Jan. 7. Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Sunny, 76.

It was a beautiful and early sail into the large bay where the port is located. We broke with our guidelines of not too early and not too long tours today, because our tour was a special one offered by our Travel Agent, starting at 7:15, for 7 1/2 hours! It was to see the “Penguins of Tombo”. The start of the tour was a 1 mile, per my Fitbit, walk down the pier to the bus! The first of the 2 1/2 hour bus ride was on a well maintained 4 lane divided highway, across the steppe-like, barren plains, that had many, many wind farms. The next hour was a 2 lane highway, again across barren plains. The last 1/2 hour was on a dirt road, still barren landscape, but more dune-like. When we finally arrived we had 2 hours to see the largest known colony of Magellanic Penguins. These penguins are 2-2 1/2’ tall and weigh 6-14 lbs. We were high up on a bluff in the barren land, probably 1/2 mile from the ocean.  Who would think a penguin would want to live here? Well there were hundreds and hundreds of them in and around their nests that were burrowed into the landscape. We could also see several down on the beach below. The park had a boardwalk that went for well over a mile across the top of the bluff. The penguins didn’t mind us a bit and just waddled about wherever they wanted. There were several chicks with their mothers too. Also in the area was a large herd of Guanacos, a Llama-like wild animal that inhabits the plains of Argentina. We were not allowed off the boardwalk and the 2 hours was just the right amount of time to take in the birds, the beasts and the scenery. Back at the bus we were given a box lunch, which we didn’t eat, for obvious reasons, for the 2 1/2 hour ride back through the non-scenic landscape. It was cool seeing the penguins and guanacos, but we are all debating if it was worth the 5 hours on the bus! We didn’t get back til after 3pm, so quick grabbed a beer and lunch at the pool grill, as it closes at 4. As it was a long, late day, George and I decided to not get dressed up and stay in with room service. We watched a movie. “Jules”, much like E.T. Fun! 

Update: a day later, the memory of the penguins remains and the memory of the bus ride is gone, so…it was definitely worth going!!

Jan. 8. At sea. 70. Sunny and breezy.

A typical sea day with lots of crazy activities and lectures. We went to a lecture on the history of the Tango, as we will be in Buenos Aries, the birthplace of the Tango, in 2 days. It was fascinating. This incredibly sensual dance actually began as men dancing with men! Lunch by the pool, and relaxing most of the afternoon. I had planned to pack up our winter stuff today, but it’s cooler than yesterday, so I think I’ll wait. We had cocktails on the Splendor Lounge then went to Krew Kapers, the show put on by the crew. We saw it last leg and wouldn’t have gone again, except Barbara, our pool bar waitress, told us she was in it. Pool bar waitress might just be the most important person in our lives right now, so we couldn’t not go. She was in 3 numbers, including a duet Peruvian dance with just her and a partner. We had a great dinner in Prime 7 at our favorite table all the way on the fan tail, where we watch the sunset while enjoying our dinner. After lingering there, we went to the show by a virtuoso violinist. He’s ranked #4 in the world and he was amazing, as was the 10 year old kid/passenger who he brought on stage and did a duo with.  

Jan. 9. Punta Del Este, Uruguay. 80, sunny.

OMG, who would believe it! Uruguay is spectacular. We love it here. This town is a major tourist area with 30 miles (not a typo, 30 miles) of beautiful beaches. The tourist season is only from Dec. through March. The skyline was beautiful new high-rise (20 stories) condos on the beach. There is even a Trump tower! The eco-infra-political-financial-etc. structure of the country lends it to be very almost non-South American. Very little corruption, crime or poverty. We were anchored in the bay along with 2 other cruise ships. We tendered into the local marina that was packed with large-to-mega yachts. Our tour was to two museums, sort of. First we drove by several beaches then through beautiful high end neighborhood en route to the Ralli. Mr. Ralli (apparently so very rich dude) has maybe 5 such museums around the world. It beautiful, free, and this one is dedicated to Latin-American contemporary art. It was lovely. We had 45 mins. to enjoy. Next we drove to “casopueblo museum “.  This was the summer house of an artist now a hotel/museum. This artist was a friend and contemporary of Picasso. We had 45 mins. Here too which really wasn’t enough. We wound our way through the start of the unusual structure and ended up on a patio/bar. So, we split a beer , and it was time to walk back along a beautiful peninsula/cliff to our bus. We had a 270 degree view of beaches, a cove to the north and one to the south. From here we were dropped downtown for another 45 min. but more at the beach than in a shopping district. We went to a beach bar and split a 1 liter beer! Back at the ship, we napped on the balcony in the sun, then cocktails, CR dinner , after dinner drinks and bed!

Jan. 10. Buenos Ares, Argentina. 90. Sunny.

We have woken up to the most spectacular scenery ever since Lima, 3 weeks ago. Today, not so much. We are at a working, major port in a city of 3M. It’s disembarkment/Embarkment day for the 3rd leg of the cruise, so 600 people got off and the 135 of remaining went on tours. Ours was a pretty standard tour “Highlights of Buenos Ares” but it ended up being not so standard. The issue was that at least 3 of the guest on our tour were physically incapable of the amount of walking that was required. Although it wasn’t strenuous , or even required, as they could have stayed on the bus at the 3 stops, these few needed 30 mins. to walk the 10 mins. that the rest of the group of us  25 covered, so it not only stretched a 4 hour tour to 5 hours but really put a damper on the whole tour. The first stop was to the Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita Peron’s  remains as well as several other important historical figures are interned. We lost one passenger in the catacombs of the cemetery, causing us all a 30 min. delay. The next stop was in the Plaza de Mayo with a visit to a cathedral (George and I stayed on the bus). The last stop was to a really fun, funky artisan neighborhood, Camintito Street, that was so crowded with tourists ( a 5,000 passenger MSC ship is docked next to us) that it was hard to really enjoy.  So we didn’t love today and didn’t get a real feel for Buenos Ares. We are overnight here, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.