Feb 20, 2020 - Ushuaia, Argentina

We arrived in Ushuaia at 7 AM. Today we just took a short city tour of this town of 80,000. After that we wandered around the shops before returning to the ship. In the evening we set sail for Punta Arenas, Chile. We are sailing through the Beagle Channel. It is lined with mountains and glaciers. The scenery is beautiful, but it is very cold and windy on the balcony.

Feb 16, 2020 - Sea day and a cooking class

Another sea day, this time with fairly rough seas. We took a Mexican cooking class with the head chef from the Chef's Table. Only 12 people can attend. This restaurant offers a themed 5 course meal that changes every three days. We have been there once and have two more dinners booked. We started off with dessert, since it needed time to bake. Then we mixed up a ceviche with swordfish and a big pot of tortilla soup. While the soup simmered we had a tour of the galley that prepares food for the two specialty restaurants and the main...

Feb 15, 2020 - Puerto Madryn, Argentina

After two days of sea travel, we arrived in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. It was founded in 1865 by a group of Welsh settlers. In the 1970s, the government wanted to encourage settlement in the area, and offered tax free status for a period of 30 years. There are 3 main industries: 1. Aluminium production using bauxite that is imported from Japan 2. Fishing, with squid being the major catch 3. Tourism It is part of the region of Patagonia, 1300k south of Buenos Aires and 1700k north of Ushuaia. Population is sparse and fuel is subsidized...

Feb 11, 2020 - Buenos Aires city tour

Yesterday was a lazy day. Boarding the ship was organized with military precision. We had no lineups at all, yet another ship that was boarding had hordes of people milling about. After settling into our stateroom, we relaxed until it was time for a port lecture, supper, and a tango show. Today we took a city tour, which was included in our fare. We had already seen some of the sites, but it was still nice to get out for a bit. Some highlights: 1. 9 de Julio Ave – a major thoroughfare named in honour of Argentina’s Independence Day, July 9,...

Feb 9, 2020 - Jewish Tour of Buenos Aires

Rabbi Ernesto Yattah picked us up this morning to take us on a Jewish tour of Buenos Aires. He is a very interesting man. His grandparents came here from Syria. The family is very secular, so it caused them some concern when he decided to become a rabbi. The tour included a very intensive history of Argentina starting in the 1500s. The trade and smuggling of silver figured prominently in their rise to power. Plata, the Spanish word for silver is used widely throughout, in names of rivers, towns, and even the name of the country. (argenti,...

Feb 8, 2020 - Tigre Delta and Recoleta Cemetery

Our guide for the day was Nestor, who picked us up at 0930h. Our itinerary included San Isidro, the Tigre Delta, and a visit to the Recoleta cemetery. We began in the beautiful city of San Isidro, which is an affluent part of greater Buenos Aires. The centre of the city has cobbled streets and large mansions, some of which have now been modified into hotels. We walked by the former hone of Luis Verner, the governor of the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) from 1829 to 1831. The original home is gone but a replica has been rebuilt. There is...

Feb 7, 2020 - Puerto Viejo Polo Estancia

Today we visited Puesto Viejo, a polo estancia (farm) about an hour outside Buenos Aires. It is a working ranch that offers polo lessons and hosts matches. The estancia has 6 full size polo pitches and stables for 220 horses. The resident professional, Julio gave us a tour and explained the origins of polo (originally from India) and the breeding of the horses. With current DNA technology, horses can be cloned to be identical, and many do look alike. We visited several horses in their stalls and saw the farrier at work. His whole family is...

Feb 6, 2020 - Back to Buenos Aires

Quiet day today. We were able to sleep in a bit before Marcelo picked us up to take us to the airport. Airport security is much more relaxed than we are used to in North America. No need to remove your liquids or computers, and one woman was surprised she could even bring in a bottle of water. Back at the Mine Hotel for another 4 nights. I feel like it is home. We walked a few blocks to an Italian restaurant for supper at 8. Crossing the street is a heart stopping experience, as cars seem to have the right of way. There were also several...

Feb 5, 2020 - Iguazú-Argentinean side

We had an early start today in order to catch the first train at the park when it opened at 0800. We rode to the last stop where we walked about 1.2k to the top of Devil's Throat. This path is on a catwalk that crosses the river many times. The view is totally different than the one we had from the Brazilian side yesterday. We were well sprayed with mist, not unwelcome on another sweltering day. During our walk back to the train, we passed many coatimundi (coati), an animal related to the raccoon. They are quite pesky, always scrounging for...

Feb 4, 2020 - Iguazú-Brazilian side

Alicia arrived early to take us to the domestic airport, Jorge Newberry. It is pretty big and crowded, but we managed our way through check-in and security. Our guide Marcelo met us at the Iguazu airport and we immediately went to visit the Brazilian side of the falls. It involves a couple of border security checkpoints and he thought it was a good idea to get this part done when it was not so busy. Marcelo has a wealth of information, not just about Iguazu, but about all the flora and fauna that we saw. He said he loved to read, and was...

Feb 3, 2020 - Santiago to Buenos Aires

Arrived in Buenos Aires around 1530 local time. We survived the airport chaos and were driven to our hotel by Alicia. Hablo muy poco Espanol, so there wasn't much conversation. The Mine Hotel is a lovely small building (only 20 rooms) in the Palermo Soho district. We are only here one night, but will return in a couple of days after our trip to Iguazu.

Feb 2, 2020 - YEG-YYZ-SCL

We had an uneventful, but delayed flight from Edmonton to Toronto. Our flight to Santiago was LONG, but I am so glad we had enough points to fly business class. It made the trip much more tolerable, and a dose of Ativan helped me get some sleep. We didn't change planes in Santiago, but border security required us to get off the plane, walk a thousand miles to go through security again and then walk back to board the same plane.