Hola

As we have not had much internet for over 10 days, lots has happened, so will send a couple of entries from the southern tip of South America.  Happy New Year from Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world where we are spending New Year’s Eve in a local bar in port. 

Check in and boarding the Zaandam at the dock in Buenos Aires quite close to downtown, and our home for the next 3 weeks, was quite smooth and our ocean view cabins are fine.  The ship is one of their smallest and oldest so scheduled for a refit next year which will hopefully update all amenities. Not a full cruise with close to 1,300 with many Americans aboard, being a Holland America ship, and plenty from Europe, Canada and of course Australia and New Zealand.  

Getting acquainted with the ship layout was not too hard as it’s quite compact, and quickly worked out the various bars and when they had Happy Hour.   As we stayed in Port the first night, had a free day in Buenos Aires next day  so went walking and discovering parts of the city we had previously missed. Overnight sail across the River Platte to Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, where we arrived early morning, docked right beside the old city.   Did a Pilates class on the ship in the morning before breakfast with Montevideo a lovely backdrop.  Walked around the city for a few hours til a big rainstorm sent me scurrying wet and bedraggled back to the ship for afternoon tea in the dining room.

That night was a little rough, but the travel meds I have seem to work a treat.  Our first sea day was spent attending many interesting lectures about the upcoming ports of call and the Antarctic.  In Puerto Madryn in Patagonia we took a small group tour to a private estancia about 70km away to visit their Magellanic penguin colony.  The road was rough gravel across extremely dry and rugged scrubby terrain - very few trees as not enough water to sustain them unless there’s a freshwater spring on a property. On the way saw quite a few guanacos, a relative of the llama, and some native ostriches.  All shaken up by the drive, we walked about 1km down to the pebble beach and encountered plenty of penguins nesting under bushes with their cute new chicks,  and more lined up along the shoreline deciding when to take the plunge into the sea.  Had plenty of time to enjoy watching them before a late lunch of bbq local lamb.  Of course, still managed dinner on board that night.  

Another day at sea, more informative lectures on Antarctica and walking around the deck for some exercise -  3.5 laps is 1.6km.  Calm seas made for an early arrival at Falkland Islands where we took tenders for the 20 minute ride to Port Stanley, very lucky as sometimes too rough to visit. The Ocean Princess was also in port, so it was a very busy day in Port Stanley catering to all the visitors who outnumbered the locals of which there are just over 3,000.  Lovely to see red telephone boxes and letterbox pillars, driving on the left, British accents and tap and go credit card transactions in this remote outpost.  Did a tour to a private farm at Bluff Cove and saw Gentoo and King penguins, it was wonderful to watch them in their natural habitat.   Had beautiful weather for the Falklands, little wind in the morning  (which is usually very strong) and a balmy high of 11C.  No trees on the island, except those planted in the main town, and it’s definitely Landrover Central.  There’s still several thousand land mines left on the island from the Falkland war in 1982, planted by the Argentinians, although nearly 10,000 have already been removed. Apparently penguins are too light to set them off so the mines in the more remote places remain.   The locals get their income from farming, tourism and fishing rights to surrounding waters and are now doing well putting a picture of a penguin on anything and everything and selling heaps to tourists.  

On board we have now established an evening routine which usually starts with sampling cocktails, before having dinner in the Dining Room, followed by the late show on the main stage.  The piano bar and the Crows Nest on the 9th level are also visited.   Most on board are “retired”, so definitely an older market, but also quite a few families, so the kids have commandeered the undercover swimming pool for a lot of the day.   Christmas decorations everywhere and Santa did manage to find us half way across the Drake Passage to Antarctica on Christmas Day, which was an amazingly long way from the North Pole.   Late on Xmas Eve the crew performed Xmas carols for us which was lovely and Christmas night was a gala night with a four course menu.  Of course, most of the day revolves around eating, especially as we have so many sea days - since leaving Falkland Islands we were at sea for over a week before reaching Ushuaia in Patagonia.  

Crossing the Drake Passage was surprisingly calm, so we experienced the ‘Drake Lake’ this time and quickly got to 60 degrees south, which is the Antarctic Zone.  Sunset just after midnight and dawn at 2.20 a.m. for the next four days in the Antarctic Archipelago.  

Wow, wow and wow - the Antarctic is so amazing that words cannot describe its rugged and spectacular beauty.  We had wonderful weather most of the time (for this part of the world), as the sun sometimes came out and not that much wind when in the sheltered bays, but it was always below freezing so certainly had to rug up out on deck.

Breakfasted first day in the Antarctic in Admiralty Bay admiring the glaciers on shore,  and the small ice floes (very blue) going past, with a whale and some penguins swimming alongside - very lucky.  A bit foggy, but afternoon cleared up to reveal more spectacular landscapes, icebergs, and glaciers.  The landscape changed constantly and many times we got extremely close to the shore and some islands and could observe penguin colonies from the deck.  Plenty of humpback whales cruising around and even some orcas, and lone penguins or crab eater seals drifting past on ice floes.   Icebergs with amazing shapes and colours all around - kept going from port to starboard sides as always something to look at.   Every now and then a break inside for a cup of tea to defrost and back out again to enjoy and absorb the incredible scenery.   The Captain had to adjust his course constantly due to icebergs floating across and blocking channels and bays, and we were very surprised at the narrow spaces we got through as didn’t think we’d get so close to the shore in a larger ship.

One day some staff from Palmer station, a nearby US research facility, came on board and gave an interesting presentation on their work and life in the Antarctic.   The experts on board the Zaandam have always been on hand with information and live commentary on what we’re seeing and spotting whales, penguins and birds.   It’s been a fascinating few days and we’ve been very privileged to see this part of the world.  

Crossed Drake Passage back to South America safely although 5m swells and saw Cape Horn On  way to Ushuaia.   More later and hopefully more photos.