Category: South America
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Lima to Home
This morning we took a flight back to Lima from Cusco. This city is huge and seemed similar to Mexico City. The bus ride to our hotel took over 2 hours and was only 7 miles. We had a 2 hour meal, mostly because the service was terrible. Then we hung out in our room,…
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Cusco
A little story to start with about how the Llama got its name. The Cameloids came from North America originally. They moved to Asia through the Bering strait and down to south America through central America. When the Spanish came to south America they spoke Spanish and used the phrase “¿Como se llama?” and somehow…
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Machu Picchu
This morning we traveled up to Ollantaytambo and wandered around the village. Most of this area was built by the Incas and restored. The water in the gutters gushed down next to the sidewalks and this was our first view of the amazing stonework of the Incas. The locals were sales professionals, listening for any…
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Urubamba, Peru
We spent all of Monday traveling from Valparaiso to the Sacred Valley in Peru. We had a 90 minute bus ride to Santiago airport, a little more than a 3 hour flight to Lima, Peru. Then we caught a plane for a 90 minute flight to Cusco followed by a 90 minute bus ride to…
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Valparaiso
Valparaiso was unknown to us. It is basically the port city closest to Santiago. Before 1914 it was the biggest port. At that time that was the only way to connect the Atlantic to Pacific for trade. After 1914 the Panama Canal became the safest, shortest and easiest way. Santiago and Valparaiso are both big…
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Puerto Montt
Land Ho!! Finally we arrived at Puerto Montt after 2 1/2 days at sea. Half of that was with high winds and huge swells. It was not a swell time. This area was settled mainly by Germans in the 19th century. The small town called Frutillar (about 15 minutes from Puerto Montt) has many pretty…
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Punta Arenas
A hundred and two years ago a couple came over from France and began what today is a 6000 hectare ranch (almost 15,000 acres or 23 sections). The ranch is still in the same family and raises sheep, which at this time is not a lucrative commodity. To diversify their ranch they flew in Hereford…
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Hiking with the Huskies
The Pan-American Highway starts in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina. 19,000 miles is the length of this highway, which is unpassable at many points. 14 is the number of countries that it passes through. 3 is the highway number that we took today, which is the end of the Pan-American highway. It…
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Docking in Port Ushuaia
Yesterday we finally entered the Straight of Magellan. We had had a rough night and half a day with high winds and rough seas. Neither one of us felt sea sickness, but we didn’t sleep well. Thank goodness for the straight of Magellan, it is a good barrier to the seas of Cape Horn. At…
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Port Madryn
Due to the weather we had an extra day in Port Madryn. The morning started slow, with yoga and a facial. Then we did a little shopping for the grands. On the way there was a Sea Lion relaxing under the bow of our ship. Yesterday we bought a couple of postcards, so we needed…
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Sea Lions and Southern Right Whales
The last two days have been sea days. This morning we docked at Port Madryn, Argentina. Port Madryn began as a Welsh colony, called “Little Wales”. Founded in 1865 by the arrival of 1,500 Welsh immigrants, who named the natural harbor Port Madryn, after Sir Love Jones-Parry, whose estate back in Wales was called Madryn. …
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Montevideo and Punta del Este, Uruguay
Today we traveled a couple of hours from the Montevideo port to Punta del Este, Uruguay. Carlos Páez Vilaró created this Guadi esque compound that takes on a life of its own. He purchased the seafront property in 1958 and began building with the aid of friends and fishermen. He likened it to mud nests…
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Evita
The Pink House is like our White House. The President doesn’t live there, they just do business in this house. Eva Duarte came from a poor family, not because of her father, but because he died early and left her mother (his mistress) without means. The stigma that Eva faced because she was considered illegitimate…
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Buenos Aires
70 degrees, no wind and sunny, just a perfect day to wander the streets. Buenos Aires is a huge city with 4 million people in the center and another 15 million in the suburbs. It makes up half of the country’s population. After arriving at our ship and getting settled, we grabbed a shuttle bus…
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South America Begins
Traveling to the continent of South America is a first for us. One of us is excited and the other is somewhat terrified for this voyage. It is the beginning of summer and the temperatures should be in the 70’s, except around Cape Horn where we are looking at 45 cool degrees as we cross…
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