Punta Arenas has grown impressively since our first visit about 10 years ago – it has expanded into a substantial community, and I am curious as to why? There is no industry that is apparent, so it must be almost entirely based on Antarctic tourism. We tendered into the dock. As soon as we stepped […]
Read moreSome would imagine that the southern tip of the South American continent would be a point of land – in reality the lower portion of South America is a maize of fjords and islands, as the tops of the Andes recede into the sea. This map is the lower few hundred miles of the west […]
Read moreSally and I decided to stay on board today, while Dan and Zaga jumped on a tender and went in to check this port out. All we got in the way of a report, was this picture of two Alpaca. With these last two ports we have begun to enter the “fjord” territory, where the […]
Read moreThis port surprised us. Puerto Montt, and the surrounding area are mountainous and exhibit a very strong German influence. Apparently in the mid 1800s the Chilean government, in an attempt to populate the southern part of their country, created a state sponsored immigration program which saw some 100,000 Germans settle in this area. The moderate […]
Read moreSan Antonio, Chile is a fishing town and is the closest port to the capital, Santiago. We studied the things to see in Santiago and the time required to get there (an hour and a half each way) and decided instead to stay in San Antonio. We also could have gone to Valparaiso, also about […]
Read moreAt this port we have 2 towns to visit. We are docked in Coquimbo, and we can visit the adjoining town of La Serena. We walked a little ways along the dock in Coquimbo and decided to catch a taxi to La Serena. Zaga (our invaluable Spanish speaker) negotiated with a driver to take […]
Read moreLong name for this port, but a very short visit. This is a port 20 miles from anything – not sure what its purpose is. Maybe we have become “too picky”, but we decided to stay on the ship and take the day off. As we arrived, this view confirmed our decision. The only interesting […]
Read moreThis is the first time, in years of cruising, that we have stayed in one port for 3 days. Lima is a huge city and one of the few that we visit which has a serious crime warning from the State Department – 14 muggings per hour in just the neighborhood where we dock. Because […]
Read moreWe are in Manta, Ecuador, which is labeled as a tourist attraction – honestly I fail to see the attraction. Kind of a desolate place. Transportation is somewhat restricted due to a Triathlon which is taking place along the beachfront, so we decided to wait until it finishes to go ashore. We took a shuttle […]
Read moreEven though we have been through the Canal several times, we have never landed in Panama. After exiting on the Pacific side, we docked at the Port for Panama City at about 8 pm – too late to go into town. The next morning we were able to see the ship next to us, the […]
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