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Chile-Argentina 2019

December 2018 - February 2019
Pre-cruise travel in Chile (Santiago, Atacama Desert, Valparaiso); Celebrity Eclipse cruise: San Antonio, Chile, around the Cape to Buenos Aires, Argentina with various ports of call; post-cruise travel in Argentina. Read more
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  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    1
    Day 11

    Day 8 - Coast and Inland

    January 6, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    The day dawned overcast but our host said it would clear up after noon. A continental breakfast and directions saw us on the way to find a camera. We dropped Gail's camera flying up to the Atacama and she found a Canon dealer in the sister city of Vina del Mar on the other side of the harbor. This turned out to be closed on Saturday but asking got me directions to a large mall. The mall was several floors of gleaming, modern shops and we found a slightly newer model of the same camera and bought it (at a slightly cheaper price than what we'd paid for the old one).

    We drove up the coast to see the beaches. Getting out of Vina del Mar involved lots of turns to get past the rivers that flow into the harbor and the road was busy with locals heading the same way. We were disappointed as we discovered the road stayed somewhat inland behind huge dunes (70 to 100 feet high) by the shore. The two-lane road lead through highly industrialized suburbs with oil refineries, metal fabrication factories and processing plants. Traffic moved well after a delay for some construction but it was a good hour before we left the industrial area and neared the coast. Like the weather, the road reminded us of coastal northern California as it wound up and down curving roads following the stream valleys in and out. There are several large beach communities and many Chileans have or rent summer cottages along here, including some exclusive gated developments. We parked at the square of the northernmost town, Papudo, and strolled around the square and down to the beach. The strand was crowded with weekend visitors camped on the beach under umbrellas and walking the cement boardwalks. Along the boardwalks small shops sold beachwear and toys while pushcart vendors sold peanuts, candy and more toys. In one place, a group of Caribbeans (?) played music and danced with enthusiasm to celebrate the weekend. We stopped at a beachside restaurant to share a delicious ceviche as we people watched.

    Rather than return the same way, we drove inland and took a freeway south. The weather had cleared up and a hazy sun accompanied us back. The freeway passed through mildly farmed valleys until we turned back to the coast at La Calera. The broad valley between there and the coast was heavily farmed with fields of vegetables and fruit trees spread across the valley and climbed the hillsides. We made our way through the maze of Valparaiso cobblestone streets back to our hotel.

    In the early evening (around 8:00, early for the locals), we strolled around the blocks near the hotel looking at the street art and small shops. In the area are numerous small hotels and hostels and foreign and Chilean tourists were doing the strolling. We liked the bistro from last night (Vinilo) so much that we went back again. Over an hour and a half we sipped a huge beer and shared some dishes from the menu while a lone guitarist play a couple acoustic numbers and then the night's main band set up. The wait staff remembered us from last night and chatted with us as they served others. We asked for recommendations on Chilean dishes to sample. We had a Pauela de Choclo that we'd seen last night. This is a baked casserole served bubbling hot from the oven consisting of the large-kernnel, white corn (choclo) with olives, onions, green peppers, egg and cheese - great! Then a Churasca, which turned out to be a thin crust pizza but with local cheese and meat. We topped it off with a brownie with ice cream as the jazz trio began to play. Back at the hotel, we let the meal settle and bedded.

    Tomorrow to the cruise ship.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    1
    Day 12

    Day 9 - On Board

    January 7, 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌙 54 °F

    The day dawned brightly for leaving Valparaiso. We had breakfast and left the hotel. A wrong turn led us up into the hills trying to find the road to Santiago but cranking up the GPS got us on track. We drove up through the Casablanca valley and into Santiago to drop off the rental car and meet our driver for the hour an a half trip to San Antonio. That drive took us through a very productive region with vegetable and fruit farms interspersed with cattle ranches. The port of San Antonio is relatively small but busy and crowded. Checkin for the cruise is much like checking in to a flight - just a lot more people (think checking in 3,000 passengers). Still, we completed the process in little over an hour and we in our stateroom by about 3:30. We unpacked then attended the mandatory evacuation drill.

    The Celebrity Eclipse is a huge boat. At almost 1,100 feet, it's three football fields (including end zones) long and 120 feet wide. It has 15 decks and holds 2,850 passengers. Walking around you can hear many languages but most programs and announcements are in English. Some announcements are also in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

    The ship sailed at 6:00 and we watched from our stateroom veranda. The San Antonio port is narrow and the ship had a pilot boat and a tugboat to help it clear the quays. As we pulled our, several small tourist boats filled with people came our to watch.

    Once underway, we attended a comedy show by an American, black comic, Daran Howard. He was ok but some of the references to black culture went over the heads of the international audience. We cruised south staying about a mile off the coast. We had a late (8:30) seating for dinner and waited to be seated with 1,000 other people. Our table mates (for the entire trip) were a couple from Germany and a couple from Lodi, CA. Hans, the German man, had been in the merchant marine and remarked on how skillfully the captain had handled the exit from the narrow harbor. Fred, the California man, turned out to be a civil engineer, like me, and Hans was a mechanical engineer. Fred's wife, Silvia, was originally from Peru but had been a teacher in the states, as had been Gail. Didn't learn what Hotie, Hans' wife, did.

    Dinner and our conversations lasted until 10:30 so we so called it a day.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 13

    Day 10 - Cruising the Chile Coast

    January 8, 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 46 °F

    Today was a day at sea as the Eclipse sailed from San Antonio to Puerto Montt. We explored the ship and attended some of the events on board.

    Breakfast was a huge buffet with just about anything imaginable. Food on board is free and plentiful. The joke is that you come on as a passenger but leave as cargo.

    We sat in on an art history lecture covering 30,000 years of art in 30 minutes. That was interesting and Gail stayed in the art gallery (yes, on board art gallery!) to listen to the art auction. We ate too much at the lunch buffet and walked the decks to explore the ship. We were out in open waters several miles offshore and the sea was a bit rough. The ship rocks, sometimes from side to side, other times aft to stern. The rock is noticeable but not too bad - more pronounced on the upper decks.

    If you haven't been on a cruise, you can think of the boat as an upscale hotel for 3,000. The upper decks (of the 15) are for activities. There are several pools and half a dozen hot tubs, a complete spa and fitness center, and a putting green. Mingled with the state rooms on the middle decks are a library, card room, internet lounge, and photo gallery and studio. There is a full casino with slots, black jack, and hold 'em tables. There are a range of (very upscale) shops selling jewelry, perfume, watches, handbags, clothing, and much else. There are several liquor and wine shops. (There are many, seemingly hardcore drinkers on board and the cruise sells four drink purchase plans, since the drinks are not free, even such mundane beverages as seltzer water and soft drinks - water tea and coffee are free). The ship has two theaters - a large (500+-seat) stage theater for performances and a smaller movie theater. There is also a medical center. During the day and into the night there is live and DJ'd music at different locations by different types of bands and solo performers - from R&R to classical. Each evening, they put on a major show on the big stage. Tonight it is a multi-instrumentalist. Getting around the shop (up and down) is by means of six, central elevators plus four more up front. There are also two wide stairs.

    I have an enormous appreciation of the complex logistics of putting together a cruise - getting all the passengers on and off; procuring, preparing and serving food to the captive audience and doing all this day-after-day at 10 different foreign ports. It's quite an operation which, for the most part, runs smoothly.

    The weather got worse as afternoon turned to evening with rain squalls, wind and choppy seas. This made the swaying more pronounced, even when sitting down, but it still wasn't bad. We attended the performance, a Chilean rocker who led the house band in many well-known hits and really charged up the house. We know from a past cruise that they always have top talent for these shows. With an early morning port call tomorrow in Puerto Montt, we skipped the big, late dinner and settled for a light soup from the buffet.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 14

    Day 11 - Lake and Volcanoes

    January 9, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    Up early for continental breakfast then line up for tender tickets as we docked in Puerto Montt. The port does not have a bearth long enough for the Eclipse, so to go ashore, we take the tenders, lifeboats acting as water taxis. We were invited to jump the queue because we were ready to go immediately. The tenders hold about 120 people each and the ship deployed four to ferry us to the dock. The ride was smooth and quick (10 minutes).

    At the Celebrity dock, the shore staff guided us out into the Chilean port. Our tour guide was to meet us outside the port gate and she was waiting as a brief shower passed over. We were early so sat in the lobby of the port building to wait. Right on time, we loaded the 30-passenger bus with the rest of our tour group and took off. Darla, our guide, kept up a running commentary of what we saw as we passed through Puerto Montt and on the rest of our trip.

    Puerto Montt is the gateway to Patagonia, the southern Andes highlands, shared with Argentina. It is a large, fairly modern city and a big port. The Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960, created a tsunami that wiped out most of the town. The people have rebuilt and it seemed a thriving city as we drove through it. We headed out of the city, climbing past a colorful folk art painted wall.

    Along the whole drive from around the area, the land is heavily and productively farmed using up-to-date methods. There are grain fields, vegetable farms, fruit orchards, cattle ranches, and other crops. The area was settled by German Lutherans fleeing persecution and economic hardship in the 1840s onwards. The architecture is very German. The drive throughout the day was sometimes in rain. Short showers came and went, usually lasting only five to ten minutes. At one point, hail spattered the bus and ground for 15 seconds.

    The hills and mountains rose up as we went inland to Lake Llanquihue, a huge glacial lake. Puerto Varas is on the shore of the lake, a short 30 minutes away from Pto. Montt. We continued through Pto. Varas to Rosales National Park . The 15 minute drive along the lake was beautiful. The towering Osorno Volcano rose up, snow-topped, its peak hidden by clouds ahead to the left, on the lakeside. Rising up on the inland side was the Calbuco Volcano.

    The Petrohue Falls are between the two volcanoes. This is a falls on the glacial fed Petrohue River. A short walk over well marked and crowded paths opens onto to the rushing, intensely aqua river crashing and swishing over and through the old volcanic basalt. The river drains a glacial lake high up between volcanoes.

    We went back along Lake Llanquihue the way we'd come to Pto. Varas. We stopped in town for a half hour look around then to a parking lot on the lakeside where our guide and driver served us homemade empanadas and Chilean wine. Best empanadas we've had and a great wine.

    The tour took us to the small town of Fruitilla while Darla continued to explain the German heritage of th he area. Another of the German settlments along the Llanquihue, Fruitilla is only two long streets on the lakeside but it is known for its kuchen and struddle and theater. We carried out a blueberry kuchen and tea and coffee from a packed, tiny bakery and ate under the eves of the theater-on-the-lake while another shower passed. The theater is a modern building that produces many shows and holds classes.

    The bus took us back to Pto. Montt and left us at the passenger terminal where we got the tender back to the Eclipse.

    In the evening, we took in the show before dinner. The stage hosted Teacake, the "Duchess of Soul." She did a tribute set to Areatha Franklin and Whitney Houston. She was great! We lingered over dinner with our table mates, talking about our common but coincidental professions (3 engineers and 3 educators) and our German ancestry.

    Tomorrow and the next are days at sea.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 16

    Day 13 - Magellen Channel

    January 11, 2019, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌧 50 °F

    The day was overcast with clouds as we steamed out of the protected waters of the channels and across a large gulf toward open waters. We were close to shore through narrow channels as we had breakfast but soon sailed into the gulf. The captain's announcement told us the sea would get rough just after lunch and the outdoor deck areas would be closed. We stayed in the room most of the morning as we left the islands, the clouds lowered and started to rain, and the waves hit bigger. I was tracking our progress on my GPS.

    Around 1:00 PM, the ship enter a strong current heading north (the Humbolt?) and the wind came howling from the west. We tacked across the current with the ship heeled over at maybe 7 degrees. I walked around the decks. You had to walk at an angle against the steady tilt. Up in the buffet, drinks slid off the tables and some of the presentation trays slid off their stands. As the captain said, the rough seas lasted about 45 minutes. We came out of the current and into somewhat calmer waters where the ship rolled from side to side but wasn't heeled over. We were maybe 20 miles out to sea and turned south and east towards the Magellan channel. Later, Gail and I walked around the ship and had a drink in the Grand Foyer as one of the bands played. We sat in the library a while after hearing the announcement that, because of the rough seas, the dance/musical show would be delayed. We ate at the buffet then went to the early show as the seas calmed.

    The house orchestra and performance troupe put on a high-energy, movement-filled rock tribute musical. They also had acrobats and strong man acts mingled with the dance and music numbers. We had to stand because every seat was filled with many people standing. A great show!

    The weather was still poor as we turned in. Tomorrow Punta Arenas!    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    11
    Day 16

    Day 12 - Into the Fjords

    January 11, 2019 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 45 °F

    Overnight the Eclipse threaded it's way through several channels in the beginning of the Chilean fjords. Through the Cocovado channel just after midnight, the narrow Morales channel just before dawn and out to open sea through the Ninualac channel with the morning sun behind us as we ate breakfast. We cruised along the coast toward the head outside the Gulf of Penas, which we reached by mid afternoon. We crossed the Gulf, staying on the seaward side rather than take the more sheltered inner channel passage. The cruise continued overnight just off the westernmost islands before entering more channels and fjords next morning.

    Being at sea left us hanging out all day. The cruise publishes a daily, four-page newsletter that briefly highlights the next day's news and hour-by-hour events, as well as the operating hours of the bars, restaurants and shops. We use it to plan our days. Today's weather was low clouds and breezy, with the sun breaking through occsionally.

    After breakfast, we walked the decks then relaxed in the top deck sky lounge. This glass-enclosed lounge is as far forward as you can be and it was crowded with other guests doing the same. We moved to the room so Gail could get warm. It's chilly outside (lower 50s) and the public areas are often drafty with people going in and out. In the room, I caught up blogging and tracked out cruise progress while Gail read and did her puzzles, occasionally stepping onto the 6x9 veranda to take pictures of some of the shore sliding by.

    After lunch, Gail went to a glass blowing demonstration. The ship has a resident glass blowing workshop that offers demos and make-your-own classes.

    It was a lazy day with not a lot to do. We skipped dinner to go to a movie, Bohemian Rhapsody (the story of Freddy Mercury and Queen), showing in the smaller theater. Just a couple days ago, the movie won Best Picture and Best Actor at the Golden Globe awards. It was very well done and worthy of note. We grabbed some pizza at the buffet as they closed. I'd been wanting to try one of the whiskey tastings and tonight seemed like the night to do it so we went to one of the swanky bars. The bartender set out three highland single malts and explained the aging process for each. He poured a half shot of each and I spent a good hour sipping and judging them. Good fun!

    The interior corridors of the ship are decorated with art. Pictures and photos line the stateroom corridors and larger paintings and mixed media art hang from the stairwells and elevator bank foyers. In the more open areas, small and medium sculptures greet you. Each art work has a plaque giving the artist, media and a bit of explanation. The floors are carpeted and everything is brightly but indirectly lit.

    The ship's crew is well-trained and efficient. They are ubiquitous. Everyone is acutely aware if the recent bacterial disease outbreaks on cruise ships so there are sanitizer stations all over and a crew member greets you at the entrance to the buffets and restaurants with a squirter to splash a dollop of sanitizer in you hands as you come in.

    We continue to cruise overnight and all day tomorrow as we enter more fjords on our way to Punta Arenas.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 17

    Day 14 - Punta Arenas

    January 12, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 41 °F

    A sunny, clear day greeted us as we woke in Punta Arenas. We had a tour planned in town so, after breakfast, we took the tender to the port. We met our tour guide, she gathered our busload and we loaded.

    Punta Arenas is a city of 170,000 and the embarkation point for travelers to Antarctica. It is the largest city in the region and its commercial hub. That said, there isn't much there. It's a modern city that grew from the original settlers in the mid-1820s. Our tour drove through the city and up to an overlook. It is WINDY! In summer, the winds are constant and strong - speeds up to 70 mph are not rare. Today was no exception and everyone fought to stay upright. The temperature was in the 50s so it wasn't cold.

    After pictures at the observation point, we stopped for a tour of the central square with commercial and government buildings on all sides of a green park with statues of the founders and small kiosks. Next to the Regional Salesian Museum to see the religious order's collection of artifacts. The order has done missionary work in the region since the late 19th century and the (often dusty) displays give examples of the history, ecology, and anthropology of the Magallene Region.

    Our final stop was the Explorer's Monument on the Straits of Magallen shore. The bus dropped us at the port where we caught the tender back to the Eclipse. Had lunch and relaxed in the cabin until we upped anchor and sailed about 6:00 pm.

    We went to the show, a great pianist backed by the house orchestra put on an enthusiastic performance of known standards. After dinner with our table mates, we crashed.

    Overnight, some glaciers and into Argentina to Ushuaia.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 17

    Day 15 - Glaciers and the End

    January 12, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 43 °F

    The daily newsletter told us we'd be passing glaciers as we cruised through the Beagle Channel on our way to Ushuaia. Getting up about 4:00, we saw several glaciers in the gradually brightening morning light. It's summer here and sunrise is about 5:00, sunset about 10:00 PM. At 4:00, it was already light enough to see the mountains plunging into the Channel only a quarter mile or less from the port side (left side).
    Our stateroom is on the port side so we could look out the veranda sliding door at the rock and ice gliding by. The clouds hovered only a thousand feet or less but there was enough light to see glaciers against the dark mountains. For an hour or more, we saw half a dozen or so rivers of ice flowing down the mountains. One tall, blue one emptied right into the Channel only 500 feet off the ship. A fantastic sight to wake up to.

    A bit later after breakfast we docked in Ushuaia. The city is the furthest south city in the world and our first port in Argentina. There is a Chilean town of about 2,000 a bit further south but Ushuaia is a major metro area of 70,000 plus. The Eclipse actually docked at a pier so we didn't need to tender to shore. Soon after we docked, we left the ship and boarded a large bus for our "Drive to the End of the World" excursion.

    Our excursion started off just after 10:00. Our guide, Olna, kept up a running description in excellent English of what we were seeing as we drove out of the city and into Tierra del Fuego Nat'l Park.

    The largest industry in Ushuaia is electronics assembly. They assemble components made in China and elsewhere into finished products for domestic consumption. The second largest industry is tourism. The city is only 750 miles from Antartica and tours and resupply mission leave here regularly. The southernmost peaks of the Andes range surround the city on three sides with the Beagle Channel and its Pacific Ocean currents on the fourth side. These peaks exhibit the classic glacial features like cirques below the jagged tops, U-shaped valleys, and hanging waterfalls.

    Our tour took us to the Park, about 12 miles west of the city. It was cold (about 40), very windy and sprinkling rain. Everyone was as bundled up as possible. I wore the long underwear I'd brought specifically for this purpose and was toasty.The huge park stretches to the Chilean border further west. There is evidence of human passage here as far back as 10,000 BC and human settlement as long as 6,300 years ago. The indigenous peoples here when the Europeans arrived were wiped out by introduced diseases or hunted to extinction- sounds familiar.

    We got out at the ""Post Office at the End of the World" to take pics and walk a trail on the shore. Next the bus took us to Lake Roca where we did more pics and a nature walk with Olna. She explained the trees and animals and we saw a family of kelp geese. Olna kept explaining things and showed pictures of some things for better explanation. We stopped at the interpretive center then continued to the end of the Pan American highway. This road runs from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to here in Tierra del Feugo. A walk on a wooden boardwalk over the peat bog took us to a viewpoint overlooking the bay and the Beagle Channel. Then it was back into town and the end of our excursion - one well worth taking.

    On board, we had lunch and relaxed. We went to an upper deck to watch the ship pull out of port but saw people still coming back. The wind on the pier was so fierce that the port police were escorting some people across the windswept pier to keep them from falling! We attended the show - a Canadian singer who gave a powerful performance. At the end of the show, the cruise director came on stage to announce that the ship hadn't left, yet, because the harbor was closed because of high winds. Later, as we ate with our table mates, the captain announced we were underway and would maintain our previous schedule.

    Tomorrow Cape Horn and out to sea.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 19

    Day 16 - Cape Horn and North

    January 14, 2019, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    The captain, in his evening address as we left Ushuaia, advised us that the sess would be rough overnight - swells 9 to 12 feet. They were. Laying in the bed in the early morning, the ship pitched and jumped as it ploughed through the waves on our approach to Cape Horn.

    We reached the Cape about 7:30 am. The Cape is the southernmost tip of the South American continent and the northern extent of the Drake Passage - the 500-mile expanse between South America and Antarctica. The Cape is Chilean territory and the military maintains an outpost with a lighthouse, housing and chapel here. The Eclipse pulled along side the island and held position while passengers flocked to the portside decks to look and take pictures. In addition to the military outpost, there is a large memorial sculpture commemorating those sailors who lost there lives trying to "round the horn." The sculpture is the outline of an albatross, created by a Chilean sculptor. The seas had calmed somewhat but it was still moderately rough with swells around 8 feet.

    After maybe 15 minutes, the captain turned us north to start up the Argentine coast. Today and tomorrow are sea days before we reach our first mainland Argentine port Puerto Madryn. We had breakfast and returned to the room.

    Didn't do a lot the rest of the day. Spent time in the room reading and looking out at the improving weather. The ship cleared the eastern toe of Tierra del Fuego and headed north into open waters. The seas grew gradually calmer as we cruised. It was still chilly on deck with a strong wind.

    The evening's show was a powerful singer who did international standards from the 50s and 60s. We'd made reservations at one of the specialty restaurants, Tuscan Grille. There are five specialty eateries if you are tired of the buffet or grand dining room (and don't mind paying for you dinner). We had a great meal sitting at the very back of the ship with the propeller wake streaming behind us.

    Tomorrow another sea day steaming north.    Read more

  • TravelerChile-Argentina 2019
    Day 20

    Day 17 - North to Puerto Madryn

    January 15, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    We slept in somewhat (to 7:00, after several days getting up early for sights) and did breakfast. We're steaming north across the open Atlantic, making for tomorrow's port, Puerto Madryn.

    The cruise had two enrichment programs this morning. One was on seals and sea lions, how to distinguish them and where to find them. The other on what to do and see in Puerto Madryn. We had been disappointed that there weren't more programs earlier in the cruise and I turned in a comment from mentioning that. The programs were good and welcome.

    The weather was getting warmer and the seas quite calm as we continued north out in the Atlantic. We sat out on the very forward upper deck watching for whales. Many people had spotted them but we'd not. There was little wind and the sun was bright so it was actually hot sitting there. We spotted a couple of spouts a ways off but no sure sighting.

    Went for something light at the buffet. The buffet is always busy and interesting. Interesting for the food. The buffet has over a dozen serving tables and features a constantly changing selection of food. Some serving tables feature ethnic cuisine (American, Indian, Asian, Mexican, among them). There's a salad bar (or two), a bread table, and two beverage stations (coffee, tea, water and some juices). Although the buffet publishes hours for meals, in actuality, it's always open. As the staff clears out one meal serving, it is also laying out th the next. Even overnight, the beverage stations are open. The other interesting part of the buffet is the people. We almost always share a table and chat with those around us - most everyone is willing to chat. We've talked with folks from Sweden, South Africa, India. Poland, Chile, Argentina, Cananda, and more. Always interesting.

    The evening show was another high energy performance by the cruise's performance troupe. The did a Mozart-themed show with dance, singing, and acrobatics. It was sort of a fusion of Broadway meets Circque de Soleil. Very good, especially given the small stage.

    Another enjoyable dinner with our table mates and to bed.

    Tomorrow Puerto Madryn.    Read more

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