Back

After circling Cape Horn we headed back east and then north up the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia, Argentina. This Channel is a strait in Tierra del Fuego Archipelago at the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. Darwin named the channel after his ship.

Uahuaia is the southern most city in the world. We had our picture taken at the " Fin del Mundo" sign. It is also the terminus of the Pan-American Highway, 12,000 miles from its start in Alaska. We toured up the last few mountains of the Andes to a ski lodge where we had freshly cooked lamb. They offered sled dog rides in the winter.

After Ushuaia we headed back out the Beagle Channel and east to the Atlantic.  Traveling north briefly  we went  west into Magellan Straits. This was the important discovery because the Pacific Ocean could now be accessed without risking the cape.

We stopped at Punta Arenas, Chile. This is the southern most city in Chile and it is the southern most city connected to the continent. There we climbed around an actual size replica of Magellan's ship, NAO Victoria. Also notice Billye by the actual size replica of the craft Shackelton used in his Antarctica survival ordeal.

For the next week we just cruised the channels looking at glaciers and wildlife.

The only disappointment was the weather. It was rainy or cloudy everyday and we could not look east to see the snow capped Andes Mountains. We just saw gray smaller mountains coming down to the shoreline. But wildlife was out and about everywhere. No roads or people for about 1,000 miles on the southwest side of South America.

The arrow points to P Montt. It is below San Antonio and at the end of a channel.

It has a shallow port and we had to anchor about a mile off shore and take a tender. The waves were rocking the ship about four feet. The Captain said it was too dangerous to jump  to a tender in those conditions. We had a great excursion booked there, travelling  up into the Andes to the Petrohue Falls and Esmeralda Lake. Sadly we moved on. That ended the wonderful wildlife part of the trip. All that 1000 miles south of there was basically devoid of people.  

The north end of Chile

This will be a combined report of Chile.

Punta Arenas - Magellan's ship.
Glaciers - Amalia and Pio XI impressive.
Punta Montt - could not go ashore because of wave conditions.
San Antonio port - went to Valparaiso.
Coquimbo - went to Elqui Valley.
Arica - traveled road to Boliva and reached 12,500 feet

Chile is in chaos. Every city was smothered in graffiti. Nothing was spared. Beautiful statues and grand public buildings in every city were smoldering or covered in paint. Protesters are burning their country down. Car dealerships had hundreds of cars burnt. Big international banks had their offices torched. How do they expect jobs to be created?
Every tour guide was embarrassed for their country. A tour guide is a good and hard to get job everywhere in South America. They have to be very fluent in English. They study every thing about their country. While travelling between stops they talk about, history, geology, economics, school system, retirement system, housing and more.

San Antonio

In Buenos Aires on Feb 15th 500 new passengers embarked. There was no screening or precautions taken. In the next ten days news about the virus accelerated. The quarantined ships belonged to Carnival, Cunard's parent company. On the 26th we got a letter from the Captain reminding us to was our hands more frequently. The ship was also tripling their normal cleaning of elevator buttons, door knobs, hand rails etc.
On February 29th 500 guest disembarked and 500 new potential passengers sat in the terminal. Their previous travel locations were closely examined. Those who had been to China or Italy in the last three months were not allowed to board. All had their temperature checked.
If we were quarantined we questioned who would pay for that. There were pages of fine print in the contract that was unread by all. I still don't know.

Valparaiso

In Valparaiso our guide would run ahead to the next corner and make sure there were no protesters there. I am pictured next to a tank that was a water cannon. It also fired tear gas. They broke up a protest an hour earlier at that spot. Pavement was still wet.

Billye standing in front of home of Pablo Naruda. Noble Prize for poetry. Billye is still within outer wall of museum. He is respected in Chile so no graffiti here. Protesters spare artists.

(Right picture) Note how house on left has no graffiti and unpainted house on right has graffiti.  There is an area of Valparaiso that has many painted houses. Artists have certain styles and protestors spare them.

Water cannon tank. There were soldiers in the front seat. Note armed soldier on balcony.

Coquimbo

Our tour excursion took us west through the Elqui Valley. We started at Old Lighthouse on the north side of the port. A small river entered the ocean here.  We headed east towards the Andes. Very dry mountains on the north and south but the valley was green with irrigated fields. They had a dam there for water and power. At the end was a vineyard that produced the national liquor, Pisco. We had lunch in Vicuna, a small town near the vineyard.

Arica

It is the northern most city in Chile just 12 miles from Peru. Bolivia is about 100 miles to the east. We went up the Lluta Valley into the Atacama Desert. One inch of rain per decade makes it the driest desert in the  world.  The valley is fertile because of snow melt from the Andes.There are four major observatories on top of the dry mountains. No rain...no clouds... the sky is clear virtually every night. We went up to the town of Putre, elevation 12,500 feet. I could feel the lack of oxygen going up stairs. Along the way we saw geoglyph markings.  Pre- Incan stone formations made on the side of the mountain. The holes in the ground are believed to be for keeping food cool. It is thought that this area was a frequently traveled route. There is some speculation that the geoglyphs were a kind of billboard letting travelers know it was there. Believed to be several thousand years old.

Lima, Peru

Next port was Lima, Peru. It has a dysfunctional government like Chile, consecutive presidents in prison, graffiti etc. People not happy and frustrated. In the morning we chose a history tour then we saw how the rich live.

The Pachacamac ruins, 200 AD, were immense. The artifacts were well preserved because of the dry conditions. In the afternoon we had lunch and Paso Horse Show at the Hacienda Mamacona. The Paso horse is unique. Each foot hits the ground at different times. They are not trained but born with that characteristic.

Manta, Ecuador

We are back at the equator and it is very hot here. Not the greatest port for things to do. We hiked some jungle in a tribal area that they have set aside for eco-tourism.  Note they buried their dead in jars. The natives can't speak any other language but they carry very detailed bird books. North America has about 700 birds. Ecuador has 1,200.
This is a good spot for whale watching. A very nice hotel was built on the top of the mountain where we had lunch. The Pacific ocean can be seen from it. The town of Manta is just a fishing village but now they are after the tourist.

Panama

Before I get to Panama I want to mention that about 60 people got off in Lima and returned in Manta. Some took a side trip to Machu Picchu and others to the Galapagos. On return they had their temperature taken twice daily.

Panama is a tender port. The ship was anchored about a mile from shore. At 8am we waiting in position to board the tender for our excursion, a train ride from the Pacific side to the Atlantic through the jungle. We were sent back to our rooms. Panama would not let us off the ship. Finally about half past noon permission was granted but Panama sent medical people on board to take temperatures.
We stopped at the Miraflores Locks and watched a ship pass through. Some pictures will be of that and others taken from the QV the next day when we went through. It took nine hours and we had just 13 inches of clearance each side.

It was fascinating. Truly a wonder of the world. Built in 1914 and still working exactly the same way. The gates are original. Built in Pittsburgh and weigh 76 tons. Note water levels in the locks. From the Pacific side we were lifted 85 feet in three stages.

Back in the Atlantic

After the Canal the next port was Cartagena, Columbia, where we had an excursion booked. That was canceled because Columbia would not permit us to come ashore. The ship got permission to dock in Aruba instead. The next day we toured Curacao. Both islands are controlled by the Dutch. No graffiti there. They were well maintained. The Netherlands manages the school system. If your child is in the 5th grade and you move back to the Netherlands he or she is ready for the 6th grade. The beaches were very nice. Many Europeans have condos there.

Homestretch

Rumors were rife about our acceptance in Fort Lauderdale. One case and we would be quarantined was the worst. It gave real meaning to the expression "only as strong as it's weakest link." Below "Captains Party".

No virus tests were given but everyone was in good health. Americans were allowed off the ship. We went right through customs with no temperature check. Foreigners could disembark only if they had a connection to leave the country. Seven hundred potential passengers were told their cruise was canceled. The ship went straight to Southampton were everyone had to disembark. Cunard made other arrangements for them to get home. Next port was Hamburg so it was mainly Germans. The QV will be docked for at least 30 days.
The Fort Lauderdale airport did not check our temperature nor our luggage. We went to Atlanta and then Jackson on half empty planes. When was the last time you have seen that. Our friends from England said they and the ship remained healthy.
We had a great cruise and were blessed with lucky timing regarding the virus.

Lastly, this letter was not possible without Steve’s enthusiastic support and tech knowledge. Thank you Steve!!!

We drained our food supply before we left. Went straight to Kroger the first morning home.