Cruise Day 7 - Punta Arenas


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South America
March 12th 2016
Published: March 27th 2016
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GROAN!! I made it through to 4.00am before the overindulgence of last night's degustation dinner caught up with me. Damn it, I really thought my diarrhoea had started to settle down because it was more than 12 hours since I'd been on the loo. And to top it off I had started to cough. Because I can't take anything with Codeine in it, I had Bernie trying to read the small print on his cough medicine bottle in the middle of the night. It didn't list Codeine, but had another warning about how toxic it is for your liver and not to exceed four doses in 24 hours. I was already dubious about taking it because I think not having a gall bladder might inhibit the liver's ability to process things like cough medicine. Then on the peel back label Bernie found additional information that said ask a doctor before using if you suffer from thyroid disease. Right, I'll try sipping water and laying on my side then.

This morning at 05:48 we docked at Punta Arenas after two days at sea during which we sailed 871 nautical miles at an average speed of 15.3knots. This morning we were supposed to be going on a sea kayaking excursion. With everything I'd eaten in the last 60 hours having passed straight through my system without me absorbing any nutrients and, on top of that, afflicted with the onset of Bernie's head cold, I was feeling very weak. Determined to soldier on, I popped a couple of Imodium and went up to the Lido deck for a slice of dry toast. If the people running the sea kayaking excursion conduct a health and fitness questionnaire I might not pass?

About 8.50am we went ashore to look for our guide. OK, no-one on the dock holding a GAFFNEY X3 sign, but we were a little early. At 9.00am we started looking very expectantly at every new vehicle that came onto the dock. By 9.15am we were getting concerned about whether we should be on the landward end of the dock, but when we tried to make a move in that direction a security guard told us we weren't allowed to. As it approached 9.30am we were feeling very frustrated because Cristian confirmed the arrangements with Bernie via email during the last couple of days. In fact he had made a rather amusing comment about how we would get together and go for a paddle and a sing.

At 9.40am we gave up and went back on board. I decided that perhaps the time had come for me to take myself to the ship's medical centre. Of course as soon as I presented saying that I had been suffering from frequent, watery stools since Wednesday afternoon I was confined to our cabin. I was sent directly to our stateroom with a medical centre show bag and instructions to keep popping Imodium and maintain my fluid intake. Fortunately Bernie wasn't quarantined with me so he and Meredith caught a shuttle bus into the town to have a look around Punta Arenas.

Our stateroom hadn't been serviced when I returned to it so I didn't know whether to get too comfortable in case the cabin steward came to clean. The cabin steward did knock on the door, but it was only to tell me that he wasn't allowed to clean my room and that his supervisor would be arranging for a crew to come in to sanitise the cabin! So I crawled into bed and went to sleep. I must've been crook because I actually spent most of the day asleep.

Bernie was back on board by the time they sent the HAZMAT team in to sanitise the cabin. OMG, plastic aprons, gloves and face masks and they whipped around wiping down surfaces and bagging all our linen and towels presumably to be put through a disinfectant wash ... unless they incinerate them?

During the day Bernie received a follow up email from Cristian - apparently the authorities wouldn't let his guide onto the dock to meet us?! The impasse with officialdom was eventually sorted out, but not until 10.00am - a full hour after our scheduled meeting time! - by which time I was in quarantine and Bernie and Meredith had decided to take a shuttle bus into town. Personally I think it might have been for the best as I don't think I was actually fit enough to attempt sea Kayaking.

Unless Bernie adds some commentary here it is likely that there will be photos in the blog unaccompanied by any explanation?! From what was reported back to me I am led to believe that the most interesting thing in Punta Arenas was the cemetery.

At 18:18 the m.s. Zaandam set sail for Ushuaia (Ush-why-a) by way of the Strait of Magellan. The Strait of Magellan (Spanish: Estrecho de Magallanes) is a navigable sea route separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but it is considered a difficult route to navigate because of the unpredictable winds and currents and the narrowness of the passage. Of course, it is somewhat less difficult now than it was in the age of sailing ships!! In January 1769 Cook shunned the Strait of Magellan preferring instead to make passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean via Cape Horn.

This evening Bernie went down to enjoy a three course meal in the Rotterdam Dining Room and I ordered the beef broth and crackers from room service because I have to eat lightly and give my digestive system a rest! He told our travelling companions that he has thrown me overboard. He's such a comedian?!



Steps 477 (0.34km)


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27th March 2016

I feel so sorry for you Tracey.
What a terrible thing to happen to you. You, the intrepid traveller and all-round health nut!!!! Lucky Bernie is not as 'sown & out' as you are. At least someone is taking the pictorial record so we at home can enjoy your adventure. Punta Arenas has a mausoleum which looks like a smaller version of the mausoleum 'city' in Buenos Aires. Now that's a whole day trip on its own. AMAZING place. Get well quickly Tracey. It's a long way to go to then miss out on enjoying the trip. Thinking of you as I get ready to 'do' the Camino. Out walking every day for at least 2 hours trying to build up my stamina and prepare my feet for the 'torturous' paths ahead! Have already popped several blisters and reading up on other peoples experiences in Northern Spain. Wish me luck. Caroline
27th March 2016

Good luck on the pilgrim's trail
Thanks Caroline for the commiserations. I'm much better now, but it was very frustrating to be crook ... I'll be thinking of you and your poor feet slogging along the trail in France and Spain!! When do you leave? Bon Voyage. ?T
27th March 2016

Better days
It has been some time since you went through all that suffering, I hope you have had better health since then. It is hard to soldier on with all manner of symptoms, each day looking for a way to compensate for a variety of symptoms. On our European river cruise I visited an 'apothecary' at practically every stop for a different remedy each time to beat one ailment or another. The joys of traveling en masse! Looking forward to some positive signs of improved health in the next instalments. Xx

Tot: 0.047s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0268s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb