End of our South American Voyage: Chile

Upon sailing out of the southernmost city on the globe and heading through the Beagle Channel, we almost immediately entered Chilean waters.  Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego National Park are shared by Argentina and Chile although most of the park is in Chile.  As we sat at dinner, we marveled at the mountains, some still covered with snow.  Once I even left dinner to go out on deck to take a picture of a beautiful glacier as we sailed past.  Later in the evening, the seas became rather choppy and we wondered if this was the beginning of this monstrous storm the captain had described earlier.

By the time we got up on Saturday morning, we had already anchored in Punta Arenas, our only port on the Chilean mainland.  Punta Arenas is slightly to the north and west of Ushuaia but it’s at the bottom of this unusually shaped, 2700 mile long country.  It’s almost as long as the US is wide but at its widest point, Chile is only 271 miles and its average width is 112 miles.  Unfortunately for us, while we had anticipated docking in Punta Arenas, a schedule change precluded that and we were forced to drop anchor. 

Our shore excursion, Patagonian Experience: Otway Sound and Penguin Reserve had been pushed back a half hour since we were scheduled to arrive at Punta Arenas later than the original itinerary had suggested.  Both Al and Pam had also booked this tour but Al had later been told that this was a complimentary tour for booking through his agent, so he was on a separate bus and a few hours later than our tour.  (Barb and I will be receiving some complementary tours later in the cruise through our AAA booking.)  

As a side note, as we waited for our tour to be called, Pam introduced us to someone she had met, (another) Barb. She had been from Rochester, NY but now lives in Indiana.  We launched into a discussion of Western New York foods like chicken wings, Sahlen hot dogs, and especially “beef on weck”.  All of us said we had to have beef on weck multiple times whenever we made trips back to Western NY. The “new” Barb commented that her nephew is currently a minister in Lancaster.  We asked what denomination, but she didn’t seem to be sure.  So Barb asked if his name was LeBeau.  Our new acquaintance, Barb, said, “That’s my nephew!”  Small world! We then told her that although we’d never met him, we knew the name because he is serving the United Methodist Church in Lancaster, which is where our dad served back in the 1950s and early 60s.  That’s the church we grew up in!  We later commented that this was the third cruise in a row where we met someone with a connection to Lancaster!

We boarded our bus for the approximately 1½ hour drive to the Otway Sound. The first part of the journey was on paved roads but when we turned off, the rest of the drive was on gravel (though not nearly as rugged a drive as we had experienced in the Falklands).

Most of the drive was through barren land that was used for grazing.  We observed several estancias but didn’t see much in the way people or animals except for a few cattle, sheep, and several llamas and alpacas.  Our guide pointed out a condor circling overhead, as well as some upland geese which cooperated sufficiently for most who wanted to capture a picture or two.  She also pointed out a controversial coal mine near the penguin reserve.

By the time we arrived at the penguin reserve, we had driven through a blinding sun, heavy clouds, wind, rain, and rather cold temperatures.  As we got off our bus, it was the wind and clouds with some rain that predominated.  It was a hike out to the see the penguins but it was worth the walk.  Apparently we hadn’t tired of seeing penguins in the Falklands and Antarctica.  Here, we saw more of the burrowing Magellanic penguins, behaving as penguins do, marching around like little soldiers, standing and looking at each other, trying to gain attention of others by opening their beaks, looking skyward, and squawking (trumpeting) as loud as they could.  The sounds reverberate throughout this interesting little community.  We went to a platform that allowed viewing of the penguins at play and swimming in the water.  Even though we had seen so many penguins in the Falklands and Antarctica, we didn’t tire of watching the antics of these birds!  They rank right up there with kangaroos in terms of being fun to watch.  They sure took me back to childhood days reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins!!!!

Although some shore excursions were offered for our extra day in Punta
Arenas, we opted to use it as a free day. For one thing, the weather in Punta Arenas was questionable and changed rapidly.  We went from sunny to rainy to cloudy, back to sunny, rainy, windy, cloudy within minutes.  The two consistent factors were cold and wind, neither of which made for comfortable temperatures.  At breakfast we noticed an interesting phenomenon:  a double rainbow! Not only that, but the second rainbow, somewhat less vivid, was a mirror image of the main one with colors in reverse order.  The weather turned from sunny to rainy so fast in Punta Arenas that we saw more rainbows in two days than I think I have seen in the past year combined.

We decided to take the tender to port and maybe see what internet services were available near the ship.  There was a small information center combined with internet services and gift shop just outside the port where we found we could get WiFi for $1 US for as long as we wanted – a reasonable price for sure!  At first there were three of us there, but as the morning progressed and people from the ship heard about the price, more and more filtered in.  As a result, after having used the computer there for about two hours, we decided to relinquish our space for others.  We had planned to go back into the city again to see if there were shops open on Sunday, but some reported that there was little open, so we gave up and took the tender back.  Besides, the weather continued to change back and forth with the cold and wind continuing to be the constants.

The ship tries to recognize important dates in the US, and Super Bowl Sunday is no exception.  A big Super Bowl party was planned with a pregame “tailgate party” for the Queen’s Lounge, followed by the game on the large screen in the Lounge.  I have to admit neither Giants nor Patriots captivate my interest, so decided to relinquish my seat to fans who cared more about the result.  Had it been a Bills-Bears Super Bowl, that would have been another matter for sure!  Instead, we opted to go to the feature movie shown in the Wajang Theater.  They try to use themes as they plan, so today’s movie was The Express, the story of Syracuse University back, Ernie Davis, who became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.  Many that know me know that I am a Syracuse alumnus and that I graduated in the same class as Ernie Davis!  So Barb, Pam, and I watched it.  I always relive my SU days when I see that movie and its incredibly sad ending.  I had planned to tell Al about it but we actually didn’t see Al all day long!

Finally, late in the day, the captain came on to give us the revised itinerary.  We would leave Punta Arenas, Chile at 5 PM - one day late. We would pretty much skip the Chilean fjords, cut north and then west out into the open Pacific Ocean and head for Easter Island.  We were disappointed to miss the Chilean fjords, as we have traveled through the Alaskan, Norwegian, and New Zealand fjords, and wanted to compare them to Chile’s fjords at the far south of the country. We will arrive at Easter Island a day late, and push everything a day later than originally planned but would skip New Caledonia completely in order to arrive in Sydney as scheduled on February 25.

Monday was a quiet day on the ship.  I guess either everyone was recuperating from partying so hard with Super Bowl festivities(?!), or the pitching and the rolling of the ship. As we looked out at the gray, cloudy skies and the gray seas, the dreary day made us pretty sleepy.  All day we had been rocking and rolling as the waters below us churned.  So far, other than a couple of crashes of broken plates in the LaFontaine Dining Room and the Lido, we have heard of no casualties!  There was though an incident in the tender returning to the ship from Punta Arenas.  Apparently a lady sitting on one of the jump seats on the tender was thrown to the floor as a result of strong wave action.  If we hear the story correctly, she broke both her leg and her hip and had to be removed from the ship.  Another sad story of a wonderful cruise ended too soon.

We did learn recently that the average age on this ship is 68 years old.  I remember that on the South Pacific Grand Voyage we did in 2009, the age was 69.  However in general, I would say that people here seem more agile and physically fit than those on the other trip.  We have observed far fewer wheelchairs and scooters, canes and walkers, than on previous longer cruises.  We had heard that the longer the cruise, the older the clientele but apparently a trip of this length discourages many who are less mobile than those on some of the shorter Grand Voyages.  As one who enjoys a mix of ages and having been around young people virtually our entire lives, we do miss seeing more younger people.

Overnight Monday/Tuesday the high wave action continued although we are finally seeing some blue skies.  We’re hoping for calmer seas later today!

And finally, on a personal note, Pam’s husband, Paul, is scheduled for surgery at Rush Hospital in Chicago tomorrow, February 8.  It had been anticipated that he would be having surgery at some point while she was away.  Pam offered to stay home, but Paul, knowing how Pam had always had the dream of visiting Antarctica, told her not to miss this opportunity.  Barb and I want to extend our good wishes and prayers to both Pam and Paul for a good outcome and know that he is in good hands. They are fortunate that they have such good friends that will be with Paul during surgery and during his recovery.

We gained an hour last night, the first time since before the Falklands.  We are now two hours ahead of Chicago and one ahead of New York.

CT