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SOUTH AMERICA 12/09

Buenos Aires | Iguaza |  Mendosa | To Bariloche | Bariloche Day 1 | Bariloche Day 2 | To Ushuaia | Ushuaia
Voyage on the Beagle Day 1 | Voyage on the Beagle Day 2 | Santiago de Chile Day 1 | Santiago de Chile Day 2
Santiago to Quito | Galapagos Day 1 | Galapagos Day 2 | Galapagos Day 3
Return to Quito Day 1 | Return to Quito Day 2
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10 December 2009      Voyage of the Beagle 2.0 - Day 1

NO INTERNET ABOARD SHIP!!!!!!!!!!

Mark Twain made a statement about New England: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." In Patagonia, you truly only have to wait a minute. As someone else said, Patagonia has all four seasons in one day.

After we boarded the ship and the captain's welcomed us on board and introduced the senior crew staff, we were treated to a tango exhibition. After the exhibition we went to dinner. We had earlier been assigned a table for meals which we were to use during the entire voyage. As luck or coincidence would have it, we got the same table as a German couple who speak fluent English. We'd met them the night before at our hotel. During dinner we cruised to a lighthouse at the end of the Bay and basically backtracked to our starting point where we were boarded by Chilean officials so they could check passports (the tour company handled all that). We sailed back and forth between Argentinean and Chilean waters during the cruise. Then, during the night, we sailed to Cape Horn.

The ship disgorged four Zodiac boats from the cruise ship to the island on which Cape Horn sits (Islas Wollaston), the last piece of land before Antarctica - truly the end of the earth. So to speak, CC went to sea-sea to see-see. I stayed aboard the ship. The travelers climbed 160 stairs to the top of the hill and then another ¼ mile through what Carol described as almost howling gale winds to look at a sculpture erected in honor of mariners and to visit the lighthouse which is also there. It was cold, windy, and slippery. But how many times do you get a chance to see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Pacific and stand on the last piece of inhabited land before Antarctica?

After lunch, we saw a movie on the perils of Shakelton and his failed Antarctic adventure, and heard a lecture on Darwin. The boat docked again at Walaia Bay, a place Darwin had visited and encountered native Patagonians. People who wanted to could take zodiacs to this island as well for a hike along the beach or into the nearby mountains. There was not much to see but a small museum. The evening meal will be followed by another film. We will have travelled 163 nautical miles today.

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Buenos Aires | Iguaza |  Mendosa | To Bariloche | Bariloche Day 1 | Bariloche Day 2 | To Ushuaia | Ushuaia
Voyage on the Beagle Day 1 | Voyage on the Beagle Day 2 | Santiago de Chile Day 1 | Santiago de Chile Day 2
Santiago to Quito | Galapagos Day 1 | Galapagos Day 2 | Galapagos Day 3
Return to Quito Day 1 | Return to Quito Day 2


HOME  |  AUSTRALIA 2003  |  ACROSS AMERICA  |  IMPRESSIONS OF CHINA  |  VIETNAM  |  AFRICA  |  AROUND THE WORLD 2009  |  SOUTH AMERICA 2009  |  LEGENDARY CULTURES 2011
  |  TURKEY AND GREECE  |  CIRCLE THE ARCTIC  |  FRANCE-DENMARK 2016  |  HELSINKI-NORWAY 2016