the Andean foothills.  The population of over 7 million makes it Chile’s capital and largest city; it holds 40% of Chile's total population. 

In the afternoon, we attended art class, on opposite sides of the room, and made Valentine cards for each other.  I surprised the class by presenting mine to Merry on one knee.  After the class, we had our first visit to the afternoon tea, which included a fresh scone with cream and jam, serenaded by the lovely string quartet.  Next, we went to the pre-dinner concert by a particularly good magician/comedian.  Good stuff.  Finally, I had made a reservation long ago for the hard-to-get Valentine's Day dinner at the specialty steakhouse.  A lovely evening and a lovely day.