Embedded Files
Ushuaia - January 2
We took an excursion in Ushuaia to see the Tierra del Fuego National Park
The Argentines still want The Falkand Islands (The Malvinas) back
It wasn't a very sunny day and it was windy. The scenery was impressive, with snow covered mountains in the distance.
It was a half day tour and although we enjoyed the scenery, it was quite cold and we were glad to get back to the ship in time for lunch. We left at 3:00pm and cruised through Glacier Alley. This was the best glacier we passed.
Punta Arenas (Chile) - January 3rd
We arived in Punta Arenas the next morning and took a city tour.
The city of Punta Arenas with our ship docked in the distance
Punta Arenas has a lot of history and was a crucial staging post for Antarctic expeditions. It started out as a penal colony in 1848, but quickly grew to be a major city and now has over 100,000 inhabitants. The Cemetery of Punta Arenas Sara Braun was built in 1894 and is ranked as one of the most beautiful in the world. As you might expect, it is filled with mausoleums of the rich and famous families from the area.
Our next stop was the Salesian Regional Museum. Its four stories house collections of stuffed animals, a history of the indigenous inhabitants of the region, displays on missionary history, and exhibitions on Antarctica and its explorations.
By the time we arrived, we were running late, so we only had time for a quick tour and then on to our last stop, the Sara Braun Palace, which is now a bar and restaurant as well as a museum.
Sara Braun was born in Latvia and moved to Chile to escape russian persecution. Together with her father and later her brother, they built a shipping and trading business which dominated the local economy. She died in 1955 and was buried in the cemetary which bears he name.
The Sara Braun Palace
This was our last stop on the tour, but the guide gave us directions to walk back to the ship, which we did. We passed through The Plaza de Armas of Punta Arenas which has a statue of the navigator Hernando de Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan) at the center. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer and navigator, is best known for leading the first circumnavigation of the globe from 1519–1522. Though he died halfway through the journey, his expedition proved the Earth is round and established a new route to the East Indies.
At Sea - January 4 and 5
We continued to cruise northwards through the Patagonia Fjords. The Patagonian Fjords in southern Chile constitute a massive, remote network of coastal glaciers, channels, and snow-capped peaks forming one of the world's last great wild spaces.
When you see ice floating in the water like this, you know there must be a glacier nearby and indeed there was, the El Brujo Glacier.
The El Brujo Glacier (The Wizard) is a highly active, 2-kilometer-wide wall of ice in Chile's Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. Located at the head of Asia Fjord, it is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, known for dramatic calving events where large ice chunks fall into the sea.
Puerto Chacabuco, Chile - January 6
We tendered ashore at this port and met with our tour guide, who was a very nice expat german lady who runs her own tour company from Coyhaique.
When we stopped to take pictures, a bus going in the opposite direction caught fire. I don't think there were any passengers on the bus and the fire soon went out.
The city of Coyhaique, the regional capital, backed by mountains.
It is one of the few cities in Chile which receives regular icefall and snowfall during the fall and winter.
Coyhaique was mainly a stop for shopping and bathrooms, but we couldn't see anything we wanted to buy, so we had a walk around the town center. Then we drove up to our guides very nice home, where she served coffee and cake. Of course, we took a group photo. It was a small group as two people missed the tour.
After our refreshments, we traced our route back to the ship, stopping along the way for more photograps.
We arrived back at the ship in good time for a 2:30pm departure and as we sailed away, we had a great view of a conical mountain - presumably a dormant volcano.
Puerto Montt, Chile - January 7
We tendered ashore and joined our sightseeing excursion of the area. Puerto Montt is a port city in southern Chile’s Lake District, known as a gateway to the Andes mountains and the Patagonian fjords. Founded as late as 1853 during the German colonization of southern Chile, Puerto Montt soon outgrew older neighboring cities through its strategic position at the southern end of the Chilean Central Valley
Dominating the local landscape is the Osorno Volcano. The volcano has a height of 2,652 meters (8,701 feet) and an imposing conical shape which looms over Lago Llanquihue.
We drove to the base of the cone and stopped for sightseeing, refreshments and a bathroom break.
There was a chairlift up the mountain, which we didn't take. However, some members of our party did and were late getting back, so we had long wait on the bus until they returned.
We then moved on to Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, which was very busy This national park covers about 2,530 km2 (977 sq mi) and is almost entirely in the Andes mountain chain.The park protects the body of Todos los Santos Lake and a large part of its catchment. The outlet of the lake at the Petrohué locality gives rise to the Petrohué River. A short distance downstream, still within the limits of the Park, the Petrohué river flows through the Petrohue Waterfalls.
The Osono Volcan is very visible from the park and there are some impressive views with the river.
After the National Park, we drove back to the ship, for our last full day.
Sea Day - January 8th
We used our last day at sea to relax and takes some photographs of the ship. Those photographs are at the beginning of this blog.
Valparaiso and Santiago (Chile) - January 9th
We left the ship around 9:00am and after a rather confusing start ( we were moved from one bus to another) we started our tour to Valparaiso and then travelled on to Santiago. Kris wasn't feeling very well and it was along day.
We drove from the port of San Antonio to Valparaiso, which took about a little over an hour. Only 70 miles northwest of capital Santiago, Valparaiso is Chile's main port and known for its bohemian, artistic vibe and lovely vistas.
Once we arrived in the city, our first stop was at the Archeological Museum located in Viña del Mar to see an authentic ancient Moai statue from Easter Island (Rapa Nui) .
We then drove past the port area to a pier with views of the city.
We then drove to the old part of the town for a walking tour and lunch. The funicular is owned by the municipality and stretches from Elias Street to Paseo Dimalow. It was built in 1902 and opened in1903. It was very steep and very old but we rode to the top safely. The mechanism looks like the original from 1903
Once we arrived at the top, we had nice views over the city.
Some the streets were also very pretty
The area is always seen as an artists colony and many of the walls are covered with work by local artists.
After lunch, we walked down to where the bus was waiting, enjoying the local atmosphere and doing some light shopping.
We left Valparaiso and headed towards Antiago. Along the way, we stopped at a winery for a wine tasting. It was also a good opportunity to stretch our legs and use the bathroom!
The winery was very nice and we enjoyed the break, but the wine we tasted wasn't anything special and we knew we were flying home in a couple of days, so we didn't actually buy any.
We then drove for another couple of hours first to Santiagp airport and then to the downtown area. We were the last people to be dropped off and we seemed to driving the longest possible way there. Kris was feeling pretty sick by this time and she couldn't wait to check in to our hotel. She went straight to bed and slept for several hours.
Santiago, Chile - January 10 and 11
Next morning Kris was feeling a little better after a good night sleep, so we went for a walk in the downtown of Santiago, which fortunately was right across from our hotel.
The Plaza de Armas is the main square of Santiago, the capital of Chile. Plaza de Armas metro station is located under the square. Surrounding the square are some historic buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago, Central Post Office Building, Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, and the building that serves as the seat of local government for Santiago,
Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Santiago and the main temple of the Catholic Church in that country. As a Cathedral Church, it is the permanent seat of the Archbishop of Santiago and is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
It was built between 1748 and 1906, and designed by Joaquín Toesca and Ignacio Cremonesi. Many temples preceded the one that exists today, the current one being the fifth built on the site.
We also visited the main market. The Mercado Central de Santiago is the central market of Santiago de Chile. It was opened in 1872 and Fermín Vivaceta was in charge of its construction.
The market is housed in a building in which its main feature is a cast-iron roof and supporting structure, which was fabricated by the Scottish firm R Laidlaw & Sons, Glasgow. Edward Woods and Charles Henry Driver took part in the design of the structure.
While it offers produce and souvenirs, it’s known among locals and tourists alike for one main thing: the fish. Every day of the week, this market brims with an unbelievably diverse selection of seafood from South America.
After our self guided walking tour, we returned to the hotel for a rest. In the evening, we went back to The Plaza, thinking it would be full of locals eating and drinking. We were wrong! It was like a ghost town. We managed to find an italian restaurant which was open and dinner consisted of pizza slices, with a drink back at the hotel.
The next day, Kris was still feeling unwell. We had a good breakfast in the hotel and knowing we had a long flight back to the US, we stayed in the hotel all day before leaving for the airport in the early evening. Our flight to Miami and onwards to Orlando was uneventful and we arrived home early the next day.
Page updated
Report abuse