South American Circumnavigation by Sea - Part One

3^rd January - 4^th February 2018

Itinerary: Madeira - St Vincent,CVI - Salvador - Búzios - Rio de Janeiro - Montevideo - Port Stanley - Punta Arenas - Amalia Glacier (sail past) - Pio XI Glacier (sail past) - San Antonio

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4 January. At Sea. When we left Southampton, there was a small firework display. It was extremely windy as Storm Eleanor was about to hit the UK. We had 8 metre waves on our first sea day. It calmed slightly on the second sea day, which was also our first formal night. The Captain's welcome back party was also held today. He announced that they were expecting 10 metre waves tomorrow, so he was trying to avoid them by speeding up and arriving in Funchal late in the evening rather than early morning on 7th.

7 January. Funchal, Madeira. We arrived late yesterday evening and so we were able to see Funchal at night. Very pretty. Barbara and I took a local bus to the Botanical Gardens. It was a little damp, but dried (and warmed) up later. Then we took two cable cars down to the town, where we had lunch. A stroll back to the ship, past a nativity and a small park still decorated for Christmas. A gentle, enjoyable day.

10 January. St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands. My second visit to the island. We just strolled around the market, had a coffee and a beer, then ambled back to the ship. We did make a fleeting visit to the Eder de Oliveira Rocha Museum, dedicated to the life of Cesária Évora, a Cape Verdean singer.

13 January. At Sea. Early this the morning we crossed the equator and are now in the Southern Hemisphere. As usual we had to ask Neptune's permission and the ceremnony was held in the afternoon on the Terrace deck. Permission was granted.

15 January. Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. Although this was my second visit to Salvador, last time I flew in, stayed overnight then flew down to Rio. The six of us left the ship together and caught the shuttle bus to the old town. There were lots of spectacular old buildings, but they were all slowly decaying in the sun. It was almost as if, once built, no maintenance was ever done to them. Further in the town some were or had been worked on and looked superb. We just wandered round the town, down narrow cobbled streets, before grabbing a cab back to the ship. An enjoyable little episode.

17 January. Búzios, Brazil. This was both mine and Aurora's first visit to Armação dos Búzios. Barbara and I took an early tender to the town, which is eminently walkable. It's a small, upmarket resort, made famous in Europe by Brigit Bardot. There is an awful statue to her on the sea front. Whilst walking around the town, we met Rob and Linda and the four of us took a water taxi to Tartaruga Beach. It was awash with people and umbrellas, so we sat in a bar overlooking the beach drinking beers and Caipirinhas. Another water taxi back to the town and a short stroll around before tendering back to the ship. A really fun day in a new port.

18 January. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Today I went on a private tour to Petrópolis. Barbara was ill, so only Norman, Lynda and I went. We drove through Rio into the hills where the scenery was spectacular. Our first stop was an old hotel called Quitandinha Palace. It was built as the largest casino in South America, two years before Brazil declared gambling illegal! A few years ago the bedrooms were sold off as apartments, but the public rooms were preserved. They're no longer used, which is a criminal waste of some amazing spaces. The casino floor was under one of the largest domes in the world and there's also a grand piano shaped pool. Our next stop was the old imperial palace. Brazil only had two monarchs before declaring itself a republic. We had to wear strange slippers over our shoes to keep the floors pristine. It contained Pedro II's crown and the actual document abolishing slavery in 1888. Brazil was the last country in the world to abolish the practice. Then we visited the São Pedro de Alcântara Cathedral. Despite being Catholic, it was really quite plain inside. Our final visit was to the house of Santos Dumant, a Brazilian pioneer aviator, one of the first people ever to make a powered flight. He was very small and his house reflects that.

19 January. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Barbara and I went to Copacabana Beach. We found a Churrascuria where we ate lots and lots and lots meat! I then had a cat's egg. I think it's probably a bad translation. It was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, sprinked with Ovaltine and chocolate sauce. This was placed on chocolate fingers. I was expecting some sort of biscuit, but they were flat pieces of finger shaped chocolate, complete with nails! To finish it off was hot chocolate sauce. Very nice. Then a stroll along the beach with temperatures in the very high 30's.

22 January. Montevideo, Uruguay. A private trip to Punta del Este today. Punta del Este is Uruguay's top resort, very expensive and very upmarket. I was expecting something similar to Búzios but it was more like Miami. We set off from Montevideo and drove along the Boardwalk past lots of pretty beaches. We stopped and saw the line where the sea meets the River Plate. There was a distinct line between the blue water and the brown water. Our guide said that when we returned the blue water would be much closer to the shore line, which it was. We stopped at Punta Ballena, a headland with views of Punta del Este and where the artist Carlos Páez Vicaró built a house, now a museum. It has no straight lines. Then on into Punta del Este where, after lunch, we saw the southernmost point of Uruguay, a church and lighthouse. Next stop was at the famous hands sculpture by Mario Irarrázabal. It was so crowded there, that I was unable to get a decent picture. Our final visit was a ride over the wobbly bridge. It's actually two bridges, side by side that undulate. A long, but enjoyable day.

23 January. Montevideo, Uruguay. A day of not doing much. Rob, Linda, Barbara and I converted our remaining Brazilian Reis in to Uruguyan Pesos. Pooled our resources and set out to spend the lot. It involved beer, wine, lunch and a little shopping afterwards. We ended up with not one centavo remaining. Result!

26 January. Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. This is a place I never thought I'd visit. So many of the place names resonate with us because of the war. It's a tender port and the one port that was at risk of not being able to get to because of the elements. In the event we did visit and it was a wonderful day. Barbara and I were on a trip to Bluff Cove to see the penguins. After a cool and very choppy tender journey, we boarded minibuses and then a few miles later changed to 4x4's for a rough off road trek to the cove. It was hilarious. I sat in the front and poor Luke was wedged between Barbara and Yvonne. At the cove, where it was extremely windy, we saw the lots of the third largest penguin, Gentoo's and a few of the second largest, King. The Gentoo babies were fledged but the King babies were still downy and apparently won't fledge until the end of the year. After a welcome cup of tea and some home made cake, we went back to Port Stanley. We passed Mount's Tumbledown and Harriet. Back in town, we saw the Victory Monument and Government House. After lunch, we strolled back to the jetty to sign in for the afternoon Battlefields tour. This was another interesting excursion, but we saw only a few places and as it was a coach tour, didn't get off the bus much. We saw a few more mountains and the vast peaty areas that the marines had to yomp through to get to their various destinations. Another interesting afternood, but not as much fun as the morning. All over the place where we went are long strips of white rocks. They're about a metre or two deep and vary in width from a couple to quite a few metres and can run down the sides of the hills. Thye're called stone runs and no-one has a satisfactory explanation as how they were formed. They look like rivers from a distance. All in all, a good day.

28 January. Cape Horn, Chile. Today we passed through the spectactular scenery of the Chilean fjords.

30 January. Punta Arenas, Chile. My second visit to this town and spookily my last visit was also January 30th! This time, after tendering ashore, Barbara, Rob, Linda and I decided to mooch around the town. We saw the statue of Magellan in the main square, Plaza de Armas, which is also the home of the cathedral. Unfortunately, the cathedral was closed. After finding a pharmacy for Rob we strolled along a street and found a cafe. As it was lunch time, we decided to eat and we all had egg and chips. Washed down with local beer. It was so good. We then hit a hotel for pisco sours. They were the strongest I've ever tasted. Finally, after hitting a supermarket, it was back to the ship. A cold, windy day but great fun.

31 January. Amalia Glacier, Chile. We were supposed to go to a sail past on deck 10 as Barbara had won a raffle. Unfortunately the weather was lousy, so it was held in the the Uganda Room instead. Last time we were here the weather was brilliantly sunny. I ventured out on to the open decks and took one photograph.

1 February. Pio XI Glacier, Chile. When we woke up, we were already at the glacier. The weather was dry and much better than at the Amalia. We appeared to be closer to the glacier than on our last visit, but that may well be my imagination. A tender was dropped and I assume that was for the photographic team on board.

4 February. San Antonio, Chile. The mid way point of our cruise 32 days gone and 32 days to go. I went on a trip to Santiago. There was about a 10 degree difference in temperature between San Antonio and Santiago. After about a hour's drive, we first visited La Moneda. The old Chilean mint and now the offices of the president. As we were about to leave they changed the guard. This only happens twice a week so we were lucky to see it. We then went to the main square, Plaza de Armas. There was a strange statue by Van der Krogt, which commemorates the 500^th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas. We went into the Metropolitan Cathedral, which is boring outside but beautiful inside. The main post office is also in the square and is an amazing building. After a long lunch with folklore show we went to a viewpoint to see Santiago. We also saw the highest tower in South America, the Costanera Center Torre 2. A much better day than I was expecting.