The last post covered highlights of the trip to whet your appetite.  Next, we will cover the places we went and what we saw in more detail.

The first step is getting ourselves to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Regular readers know that this is not my favorite place on the planet. Better than Camden, NJ, I suppose, but I don’t have to spend a day on an airplane to get there. Check out the blog post on the trip from hell if you want, I don’t. If you travel regularly you accumulate a mental list of places you like, airports you try to avoid and a growing list of things to do and avoid at all costs. Perhaps some of this crotchetiness comes with age, but I prefer some other explanation, you can make up one. Some have been mentioned in this blog, like my lack of fondness for fNewark Airport, or JFK, or changing places at O’Hare or Thrifty rent a car… I also try to avoid showing up in a foreign airport after a long overnight flight (I don’t sleep much on planes) without a plan to get to the next stage of the journey. There is something reassuring about knowing that at the end of the long lines for immigration and baggage there is a person at the end of it all with your name on a sign who will handle it. This was the plan, and it did not happen. Calling the number attached to the reservation resulted in someone who did not understand English, still no person, no sign. The curse of Argentina strikes again I sniffled as we considered plan B. A taxi kiosk, a 30 minute wait and we were on our way to the hotel. A few hours wait until our room was ready then finally a nap and the world looked brighter.

The cruise fare includes a night at the hotel in Buenos Aires then the flight to Ushuaia at the southern tip of the country in the morning, so once we got to the hotel, the cruise line, Ponant takes it from there. We flew in a day early, too many things can go wrong with air travel, so we had some time to explore. We walked around and revisited some of the key tourist sites the day we arrived so decided to take a tour outside of BA the next day; going by boat up the Tigre delta and through San Isidro. It was a restful and scenic trip, plus a chance to see something outside of the city.  

Ponant had a desk set up at the hotel with all our information for the next day, what bus to the airport we were on, what time to be ready (4:50 AM) and when to appear for dinner. Dinner was our first chance to meet fellow passengers, we were all excited to get the adventure started, even if it meant a disgustingly early wake up call.

The next morning we got on the bus and went back to the airport. One difference for us from the US, you can bring water with you. Not a big thing, but one less hassle. And they feed you on the plane! It’s not 5 star cuisine but a ham and cheese sandwich platter was pleasant change from the pretzels we would have gotten in the US. Lines to check in and whatever else were long enough to make friends and pretty much exchange life stories. Thank you Baz and Nathalie, a delightful mother and daughter from Australia. After that we had plenty of time before the flight for a lot of “where do we leave from”, “Is that our flight”? Eventually someone in a uniform indicated that we were to go through the door next to the one where we were all standing and the scrum piled clumsily onto an aircraft. It must have been the right plane because we were given instructions on what to do once we arrived in Ushuaia. This basically involved picking up your luggage, taking it 50 feet to the drop off point for transport to the ship and checking in with somebody with a clipboard. There were two options upon arrival (chosen before departure): Lunch in Ushuaia or a tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park and lunch. At the end of either we would be taken to the ship. Basically they had to keep us busy so the ship crew could do their thing between cruises. Quite a logistical undertaking!

After the 3 hour flight we deplaned, wrestled our luggage where indicated and proceeded to besiege the various clipboard wielding folks adorned in Ponant insignia. Francais here- Anglais over there – National Park? Somehow we were sorted out of the airport and onto buses labeled with the language we spoke and where we were going. After a fair amount of clipboard checking and passenger wrangling we were on our way. Ushuaia, which claims to be the southernmost city in the world lies 1,900 south of Buenos Aries. This town of about 75,000 was once a penal colony, but the prison is now a museum and its primary industry tourism. Even in summer the surrounding mountains are covered in snow and we shiver a bit in the cool damp breeze.

I am sure there are many lovely sights in Tierra del Fuego National Park, especially if you have the time and the weather to do some hiking. We had neither. We made a few stops and took some photos then it was time for lunch. We pulled up at a scenic lodge, scattered with our cameras like small children let out for recess then were successfully herded into the dining room and into seats. We were told that we had a real treat in store – lunch was to be a traditional local specialty- barbequed lamb. Wine appeared, which calmed the crowd a bit until with great fanfare what appeared to be an entire sheep was plunked sizzling on the table.

After we had eaten as much as we could stand, the crowd began to get a bit restless. So what else are we going to see? Shouldn’t we be going? Surely we have not exhausted the attractions of the region? The tour guides were hanging out together apparently in no hurry to move on when the indefatigable Cindy (the ringleader of, well, everything) organized a revolt. Before long we were back in the bus with a grumpy tour guide for a few more stops. Each bus had a time they were scheduled to unload at the ship, spread out so check in would be quick and efficient. That all makes sense, but the land tour company could have done a much better job. Shopping, someone suggested? It was raining so that seemed logical. Ushuaia is a tourist town, we know there are shops. Not allowed she said. Whether that is true or not I do not know, but somehow the time passed and eventually we were at the port awaiting our turn to unload. This excursion was the low point of an otherwise spectacular trip, hopefully future travelers have a better experience.

We walked up the gangway to the ship and were greeting by the captain and uniformed ship officers. Quite impressive. We were directed to the check in area to present our various medical forms, vaccine cards, Covid test results and so on. Quickly we had our keys and were in our cabin and reunited with our luggage. Since apparently we were the last group to arrive there was not much time before the departure briefing in the theatre covering all the wonderful things we had in store over the next few weeks. After a lovely dinner (no whole animal carcasses involved) the ship was on its way up the Beagle channel.

Next morning we awoke at Port Williams where we were taking on fuel with a fuel barge attached alongside. On this route you can’t pull into a gas station when you need a top off, so they load up on the way out. Same with everything else: food, wine, machine parts, all have to be on board from the beginning. Apparently they buy and store what they can for the whole season. That’s a lot of freezer space! They do a pretty good job of provisioning considering that lettuce lasted until the last few days, but there were plenty of other fresh veggie options.

We had a busy day at sea on our way to the Falkland Islands: Got our parkas, our boots, a mandatory briefing on the dos and don’ts of venturing to these fragile environments, a wildlife lecture or two. Then the Captain’s Welcome reception and Gala dinner- Veuve Clicquot champagne, great food and wine. For gala dinners there is one menu (actually a regular and a vegetarian) and everyone is served at the same time in the main dining room. Quite a feat. Unfortunately the ship was rocking and rolling a bit and a lot of people were not feeling well. Most people got better with the motion (or got better drugs) as time went on and the inner ear adjusts. Neither of us suffered from the motion, which was fantastic, since the wave action got pretty intense later in the voyage. Photos of the gala evening below.

About 300 miles off the coast of Argentina lies our first stop, the Falkland Islands or Islas Malvinas. The archipelago of 4,700 square miles, made up of 2 major islands and hundreds of smaller ones, is home to a human population of 3,700, more than 18 species of penguins and a whole bunch of birds. It is a self-governing British Overseas Territory, the majority of the population is native born of British descent. The islands were unpopulated when European explorers first stumbled upon it, but sovereignty has been disputed by Argentina as witnessed by in the unsuccessful war of the early 80’s.

The Argentinians take this quite seriously judging by the numerous billboards and signs we saw like this one “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” claiming that the islands were illegally occupied by the British in 1833. While a discussion of that would be interesting, it’s beyond the scope of this blog. So back to scenery and wildlife.

We made two stops in the Falklands. New Island and Graves Cove. On New Island we landed in a beautiful bay and hiked a bit less than a mile through the tuft grass to a cliff with thousands of Rockhopper Penguins, Imperial Cormorants and Black-browed albatross. The naturalists showed us where to look and reminded us of the need to keep 15 feet of distance from the wildlife. They have the right of way, our job is to keep out of it.

Penguins are fascinating to watch. Just standing watching them come and go did not get old.

The Falklands were a great warm up for the next stop on the journey. Next up: the scenic beauty and overwhelming wildlife of South Georgia Island.