When we awoke the next morning the Drake Passage had been cleared and we had sailed up the Bransfield Strait into the South Shetland Islands. The ship dropped anchor in Discovery Bay, a bay off Greenwich Island, sheltered from the Bransfield Strait by Robert Island, which lay opposite. It was from Discovery Bay that we had a Zodiac (rubber dinghy) cruise around the coastline. Although the seas were calm, it was still pretty choppy. As I was positioned at the front of the boat, I soon had a tasty mouth full of Antarctic water! As the Zodiac cruised around the bay, penguins swam next to us. They swam in a very strange but 'penguin' way, almost dolphin-like as they dived in and out of the rolling swells. There was plenty of bird life sitting on the ... read more

The past three days we have cruised the Chilean Fjords. The landscapes have been quite stunning, and have changed noticeably as the ship has continued south and further into Patagonia. Just off Puerto Montt the Fjords appeared quite smooth, blanketed with lush forest. As the ship has continued the Fjords have become more rugged and moon-scape like. The trees have thinned out, the 'walls' of the Fjords become higher and there is an increase in smaller land masses, giving the misconception of numerous islands scattered in the waters once occupied by great glaciers - which, of course, still exist, some being very visible from the ship's deck. Of these glaciers for which Patagonia is famed, there are a handful which are still advancing. How do I know this?! Well it's information provided by the very informative ... read more

We left Santiago for Valparaiso. Pato directed us to the right tube stop - 3 stops down for the bus station. Would have been so simple, had Cecilia not directed us in the wrong direction. With both of us already scratching our heads about how heavy our bags were, the pain was just prolonged......After catching an evening bus we arrived to find our hostel was a traditional Valparaiso house (Unesco protected city). The owners were a local couple and asked us out for the evening. After a quick faff we ended setting out at around 1230. Not that that's a problem in Chile. After we got acquainted with the local music we danced the night away until 0530 - because Cecilia was the stick in the mud complaining of leaded shoes. Being very un-English we decided ... read more

Sydney, Australia 29th Oct 2009. Santiago, Chile 27th Oct 2009. Buenos Aires, Argentina 22nd Oct 2009. Mendoza, Argentina 20th Oct 2009. Buenos Aires, Argentina 19th Oct 2009. Tigre, Argentina 19th Oct 2009. Camelo, Uruguay 19th Oct 2009. Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay 18th Oct 2009. Montevideo, Uruguay 17th Oct 2009. Tacuarembo, Uruguay 13th Oct 2009. Montevideo, Uruguay 13th Oct 2009. Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay 11th Oct 2009. Montevideo, Uruguay 11th Oct 2009. Encarnacion, Paraguay 9th Oct 2009. Trinidad, Paraguay 9th Oct 2009. San Ignacio, Argentina 8th Oct 2009. Foz Do Iguazo, Brasil 8th Oct 2009. Puerto Iguazo, Argentina 6th Oct 2009. Itaipu Dam, Paraguay 6th Oct 2009. Cuidad Del Este, Paraguay 6th Oct 2009. Ausuncion, Paraguay 4th Oct 2009. Concepcion, Paraguay 4th Oct 2009. Vallemi, Paraguay 4th Oct 2009. Porto ... read more