Montevideo

Saturday, February 26th

This morning we did not have anything planned as we had done tours here on our last cruise.  I spent the early morning packing as we will be getting off tomorrow morning in Buenos Aires.  We will be leaving most of our luggage in Buenos Aires when we fly to Iguazu.  Still haven’t heard from Esteban…hope there is some one waiting for us when we get off the ship.

We did go in to town and just walked around for a while.  Of course, we had to sample some of the local beer…..

We did visit the Cathedral de Montevideo that we were not able to see the last time we were here.

Saw a couple of green parrots in a nest up in a tree in one of the many squares in Montevideo.

Well…that pretty much is the end of this cruise.  Delia and I have decided that 14 days is just too short!!!!  This does not end this adventure.  We still have a few more days with the highlight being our time in Iguazu.

Dinner at the Captain’s Table

Friday, February 25th

Tonight we dined at “The Captain’s Table” hosted by Staff Captain, Lefteris Koumasidis.

We met for cocktails at the Champagne Bar and then proceeded to the main dining room and the “Captain’s Table”. The wine flowed freely and tasted a lot better than the stuff we would normally buy.  The dinner was excellent and I even had my steak tartare!!

 

Guess these pictures show that we “clean” up pretty good!!!!

Puerto Madryn

Thursday, February 24th

Morning was overcast.  We were off the ship by 7:30AM to meet our guide for our trip to the Estancia san Lorenzo.  The ride out to the estancia was over 2 hours.  After we entered the Pennisula Valdez, the roads were unpaved but in pretty good shape.  We saw lots of sheep and several guanaco (look like big llamas).

After about an hour on the unpaved roads, we arrived at Estancia san Lorenzo which has the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the area.

Madeline, a naturalist from the Estancia, gave us a guided tour and explained many things about the penguins.  Penguin “couples” usually mate for life and will return to the same nests year after year.  Male and female parents are equally responsible for raising their offsprings. The males are usually larger and have a wider beak.  The babies are much plainer when they are young and get their distinct stripes after 2 moltings.  After 2 moltings, the babies are also able to go in to the sea. This is a fairly new colony…only about 40 years old. 

The BIG penguins………

We had a very nice, traditional meal (at least Charlie, Delia and I did…..Rich drank wine!!!)

On the way out of the Estancia, we encountered the following, documenting that PENGUINS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY!!!!!!

All in all, we had another great day visiting the penguins.  When we returned to the dock, we found that we had been visited by some sea lions…..fun way to end the day!!!

Tomorrow is our last sea day and last Formal Night.  We have been invited to join the Staff Captain at the Captain’s Table for dinner…..guess I’ll have to dress up (Bobbie….I’ll even try to put make up on!!!!)

Sea Day

Wednesday, February 23rd

We started the day with our usual Bloody Mary at Michael’s Club. 

Then it was on to our tour of the Navigation Bridge.  This is very interesting and we do it every chance we get.  It is amazing to see how little manpower is needed to “run” the ship.  There were only 2 officers on the deck.  The tour was lead by Tanushka D’Souza, the Captain’s Club Hostess.  She has really been wonderful and seems to work harder than I have seen any one in her position work.

Didn’t do much the rest of the day.  Packed up some of the heavy clothes.  Tomorrow we port at Puerto Madryn and the weather is supposed to be close to 70.  Going to see more penguins….

Rounding Cape Horn

Tuesday, February 22nd

All of us were up at the Oceanview Cafe to get seats by the windows to get the best view of Cape Horn.  This will be Charlie and mine’s third time around the “horn”.  The first time was back in 2001..the weather was misty, windy and the water was choppy.  Just the way it should be around Cape Horn.  In 2009, the weather was warm, sunny and the seas were like glass…didn’t seem right!!!  Today was sort of half way between..cloudy, windy and fairly calm seas.

We had our champagne.  Charlie insists it is tradition to have a bottle of champagne while rounding the Horn…I think he just wants champagne!!!!

  

This time was a little different for Charlie and I.  We actually rounded the whole island.  I guess I never thought about it…I guess I just assumed Cape Horn was at the tip of South America. 

Not much else going on today.  Never did find a Mah Jongg game.  Tomorrow, I plan to start packing up the heavy clothes.  We should be back in to warm weather for our next stop in Puerto Madryn