It was an arbitrary shot for me to define where the subject of Antarctica ended and that of Argentina began. Both transpired in the southern Atlantic Ocean and both occurred under less than pleasant weather conditions. All I know is that our stop in Falkland Islands had been cancelled because of high seas, and we spent three days on the oceans blue. We had not set foot on solid ground for nine days. That stint gave me cause to admire the crews of yore like those of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria and the passengers of the Mayflower even more greatly than I did before. After all, they didn’t even have a comedian to entertain them in the evening, and I doubt that cheesecake was on the menu! By the time I had finished my ... read more

Most of our passage from Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina through the Cockburn and Beagle Channels was made under the cover of darkness. The Beagle Channel was named after the ship that carried English naturalist, Charles Darwin around the world. Most of the shore excursions include a disclaimer that bad weather is not cause for a refund, so I held out for a weather forecast before I spent $164.95 on the shore excursion, “The Train to the End of the World.” By the time I was ready to commit, however, the tour was sold out. I initially asked to be placed on the waiting list, but, as the time drew nearer, I requested to be removed from the waiting list and purchased the shore excursion, “Lake Escondido Scenic Alpine Drive.” Since I have been mystified ... read more

NOTE: Please forgive the delay. I've been without Internet for the better part of two weeks and will do my best to get caught up ASAP. With only one night at sea between Puerto Montt, Chile and Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, the ship surely wasn’t expected to arrive at zero-dark-thirty on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Indeed, MS Volendam was not scheduled to set anchor for tendering operations in Puerto Chacabuco until 10:00 AM with the last tender departing the pier at 5:30 PM. That made for a short day of tourism ashore. Puerto Chacabuco, Chile is situated in the Patagonia Region of South America. Patagonia comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers in the west; and deserts, plains and grasslands in the east. The Pacific Ocean lies to the ... read more

Our port-of-call on Sunday, January 22, 2023 was Isla Robinson Crusoe, Chile, the foundation for the book Robinson Crusoe. There are no shore excursions available for this port. There are about 700 inhabitants. Why, then, make this a port-of-call? That’s a good question with only one logical answer – it’s famous. Somewhere along the line, I didn’t have a requirement (or seize the opportunity) to read the book Robinson Crusoe, but it is based on a true story. Alexander Selkirk (1676 – 13 December 1721) was a Scottish sailor who was an unruly youth and joined buccaneering voyages to the South Pacific during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). One such expedition was on Cinque Ports, captained by 21-year-old Lieutenant Thomas Stradling. When Stradling's ship, Cinque Ports, stopped to resupply at the uninhabited Juan Fernández ... read more

We departed General San Martin (Pisco), Peru in the afternoon of Monday, January 16, 2023 but didn’t arrive at our next port, Coquimbo (La Serena), Chile, until the morning of Thursday, January 19, 2023. That’s three nights and two days of sailing the ocean blue; however, there were some interesting things to occupy our time at sea. I don’t know how strictly ships’ routes over the vast expanse of the oceans are regulated (probably less than aircraft and that’s, probably, a good thing), but the captain announced just as we had left the pier that he had obtained permission for us to pass near a prehistoric rock art formation, or geoglyph, known as the Paracas Candelabra, or the Candelabra of the Andes. I’m not a prehistoric art enthusiast but do find them interesting and worth a ... read more