Our second day in Buenos Aires was a trip to the airport and flying off to Iguazu.  We booked ourselves a three day getaway from the ship to go and have a look at the Iguazu Falls.  The trip included two nights staying in Iguazu on the Argentina side of the falls and one night over the border in Brazil at Foz do Iguazu.  After landing we were met by our tour operator and taken to the hotel where we had a free afternoon before the tour proper the next day.  For the afternoon, we went for a walk to what they call the Three Frontiers.  This was about a 2 kilometre walk from our hotel and from this point you can see the borders of Brazil and Paraguay while standing in Argentina. The borders are separated by the Rio Iguazu, (Iguazu River) and Rio Parana,(Parana River).

The next day it was an early rise and then being picked up buy our guide who was going to show us around for the next few days.  Our guide was a very attractive and young Jessica so I was very happy.  The first day was visiting the Argentinean side of the falls and included a small train ride from the entrance to the National Park to the furthest stop point.  Once off the train you have to walk quite a long way on platforms that cross over the rivers feeding the falls to get to the lookout points.  The first lookout we went to was The Devil’s Throat.  This is absolutely awesome and you do get very wet.  The volume of water coming over the edge and the noise is something that you just have to see and experience.  After about 15 minutes of getting wet and just being amazed we dragged ourselves away and caught the train back to our next stop point.  This requires a bit of walking as you want to look at the upper and lower levels of the waterfalls.  The walking is very easy and is all on steel walkways that they have put over the rivers.  Must have taken them quite a few years to do. The top walkways take you to the edge of a lot of the falls and the views all along are all gob smacking.  The lower walkways take you down close to the base of some of the falls and you also can get very wet here as well.  We both wore bathers under our clothes which I would recommend.  After a day that we felt was pretty special it was back to the hotel and wondering if tomorrow in Brazil would be as good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After another early get up it was in the car and the short drive to cross the border into Brazil. Jessica did tell us that we could wait up to an hour to cross depending on the crowds.  It must have been our lucky day as it only took us about 10 minutes and we were in Brazil.  We went straight to the National Park and to the falls.  Just as we thought Argentina was awesome yesterday, Brazil was equally as impressive.  From the Brazil side of the falls you get to see the whole vista of the falls.  With the direction the sun goes as well you also see lots of rainbows from the Brazil side in all the water spray.  You don’t realise fully until you see how long the falls are to just how incredible they are.  They are over 3 kilometres in length and there are over 270 waterfalls making up the Iguazu Falls.  Brazil doesn’t have the same number of walkways as Argentina but has some great views of the falls.  We also did a boat ride in Brazil that took you up to part of the falls then under one of the small ones where you get very very wet.  It was good fun and a great way to cool down in the hot weather.  After it was back to our very nice hotel and a swim and cold beer around the pool.  Later that night went out to a restaurant called Buffalo Bronco Churrascaria which was a Brazilian BBQ restaurant and for $30.00 each they just kept the food coming.  Absolutely great value and they really had a hard time understanding what “no more” meant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the Iguazu Falls aren’t on your bucket list, then put them on it. With all the pictures you see of these magnificent falls, to actually see them up very close is just mind-blowing. As from which is the best side to see them from, Argentina or Brazil, do both as each is very special and awesome. Our thanks go to Janet who arranged this little side trip for us and making it something special we will have with us forever.

 

From Uruguay, it was again back into Argentina.  The way the cruise itinerary was working out this was our third arrival into Argentina from a different country.  Our port stop was the capital, Buenos Aires.  Our stop over was for two days though we would only be spending the first day in Buenos Aires.  As we were flying out the next day we booked a city tour that also included a visit to Recoleta Cemetery.  This is where Eva Peron was buried here in her family’s crypt.  The city tour included going to the La Boca district that was a real arty farty area with brightly coloured houses, museums, cafés and outdoor art galleries.  It is also home to the Boca Juniors Soccer Club that has a boasts a large stadium that holds over 50,000 spectators.   This was quite impressive as it is only a junior football club but the support it has in the city and local area was amazing.  The Recoleta Cemetery was also something else to see.  It is full of over 6000 Art Deco and Neoclassical mausoleums as well as that many tourist that all walk around getting in everyone photo shot. The que to look at Eva Peron’s burial spot is quite long but moved along at a steady pace and is not too bad.  It was a shame we didn’t have more time to spend in this city as it was very neat looking and seemed to have a very welcoming feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next stopover was a new country.  Uruguay was our next port and the capital Montevideo. After reading up on the city and tour highlights we booked ourselves onto a full day tour visiting a 100 year old working estancia (ranch).  The bus trip started with a tour through the city stopping at a few of the major sites and historic Plaza Independencia.  After the city highlights it was into the countryside and onto Estancia La Rabida.  Estancia La Rabida is a 2500 acre ranch and the land itself was very fertile looking.  Bare paddocks and dust don’t exist in this part of the world.  After a huge traditional BBQ lunch and being entertained by some gaucho dancing it was a ride on the back of some carts to look around the estancia (ranch).  We both thought it was good to look around but some of the older ones on the tour were not happy.  It was quite hot and humid and with a bit of dust while on the back of carts they couldn’t wait to get back to the ranch and onto the air-conditioned buses.  This was the only stopover for us in Uruguay and it was a pity as it did seem to be very friendly and easy going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It back into Argentinean country next with the next port of call being Puerto Madryn.  Puerto Madryn is in Argentina’s Patagonia region and is quite a large city of more than 73,000 people.  We booked ourselves onto a tour to visit the Welsh Heritage in the area.  This was a two-hour drive through the Chubut River Valley to Dolavon which is a small town with a lot of Welsh influence.  The Welsh settled in the area in 1865 hoping to create a New Wales.   After Dolavon we visited a farm that produced raspberries, strawberries, cherries, peaches and apples.  We will both remember this place well as it was home to mosquitoes by the thousands.  We were both glad to be back on the bus where we headed for the small town of Gaiman for traditional Welsh tea at a place called Ty Gwyn which is supposed to be the oldest Welsh teahouse in the region.  The staff were all dressed in traditional Welsh dress and we were entertained by a choir singing both Welsh and Argentinian songs.  They were excellent and finished off a nice day out.  After it was back on the bus and back to the ship.  As it was a full day tour the bus drove through the town a bit and a few of us got off in town to have a quick look around before going back to the ship.  There didn’t seem to be a lot to look at in the town, though there were lots of outdoor clothing and hiking shops in the town as well as tour operators offering all types of trips.  Seems to be bit of a staging area for the adventurous outdoor travelers to come to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our heroics of rounding Cape Horn it was then off to the Falkland Islands for a look.  After the war that Britain and Argentina had over the Falklands, (Malvinas), we were looking forward to our visit.  The weather gods must really be on our side for this trip weather wise as the day we visited we had clear blue skies and no winds to speak of.  Getting onto the island was by tender craft and this was the longest tender ride of the trip, over 20 minutes to get ashore but it was worth it.  Coming up to the island it is very colourful with bright houses and roofs.  It has a very English feel about the island when you walk around.  While walking around we saw this old rundown looking building that we thought would be a great pub.  About two seconds later a fellow walked out the door so we asked him if it was indeed a pub and as luck would have it, it was.  After about ten minutes of talking to him we found out he was a born and bred Falklander and the pub was the original hotel for the island and in the early days before cars were on the island and if you rode your horse more than twenty miles to the pub, no matter what time of day or night you got there they were obliged to open and serve you.  On that note we had to stop in and have a early afternoon ale or two.  Back in its heyday Stanley was one of the worlds busiest ports and there are several remaining hulls still visible in the harbour from the old ships.  Stanley Harbour is supposed to be the worlds largest graveyard for 19th century ships. There are only just over 3000 people living on the island and they do produce their own currency, the Falkland Island Pound, which is the equivalent to the English Pound.  All in all we had a great day on the island and very glad to have been able to visit it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following day after Ushuaia it was another early rise to go around Cape Horn.  I have no problem rising to the challenges of all these early get ups but Kaye is not so pleased with them at all, especially when its cold as well.  Cape Horn is located on Chile’s Isla Hornos in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago. This meant that after leaving Ushuaia we did back track a bit to the west and into Chilean waters again to go around Cape Horn.  This is considered the southernmost tip of South America and the weather forecast we were given for our sail here wasn’t looking good.  As luck would have it we were fortunate enough to have a relatively clear day for our visit although the wind was extremely strong and cold.  Being so remote and extreme there isn’t any human settlement on the island of note so the views you get are what the very early sailors would have seen centuries ago.  Apparently there are also lots of bragging rights that come from being on a ship that has rounded Cape Horn, so that is something we will keep for later in life when senility sets in.  We did a complete lap of the island and Cape Horn which we feel is pretty special.  We can’t really believe how lucky we have been with the weather so far on this cruise.  When you talk to some of the passengers who have done lots of cruises and been to these places before, a lot of the time the weather is so bad they either can’t get outside on the ships deck or the ship doesn’t get there because of the rough seas and swells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next port was Ushuaia in Argentina.  Before arriving in Ushuaia, we cruised up some of the fjords to look at more glaciers and these were pretty special.  Most of them are named after countries like Germany, France, Holland etc.  Nearly all the glaciers were some distance from the waters edge and had waterfalls coming from them.  Some of the waterfalls were amazing to look at and were several hundred feet from the waters edge.  Well worth the effort to get up early, stand outside and freeze just to look at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ushuaia is situated on the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego southern coast which is a large island at the southern tip of Argentina and was once a former penal colony.  It is now a town of over 70,000 people and the worlds southern most town.  Punta Arenas was the most southern city.  Ushuaia is surrounded by huge mountains that are the start of the Andes and forests of Beech trees.  We booked ourselves onto a forest walking tour through in Tierra del Fuego National Park that also climbed a very small bit onto the Andes and ended up at the Five Cascades Waterfall.  We thought this was a great tour and it was a pity that we didn’t have enough time to do some more.  It really did have a lot of post card scenery as has most of our cruise so far to the southern tip of South America.  If you are looking for some real outdoor adventure travels in some magnificent country this is one place you should come to.  In Ushuaia there are heaps of outdoor tour operators and clothing shops to choose from.  This is also Argentina’s gateway to the Antarctica as the port is busy with tour ships coming and going to there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Punta Arenas was our next destination.  Punta Arenas is also the worlds most southern city and a busy stepping off place to visit Antarctica from.  There were lots of tour operators here advertising all types of visits to Antarctica.  Punta Arenas looks out over the Strait of Magellan and was a major port in the days before the Panama Canal was built.  Even so today it still seems to be a busy and prosperous port and has a population of over 125,000 people.  We didn’t have a tour organised for Punta Arenas and we were quite happy to just walk around the city centre as most sites were very close together.  When you walk around the city you see some great old buildings and the wealth that was once in the region is very evident.  Early Europeans made their fortunes in sheep ranches and referred to sheep as white gold.  You would think that a city tucked away at the bottom of the planet would feel a bit lonely but this is definitely not the case.  We have been really surprised with what we have seen in Chile and the people are extremely friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was good to have a day at sea and relax a little bit after a couple of ports in a row.  Our next bit of site seeing was a cruise up to Amalia Glacier that did require another early rise.  Amalia Glacier is located in the fjords of Chile’s southern coast and we were able to get very close to it with the cruise ship.  According to our ship’s captain we were the closest a ship of our size has ever been to this glacier, which I would believe as we did seem close.  The cruise up the fjord was very spectacular as is most of the landscape in this area.  The glacier goes right to the water’s edge which a lot of the glaciers that we have seen in this area do not.  As with most of the cruise so far, we were very lucky with the weather to see the glacier, although very cold, it was fine.  The afternoon though was a different case with wind and rain that kept us indoors for the remainder of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puerto Chacabuco was our next stop and this was the next day.  No rest for the hardened travellers here, two early get ups in a row.  Puerto Chacabuco is located at the head of the Aysen fjord and is surrounded by some pretty amazing scenery that seems to be the reason that people come to this region.  Other than the scenery there isn’t a lot to do in Puerto Chacabuco so we were glad we booked a tour for the afternoon.  Our tour took us to the Rio Simpson National Reserve that took us through some great scenery and roads.  The reserve itself was pretty much the same as most others you would see in places with rivers and mountains but it’s the quality of the scenery that you get in this place that was the difference. Puerto Chacabuco only started to become more known when an eruption at Mt Hudson near the main port of Puerto Aysen 25 years ago forced authorities to open a new port at Chacabuco.  They are still trying to set up infrastructure at Chacabuco so it’s still largely untouched tourism at present.