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Patagonia 2018

November - December 2018
Guanacos and glaciers and penguins...oh my! Read more
  • 18footprints
  • 3countries
  • 21days
  • 157photos
  • 1videos
  • 18.1kmiles
  • 16.4kmiles
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  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    11
    Day 20

    Winding Down

    December 17, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    All good things come to an end...that's part of what makes them "good things", right? On our last day in Montevideo, it rained most of the morning and we used the downtime to pack and visit with Juliana and Augusto, her "brother" from her host family. Then we took another long walk around town and on the Rambla (got to get those steps in!) and Ubur-ed over to the original and still used football stadium (built in 1930 in just 40 days in time for the first World Cup) and museum celebrating the world's favorite sport.

    OK, World Cup fans. Who scored the winning goal in the historic 1950 Uruguay-Brazil match? Did you guess Uruguay's Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia? He's another national hero.

    Tonight we head home. It's been a whirlwind 20 days for us. We're grateful we could make this once-in-a-lifetime trip. We appreciate so much Juliana's willingness to plan a really interesting Montevideo itinerary and keep an eye on her often out of synch grandparents.

    And we're so honored by all of you who took the time to read this, look at the photos, and include your comments.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    1
    Day 19

    First Tango in Uruguay

    December 16, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    In yesterday's "footprint"--that's FindPenguins speak for "blog entry"--I included a photo of Palacio Salvo. Today we toured that same ornate 30-story building, constructed in just five years and completed in 1928. Afterward, in the ground floor Tango Museum, we learned about the somewhat unseemly origins of this sultry dance and its first composer (his sister helped, but wanted no credit), Uruguayan Matos Rodriguez.

    At a restaurant for lunch, I finally had the chance to use my most practiced Spanish phrase: "¿Dónde está el baño?" I was very proud. 😊

    The day was very warm, probably mid-80s. For our finishing flurry, we headed back to the Rambla to watch the sunset and dip our toes in the river. I thought there'd be just a few observers, but the area was thronged with people riding carnival rides, browsing the wares of craft vendors, wiggling their behinds to some catchy Carnival-style drumming, and lined up at McDonald's for a late-night beef fix.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    211111
    Day 18

    A Day Around Town

    December 15, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We rambled on the Rambla today, which is "the avenue that goes all along the coastline of Montevideo, Uruguay, and also the longest continuous sidewalk in the world." (So sayeth the Wiki.)

    It was a lovely day in this European-feeling city, probably near 75° with definitely enough UV for a sunburn. Hard to believe it's a week before Christmas. Caught a parrot building a nest in a palm tree, walked through a memorial to revered national hero José Gervasio Artigas, self-toured the Teatro Solis opera house, enjoyed casual meals outdoors, and, dare I say, visited a shopping mall. Julie accomplished 12,494 fitness steps!

    Most importantly, it was time spent with Juliana.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    1
    Day 17

    On the River of Silver

    December 14, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Imagine the common air traveler: Getting to the airport early after a so-so night's sleep waiting for the alarm to sound, waiting in line at the airport to check in, waiting in a security queue, waiting to board the plane then sitting back down to wait another hour when the flight is delayed, waiting...waiting... It doesn't matter where you travel, it's pretty much the same. And I do know...it could be worse. 😏

    But we made it to Montevideo, Uruguay (yay!), a broad city of nearly 1.5 million people on the Río de la Plata (River of Silver)--the widest river in the world--and we are grateful. We were welcomed into the temporary home of our granddaughter, Juliana, who is on a university exchange here. Wonderful to see her after four months away from Corvallis. We caught up over wine and dinner, then dropped hard into slumber, all content.

    Our photo of the day is a downtown Montevideo restaurant recommendation from a fellow flyer.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    111
    Day 16

    Last Day in Ushuaia

    December 13, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Spring rain this morning allowed time just to sit and play cards, and look up at the mountains from the kitchen window. We speculated about what it would be like to live here in winter (when average daily temperatures are 28-37° F and days are very short). Traveling lets you get outside of your normal routines and open up to new experiences, but it also provides incentive to look inside and examine why and how you live your life, what and who you value, and to wonder about the lives of others. Good to do that once in a while.

    We're shifting into transit mode again as tomorrow we fly to Buenas Aires and then on to Montevideo, Uruguay, so this afternoon we walked casually around town, took a few more photos, and shopped a bit. Eventually, the sun came out and it warmed up, so we walked to Maria Lola Restaurant for a fine final dinner and a beautiful sunset.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    1
    Day 15

    On the Loose

    December 12, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We considered our touring options today and decided on a morning walk through town to the maritime and prison museums. The former features naval history with many small models of sailing ships that rounded the Horn or ended their nautical lives as shipwrecks. Amundsen and Shackleton get honorable mention. The latter museum commemorates Ushuaia's first non-native inhabitants, sent by the federal government to build their own prison and establish a presence in the southern part of Argentina...a story somewhat similar to the "civilizing" of Australia.

    Architecture here is mostly nondescript, with a bit of Swiss ski town ambience. Much of the siding and roofing we've seen in Chile and Argentina, especially on older houses, is galvanized steel.

    For a low-key afternoon outing we took a relaxing train ride on El Tren del Fin del Mundo (everything is fin del mundo around here!) through the public part of Tierra del Fuego national park. Most of the park is protected and off limits. The choo-choo was Morris Mini-size (500 mm gauge for you train buffs) with a steamy "little engine that could" covering 14 flat kilometers in two hours. We saw quite a few beautiful but not wild horses in the park that we photographed expressly for Camille.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    1
    Day 14

    Ushuaia: Starting Point for Antarctica

    December 11, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    We are in Argentina! We left the ship at about 9:00 a.m., then wandered around near the port to find cash and a SIM card. Ah, the trivial affairs of travel. Meanwhile, the Martial Mountains above watch like silent gods everything that happens on the streets, the harbor and the Beagle Channel beyond

    A brief digression: Using a mobile phone SIM card is not always a straight-forward process. In the latest case, we received the free card after the Movistar agent entered our passport numbers into the government registery. Then we had to find a small grocery store to buy credit so we could make calls and use the Internet. That wasn't easy, but eventually we found one. What doesn't happen automatically, despite their claims, is the account setup on your phone--the APN. It took two days to figure out how to do it after I finally found the info online via wi-fi.

    The rest of today we visited museums, the grocery store, and a couple of restaurants, and admired the rainbow variety of lupine here, the poppies, the Scotch broom or gorse (not sure which) that seems to substitute for forsythia in people's gardens, and dandelions.

    Oh, and did I mention that our Airbnb apartment is fantástico!!    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    1
    Day 13

    Fin del Mundo--End of the World

    December 10, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We sailed to Cape Horn overnight and jumped in our zodiacs before breakfast for a stroll on Hornos Island (latitude: -55° 56' 29.99" and longitude: -67° 16' 9.00" W...check it out!). It looked much like the Oregon Coast, complete with drizzle. Seas were surprisingly calm for an area with an historically wild and crazy reputation.

    Later in the day we went ashore at Walaia Bay in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and learned more about the nomadic Yaghan (Yamana) indigenous people who once lived there and were decimated by pious intentions, European diseases, and conflicting world views--an all too familiar story.

    We have been blessed with great weather to this point. The temperature at 4:00 p.m. was 58°--still normal.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    Day 12

    Glaciers Galore

    December 9, 2018 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    It was sunny and 53° F at Pia Glacier this afternoon...here in South America just 600 miles from the Antarctic continent! Turns out it's the normal temperature for this time of year. (We could have packed less cold-weather gear.) The active glacier calved a blink-and-you-missed-it offspring, which quickly disappeared in the bay.

    Back on board, we cruised along "glacier alley" on the Beagle Channel. (Darwin fans can guess the origin of its moniker). "Most of these glaciers were named in memory of the nationalities of early European navigators – Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Holland", says our informative handout.    Read more

  • TravelerPatagonia 2018
    211
    Day 11

    Pingüinos!

    December 8, 2018 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    Our little ship plied the glacier-ground fjords of the Magellan Strait overnight and presented us with our first morning excursion on zodiacs: Ainsworth Bay. Like tenderfoot commandos (in fluorescent orange life jackets), we tentatively stormed the beach in broad daylight to investigate the flora and discuss the climate, all under the watchful eye of Ainsworth Glacier.

    The highlight, though, was seeing the penguins...at Ieast for me. These are photos and a video of some of the 4000 Magellanic (pronounced mah-heh-yahn'-ik in Spanish) penguins living on one of Tucker's Islets in the Magellan Strait. We remained on the zodiac so we wouldn't disturb them, and that accounts for some of the video's bumpiness. They all seemed to be hanging out waiting for the bus!

    So formal in their tuxes and, yes, neighborly, the penguins share their island with a colony of cormorants.    Read more

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