Landed sometime after midnight and then had to go through all the usual hassle of immigration, luggage collection and customs. Loads of people and the airport's about as efficient as Heathrow... maybe not that bad. Hotel sent car to collect us, just as well as people everywhere. Hard to spot sign with my name on amoung the dozens on display. Made it to hotel about 02:20. Greeted by owner(?), but didn't bother to check in. Grabbed a drink, showered and headed to bed. Nice hotel; much nicer than we expected for the money. I even got a Double Bed!! First impressions of Lima... Maybe a little rough. Most buildings have 6' fences or walls, often topped by razor wire or electric fencing. Security cameras on a lot of buildings and cars not kept on streets over ... read more

Going to try jotting down a few things now and posting this later, or maybe not. Continental breakfast on the South American Continent seems to consists of gooey jam on bread products (rolls, toast, crackers, bread). This mornings also came with a tea pot full of hot milk. After breakfast we walked to Cerro Sta. Lucia, a big park near the hotel. Nice park, mostly a hill with a fort on the top. The game of getting to the top involved avoiding sprinkler systems. Great views of the city (goes all the way to the horozin even from the top of the hill). DUring the tour later the guide said that the hill and the fort are all artificial and were added later to tidy the city, but not sure of dates. Next we wandered the ... read more

Now the bit we came all the way down here to do, search for white nosed polar bears (I don't care what the guy said yesterday about antarctic mammals). At 05:30 general announcement that land was in sight and then something about low visibility so we decided to have a lie in. Rouse for 07:30 breakfast call. Still very low visibility and wind speed is 40 knots (nautical term for 50 mph?). Other boats in the area have abandoned any hope of landings for the day but our boat wants to give it a go anyway. My sort of people. We head to Yankee Harbour. Feel over dressed wearing thermals, layered clothing, winter riding suit and waterproof layer. Until I step outside, should have packed another scarf. Only cold parts of me are the exposed parts, ... read more

Up at 06:30 this morning to stop at the light house on Cape Horne. Last piece of land before two day crossing to Antarctica. All that's here is a monument, a light house and a lot of unexploded land mines. And a couple of penguins. Not sure what the monument was about as all the signs are in Spanish. Some penguins swam along side the ship as we set sail, could see them jumping across the waves. Not much else happened, just a long trip across open water. 3 meter waves so most people are in their cabins being sick. Not me. Watched a video about 1920's ship sailing the drake. Passengers are mixed bunch. 40% are retired Americans (bucket list). Large group of Russians and handful of younger Americans, young Europeans and one Indian family. ... read more