BRUJO GLACIER, SARMIENTO CHANNEL, GRAY CHANNEL, SMYTH CHANNEL AND STRAIT OF MAGELLAN - January 16. I sleep with my drapes covering the windows leading to my verandah open, I figure who’s going to look in?, and awoke to see chunks of ice in the water. I got dressed quickly and went to the Crow’s Nest so I could see forward, port and starboard all at once. The view from my stateroom is great, but it’s on the starboard side. At 8:30 we were at the Brujo Glacier. The captain stopped the ship for 30 minutes and then turned around and headed through the Sarmiento Channel back to sea. The glacier was very impressive. The weather was cool but no rain and visibility was good. Lucky again! After a light lunch I’m off to the “International beer ... read more

JANUARY 14- PUERTO CHACABUCO, CHILE I don’t know how I got so lucky; another beautiful, sunny and warm day! The guide said the weather was so unusually nice, we got to see a lot of things that are usually not seeable because of rain or mist. I took the tender to the bus and began the 5 ½ hour tour on time. The excursion write up says “Depart from Puerto Chacabuco on the legendary Carretera Austral to Coyhaique, the capital of the Aisen Region which claims breathtakingly steep peaks, glaciers, cascading rivers and grassy steppes”. It is an accurate description. I’m glad we had a good driver because the guard rails looked very skimpy and the steep and deep drops would have been impossible to survive. I can’t express the beauty of this place enough, but ... read more

SATURDAY JANUARY 12 - temperature 60 degrees Surprise! Wind speed is 23 mph making the transfer by tender to Puerto Montt impossible, so we sit at anchor here in the harbor. All shore excursions are cancelled. Think of the impact on the local economy. I was looking forward to my day with a local chef, but nothing I can do about it. We were supposed to discover the ethnic fusion of native ingredients and creative food preparation. Pick up the best ingredients needed to prepare lunch at the local market. The end product was to be a delicious gourmet lunch, prepared by the chef. I had breakfast at the buffet. These cooks make amazing omelets! The ship arranged some special events because the port visitations were canceled, but I just read some of Killing Kennedy on ... read more

SANTIAGO TO VALPARISO AND AT SEA It was such a relief to take off my compression socks and relax (I hate those things, but I need to wear them on long trips). Good thing I bought the plug adapters and voltage transformer before I left. Voltage is 220 in Chile and the prongs are entirely different from US. The internet access in the hotel was fine and the TV was OK, but I listened to music instead. Sunset was at 9:15, great! I had a buffet breakfast at the hotel and met the shuttle bus to the ship. It was the first of several busses so, after the hour and a half ride through the Chilean countryside, we were in Valparaiso where the Holland America ms Veendam was waiting. We had a commentator on the bus ... read more

December 7 My flight was early, leaving at 7:20 AM. With the time zone change, I got back to Tampa at 6:00 PM after transferring in Detroit. The flights were uneventful and all on time. I got my car which I had left in the long-term parking. It only took me an hour to get from the airport to home . It was a very good, but short, trip.... read more