Blogs from Chubut, Argentina, South America - page 4

J’avais lu/entendu que Esquel n’était pas terrible, et bien ma foi elle m’a satisfaite, peut-être sûrement à cause des jours précédents ! C’est une ville de taille moyenne, où il n’y a rien à faire ok, mais elle est plutôt animée, avec des gens qui y vivent vraiment, et pas trop de touristes et est dans une vallée entourée du genre de paysages secs avec de grandes étendues que j’aime ! Dernière ville étape d’Argentine avant de rejoindre le Chili, je fais un petit tour dans le centre à la recherche de quelque chose de particulier. Après plusieurs recommandations, j’atterris dans un magasin vieillot qui me fait tout de suite penser au marché Saint-Pierre à Paris. C’est un magasin à l’ancienne, où on prend son numéro pour qu’un vendeur (tous travaillant là depuis des lustres) s’occupe ... read more

Vous allez dire que je les cherche et c’est vrai j’avoue que je suis venue exprès jusqu’à ce lac d’Epuyen car on m’avait dit que c’était mignon. Et dans le guide ils recommandaient un camping/hosteria juste à côté pour le côté nature. Il fallait vraiment le vouloir car c’est un peu perdu, surtout que l’on sent le début de la hors saison, pas aidé par le temps bof. On doit pouvoir faire plein de choses quand on vient ici avec le beau temps, mais quand ce n’est pas le cas, cela devient plus difficile, donc ce sera juste un petit tour vers le parc municipal qui borde le lac et une discussion plutôt compliquée avec le point information pour savoir comment repartir un jour de ce trou paumé en bus !! En tout cas, les hôtes ... read more

The health restrictions and precautions remain in place. The Captain says that there is now only a trickle of new reported cases. He thanked everyone for stepping up to the mark and especially the crew for their tireless work in ensuring we keep on top of the problem. The Health inspectors boarded at both Stanley and Ushuaia and gave credit for the precautions we are taking and for this reason allowed the ship to dock and passengers to disembark. There have been times when the Port Authorities have refused ships to berth due to the number of reported cases. I understand that only 2% of passengers/crew have to be infected for an epidemic to be declared. On this trip, 2% of passengers works out at about 52. The crew may be going all out on a ... read more

PUERTO MADRYN, ARGENTINA - JANUARY 26 - The weather was great, sunshine, upper 60’s low 70’s, winds calm in the morning, increasing through the day up to 3:00 pm when we left port. I went ashore about 9:00 am. There were several tours available to see nature in the raw, sea lions, Magellan Penguins, elephant seals and even sheep shearing. I decided to walk the downtown area. Beautiful beachfront location with parks and recreation areas. It was a Saturday morning and lots of families were enjoying the nice weather. As I got off the ship a lady handed me a map of the city which was useful. The walk to town was god exercise, I needed. I walked along the beachfront for several blocks before I ventured into town. Puerto Madryn is not a large town ... read more

AT SEA JANUARY 25 Another sea day with no real change in routine, lectures for those so inclined, eating, drinking, gambling, reading, movies, shopping, exercising, doing laundry, etc., etc., etc. There was a Mariner’s Society brunch which was very well attended. The captain gave a toast to the lady on board with the most sailing days, 680 in this case. I then went to the beer tasting event (not good today, two light beers were on the list) and then to the explorer’s wine tasting event. I’m really learning a lot and the cellar master is outstanding. The planned hour session extended to two and the planned five wines expanded to six. If you like wine but don’t know much about it, consider attending a session at the beginning of your next cruise; see if you ... read more