Cruise Take 2

Day 5 Thursday 20 Feb at Sea

Day 6 Friday 21 Feb Beagle Channel (glaciers)

The weather was just perfect,
hence some great photographs

This was simply a stunning day, sitting on our balcony and viewing the awesome glaciers as we sailed up the channel and then back down to Ushuaia.

And yes it was very cold.

Day 7 Saturday 22 Feb Ushuaia
Our day started early at 6.30am when we boarded a catamaran for a narrated cruise to explore the stunning landscapes and waterways of the Beagle Channel.   

We stopped up close and personal at a small island full of penguins but were not allowed off the boat to walk among them.   

This was my favourite little guy - he just sat there patiently waiting for mum/dad to come back with dinner.

 

Other sights were Bird Island (full of birds!!!), Sea Wolves Island, where we viewed the delightful sea lions and ‘the Lighthouse at the End of the World’.

 

 

 

Another favourite little guy!

We arrived back at Ushuaia around

midday and explored the man street of the town, having lunch and shopping.   

We also had fun roaming the markets that were around the dock area. Of course the inevitable Irish Pub.

 







 Day 8 Sunday 23 Feb Cape Horn Chile
We may have had some ups and downs on this cruise with mishaps, forecast bad weather and resultant changes in the itinerary.  However, all was forgiven on this magical day. 



The weather was calm and bright which apparently is extremely unusual for the Cape.  It was a photographer’s delight and once again Meg and I enjoyed sitting on our balcony as we ‘rounded the Horn’.  It was early in the morning so some of the photos are a bit dark but some also show sunrise.  Photos do not do justice to the spectacular scenery we enjoyed.  






After passing the Horn we travelled on down the Drake Passage to Schollart Channel and Paradise Bay.  Once again the weather was unbelievably calm.

Day 9 Monday 24 Feb Schollart Channel, Paradise Bay

Once again, stunning scenery and calm weather made it possible for a wonderful time on the balcony taking awesome photos.  Paradise Bay is an inlet carved out of Antarctica’s mainland. Glaciers, wildlife and white terrain.

Day 10 Tuesday 25 Feb Elephant Island

Our weather luck ran out here with fog and very overcast weather.  So viewing the glaciers, penguins and falling ice was not really possible.

Day 11 Wednesday 26 Feb at sea, Day 12 Thursday 27 Feb at sea, Day 13 Friday 28 Feb at sea

Day 14 Saturday 1 March Montevideo

We started off with a walk up the shopping mall and 'flea' markets.  Not sure what the definition of 'flea' market is but this was the most up-market 'markets' I have ever had the pleasure to browse in.  I could have spent thousands of dollars on the beautiful top quality jewellery and other amazing items.

However, I did control myself and only spent just on $200 USD.  However, I have to confess to also spending a further $120 USD in the leather bag and shoe shop.  Not telling what I bought as it is a special present for someone!!!


They have gyms in the park and like everywhere else in the world people love their cats and dogs.






The afternoon saw us on a guided bus tour around the city of Montevideo.

Left is a memorial to the Indigenous people that were wiped out by the French early in their history.

I cannot help but be struck that a city is a city anywhere in the world.  It has its old part and its new part, it has the posh areas and the poor areas and it has McDonalds!

Having said that I did like the ambiance of the city and our guide was an ex history teacher who spoke excellent English.  Uruguay has a fascinating history which I am not going to go into now.

Day 15 Sunday 2 March off the boat at Buenos Aires.  Both Meg and I were very sad to be leaving the Celebrity Infinity and our wonderful cruise.   I am writing this blog at the airport while waiting for our flight to Dubai.

Cruise - Take 1

Day 1 Boarding and leaving Buenos Aires.   We were given good advice and waited until after the morning rush before boarding the ship at around 1.30pm.  This was a painless and reasonably quick process so we were settled in, unpacked and ready to explore by mid-afternoon.  The following photos will give you an idea of how luxurious the ship is.

We left Buenos Aires around 5.00pm

Day 2 and 3 were entirely at sea so Meg had a great time listening to presentations, browsing the shops, going to the evening shows and taking all that is on offer on this amazing ship.  What was I doing you ask?  I was in bed with a chest infection and the only consolation was that I was not missing any of the highlights and I was well enough by Wednesday to go to Port Stanley.

We did have to come to terms with the fact that we should have booked our shore excursions online before we left.  The best ones were booked out and the ultimate best excursion from Port Stanley which was a 2 ½ hour drive to a beach where you could ‘walk among the penguins’ wasn’t even on offer and those that went had booked last November.   Meeting and talking with seasoned travellers has been a learning curve and I am sure our next cruise will be much better researched and organised.

We were also told that due to the extreme weather around Cape Horn and the Drake Passage (110km per hour winds and 9 metre waves) we would not be able to have safe passage to Antarctica.  The new itinerary would see us go directly to Falkland Islands, then cruise the Schollart Channel and Paradise Bay then on to Ushuaia on Sunday - they would add the extra port of Punta Del Este in Uraguay to compensate.

Day 4 Wednesday 19 February – Falkland Islands

Port Stanley is very historical and very English.  It had a lovely ambiance and you felt it would be easy to live and make a life there.  The locals we spoke to said it was a very easy lifestyle, no unemployment, low taxes and good wages.  The only downside appeared to be that it was expensive to go anywhere from the islands.   

We hitched a ride to Gypsy Cove but were not allowed to get off the pathways and go down to the beach where the penguins were.  Much of this part of the island still has the potential for unexploded land mines left over from the Falkland War.  We did see a group of young penguins (shedding their fluff) not far from the pathway and they were just as curious about us as we were about them.

Port Stanley only seems to go up from the port!!

Had fish and chips from the very English Pub!!

As our ship was not scheduled and there was another cruise ship in port we had to be tendered from the ship to the pier.  One of the davits used to secure the tender vessels was damaged by a local bunker barge and it took nearly all night to repair before we could get under way.  Once again we awoke to find a new itinerary in place.  So the upside is that we get to go to Antarctica again and the downside is that they have cut out the port of Puerto Madryn which is one of the two excursions we were able to book and included penguins, elephant seals and sea lions.