December 20 Rio de Janiero
We were picked up at the airport and taken to our bed-and -breakfast, the Castel Valentim, a beautiful castle- like five- story Victorian home in the hills of Santa Teresa area of Rio. As we pulled up to the curb, we heard the strains of “Happy Birthday to you” coming from the house. Turns out that our host, Luis, was throwing a big birthday party for his girl friend’s father. Luis tried to get the booking agency to change our reservation, but they just told him to invite us. So he did. We dropped in for a few minutes, then retired to our small room, right next to the party. (We were staying in a bedroom in our host’s apartment.) The music was very loud, but we were so tired that we just fell asleep. It was kind of fun to see how they partied.....music, food, friends and drink.
Dec 21 We had a panoramic view of the city from our balcony. We could see for miles and miles, to the samba-drom, the beaches, soccer stadium, rain forests.
Our host, Luis, was great. He told us places to go, things to do, and sent us off with a paper listing his phone number, address, how to get where we were going etc. After catching the taxi across the street, I dropped the paper into my bag, never to be seen again. Luckily, I remembered just enough to get us around. We spent the morning at a hippy fair near the beach of Ipanema. Actually it started as a hippy fair 40 years ago and grew into a big handicraft and art fair. Very nice. I almost bought some stuff but I kept thinking we didn’t really need anything. That saved us later.
We headed to Sugar Loaf (a tall peak with a cable car up to a magnificent view) where we were “found” by an English speaking guide. He took us to an overlook of the city then to the “Christ Statue.” I found the statue very touching. I could tell that to most people, it was just a tourist attraction, but it touched me to see Christ holding out his arms as if to say, “Come to me. I’m watching over you.” It seemed sad that so few people seemed to care.
We were taken last to a special store high in a building, through looked doors and guards. When we finally got to our destination, we were treated to a personal tour of the gems of Brazil! Plus a sales pitch. Greg got me a small amethyst I can wear on a necklace.
We took the cable tram to the top of Sugar Loaf and were there at sunset to see the city and the harbors. We ended that day at a restaurant much like the Rodizios at home. We went through the salad bar then returned to the table to find bowls of rice, beans, bread, fried bananas, etc. So much food! Of course, they brought around skewer after skewer of meat and a really good bread I think called pao queso (cheese bread). A melty kind of cream cheese inside a fresh roll on a skewer.
By the end of the day we were about out of Brazilian money.
December 22
Here’s the problem. We were not able to get cash at the ATM’s with our credit card in Argentina. No problem to charge things, just to get cash. We called the kids who followed through and thought the problem was fixed. No problem on the ship. We got $300 US in cash on the ship. Found out we had the same problem in Brazil. No cash from the credit card. We had to make our cash last for the whole last part of the trip. We had to sign our lives away to get some of our dollars changed into local money..Brazilian reais (Hay-eyes). But we just about ran out.
We needed to find a Bank of Brazil to get more cash. We caught the bus (2.20 reais each. About $1.00 each) That left us with a total of $1.50 in Brazilian money. First we didn’t know how to get off the bus. So we rode it to the end where everyone got off. Then we didn’t know where we were or the bank was. No one spoke English. I would say “Banco de Brasil” and someone would point and say,” frente” (I think) meaning who knows what? (I thought it meant “straight”) so we just kept walking and asking every so often. Finally we reach a Banco de Brasil. No cash there. Someone on the third floor spoke English and drew us a map. So we walked a bunch more (no money for anything but walking).
Finally got to the money bank. They didn’t speak English, but by now I was good at point and grunt communication. I pointed to my credit card and wrote down 160. He pointed and grunted meaning “ give me your passport” (a standard request so I understood his point and grunt). He spent a long time on the phone and we finally got the money. This allowed us to get a taxi to Copacabana beach area where we could eat at McDonald’s again (their internet connection was down so we had to use real money.) and use their bathroom again.
Greg got to swim in the ocean there and I got to relax on the beach. We wandered onto a feshuada (?) (Buffet-type restaurant) near the beach where they weighed your food and charged by the kilo. (I wonder what the “retained” kilo weight is at the end of the meal?)
December 23 We didn’t have too much time to do anything in the morning, so after showers, we walked to the grocery store downhill about a half mile away. Looked through a gateway between large old buildings and saw a slum-type street with shantys going down the hill. All hidden behind a gate. We caught a bus going back up and had to a shower and wash all my underwear because it was so hot and humid (plus I sweat like a pig). Took less than an hour to dry it on the balcony...hidden. These were the clothes we would be wearing on the airplane for the next day and a half, so we wanted to start out fresh.
After the fiasco of getting on the plane from Sao Paulo to Rio and running out of local money, I was praying constantly by this time. I think it helped a lot. When we checked in to go back to Sao Paulo, the girl spoke English. No hassle with the luggage. Our boarding pass said we left from gate “?” so we asked someone along the way and of course, he gave us the wrong information. I found another passenger who spoke English and was on our flight and he watched to see that we did everything right. (I’m getting pretty good at looking helpless.)
December 24 So we really and finally got home. I was so relieved to be in America where everyone pretty much understood us and we could be helpless in our own language. We listened to Christmas carols from Las Vegas to Lynndyl and arrived at 7:30 p.m. Christmas eve. Three kids were home from college, plus one friend plus two more kids who live here, were all waiting for us. It was so good to be home.
We bounced from country to country and back again. US - Canada - Argentina - Uruguay - Chile - Argentina - Chile - Uruguay - Brazil - Canada - US.
We had traveled a total of approximately 18,500 miles, hitting 6 countries: USA, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
SA Cruise: Santos to Sao Paolo to Rio Brazil: Missing a flight?
December 20 Sunday. Santos, Brazil
We disembarked here and caught a ship’s bus to the Sao Paulo airport where we were taking a flight to Rio de Janeiro. It was a two hour drive, much further than we thought it would be, but the ride was beautiful, up mountain after wooded mountain, with views down through the green valleys. The last hour was spent driving through the city of Sao Paulo itself, a very large industrial city. Where they spoke Portuguese and we didn’t.
Which turned out to be an almost problem as we tried to check in at the airport. We left several of our large bags in storage at the airport, but as we tried to check in for our flight, we learned (by way of a friendly passenger at the next check in who spoke English and our check-in person didn’t) that our luggage was much too heavy. We were panicked because our carry-on had our computer in it. We ended up pulling out an extra, empty duffle bag we travel with and repacking everything. In the end, we figured out that the check in person thought all of the luggage was mine instead of Greg’s, too. We probably didn’t really need to hold up the line while we were repacking, but since we couldn’t communicate......
The really scary part came next. Our tickets said we departed at gate 1. The sign said our flight left from Gate 5. And no one could speak English. I did my point and grunt job and got the answer 3 times that it was gate 5. As we listened for our flight to be called (in Portuguese of course), I thought I heard them call it and say that it was leaving from GATE 3!! Of course, I was wrong, because even though I knew the numbers from one to ten, I didn’t know the words they used in between. I check with gate 3 and was told (in English) that the flight was boarding at that very minute at GATE 1. Almost missed that flight, but someone was watching over us.
We disembarked here and caught a ship’s bus to the Sao Paulo airport where we were taking a flight to Rio de Janeiro. It was a two hour drive, much further than we thought it would be, but the ride was beautiful, up mountain after wooded mountain, with views down through the green valleys. The last hour was spent driving through the city of Sao Paulo itself, a very large industrial city. Where they spoke Portuguese and we didn’t.
Which turned out to be an almost problem as we tried to check in at the airport. We left several of our large bags in storage at the airport, but as we tried to check in for our flight, we learned (by way of a friendly passenger at the next check in who spoke English and our check-in person didn’t) that our luggage was much too heavy. We were panicked because our carry-on had our computer in it. We ended up pulling out an extra, empty duffle bag we travel with and repacking everything. In the end, we figured out that the check in person thought all of the luggage was mine instead of Greg’s, too. We probably didn’t really need to hold up the line while we were repacking, but since we couldn’t communicate......
The really scary part came next. Our tickets said we departed at gate 1. The sign said our flight left from Gate 5. And no one could speak English. I did my point and grunt job and got the answer 3 times that it was gate 5. As we listened for our flight to be called (in Portuguese of course), I thought I heard them call it and say that it was leaving from GATE 3!! Of course, I was wrong, because even though I knew the numbers from one to ten, I didn’t know the words they used in between. I check with gate 3 and was told (in English) that the flight was boarding at that very minute at GATE 1. Almost missed that flight, but someone was watching over us.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
SA Cruise: Punta Del Este, Uruguay, Porto Belo, Brazil
December 17 Punta Del Este, Uruguay
We grabbed a local tour here. It took us about an hour to find one that was in English. We saw beautiful seascapes, beaches, tourist high rise apartments, etc. Our guide was quite worried that the beaches were so empty during this week before Christmas. People all over the world are feeling the economy crunch. We had our pictures taken with a famous giant hand sculpture and passed over a small bridge that went up- then- down- then- up- then- down, a very power design according to a German engineer on our tour. .
We proceeded to the coast line, then to a very unique structure called Casa Puebla. This structure was home, museum, etc. built by hand by the artist owner, Carlos Paez Vilaro. He is famous world wide for his colorful murals. the building was a stucco structure of over 30 rooms with a bit of mid-eastern flavor, white arches, and onion turrets. Inside was bright modern type art and unique metal salvage-type sculpture (pipes and findings, etc.) . On one wall was a picture of the artist with Pablo Picasso. You could see Picasso’s influence in this artists paintings. When we arrived back at the bus, we found out that the artist had been in the museum and our fellow bus-mates had gotten their pictures taken with him. (Where were we???)
December 18 Mostly at sea. We stopped for a short time at Imbituba, Brazil for government officials to board the ship and check credentials of the all crew etc. No one was allowed to leave the ship.
December 19 Saturday Porto Belo, Brazil
Our last real ship stop before the end of the cruise. We were finally back in the land of warm sunshine (Punta Del Este, was ok, too) Sunshine warm enough to spend the day at the beach. Greg and I went ashore and caught a boat-taxi to a small island. We walked to small eco museum then Greg changed into his swimsuit and spent a relaxing time swimming in the bay area. I relaxed on a café deck and watched him from there. I had my first opportunity to use my Portuguese to buy Cheetos. Generally I had to point and grunt, but it worked. I learned the numbers to ten and how to ask how much something cost so I could buy food. (Plus everyone seems to be able to take your money in any language.) Note: Many places and people, especially taxi drivers and marketplaces near the pier, will take US dollars, but we were usually able to get some of the local currency and it was a little cheaper to use since not everyone carried small bills and coins to give you change.
We grabbed a local tour here. It took us about an hour to find one that was in English. We saw beautiful seascapes, beaches, tourist high rise apartments, etc. Our guide was quite worried that the beaches were so empty during this week before Christmas. People all over the world are feeling the economy crunch. We had our pictures taken with a famous giant hand sculpture and passed over a small bridge that went up- then- down- then- up- then- down, a very power design according to a German engineer on our tour. .
We proceeded to the coast line, then to a very unique structure called Casa Puebla. This structure was home, museum, etc. built by hand by the artist owner, Carlos Paez Vilaro. He is famous world wide for his colorful murals. the building was a stucco structure of over 30 rooms with a bit of mid-eastern flavor, white arches, and onion turrets. Inside was bright modern type art and unique metal salvage-type sculpture (pipes and findings, etc.) . On one wall was a picture of the artist with Pablo Picasso. You could see Picasso’s influence in this artists paintings. When we arrived back at the bus, we found out that the artist had been in the museum and our fellow bus-mates had gotten their pictures taken with him. (Where were we???)
December 18 Mostly at sea. We stopped for a short time at Imbituba, Brazil for government officials to board the ship and check credentials of the all crew etc. No one was allowed to leave the ship.
December 19 Saturday Porto Belo, Brazil
Our last real ship stop before the end of the cruise. We were finally back in the land of warm sunshine (Punta Del Este, was ok, too) Sunshine warm enough to spend the day at the beach. Greg and I went ashore and caught a boat-taxi to a small island. We walked to small eco museum then Greg changed into his swimsuit and spent a relaxing time swimming in the bay area. I relaxed on a café deck and watched him from there. I had my first opportunity to use my Portuguese to buy Cheetos. Generally I had to point and grunt, but it worked. I learned the numbers to ten and how to ask how much something cost so I could buy food. (Plus everyone seems to be able to take your money in any language.) Note: Many places and people, especially taxi drivers and marketplaces near the pier, will take US dollars, but we were usually able to get some of the local currency and it was a little cheaper to use since not everyone carried small bills and coins to give you change.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
SA Cruise: The end of the world: Ushuaia, Argentina, Cape Horn Chile:
December 13 Saturday Ushuaia, Argentina
Ushuaia, is a town of 60,000 on the island of Tierra del Fuego and looks out over the Beagle Channel, named after the HMS Beagle, the ship Charles Darwin sailed on in the 1800's.
Here we took the second and last ship run tour. (We can often get much, much cheaper tours by just stepping on shore. There are usually lots of independent guides waiting to pick up cruisers.)
We took a 4-wheel drive (jeep) tour on a very very primitive old logging trail, up a hillside. We dropped down to a ski resort, one of seven on the island....six, including this one, were for cross country skiing. At the resort, we walked among the pens and pens of sled dogs that are being trained to haul sleds in the wintertime. Because there is no snow in the summer, the dogs are trained by pulling 4-wheelers. The owners like the dogs to be around people to they can learn to socialize. We hopped back in the jeeps and headed into a wooded area where we hiked to an old logging hut. The snack we were promised looked like a small slice of sausage on a cracker plus a little Pepsi or wine. Then the real food came out....stewed beef, oranges, deserts, etc. The best snack I have ever had. We hiked through some really beautiful territory, woods, swampy areas, etc. at the southern end of the Andes. It was well worth the money.
December 14 Cape Horn, Chile
We are at the end of the world. The landscape is wild and beautiful. There are glaciers on the rugged mountains here and although it is the middle of the summer in the southern hemisphere, there is still snow on the mountain tops. These mountains are the souther end of the Andes range. From here, the mountain range goes down into the sea and re-emerges in Antarctica, not so very far from here. We are lucky to be able to sail around Cape Horn at the southern end of the world. The wind blows hard here 200 days of the year. Waves can be up to 100 meters high and the seas too rough to navigate. Two weeks ago this ship traversed the Cape in very bad weather...everyone was sea sick. Another large cruise ship, the Norwegian Sun following the same route at the same time was unable to make the passage. We were very blessed, though, because the weather was perfect and we had smooth sailing all the way. We don’t have a good horror story to tell, but that’s OK.
December 15, 16 Monday, Tuesday At Sea
Ushuaia, is a town of 60,000 on the island of Tierra del Fuego and looks out over the Beagle Channel, named after the HMS Beagle, the ship Charles Darwin sailed on in the 1800's.
Here we took the second and last ship run tour. (We can often get much, much cheaper tours by just stepping on shore. There are usually lots of independent guides waiting to pick up cruisers.)
We took a 4-wheel drive (jeep) tour on a very very primitive old logging trail, up a hillside. We dropped down to a ski resort, one of seven on the island....six, including this one, were for cross country skiing. At the resort, we walked among the pens and pens of sled dogs that are being trained to haul sleds in the wintertime. Because there is no snow in the summer, the dogs are trained by pulling 4-wheelers. The owners like the dogs to be around people to they can learn to socialize. We hopped back in the jeeps and headed into a wooded area where we hiked to an old logging hut. The snack we were promised looked like a small slice of sausage on a cracker plus a little Pepsi or wine. Then the real food came out....stewed beef, oranges, deserts, etc. The best snack I have ever had. We hiked through some really beautiful territory, woods, swampy areas, etc. at the southern end of the Andes. It was well worth the money.
December 14 Cape Horn, Chile
We are at the end of the world. The landscape is wild and beautiful. There are glaciers on the rugged mountains here and although it is the middle of the summer in the southern hemisphere, there is still snow on the mountain tops. These mountains are the souther end of the Andes range. From here, the mountain range goes down into the sea and re-emerges in Antarctica, not so very far from here. We are lucky to be able to sail around Cape Horn at the southern end of the world. The wind blows hard here 200 days of the year. Waves can be up to 100 meters high and the seas too rough to navigate. Two weeks ago this ship traversed the Cape in very bad weather...everyone was sea sick. Another large cruise ship, the Norwegian Sun following the same route at the same time was unable to make the passage. We were very blessed, though, because the weather was perfect and we had smooth sailing all the way. We don’t have a good horror story to tell, but that’s OK.
December 15, 16 Monday, Tuesday At Sea
Monday, February 23, 2009
SA Cruise: Punta Arenas, Chile Sailing with Magellan
December 12 Punta Arenas, Chile
Punta Arenas claims to be the southern most city of its size in the world. It is on the shores of the Straits of Magellan. This area has a very harsh and unforgiving climate. Before the Panama Canal was built, the Straits of Magellan were somewhat of a shortcut from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The other route was down around Cape Horn, a very dangerous route. At one time, the Dutch East Indies company claimed the area and forbade anyone else to use the route, forcing everyone else to go around Cape Horn.
(Below is one of the few entries written on the voyage)
Today is December 12, 2008. I don’t actually know what day of the week it is, but I can find out by getting on an elevator and looking at the floor. Everyday, the current day of the week is placed on the elevator floor in front of the door. I’m not the only one who loses track of time.
Last night, just after midnight, Greg and I went out on the deck and looked outside. We were just beginning to go through the Straits of Magellan, off the coast of Chile. We could see land off both sides of the ship. Several hundred years ago, when Magellan was looking for the Spice Islands, he found these straits which cut through the tip of South America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It was a very valuable “short cut” for ships. It was pretty awesome to image ourselves in the same area as Magellan had been in hundreds of years ago.
(Magellan was asked by Spain’s king to find a westward passage to the Spice Island of Indonesia. They left Spain on September 20, 1519.)
We rose early this morning, ate breakfast, then went back to sleep. You can do that on vacation. After we rose again, we caught a tender (one of the lifeboats used to ferry passengers back and forth to the ship when cannot dock at the pier because the water is not deep enough, etc.) then headed out for the town of Punta Arenas on foot. Tour from the ship are very expensive on this cruise, so we don’t take them at each stop. We walked several blocks into the town square where the ever present market place was set up. I think they set up special when they know that cruise ships are coming in because the ships bring so much business. I bought a few trinkets then we walked about a block to a museum. It was the old home of a local somewhat wealthy family. We spent a pleasant hour there then tried to a get a taxi to take up to the nature reserve that was supposed to have a great view of the city. We ended up walking back to the ship and finding a driver who asked for $50 to take us but settled on $30 instead. He didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Spanish, but we visited the whole 10 kilometers out and 10 kilometers back. His few words of English and my few words of Spanish along with a lot of hand gestures were enough to tell each other about our families, what they did, about the farm, about the nature reserve etc. It was pretty amazing.
The nature reserve was located at the top of a high hill and had a beautiful view of the harbor and the town of about 40,000 people. From the top we could also see the island of Tierra del Fuego and the end of the world. Tomorrow we will be almost there.
Punta Arenas claims to be the southern most city of its size in the world. It is on the shores of the Straits of Magellan. This area has a very harsh and unforgiving climate. Before the Panama Canal was built, the Straits of Magellan were somewhat of a shortcut from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The other route was down around Cape Horn, a very dangerous route. At one time, the Dutch East Indies company claimed the area and forbade anyone else to use the route, forcing everyone else to go around Cape Horn.
(Below is one of the few entries written on the voyage)
Today is December 12, 2008. I don’t actually know what day of the week it is, but I can find out by getting on an elevator and looking at the floor. Everyday, the current day of the week is placed on the elevator floor in front of the door. I’m not the only one who loses track of time.
Last night, just after midnight, Greg and I went out on the deck and looked outside. We were just beginning to go through the Straits of Magellan, off the coast of Chile. We could see land off both sides of the ship. Several hundred years ago, when Magellan was looking for the Spice Islands, he found these straits which cut through the tip of South America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It was a very valuable “short cut” for ships. It was pretty awesome to image ourselves in the same area as Magellan had been in hundreds of years ago.
(Magellan was asked by Spain’s king to find a westward passage to the Spice Island of Indonesia. They left Spain on September 20, 1519.)
We rose early this morning, ate breakfast, then went back to sleep. You can do that on vacation. After we rose again, we caught a tender (one of the lifeboats used to ferry passengers back and forth to the ship when cannot dock at the pier because the water is not deep enough, etc.) then headed out for the town of Punta Arenas on foot. Tour from the ship are very expensive on this cruise, so we don’t take them at each stop. We walked several blocks into the town square where the ever present market place was set up. I think they set up special when they know that cruise ships are coming in because the ships bring so much business. I bought a few trinkets then we walked about a block to a museum. It was the old home of a local somewhat wealthy family. We spent a pleasant hour there then tried to a get a taxi to take up to the nature reserve that was supposed to have a great view of the city. We ended up walking back to the ship and finding a driver who asked for $50 to take us but settled on $30 instead. He didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Spanish, but we visited the whole 10 kilometers out and 10 kilometers back. His few words of English and my few words of Spanish along with a lot of hand gestures were enough to tell each other about our families, what they did, about the farm, about the nature reserve etc. It was pretty amazing.
The nature reserve was located at the top of a high hill and had a beautiful view of the harbor and the town of about 40,000 people. From the top we could also see the island of Tierra del Fuego and the end of the world. Tomorrow we will be almost there.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
SA Cruise: Puerto Madryn, Argentina and penguins
December 11 Puerto Madryn, Argentina
We had never heard of any of the ports we visited except the very, very large ones so we didn’t know what to expect.
Puerto Madryn (population 60,000) is on the Atlantic coast of Argentina’s famous region of Patagonia. This part of Patagonia looks almost exactly like the Lynndyl area. It is desolate and has a lot of sagebrush. It reminded me a lot of home.
I took a ship tour which visited a Welsh town of Trelew, I shouldn’t be mean, but Trelew was the ugliest town I have ever seen. The buildings were colorless and there was very little vegetation. We went on a tour of their Paleontology Museum which houses ancient dinosaur fossils that have been discovered throughout the region. No real skeletons were displayed here because they weigh too much. Instead they have cast lighter weight replicas.
Next we visited a Welsh town called Gaiman on the Chubut River. The town is a pretty spot of green down in a valley. None of the trees and vegetation are native to the area, but have all been planted and irrigated by man.....just like at home. We went to a Welsh tea house where we had tea and pastries, (I skipped the tea.) Then wandered about town for a bit.....it was actually not as interesting as the brochure promised.
We ended the tour by traveling by bus to The Punta Loma reserve, home to a large colony of sea lions and sea birds. We traveled along dirt roads and I think our driver was so afraid of stirring up dust that he only drove about 10 miles an hour. We took so long getting there that we only stayed a short time and had to get back to the ship. The sea lions were fun to watch with their little ones. A few of the mothers took their youngsters out into the water to let them play.
Most of the rest just sunned themselves on the beach or enjoyed the shade of an overhanging cliff.
Greg took a 2 ½ hour bus trip to see a penguin colony. (I would have gone there except the ship brochure made the buses sound like they were going to be full of dust and hard to breath in. They were really nice and clean instead.) Punta Tombo, south of Puerto Madryn was home to one of the largest Magellan Penguin colonies in South America. Estimates of the number of penguins are upward of 2 million. (I am plagerising some of the ship’s descriptions.)
The penguins were quite small and hidden among the sage brush. They had little burrows under the bushes. Greg thought it was quite strange to see penguins out in an area that looked like the desert around Lynndyl, except by the sea.
December 11 At sea
We had never heard of any of the ports we visited except the very, very large ones so we didn’t know what to expect.
Puerto Madryn (population 60,000) is on the Atlantic coast of Argentina’s famous region of Patagonia. This part of Patagonia looks almost exactly like the Lynndyl area. It is desolate and has a lot of sagebrush. It reminded me a lot of home.
I took a ship tour which visited a Welsh town of Trelew, I shouldn’t be mean, but Trelew was the ugliest town I have ever seen. The buildings were colorless and there was very little vegetation. We went on a tour of their Paleontology Museum which houses ancient dinosaur fossils that have been discovered throughout the region. No real skeletons were displayed here because they weigh too much. Instead they have cast lighter weight replicas.
Next we visited a Welsh town called Gaiman on the Chubut River. The town is a pretty spot of green down in a valley. None of the trees and vegetation are native to the area, but have all been planted and irrigated by man.....just like at home. We went to a Welsh tea house where we had tea and pastries, (I skipped the tea.) Then wandered about town for a bit.....it was actually not as interesting as the brochure promised.
We ended the tour by traveling by bus to The Punta Loma reserve, home to a large colony of sea lions and sea birds. We traveled along dirt roads and I think our driver was so afraid of stirring up dust that he only drove about 10 miles an hour. We took so long getting there that we only stayed a short time and had to get back to the ship. The sea lions were fun to watch with their little ones. A few of the mothers took their youngsters out into the water to let them play.
Most of the rest just sunned themselves on the beach or enjoyed the shade of an overhanging cliff.
Greg took a 2 ½ hour bus trip to see a penguin colony. (I would have gone there except the ship brochure made the buses sound like they were going to be full of dust and hard to breath in. They were really nice and clean instead.) Punta Tombo, south of Puerto Madryn was home to one of the largest Magellan Penguin colonies in South America. Estimates of the number of penguins are upward of 2 million. (I am plagerising some of the ship’s descriptions.)
The penguins were quite small and hidden among the sage brush. They had little burrows under the bushes. Greg thought it was quite strange to see penguins out in an area that looked like the desert around Lynndyl, except by the sea.
December 11 At sea
Saturday, February 21, 2009
SA Cruise: Montevideo and at sea
December 8 Monday. (I am keeping much better track of the days here on paper looking back than I ever did on the ship. I was usually clueless about what day it was.)
We were allowed to leave the ship in Montevideo, Uruguay about 10 a.m. We hadn’t seen any ship tours that looked interesting so we decided to just go into town. One of the leather shops had shuttle buses at the dock to take people to their shop so we hopped on one and spent a few minutes browsing through their leather goods when we got to town. We spent a pleasant morning walking down the streets and browsing through their open market in the town square. One of the popular items being sold was a container and special spoon for a drink called “mate” (mah-tay), a local tea. The tradition was to fix the tea then pass the mug around for everyone to share. We didn’t try it but we bought a few of the spoon-straws which were shaped like hollow paddles with holes in the top of the bowl for straining out the leaves.
Gaucho dancers were performing in the town square so we found a bench and watched for a while then wandered down the street a ways. Montevideo (population 1.3 million ) reminded me a bit of Provo, not a very metropolitan big city. We found the McDonald’s across from the town square and got a hamburger and drink. (For those of you who think we wimped out by going to McDonalds, you must remember how hard it is to find a bathroom–bano-- in a foreign country, especially a bathroom you can trust.) We walked back to the ship. (We do a lot of walking on our trips and even with all the food we eat, I always end up losing weight. Of course, I gain it all back when I get back home.)
December 10 Tuesday At Sea
The ship has many activities to keep the passengers entertained at sea. We had three formal nights on this trip because of all the days at sea. Greg and I usually play at least one game of trivia each sea day. I also took a Spanish class (which I dropped after the first day) and a Portuguese class, which I attended all five days. That gave me the skills of a high schooler who has taken one week of Portuguese. Quite enough to get around Brazil on our own when we got there.....NOT REALLY!!
Portuguese looks a lot like Spanish. If you can read Spanish you can figure out a lot of Portuguese words (I know some French and can figure out some of the words.) But my phrase book describes Portuguese as Spanish spoken by a drunk Frenchman and I believe it. It sounds totally different than Spanish.
The entertainment on board is top rate. Our first big production show was an excellent tango show. Two professional tango dancers were brought on board from Argentina. They were totally amazing.
Most of the passengers were Spanish-speaking South Americans and Brazilians. They really knew how to have a good time on board. Mamba and other Spanish and Brazilian music was playing into the wee hours of the morning and people danced and danced. And we stayed up and watched them.
We were allowed to leave the ship in Montevideo, Uruguay about 10 a.m. We hadn’t seen any ship tours that looked interesting so we decided to just go into town. One of the leather shops had shuttle buses at the dock to take people to their shop so we hopped on one and spent a few minutes browsing through their leather goods when we got to town. We spent a pleasant morning walking down the streets and browsing through their open market in the town square. One of the popular items being sold was a container and special spoon for a drink called “mate” (mah-tay), a local tea. The tradition was to fix the tea then pass the mug around for everyone to share. We didn’t try it but we bought a few of the spoon-straws which were shaped like hollow paddles with holes in the top of the bowl for straining out the leaves.
Gaucho dancers were performing in the town square so we found a bench and watched for a while then wandered down the street a ways. Montevideo (population 1.3 million ) reminded me a bit of Provo, not a very metropolitan big city. We found the McDonald’s across from the town square and got a hamburger and drink. (For those of you who think we wimped out by going to McDonalds, you must remember how hard it is to find a bathroom–bano-- in a foreign country, especially a bathroom you can trust.) We walked back to the ship. (We do a lot of walking on our trips and even with all the food we eat, I always end up losing weight. Of course, I gain it all back when I get back home.)
December 10 Tuesday At Sea
The ship has many activities to keep the passengers entertained at sea. We had three formal nights on this trip because of all the days at sea. Greg and I usually play at least one game of trivia each sea day. I also took a Spanish class (which I dropped after the first day) and a Portuguese class, which I attended all five days. That gave me the skills of a high schooler who has taken one week of Portuguese. Quite enough to get around Brazil on our own when we got there.....NOT REALLY!!
Portuguese looks a lot like Spanish. If you can read Spanish you can figure out a lot of Portuguese words (I know some French and can figure out some of the words.) But my phrase book describes Portuguese as Spanish spoken by a drunk Frenchman and I believe it. It sounds totally different than Spanish.
The entertainment on board is top rate. Our first big production show was an excellent tango show. Two professional tango dancers were brought on board from Argentina. They were totally amazing.
Most of the passengers were Spanish-speaking South Americans and Brazilians. They really knew how to have a good time on board. Mamba and other Spanish and Brazilian music was playing into the wee hours of the morning and people danced and danced. And we stayed up and watched them.
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