Santiago and the Andes Crossing

We spent two days in Santiago arriving by bus from San Fernando. Luckily our next bus from Santiago to Mendoza leaves from the same station, it will be our third time through here.

We had booked a room at a hotel recommended to us by some people from Victoria that we continue to run into since we met them on the ship. It was a nice hotel in an upscale neighborhood. We are still being cautious of where we book hotels. We spent the first day exploring the neighborhood.

This is a building under that Ivy

 The next day we took a four hour walking tour through the main downtown areas. We started at Plaza de Armas, the central plaza where in the early 1700´s all the arms were kept and the towns people had to report to the plaza to get weapons to defend Santiago when it was attacked by the local indigenous. The plaza is surrounded by old buildings that now house various government offices or museums, and the Cathedral Metropolitana, built between 1748 and 1800 which is still in use today. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history of Chile and the present day economics.

Cathedral Metropolitana

 Chile has a bloody past, in that when the Spanish finally decided to settle it they endeavored to wipe out all the indigenous tribes, either through slavery in the mines and plantations or through elimination by warfare. Today there are few indigenous peoples left in Chile and those that have survived are far removed from their original homelands. Not quite as bad as Argentina, where the tribes were wiped out, Chile still has some indigenous in the far North and the far South.

Tallest Building in Santiago, called the cell phone, owned by a telephone corporation

 In guide speak, today ninety percent of the monetary wealth in Chile is controlled by ten percent of the population and that ten percent is in some way related to or controlled by six families. The Chilean economy is booming and unemployment is low, however with a minimum wage of US $330 per month, I am not sure how the people house or feed their families. Teck Mining from Canada is in the process of opening a new mine in Chile that will employ 1700, about 350 coming from Canada, US, Australia, etc.

I found Chile to be as expensive as traveling in North America, they charge "first" world prices for "second" world services. All that said, Chile is a beautiful country and the people in the service industry treated us extremely well and were pleased that Canadians come to visit their country.

Water Line Chilean Andes

Then off to Mendoza over the mighty Andes and close to Mt. Anconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas, in fact the highest peak outside of the Himalayas. It was a seven hour bus ride with five hours either climbing or descending the Andes. The road coming up to the height of land on the Chilean side is an absolute engineering feat as well as a nightmare. I will never complain about the Rogers Pass again, well I probably will, but I shouldn't. We climbed and climbed through switchback after switchback. After curve sign 28, I failed to note the number at the top, but it must have been 30 or 31.

About switchback 14

 These are switchbacks, not nice little corners, no passing lanes, no guardrails, lots of truck and bus traffic and very competent drivers. There are not many major international highways in the world where the big rigs coming down stop above a curve so the big rigs coming can make the corner.

At the top

 Once at the top there were a few miles of valleys, ski hills and mules that outfitters use for taking climbers to the base camps on Aconcagua, and then down the Argentinian side, which was much more sedate, with wide river valleys and lots of sedimentary rock.

On the Argentina side

 At last we arrived into the Maipu valley where the grape rows run long and true, now to figure out which ones to visit.

Colchagua Valley and Hiking/Riding in the Andes

Colchagua Valley

On with the journey, now we are off to see what we actually came to Chile for, the wine valleys. We took a one hour bus ride into Santiago, the capital of Chile, where we had to disembark, buy new tickets and find the right platform for the bus to Santa Cruz. We are still a little nervous and feeling insecure after the mugging, but we practiced asking for the tickets and made out just fine. We sat for an hour in a very busy station, clutching our bags, while we waited for the bus. Then away we went to a little town, Santa Cruz, in the center of the Colchagua valley. It was a three hour bus trip from Santiago and once out of the suburbs, the trip was through vast agricultural lands, vegetables, fruits and vines. Not sure about the vegetable and fruit farm holdings but the vineyards are very large compared to the Okanagan farms. Seven hundred hectares of grapes and four million liters of production is classed as a medium sized holding.

Santa Cruz itself is a sleepy little farm town with all the action taking place within a couple of blocks of the central plaza. Have I mentioned every town or city has a main plaza and depending on the size of the place a few more plazas for good measure.

Now the top left feeds the middle right, to the front bottom!

Based on guidance from our trusty Lonely Planet guide book, written by English people, published in English, headquartered in an English speaking country, we booked into a lovely little bed and breakfast, where the staff "was exceptionally helpful to guests". I'm not sure why I expected them to have a bit of English, I just surmised that was what the guide book might of meant - but not a word. They were exceptionally nice, but no English, much to our dismay and to some other folks that had booked there based on the Lonely Planet guide. But things turned out just great, with our trusty little Latin America phrase book and the eight words I remembered from school, we found food, drink and wine tours. All rather good, in fact.

Tour Guide, swirling three glasses at a time, on one foot!

We toured two wineries - Viu Manent and Casa Silva. All the wineries have English speaking guides and some are as much entertainer as a tour guide. The fellow at Viu Manent was an entertainer, he had spent seven years in California, and enjoyed his work. As well as a winery tour at Viu Manent, we were taken for an hour long horse and wagon tour of the vineyards. We were shown how they clone and graft the vines and one area where the white vines originally planted were cut off, a hole drilled in the stump and red Carmenere grafts inserted, now these vines produce Carmenere grapes. Then to the tasting room, where as good little tasters Loreen and I finished everything placed in front of us. Not sure why the other folks took the tour for just a sip! Maybe they had to drive?

They always want treats!

Wagon Tour

Then off to Casa Silva, twice as big, and the wines were great, but it did not have the ambience of Viu Manent. The guide was good, but the winery was more upscale and maybe a bit presumptuous. As well as the winery and vineyards, they have a luxurious hotel, one son raises polo horses, another son raises Chilean Rodeo horses, with a polo field and rodeo arena on the property. They also have a fine collection of antique cars stored inside one part of the wine storage facilities.

The Courtyard at Casa Silva

We spent three nights in sleepy Santa Cruz, gaining confidence and looking forward to our next adventure, three days at an Andes Mountain lodge (Tumunan Lodge) an hour by car east of San Fernando on the edge of the Andes. Shades of Longview, Alberta with folks trailing horses down the roads and streets, coming to town for supplies on their favorite "uptown" horse. My goodness, I felt right at home!

Loreen, Christina and Soriano

 The lodge itself is very quiet with only four rooms for accommodation. The meals were gourmet and delicious as prepared by Will and Carolina, the owners. We so enjoyed spending time with a young woman, Christina from London, who is traveling in South America for a year and has taken a month to work at the Lodge in exchange for room and board. We spent a lot of time reading at the pool and hiking with the dogs, a big St Bernard that almost knocked you down when he decided you should pet him and a little retriever type dog. They were quite the guide dogs also, every time we went hiking, away they went off up the trail, waited for us at the first two corners and gates, then off into the underbrush looking for bones, or birds, or to chase the mule around the pasture. Anyway the hiking was relaxing and one day we took our lunch and had it by a nice mountain stream that runs through the property. I was not quite as eager as Bernard was to cool off!

Bernard, the St. Bernard

 Then we had a half day of horse back riding in the Andes, mostly on dirt roads but some up a switch back trail on the side of the mountain. These are not your polo ponies or rodeo type horses, but sturdy, special bred mountain and ranch horses that are big boned, with good hooves and can climb like heck, similar to our guide outfitter horses on a smaller scale. Our guide, Soriano, spoke no English, but we were able to explain to each other what the various pieces of horse tack were in Spanish and English - reins (reinda), etc. Soriano was born up the valley in a small hut and has never left the area.

Loreen, Danny and Soriano

Loreen and Christina on the trail

 All in all it was a very relaxing three days, now off to the capital of Chile, Santiago, population about four million.

Earthquakes, muggings and other fun things to do in Valparaiso

Valparaiso

We docked in Valparaiso on the January 6 and took a taxi up to the Yellow House, a small bed and breakfast perched on the side of a rock cliff.

Valpo, once the major west coast port of call for ships coming around the horn to supply the west coasts of South and North America, it fell on hard times when the Panama Canal opened and has not really recovered. Due to it's deep water it is now the main port of call for Chilean ship traffic and a cruise ship replenishment port for South American cruises. Really it is a very gritty, dirty, port city that is down on its heels.

The Hood, Valparaiso

We took a city walking tour with two other Canadian couples and visited the fish market, fish fresh off the boat and all shapes, sizes and colors, including little sharks. The highlight at the fish market was when the fishermen dumped the heads and guts off the side of the pier and a family of sea lions stormed in for morning tea. Even though the sea lions were first to the feast, the pelicans were more than able to hold their own and get their share.

Daddy Sea Lion

The biggest contrast in Valpo was the difference between the old port portion of the city, crowded and seedy (really seedy) and the artisans areas perched up on the sides of the hills. Did I mention that the city consists of forty some steep rock hills that they have hung housing off of? The artisan areas, although the buildings are just as old, are newly painted and full of little shops, cafes and hostels. We also visited the Chilean Naval Museum, which was partially in English. A lot of the heros of the war of independence and the war with Peru and Bolivia over the northern boundary of Chile had surprisingly English last names, Cochrane, O 'Higgins, Prat etc. A really interesting artifact at the museum was one of the lifts that was used in the Chilean miners rescue. I think coming up out of the ground in a little narrow tunnel would have been as claustrophobic as being in the ground.

Rescue Cage

The next day off to the market to buy groceries and then back to the Yellow House to take part in a Chilean Cooking Class to make our own lunch/dinner. We made a four course meal, consisting of a mixed salad, queso and carne (cheese and meat) empanadas, salsa, clams baked in the half shell (with butter, garlic and cheese), postal de choclo (this is a meat and corn dish, a bit like a shepherd's pie but with a ground corn topping rather than potatoes). Then for dessert fresh sliced bananas soaked in palm syrup. All this was washed down with pisco sours (pisco is brandy made from distilled grapes and is the national drink), a couple bottles of wine and a digestive. Rather a nice way to spend the day.

Making Pisco Sours

Loreen, Danny, Andres, Mary, Peter, end of class

We took a wine tour to the Casablanca wine valley, with Mary and Peter, our cooking partners from the cooking class. The Casablanca, a beautiful agricultural valley between Santiago and the coast, has colder evenings and as such is known in Chile for its white wine production. The winery, Vina Indomita, with its Hollywood style sign sits on the top of a hill that over looks the valley. The location and the views are superb. Vina Indomita is classed as a medium sized winery by Chilean standards, it produces around 4 million liters of wine per year, most of it exported to Europe. After a tour and a tasting, in one of the nicest tasting rooms I have been in, we finished with lunch and a taxi ride back into town.

Casablanca Vinyards and Valley

Then, as Loreen and I had to get some money to pay for our room we split up with Mary and Peter, about five blocks from our hostel. They continued home and we went to the bank. Even after all the warnings from guide books, websites, the hotel staff - two innocent mistakes and mugged we were. One, we walked down a bad street as we wanted to look at something and two, I took some money out in a little store to buy a package of Halls. Ten steps down the street and I was tackled from behind - while one grabbed my left arm and back, the other grabbed my right arm and jerked it and about $70 out of my pocket. We fought, I even chased the guy with the money down the street, but he got away. Probably a good thing as other than my pride and having the feeling of being violated no one was hurt and they did not get my wallet with about $500 in cash and two credit cards, at least we foiled them on that. All this in broad day light, a street full of people, Loreen shouting "Police", store keepers came out and watched but no one helped. Seems this is common in this area and people are afraid of retaliation if they interfere. Sorry did not have time to get a picture of the muggers:)

We went back to the room, with my shirt ripped half off, to lick our wounds and we just got the door shut when bam-bam, a minor earthquake shook the house. Instant panic mode as we were on a 150 foot cliff and had an apartment building up slope. But no problem, the owners assured us that it was just a little adjustment taking place. Also the buildings anchored into solid rock, were built of stone and wood and built to survive earthquakes. Still I did not sleep all that well and every time Loreen moved I headed for the safe place!

Our last day in Valpo was spent packing up and shipping our cruise trip clothes home to Calgary, via Fedex.

We had a lovely lady, Chantal, make the arrangements for us, she was our Spanish Language guide for the day. After making the shipping arrangements, Chantal took us down town to the bus station where we made arrangements to continue on for the next steps of our journey. Then over to a city called Vina del Mar (they call it Chile's Miami Beach), a really nice clean, modern resort city that borders Valpo. The poor lady was to spend the day with us teaching conversational Spanish, how to get tickets and order in restaurants, etc, but we were totally disengaged. So off to a Museum of the anthropological history of Chile, what a great museum, and then for lunch in Vina. Still nervous, some poor guy walked up beside me to read a menu on the street and I just about jumped out my skin, time to move on.

Glaciers, Huasos and Cruise Endings

Chilean Fjords

We spent the last three days of the cruise alternating between sheltered inside passage waters of the Chilean fjords and the rougher open waters of the Pacific Ocean. Even when out on the Pacific the seas were calm compared to the Atlantic and Drakes Passage waters.

The fjords are beautiful, bounded by mountains, spotted here and there with volcanic peaks, and tree covered islands that rise steeply out of the ocean. There is no habitation through here as it is part of a national park.

The highlight of the fjords was the Amalia Glacier extending from the high Andes to the ocean which due to compression has turned into a vast field of blue ice. Some intrepid explorers have traversed the ice field into Argentina - a daunting task as it is full of crevasses and broken ice.

Amalia Glacier

Little Fuji

The next port of call was Puerto Montt, situated at the northern edge of Patagonia and the start of the Chilean Lakes district. We did not venture into Puerto Montt but opted for a rural tour to Puerto Varas, a cute Bavarian tourist town, with lots of shops and artisan stalls, situated on a fresh water lake, Lago Llanquihue. It is really pretty here with the mountains, volcanos, etc all around. There is one snow covered volcanic mountain here they have nicknamed Little Fuji, after Fuji San.

We then went out to a Horse farm and also watched traditional Chilean dancing performed by a group of young people. The one pair was around ten and were the regional champions for this region and a young lady, 22, is the national champion. They really danced well. Next an overview of the Chilean cowboy and how they train horses. Then off to a demonstration of their horse skills and what their rodeo competitions are like. They have some really well trained horses that do some things I have never seen before. I would have tried one of the events if they had asked for volunteers!

About ten years old, the regional champions

First they put the horses through a set of skills that the rider and horse must accomplish prior to being allowed to start training for the main event. These consisted of loping in two circles on the right lead and then two on the left lead, then two sets of figure eights. Nothing any well trained North American ranch, reining or rodeo horse could not do.

Then they train their horses to side pass at a rate equal to another horse loping. This side passing is needed for the main event, as one huaso chases a bull around the arena at a lope, the other huaso must keep his horse's head over the bulls back while his horse side passes at the same speed. When they get to a padded portion of the arena wall then the second huaso must force the bull to a stop with his horses chest. Then they reverse positions and back they come the other way. Points are given for the quickness of the stop at the padded wall and the position of the stopping horse in relation to the bulls body. No points if the horse is in front of the bulls shoulders.

Moving the animal

I have never seen horses that could side pass at that speed and stay on their feet. Very exciting performance.

Then a BBQ, I think they used the last training bull for the beef, tasty but oh so chewy! Then the dancers came out again to dance with us. Quite a sight, ten year olds trying to teach sixty year olds a spanish dance. My little partner was only 14, really shy and cute, and I could do the Dawson Creek two step shuffle to the music, so she went along and even allowed me to lead.

Dawson Creek two step!

We spent the last day at sea visiting with friends, I met up with Harm and Elly for an afternoon whiskey and then Loreen and I spent the evening visiting with Bill and Karen. Tomorrow we disembark in Valparaiso.

Lands End

Well coming back from Antarctica to South America through Drakes Passage lived up to the wildest expectations with hurricane force winds and twenty-five to thirty foot waves. The ship had to reduce speed for safety reasons so the crossing took about forty-three hours. Talking to the room stewards, many people spent most of the time in their cabins suffering from sea sickness, as Loreen did!

New Years Eve 2011

 Both Ushuaia, Argentina and Punta Arenas, Chile claim the title of lands end, or the southern most place in the world. Ushuaia is the most southern, but it is on an island, while Punta Arenas is the most southern city that is on a continental mainland.

The PanAmerican Highway that starts in Alaska ends in Ushuaia, so I guess it must be lands end! We went for a hike in the Andes while in Ushuaia. The Andes curl around the southern tip of South America and run east and west.

Ushuaia, Argentina

 During the 1940s, to spur economic growth by developing a fur industry in the area, twenty-five pairs of beaver were imported from Canada and turned into the wild. With no natural predators, abundant beech trees and a slightly warmer climate, these little buck toothed rodents have done extremely well. With the warmer climate the prized long fur doesn't grow, so no fur trade. Now numbering well over two hundred thousand the beaver are a major nuisance and are expanding into both the Argentinean and Chilean main lands.

Beaver Destruction

The Southern Andes

As such, a bit of our hike was through beaver flooded lowlands and then up into the mountains. The scenery was magnificent and it was so nice to get off the ship and hike through the forest for a day. Ushuaia is a typical tourist town, full of souvenir shops, coffee shops and restaurants for the sixty some cruise ships it gets per year. Also a fishing industry and a few Antarctic expedition boats sail out of here.

Punta Arenas, much bigger than Ushuaia, is the southern most city in Chile. This area of Chile is only accessible by air, ship or a four hour road trip through Argentina. They refer to themselves as the Republic of the Magellan and have designed a regional flag, which they flew while the president of Chile was visiting. How to win friends and influence people!

The port was a ten minute taxi ride from the downtown area and while the taxis were more than willing to give us a ride downtown they were also honest enough to tell us nothing was open, it being Sunday and New Years Day. So we had a morning stroll in the wind, apparently just a breeze to the residents as 100mph winds are common, and then an afternoon tour.

We took a ninety minute drive through the countryside to visit a colony of Magellan Penguins. The area we drove through is at the southern end of the Patagonian Pampas with flat, grass and shrub brush land as far as the you could see. Similar to other desolate areas in the world, where plant growth is slow, the farms are very large as the animals need vast acreage to graze. We did see some forage in swaths off in the distance but no cultivated lands along the highway.

Patagonian Pampas

On the way out we passed a pair of geese, that like the Canada Goose, mate for life. These however appear to die if they lose their mate. Last year one lost it's mate and within a week had passed on also. The guides said it refused to drink, now faithfulness is one thing but that is a little severe!

Till death do us part

We also found a little group of Rhea, a wingless bird, related to the Kiwi, Ostrich and other wingless birds of the southern hemisphere.

Rhea

Then the penguins, this is the fifth species I have ventured out to see on this trip and I even talked Loreen into accompanying me on my quest. Every species have different markings of some kind and different reproduction habits. The Magellans mate for life, return to the same burrow every year and the fathers do most of the domestic work. As soon as I heard that, I turned Loreen around so she didn't hear that bit of trivia! However, if one of the pair does not return to the burrow they find a new partner strictly for reproduction, they mate, raise the young and say bye-bye, nice to know you, good luck next year.

Those little puffed up chests are full of fish for baby!

The parents take turns feeding the babies and rotate about every three days, while one goes to sea and fishes the other stays at home and watches the chicks. After sixty days the chicks are abandoned and they head out to the ocean to make their own way in life. However, it seems there are the odd ones that still would like a little parenting - we watched one juvenile follow groups of returning parents back to the nesting grounds, only to be chased back to the beach.

Heading Home Sweet Home

Chasing the juvenile back!

Antarctica

We sailed out of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands at 5pm December 25 on our way to Elephant Island, in the Antarctic waters. We enjoyed a traditional Christmas meal of turkey, dressing, vegetables, accompanied by an Italian white.

At some point during the night we passed into the "Furious Fifties" or the area south of the fiftieth latitude. Winds of 35 to 50 mph out of the west, temperature around plus 7 and slowly dropping, heavy mists and visibility is down to two or three miles from the crows nest. There is nothing in site with only a few gulls following in our wake, and the odd Albatross has been sighted.

Had a light lunch of fish, fried potatoes and left over Christmas Pudding. Tonight we will pass over the sixtieth latitude south as we continue into the Antarctic waters.

Sound like something out of an ancient mariner's diary? Or the start of a blood and guts sea farer's tale? Well the above is all true, except we are in a nice warm stateroom on the Veendam and the crows nest is the disco on the twelfth deck.

Today I sat up in the Crows Nest and watched the horizon and read part of the Shackleton saga of his Antarctic exploration where his ship froze in pack ice and crushed, yet somehow he managed to get his crew off the thawing ice pack, to a safe place on Elephant Island, then set off with five others in a life boat to get help. Six months later he returned with a rescue ship and all in the expedition survived. What a tale of survival, almost two years in this harsh environment from 1914-1916.

South of the Falklands are some of the roughest waters in the world, the Atlantic and Antarctic Oceans converge here and with the west winds out of the Pacific coming around the bottom of South America, it creates its own little tempest. Rough and then rougher.

We through the east side of Drake's Passage and into the Antarctic during the early morning of December 27 and the seas are much calmer. The Antarctic land mass is covered with an ice sheet and as summer warms huge sections of the ice "calves off" and creates a multitude of icebergs that float north towards warmer waters. Called iceberg alley, the ship navigated through icebergs of various sizes for the better part of the day.

Just an average size berg

Adellie Penguins

We seen lots of penguins in the water as they surface and dive like little dolphins, and one leopard seal sunbathing on an iceberg. Although we did not see it, at one point four Orcas were seen chasing a humpback whale and her calf. She appeared to lead them past a small ice berg where a leopard seal was basking, and the Orcas abandoned their chase to play with the seal, their favorite prey. They tried to get onto the berg with it or to tip the berg enough to get the seal in the water, but nothing worked.

Leopard Seal

In the afternoon we entered Hope Bay, site of the Argentinian Esperanza Research station. Hope Bay was calm seas, clear skies, and warm weather. We spent most of the afternoon on deck watching hundreds of Adelie Penguins shopping for afternoon snacks. The station itself is surrounded by penguin rookeries and the birds number in the thousands.

Esperanza Station, nice vacation spot

December 28 we cruised slowly down the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, visiting exotic places like the South Shetland Islands, Paradise Harbour and Dallman Bay. Again very little wind, calm seas and a bright sunny day. The sun rises about 3am and sets around midnight here at 65 degrees south. At the south pole it never sets, but goes in a circle, same as in the Arctic in the Northern Hemisphere summer. I have now had the privilege of being at 65 degrees north and south, although this is much more pleasurable than work at 65 degrees north was in the late Arctic winter.

Humpback Whale

We have seen a lot of sea life today, a couple pods of humpback whales, clam seals and leopard seals as well as more penguins. What a privilege it to see this in its pristine state. There is a sixty country treaty on the Antarctic to leave the area pristine and to not allow development, but with the likelihood of both minerals and fossil fuels here, one can only hope they remain true to protection.

Clam Seals

December 29 we picked up a number of scientists from Palmer Research Station, a US station on the peninsula. They gave lectures in the main show room and answered questions about the type of research done in the Antarctic. The ship was scheduled to sail through the Lemaire Channel, but the channel was still iced in, so we just turned in big lazy circles in the open waters west of Palmer. I guess this put some people off as I heard one elderly lady giving a crew member grief about wasting her time. I told Loreen that she obviously never had things go awry in her life before - like the captain was to send his crew out to chip away the channel ice!

Research/Expedition ship, kayakers, hikers, et al!



Palmer Station Scientists

A very small isolated research Station hidden in the bergs

We dropped the scientists off at noon and turned north to head back to the southern tip of South America. Now we sail up through the heart of Drake's Passage, where these are consistently the roughest waters in the oceans as the Pacific, the Atlantic and Antarctic Oceans all pile into each other here and the winds are terrific. The Captain announced expectations of fifty to sixty knot winds and seas of twenty five to thirty foot swells on the way to Cape Horn and South America.

As we left the Antarctic land mass we seen four separate pods of humpback whales. As they breached and then dived with their tails in the air, one lady said that it looked like they were saying goodbye, her husband said she has always had a vivid imagination!

A friend of mine has traveled here on an expedition boat and told me that if there was only one place she could travel to it would be back to the Antarctic, and while I don't think it would be my number one place to return to I certainly understand why Carmen feels that way. What an awesome and amazing place to visit.

We are assigned a different table and dining companions every meal and this has worked out well. We get to meet a variety of people this way, folks like Bill and Karen from Las Vegas, Gerry and Margaret from Victoria, John and Arna from New Zealand, and it is nice to have ship board friends.