Around Cape Horn

Magellan's Journey

Our lecture today was on Magellan; whose ships were the first to circumnavigate the world. He was born into a noble family in Portugal and sailed several times to the Southern Pacific via the Eastern route through the Red Sea and then along the coast of Asia. He thought that it might be a shorter route to the Spice Islands by heading West, rather than East. At the time, most people believed the world was flat, but Magellan felt it was round because he had seen the round shadow of the earth on the moon, when there was a lunar eclipse. The King of Portugal wouldn’t fund his trip, so he went to Spain and gave his theories and facts to the royal court, who funded the voyage. They left with 5 ships and 260 men in 1519. The king insisted that he could have only 5 Portuguese on the trip: he had a few more, but 3 of the 5 Captains were Spanish. The maps of the world at that time, only went as far South as Rio de Janeiro. He had explored the libraries at the time and heard that some people felt there would be a Western passage at the Rio de Plato (near Buenos Aires). They sailed along the along the coast of Africa and then headed West to Rio de Janeiro. They explored the Rio de Plata for 2 weeks before realizing they that it was not a passage west. They wintered at the Bay of St. Julian, where one of the Spanish Captains mutinied and was imprisoned. Heading further south they came upon the Patagon (big foot) people for which Patagonia is named. These people usually were naked only using furs (with the fur facing out) to protect from the wind. One of the ships was put in the lead, but it sailed into rocks and sank, but all the sailors were saved. They eventually found the Strait of Magellan and spent almost 2 months exploring its many bays and channels to finally emerge in the Pacific. Another ship deserted and headed back to Spain, so with 3 ships they crossed the Pacific in 98 days. Arriving in the Marshall Islands. Magellan himself was killed on Sabu, trying to conquer the island and convert the natives to Christianity. They lost 2 more ships in this region. The last ship finally made it to the Spice Islands. That ship would sail back to Spain with only 18 men surviving. But they returned with 381 sacks of cloves which made the journey profitable, worth more than the
five ships that had originally sailed.

Lighthouse on Cape Horn

A little before 5 PM, we sailed around Cape Horn. The weather was moderate, so we had time to take lots of pictures of this Southern most point of the continent. Here is the Southern most Lighthouse and weather station. Last time, we were here, pictures were difficult with 6-meter swells, strong winds, and rain.

Rounding the Cape

Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Christ Church Cathedral

We arrived in Port Stanley about 8 AM. The British established this port in 1845 and it specialized in repairs for boats traveling through the Straits of Magellan. Though there are some 20 hulls of ships destroyed by the Atlantic's storms. The town's landmark is the 125-year-old Christ Church Cathedral with a Whalebone arch in front made from the jaws of two blue whales. Most of the town consists of colorful houses with metal roofs and lots of gardens with flowers.  

Port Stanley

The island looks very barren - almost no trees, land mostly suitable for sheep and cattle grazing. Last time, we were here we drove to Bluff Cove to see the penguins. This time we took a 4-wheel drive vehicle to a Gentoo Penguin colony. We watched them for about an hour. Trying to figure out why suddenly two penguins would get into a fight and chase each other around the colony. Most of the time, there were making constant noise, until a small engine plane approached the colony, and then everything got quiet. The other excitement was watching groups of 3-6 penguins head off to or from the ocean to feed. We also had one King Penguin, among the colony, sort of sitting like a monarch above the others. On the way back, we saw UplandGeese and a large flock of Southern Giant Petrels. 



For evening entertainment, we had a ventriloquist, who was quite good and then Ye Old Pub Night, always a fun interactive experience. 

Ye Old Pub Night

At Sea: Shakleton

Endurance trapped in the ice

Today, we had a lecture of Shakleton's journey into the Antarctic, considered to be the epitome of a survival story. There goal was to cross the entire Antarctic continent, but their ship, the Endurance, got stuck in the ice during the winter of 1915. It approached within a mile of where they were to set out on their trek across the Antarctic, but then the ice started shifting father and farther into the sea. Eventually the ship was crushed and sunk, stranding its 28-man complement on the ice. After months spent in makeshift camps as the ice continued its northwards drift, their ice float almost melting to nothing, the party took to the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. 

Elephant Island to South Georgia Island whaling station 

Shackleton and five others then made an 800-mile (1,300 km) open-boat journey in the James Caird to reach South Georgia. A storm almost had them miss the lone island, they almost wrecked trying to find a place to land the boat, and  then they had to climb the mountains of the island to reach the whaling camp on the other side (and feat which had never been done before.) From there, Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life.

James Caird Launch

Puerto Madryn

Yesterday was a sea day as we went down the Eastern coast of Argentina. The day just went: between the meals, trivia games, shows, conversations, and a little reading. 

Today, we have an all-day tour to Punta Tombo, home to Magellanic Penguins from September to April. They come here to breed, nest, and molt their feathers. After leaving the city of 100,000 people, we're in a desert. Before the Andes rose, this was a lush area filled with tropical plants and dinosaurs. Today, they receive only about 200 mm/yr of rain. Most of the towns in this province of Chubut are on the Chubut river, the only river around in the region that reaches the sea. The water from wells is too salty to drink, so everyone is dependent on the river. We stop near the Welsh town of Trelew to see a life-size model of the skeleton for a Titanosaur that was unearthed here. The largest dinosaur yet discovered. The skeleton is now in New York, but other tours visit the local paleontology museum which is quite renowned. 

Titanosaur

We drove for 2 hours to Punta Tumbo. Here the penguins build their nests under bushes or in holes to be sheltered from the sun. The penguins generally go back to the same nest they had last year, which allows a male to find the same female year after year, unless another penguin has stolen the nest. There are over 210,000 nests here, or about 800,000 penguins. Besides the nesting pairs, juveniles come here before they reach sexual maturity, primarily to moat toward the end of the season. After the eggs, are laid, the male and female alternate at keeping the eggs warm, they have a patch between their legs without feathers to pass their body heat to the eggs. An interesting factoid, the adults can't recognize their chicks, they recognize the nest, and come back to feed the chicks that are in the nest. Usually at least one adult stays with the nest, while the other gathers food. But some of the nests are a 2-3 hour walk to the sea.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Independence Plaza

We sailed overnight to Montevideo, Uruguay. The channel was congested between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, so we ended up being about 2 hours late, arriving at 10 AM. We had time to play trivia and won a simple Princess backpack.

Bolas

Last time we were here, we took the city tour and didn’t find the city to be especially interesting. So this time, I walked into the center of town (about a mile) and then I visited Independence Plaza. Here they have preserved one gate of the former walled city and have a statue of independence here, Jose' Artigas in the center of the plaza. I decided to visit the Gaucho Museum. Unfortunately, everything was explained in Spanish. But what they displayed was pretty obvious: water storage horns and glasses, lots of regalia for cowboys and horses: bits, spurs, stirrups, knives, guns, bolas. Most of these were silver and gold plated. The museum was in a former mansion, now owned by a bank, who sponsor the museum. The museum was okay, still fitting with my perception of Montevideo.  

Mate for drinking tea

Tigre River

Yesterday, we were picked up at 9:00 from our hotel, so we arrived at the port at 9:30, way too early to board the ship. But they started the check-in process at 11:00 and we were on the Emerald Princess by noon. We just enjoyed our afternoon reading.

Ornate House on the Tigre

Today, we took a tour to see the Tigre river. The Rio de Plata where our ship is located in a wide river, over 85 miles wide. We took a bus to the end of the Rio de Plata and then took a boat to tour the delta of the River Tigre. Here people live on the islands of the delta. The housing is highly varied from really nice homes to some simple houses which are little more than shacks. Today, most of these homes are for the weekend and summers. We saw quite a few people since it is summer. Everything is boated in – we saw several grocery boats with large supplies of bottled gas and water as well as food. There is electricity and some running water, but the water can only be used for washing, they need bottled water for drinking and cooking. The gas is used for cooking. It was a pleasant little trip through the many small rivers in the delta. We had chosen this tour to get out of the city and see something different and it worked out.

Groceries Boat

That night we left for Montevideo, Uruguay.

Emerald Princess leaving Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

We spent most of yesterday, sitting in the airport or traveling to Buenos Aires. Our hotel is the Hotel Recoleta, just a few blocks from the famous cemetery. We went to a Tango Show that evening in a small restaurant, the Restaurante  y Gallo en el Tango. I was a little nervous on how good the show would be – but they had 6 dancers, 2 singers and the standard 4 piece band (Piano, bass, concertina, and violin). The put on an excellent show on the history of the Tango from 1910 or so to the present day.

El Atneneo Bookstore

In the morning, I went venturing out to see the central city. My first stop was the El Atneneo Grand Splendid bookstore. I realized once I stepped in the door that we had visited this store on our last visit to Buenos Aires, it is unforgettable. The bookstore is housed in a former theater – the box seats line the walls all around the main floor, but now instead of patrons they are filled with books. I walked on to the Colon Opera House – supposedly the fifth best opera house in the world, based on its acoustics. I arrived at 10:45 AM and managed to snatch the last ticket to the English tour at 11:00 AM. The building has been renovated between the years 2002 and 2010, so it was much more bright and cheery since our last visit in 2003. The floors, walls, curtains, and furniture have all been restored to look like they did when the theater was built in 1908. Electricity was used to light the chandeliers from the beginning and they were spectacular. The bottom floor was primarily marble walls and columns with tiling on the floor. Then when you ascended to the second floor the walls became much more ornate with gold leaf used on the columns. The main auditorium is also quite ornate. The acoustics are excellent because of the materials used everywhere. In fact, the wood floor is hollow underneath to add to the acoustics.  Cloth and wood to absorb sound on the main floor, with metal and stone above to reflect sound. After my tour, I did a quick walk to the main square of town to see the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, and the Casa Rosada, the office of the President.

Colon Opera House

In the afternoon, we did a 3 hour private walking tour with Don (from North Carolina) who has been living in Argentina for the last six years. We started touring Recoleta cemetery which was established in 1822. Most of Argentina’s historic figures are buried here in family tombs. The tombs go down about 10 meters as well as tower above you. We learned a lot about Argentine history and the constant conflict between the Federalists and Unionist parties. Of course, until Peron came along, the warring between these factions was among the rich – how much power should the state government have versus the federal. Some of the unique graves included Tomas Guido’s grave. He was the right hand man to General San Martin and his jumbled tomb is made from stones from the Andes. A beautiful statue of a young girl with her dog marks the tomb of Lilian Crociat de Szaszak who died a young bride in a 1970 Austrian avalanche. Sarmiento, a former president has a monument with a Condor on top. And, of course, Evita Duarte, the wife of Peron. After the cemetery, we walked the streets down to the Plaza St. Martin. Along the way, are many buildings with various European style architectures, many of these former homes have been turned into hotels and embassies including the Vatican embassy, Brazilian home of the ambassador, and the French embassy (which is where the Avenue de 9 Julia narrows because they couldn’t remove the embassy). Finally coming to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We ended our day having a great steak at Fervor and ordered Pastel de Pompas as a side dish – a delicious mixture of Potatoes, meat, and egg.

Recoleta Cemetery