Day 40 - Fly ALL day
We got up at 5:30 this morning to catch our 9:15 flight. We were a bit nervous on catching a cab and getting to the airport on time. The traffic was horrible yesterday into the city. Ironically, we walked downstairs at 6:50 and there was a cab waiting at the entrance to the apartment complex. We flew to the airport as the city was not up yet.
We left our flight on time and had one stop over in Puerto Montt for 30 minutes. Everything was grand until we broke through the clouds in Punta Arenas. Nothing seemed abnormal until the pilot yanked the plane back up right as we were about 5 seconds from touching ground. He went straight back up above the clouds. After about 5 minutes (which felt like 30) he came on the over head and let us know that it was too windy and that we were going back to Puerto Montt. WHAT! Eventually we were told that the airport had been closed earlier in the AM, but was open when we left the airport. It was too windy to land and the pilot chose not to fly to a closer airport for some unknown reason.
So we flew 2 hrs from Santiago, then 2 hours from Puerto Montt, and now we are flying 2 more hrs back to Puerto Montt. We did not get any instructions until we deplaned in Puerto Montt. Here we learned that we would fly another 2 hours back to Santiago. After an hour layover, we took the flight back to Santiago and were put up in the Crown Plaza for the night. We were rebooked (along with 130 other people) on a direct flight at 8:50 am. We left the hotel in Santiago at 6:50 am and returned to another one at 9:00 pm. What a travel day. We most certainly should get double airline miles for this trip.
There were many interesting pieces during all of this. We did not buy a SIM card for my iPhone as we were waiting until we got to Argentina. The problem with the extra day was that our five day cruise to Ushuaia left at 5:00 pm, so we missed it. I had no cell phone to even call and rebook. During the layover, we met many people in the same boat. Luckily I was able to use one of their phones to get our agent with Southern Explorations back at the states to figure out a solution. When we landed in Santiago, I had an email with confirmation for the same cruise leaving two days later. We are going to spend one extra night in Punta Arenas after the night in Santiago. We will then skip our two days exploring Ushuaia as we have a flight the same morning our new cruise lands in Ushuaia. What a disaster. Not being able to land really changed our itinerary. Although we did get to eventually do the cruise, we were bummed to have to skip hiking at the southernmost city in the world. Additionally, we cruised on the older cruise ship. Lesson learned, give yourself more time in the port city when disembarking on the cruise.
With Puerto Montt not having any internet and me not having a cell phone, we got very lucky that there were English speaking tourists on the flight too and that they were willing to let us barrow their phone. We ended up meeting Gary from Albuquerque/DC who is trying to hike in Torres de Paine. We also met a couple (Richard and Kate) from the UK who have been living in Santiago for the past six months and were able to help translate the chaotic situation. I feel like I know them pretty well for only having met them less than 24 hours ago. There is also a group of US journalists who got rebooked on our flight and our cruise.
We took advantage of our wified Crown Plaza and found that the California Cantina played US sporting games. It is in the part of town that many expats live. We made our way to the bar since we couldn't get the game live on our iPads. Their Direct TV FOX channel was showing Transformers. However, they could stream it live via some random sports gambling website. So we got to watch it pixilated on a TV screen. There was one MSU fan there for the first half until he gave up on the constant breakage in internet coverage. Eventually another OSU fan made their way to the bar. We did have the privilege of listening to a few Michigan and SEC fans rooting against the buckeyes. We did enjoy experiencing the "local" scene with some local beer, and the best nachos you could possible eat at 2:00 am. The game itself, well, it sucked. No more comments needed on that front. We got to bed at 2:30 for a 5:00 am wake up call.
We are very thankful for the hospitality that LAN airlines has shown us. Despite their lack of frequent communication, their execution has been stellar. They fed us lunch, dinner, and breakfast, put us up in a hotel, shuttled us, and rebooked us all on the next flight. All of this for a domestic flight and due to weather. No airline in the US would have done this. Being a tourist with minimal Spanish, we were thankful. I can't imagine how frustrated tourists in the US get when they get our airline treatment. All of the hospitality for a weather (wind) problem.
I think I will buy a SIM card in every country moving forward.
Day 41 - Flight to Punta Arenas
Early rise this morning at 5:00 after going to bed at 3:00! We quickly got our luggage ready, ate breakfast, and left on the shuttle at 6:30. An uneventful shuttle and airport experience. Our direct flight (thank goodness) from Santiago to Punta Arenas was smooth getting us into Punta Arenas at about 12:30. The airport was very efficient and the luggage was out within minutes. We said goodbye to Richard, Kate, and Gary as we felt as if they were friends at this point. They were all leaving to go hiking in Torres del Paine.
We took a 10 minute cab ride to our hotel Cabo de Hornos which was beautiful. Thinking back, I actually don't think I took pictures of the solid rock first floor. And by solid, I mean floor to walls. You would think it would be a cold area, but the complimentary wood and decor made it feel warm and inviting. There were hide backed chairs in the bar area that were very unique.
We dropped our stuff off and went out exploring. Being Sunday, many shops and restaurants were closed. Our tripadvisor lead was close, so we ate at the corner Spanish styled restaurant. Since they were out of the meat empanadas, I ordered what Kristen ordered, a vegetable "omelette". Turns out that you have to specify egg as the default is a potato based omelette that I did not care for. Luckily the grilled potatoes for a side were delicious. Kristen ate her omelet and liked it. The best part of the lunch was that we sat next to an American couple who just got married and where three months into their 12 month vacation around the world. We talked about where and what we liked in SE Asia as they were heading their. They talked about their Antarctica 19 day trip that they just came back from. A very fun conversation, but they had to catch the bus so it only lasted about 15 minutes.
We then walked through the local grocery store. We both enjoy looking at what foods the locals buy. Many things the same, many things different. It is also an easy way to test some of your foreign language knowledge as things are well labeled. This part of the world is more about meat than about produce which was obvious in the store.
We walked to the highest hill in town to get a perspective of the area. This was the best attraction in Punta Arenas. We started to walk along the beach, but I was exhausted and only had a few hours left in me. We decided to head back to the hotel for our free welcome drink and dinner. Wine, spinach pizza, cookies, the best homemade chocolate ice cream, and a few games of cards was all I needed before hibernation. We both slept from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am. We needed the catch up from the two hours the night before. I was actually impressed with how well we managed for that little sleep.
Day 42 - Disembarkment on Via Australis
Finally, a day of Disembarkment! This is what we came to the end of the world for. We ate breakfast and kind of relaxed a bit until about 10:00. Kristen went to the gym and I ran some laundry to the lavenderia. 4,000 pesos for 2 kg (4 lbs) of clothes. I dropped off about 11:00 and we picked it up at 3:15 pm. Not bad service for the price!
We ate lunch at the grocery store where I got to try two different empanadas. They were not good as you buy them cold and heat them in the microwave. I will have to give them another try. Kristen was excited as they had a good selection of vegetable dishes, but both turned out to be poor also. I saved the lunch with some delicious chocolate ice cream. Thank god Kristen knows Spanish as it would be much more difficult to get things accomplished here. They speak very little English.
We tried to check into the cruise at 1:00, but we were not in the "system" since we switched cruises due to the delay. We showed them the confirmation, and the lady asked us to come back at 3:30 to give her time to process. She was not worried and tried to calm our fears of a problem. We tried to tour the local Astralis brewery, but it was closed for the day already! We showed back up at 3:30 to another, come back at 5:00. Now we were worried as check in was from 1:00-5:00! However, we came back at 5:00, and they had things processed! We were the last ones to check in.
The craziest part of the day was how we chose our time from 3:30-5:00. We had two leads on apartments in Portland that we decided to investigate. I was hesitant as I knew we would have to finalize one of them or it was a waste of time since we were going to be off internet for about a week. The internet service was poor, especially the wifi. However, there was a decent connection in their business office. I couldn't call on skype since I couldn't connect our iPads or iPhones. I remembered that google chat had a calling function. I logged in and downloaded the plug-in and bam, we had a telephone line. I loaded $10 into my account and Katherine answered at Kearny Place in the Pearl District of Portland. She confirmed that there was a two bed two bath available January 15th! She sent pictures and the link to apply online. Of course, today the link does not work! Damn! It is not 4:15 and we need to get moving. I called her back and she sent the application. We quickly filled them out and faxed them to the office at 4:45. While the faxes were going through, we ran across the street, checked in with the cruise to return to the business office to call Kearny Place back to confirm they received the fax. They had! We quickly called Kristen's mom to ask her to send in the application check (since the online system was down, there was no way to pay online). So, as long as our background goes through, we most likely will have a 4th floor 2 bed, 2 bath with a balcony right in the heart of Portland! We haven't toasted with champaign yet but hopefully I have an email right now confirming our arrangements! No way to check since we don't have wifi.
We boarded the cruise and we were the first room on the main floor. It is much bigger than I expected. The cruise ship is nice since it was built in 2004. It is the second newest in the fleet. We were supposed to be on the newest ship on our original cruise, but we try not to think of it. Most notably, the rooms had floor to ceiling windows for better viewing and a fitness gym. I think I was most disappointed about the windows and Kristen the gym. Turns out that neither would have been better as Kristen would have had trouble with the bigger windows and there was not way she could have ran on a treadmill in the seas we had.
We met a great Swiss couple at the welcome reception who have travelled all over the world. We enjoyed hearing about their adventures. We learned a lot of travel tips from them. It turned out that Franziska was in Cambodia weeks before us and she saw the temples in flooded waters. We were lucky to experience Cambodia when we did!
We met a couple from DC who are at our dinning room table assignment: he a professor in modern European history and her working in the satellite intelligent office. To say the least, I think we talked about everything we had in common in that one dinner.
On board we have 12 countries represented:
Germany, Argentina, Canada, Spain, US, France, Italy, Malyasia, UK, Singapore, Switzerland, and Chile.
Following dinner, we had drinks again at the expedition lecture and continued to chat with the Swiss couple until about 11 pm. It was cloudy out, so we could not star gaze tonight. It is amazing that at 11 pm, the sun still puts off a lot of light. It officially is setting at 10:30 pm and rising at 5:00 am.
Day 43 - 1st day of exploring
I woke up at 5:30 to bright skies. Since we left the curtains open it was easy to get up. I was excited to start the day, so I could not fall back asleep. I waited for the alarm to go off at 6:00 so I wouldn't wake Kristen. We were up for early riser coffee at 7:00. Most of the boat was still in their cabin, so it was very peaceful to walk about and take in the mountain views. I think we will make this routine the next few days.
We spent some time this morning chatting with the group of travel journalists. We both enjoy talking with them as they are our age and have very different but interesting stories.
We got to meet the other couple at our table this morning. They were from Luxembourg! How cool is that! He is a general surgeon and she a tax lawyer. We didn't get to talk long with them, but will get to know them more over the next few days. After a quick breakfast, we got dressed and disembarked to Ainsworth Bay. We were successful in getting in the group with the travel journalists (key as your first group is your group for the trip). We were excited to be able to converse more with them, they seem to be up to our speed in exploring, and we got the head guide to take us around! We got on board a Zodiac boat to take us to shore where we got to walk though the forrest to see life on the land. Where we landed was under the glacier less than 100 years ago. What is cool is that you can see the glacier in the distance and can imagine it being there. Additionally, you can see the various levels of growth in the plants as the glacier moved through the land. It was very interesting. Our guide explained how the plants have adapted over the years to be short and sturdy to be able to handle the high winds. There is minimal mammals in this area: a few birds, beavers, and mice. That's it.
One of the coolest parts of the hike was that I got to wear Google glasses. One of the journalists has apair for her tech business. One of only a 1,000 pairs. They were fun to play with and I am excited for the future of these.
After our trek, we came back to whiskey and hot chocolate. What an amazing combination. We were joined by a sleeping elephant seal! We had about an hour to kill before lunch, so we sat in the Yamana Lounge where there are 180 degrees of view from the front of the boat. I caught up on past blogs, Kristen some sudoku, and both some southern Patagonia views.
Later in the afternoon, we arrived at Tucker Islet to see the Magellenic penguins. The weather was pretty brutal in the afternoon: blowing wind and rain. It made for a true Patagonia experience as warm sunshine would not be reality in Patagonia. We were the second of three zodiac boats to go out. It was soo wet that I was not able to get our good camera out. I did get a few shots of various penguins with the Go Pro, but almost all have water drops on the them. I need to create a "windshield wiper" for them that is timed like a flash: press the button, quick swipe, and snap of a dry picture. The Go Pro works best for underwater movies when wet. We spent about 45 minutes freezing during this expedition and we were happy for it to be that short. The one interesting factoid is that the penguins main predator, the Skuas nests on the same small island literally a few meters away. The birds all nest and hangout in one pod, next to a pod of penguins. It puts a whole new meaning to "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer".
We came back on board to a pleasant happy hour. Having open bar on the ship is nice as we get to try all sorts of new drinks. We tried a Calafate Sour which is made with their local Calafate berry. It was similar to any fruity beach side drink you might have in the Caribbean. Additionally, we tried all of the three Astralis beers, a local lager that I didn't take a picture of, and later that night I tried a new scotch for me, Chivas Regal.
We attended a lecture on glaciology which was the one lecture I was the most excited about. It didn't go into great depth, but we learned how the snow at the snow tops eventually compacts and becomes a glacier. We also learned how they move forward or recede. If the glacier gets more snow than it looses in the "summer" then it grows. If it looses more than it gains, it receds. It forms the groves into the rock of the earth as it goes back and forth each year. The result is moraine, dark rocks that break off and which is the dark gravel that sits on top of the edges of the glaciers. It makes the glaciers look dirty. The blue in the glaciers is due to the color reflection from the sunlight. These were the three questions that I had going into the trip, and now they are answered!
Dinner was a bit salty, so I didn't care for it too much. After dinner I watched a National Geographic video on mammals in Patagonia as Kristen went to bed since the seas were rough. I ended up watching with the Luxembourg couple, who I find interesting to chat with. The video was actually amazing as it caught video of orcas catching seals and various birds catching their prey. After trying to catch various videos along this trip, it reminded me just how difficult and precious some of these photos and videos are. I can't imagine the amount of time is put in to catching such rare photos and videos.
After the video, I went to get a drink at the bar and walked into this:
Absolutely hilarious! I listened for the remainder of the song, but wanted to catch the tail end of the lecture on Charles Darwin that was not scheduled for all, but was there for the six journalists. The biggest thing I came away with was that Darwin spent two years in Patagonia vs a few weeks in the Galapagos. I find this ironic as he is associated more with the Galapagos than Patagonia. It was in Patagonia where he experienced and observed the most wildlife. It was is in the Galapagos where he put it all together and created his theories.
I spent the remainder of the evening at the karaoke show. Hilarious. I eventually got persuaded to participate so I made a joke of Pitbull's "Give Me Everything" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA". I didn't do them solo, so I can't take all of the credit. I found it amazing that folks from Singapore, Malaysia, France, Luxembourg, US, and Italy could all have a blast signing American music.
Day 44 - 2nd full day on cruise
Today we had early coffee and breakfast before our lecture on "Discovering Tierra del Fuego" and seeing the captains bridge. Both were interesting to hear about the history of the rugged territory at the "end of the world." We also learned that the most southern "town in the world" is Port Williams, which is a navy town in Chile and the most southern "city in the world" is Ushuaia in Argentina.
In my down time, I went to blog but ended up spending time with a few of the journalists on board. It was interesting to learn about their profession and the life of a freelance travel writer. On the surface it sounds like the perfect job, but like anything in life, there is pros and cons. They obviously get to see many amazing parts of the world, but lack stability at home and talk about the difficulty in maintaining relationships as they are on the road a lot.
We had a great lunch as we continued towards Pia Glacier. I was wrong about running out of things to talk about at lunch. I have enjoyed the various topics that we get to discuss at our meals. The upside to having an assigned seat for dinner is that you have no choice but to get to know the other four passengers with you. It forces us to converse with people we ordinarily wouldn't think we had things in common with. Additionally, it also allows you to learn about things you wouldn't normally discover. We got to learn more about health care in Germany and Luxembourg, academic life, and other places that people have visited in the world. One of the added bonuses to this cruise was meeting so many great people.
Additionally, before embarking at the pia glacier, we got to meet an Italian couple our age, Andrea and Francesca. Andrea also had a GroPro camera, but he had it attached to a pole that he could lengthen. I want to get one of these as I find the strap for the head is limiting. We ultimately ended up bonding well with this couple and spent many hours conversing with them over the next few days. He would take our pictures on many of the remaining excursions, so I have to give him credit for any good group shots. We did the same for many of their group shots.
Pia Glacier was absolutely amazing. Seeing my first glacier was breath taking. Seeing it in the distance as it went from mountain top to the bay (tidal glacier) was just as good as seeing it up close and seeing pieces of glacier (calving) fall into the water. We had soo much fun just watching ice. Sounds weird, but it was something I hadn't experienced before. I am even more excited for El Calafate when we will get to hike on a glacier. One of the added benefits of finishing an excursion is that the bar tender comes on land and serves hot chocolate with or without whiskey!
After returning from the glacier, we reserved a spot at the front of the ship on the top deck in preparation for Glacier Alley (Romanche, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands). Each glacier was named after different countries and the waiters brought various drinks and snacks around that represent that country. Our favorite (and probably most people's favorite) was Glacier Italy. We took turns taking photos of the Italian couple and the glaciers.
After dinner, we decided to play bingo with many of the passengers. Good drinks and company with the Italian and Luxembourg couple made it fun. Maybe too much fun for me. The rule that was established first was that anyone who yelled bingo, but ultimately proved to be incorrect had to sing a song in front of the group. I of course didn't think anyone would do that. How hard is following bingo? Well, I think that paints what comes next. Either I marked a wrong number or I was set up to fail while getting the group drinks. So when I excitedly yelled bingo, I quickly started to get nervous. What if I was off. Before I even got to the front of the room, the entire group was rooting for me to be wrong. It turns out that 10 was not called so I quickly had a microphone in hand and was pressured to sing a song. Now I can easily participate in karaoke where you get the lyrics up on the screen and the background music. However, a cappella is a whole other story. I hadn't prepare for this kind of pressure. I know so many songs, but without background music? I ultimately embarrassed myself by attempting to sing "YMCA." I have no idea why that song came into my head, but in hindsight, maybe I should have stuck to "99 bottles of beer on the wall." Or then again, really represented the US and went crazy to "Baby Got Back." Thinking back, that would have been a riot, "my anaconda don't want none..." Pretty sure Kristen is still proud she married me. I try not to bring it up as time heals.
Day 45 - 3rd full day Cape Horn
Our last full day on the cruise was full of hype. We were going to cruise to the "Tip of the World!" In the morning we disembarked to do a hike in Wulaia Bay where the Yaghan inhabitants used to live. This tribe currently has only one full blood person alive and she is in her 70s. This hike was unique as we got to divide into three groups, each one escalating in adventure.
Being cooped up on a ship for four days, we were all eager to get out and explore. The idea was for the fast and agile cruise members to get together and explore at a faster pace, ultimately seeing more. The pace of disembarking and waiting for everyone in all different abilities has been somewhat frustrating for the couple dozen or so "younger" cruisers. As it turned out, about 60 people (50% of people on board) thought they were agile enough to hike up the huge hill over downed trees and along various non-man made trails. The tour guides try to warn the few who really didn't belong on this excursion frustrating many and defeating the point. But utiltimately I couldn't be upset:
1) my wife is going to be that 60 year old who wants to prove she can keep up with any style of hike
2) I can't blame the cruise company for telling someone what they physically can and can't do
3) I enjoyed seeing some of the older cruise members keep up and see the enjoyment and accomplishment on their faces.
The views at the top of the hill over looked Wulaia Bay. There was a rainbow like glare off in the distant that made one of the islands look magical. I tried to capture it with my camera and filter. One of the things the guides did at the top was ask us to all take five minutes of silence to simply listen to the wind and nature. This was really cool. You got to hear birds and the wind in ways you rarely get to hear. We were on top of a big hill in total silence. It is amazing what you can hear when background and distraction noises are eliminated. Luckily no one got hurt on the way down the hill. In all fairness, the hike was more difficult than I expected as there were many camouflaged holes and big trees to climb over. We all managed to help each other out despite the vast differences in abilities. We again got to end the excursion with hot chocolate and whiskey, my new favorite concoction.
Upon returning to the boat, we got watch a documentary "Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure" which highlighted an explorer and his crews adventures in trying to explorer Antartica. It is amazing how tough these explorers were. The seas were about as good as possible when we crossed and it was still windy and choppy. We have a state of the art exhibition boat with all necessary technology. These explorers had nothing but a wooden ship and had no idea what they were going to come across. Amazing to hear about their trials and tribulations.
We made our way to Cape Horn about 4:00 pm. The seas were very rough and the wind as hard as we had ever felt. We decided to explore the top deck and face the wind. The pictures won't even do it justice, but Kristen's video highlights it perfectly. This is by far my best video to date!
The wind was so fierce and you had to be very careful. There is one memory I will never forget despite not capturing it on photo or video. On the top deck, we turned the corner to be at the front of the boat and there was the 60+ old lady with arthritis in both knees holding on to the railing with both hands and howling in exhilaration. The smile on her face was priceless. I have no idea how she managed to get to the front without being blown over, but she was there and there was no happier person on the planet in that moment. She was truly living and I was so excited to have witnessed her living so much in that moment. We later asked her about it and she said she just fell in love with the power of the wind. It was something she had never experienced.
Somehow during the wind and the various picture taking on the top deck, our good camera stopped focusing. We were not able to use it on our disembarkment. We tried to dry it out as we figured it got wet, but nothing seemed to work. Very sad!
There was only a 50% chance the weather was going to be good enough to disembark. We all figured it was too windy, but the conditions on the beach were good enough for the zodiacs to land, so got to step foot on Cape Horn. We got in and out of the zodiac boat just fine as the beach was at the bottom of a cliff and well protected from the wind. We had to climb a bunch of stairs to get to the top! Wholly wind!
The wind at Cape Horn was the hardest wind I have ever felt. We slowly managed to get to the monument for a few pictures, but only after I caught Kristen from blowing away. The problem was you were prepared to walk slowly in what had to be 60 mph winds, but then a stronger gust would knock you off balance. Thankfully, I don't believe anyone got hurt. We were able to get a few pictures and video with my iPhone before the captain ultimately decided the conditions were unsafe and ordered all to get back on board. We were sad it was cut short, but thankful to have the opportunity to experience the winds!
The three other stories on Cape Horn:
1) there is a house on the island that each year, one Chilean family wins a lottery to stay there for a year. Kids are home schooled and they are on the island. I haven't gotten a chance to research what that must be like, but very interesting to contemplate: Living at the tip of the world by one of the worst feared seas. We didn't have a chance to go into the house, but did get to peak in the window. It looked like any other house, decorated for Christmas.
2) while waiting to go down the stairs to get in the zodiac boat, a sea lion came into the cove and decided to play and show off for the group. How cool. He (or she?) would jump out of the water all different ways and would dive behind the zodiac boats as we went back to sea. My go pro battery was dead so I didn't get to capture it and the iPhone was too risky to handle in the zodiac.
3) we learned that Cape Horn isn't truly a cape in definition as it is an island. A cape should be connected to the mainland continent.
Once we got back to the boat, we had a farewell dinner followed by a slideshow of pictures that different cruise members submitted. Earlier in the afternoon, I uploaded maybe a dozen or so pictures for the presentation. It was a cool idea as you got to see what other photos were captured. They are all going to be uploaded and shared via email. We spent the remainder of the night chatting about all sorts of topics with the Italian and Luxembourg couple. We really enjoyed hanging out with them that night as we were all in similar places in life and had a lot in common.
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