Sun - January 18, 2004

Castro, Puerto Montt, Home


The final days of the trip

I am sitting on my chair in my house in LA, and I miss the world very much. I just got back this morning, and I have managed to miss one flight and not get onto standby on the next. I have spent almost all day at the airport and on planes. Needless to say I am very tired. But there is so much that happened during the last few days of the trip, I needed to write it down and post some pictures.
I already have some pictures from Puerto Chacabuco here . In Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, I took a small plane and flew over this huge glacier. The glacier was very beautiful from the top because there are these lakes of blue ice there. There were only 6 people in the plane, and plane was very small. The ride was not for the faint hearted. Our pilot was a daredevil and buzzed by the front of the glacier as well as two ships. It was a lot of fun. Besides that, there was nothing to do in Chacabuco and i stayed on the ship for most of the time that we were not on that tour. The town was tiny.
Castro was very nice. It was a city on an island, the second largest after tiere del fuego. We took a tour and drove to some other islands and some local villages. We saw lots of churches and animals and local homes. Ursula and I both found this one little town called Dalcahue very nice. After visiting the churches and sights, we went to a local restaurant where we had pisco sours and there was a band with dancers. I got up and participated in one of the dances, it was a lot of fun. That evening, Ursula and I decided to take a taxi to Dalcahue and have a truly local dinner. Most of the people on the ship went to nice restaurants in Castro that were recommended by Gillian and Chirsti, but we decided to be adventurous. Communicating in the restaurant was a little difficult, but manageable. We both tried all sorts of local dishes and had a great time drinking Pisco Sours. One very interesting thing about going back to the town for dinner was that in the evening it was low tide. The tides there can be up to 9 meters. In the afternoon when we went, during low tide, there was lots of mud and most of the boats were tipped over in the mud. It looked very poor and slummy. In the evening, it was a completely different town because suddenly you had this beautiful inland waterway with lots of little boats floating. For dinner, it turns out I had this giant deep water eel. It was very tasty and I could have sworn that I ordered fish, but I guess not. It was very nice to experience more local culture in chile.
The next day was in Puerto Montt, and that was my last day. Infact, I left at 6:00 in the evening, but I still managed to do the morning tour and see a bit of the city. We went to these beautiful waterfalls and saw some other local sights. It was a very nice ending to the trip. I got back and packed and then spent my last few hours with Amy who I miss already. Some day our paths may cross again.
I got back to LA after one of the longest flights in the world. I was in first class though and there were only 5 seats total in first class. Four of those seats were taken up by residents of The World. James and Mimi were there as well as Becky and I. Becky and I had the same flights and were travel partners today. In LA the customs and security took so long that I missed my flight to Arizona. I got a standy ticket, but they didn't call my name for that either. I spent $60 for taxi rides going back and forth between my house and the airport today. I don't think i spent $60 on every taxi fair combined in the past month. It was 2 to 5 dollars to go pretty much anywhere in Argentina and Chile.
Here are some pictures from the last days of the trip.

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Thu - January 15, 2004

Chilean Fjords


3 days cruising through the Chilean Fjords

The journey from Ushuaia to our next port, Chacabuco, was very long but also very beautiful. We stayed within the Fjords (a bunch of islands) for almost the entire time. We also stopped at a few Glaciers that were coming out of the mountains. We even got out on zodiacs one day and drove up right next to one. The glacier carved(?) a bunch right infront of us which was very exciting. The sound of the ice breaking off the glacier and falling into the ocean is quite amazing, especially when you are sitting right on the water looking up at a 20 story high piece of ice. We left the Fjords a few times, then the weather would get very bad and the ship would rock a lot. One day we had 80 knott (i.e. hurricane force) winds blowing into the side of the ship. But then we went back into the Fjords and everything would be ok again. Up in the bridge I would watch the maps because we overlay our radar on top of the charts. We didn't have a set course because the charts were not accurate. We sailed over land, according to the charts, for quite a bit. The chilean pilot was just as confused as we were.
Two nights ago I had dinner at the Thompsons place and the Ursula and the Captain came by later on. It was very nice and I got to have a good chat with the captain. I had to leave at 11:00 however because I was meeting Amy at the Regatta bar then. Amy is a very nice girl who came on in Ushuaia and we have been hanging out quite a bit.
Today we are anchored in Chacabuco, chile. In fifteen minutes I am going out on an airplane to see some of the sights of the area. As for Chacabuco, i think it is quite small. We are leaving at 5 this evening.

Pictures

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Sun - January 11, 2004

Ushuaia, the end of the World and the beginning of everything


Back in Ushuaia and saying goodbye to everyone.

Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world and it is the starting place for lots of Antarctic cruises. So I find myself back after only ten days. I had to say goodbye to all the younger people on the boat. We had a nice evening at the bar.

Most people left the first day in Ushuaia, but some people were still around that evening. I went out to a crazy Argentinean club last night with most of the crew and Danielle, Andrea, Emily, Early and Kyle. It was a lot of fun, lots of dancing and drinking. But they didn't keep people from coming in, so around 4:15 in the morning I couldn't even move. It was very frustrating so I ended up leaving. I only slept a few hours and then helped my parents pack and said goodbye to them at 11:00 am. I then went out with Becky, Earl's mom, in Ushuaia and bought a nice leather jacket and some wine. I got home about 3:00 and passed out for 4 hours at which point i ran to this residents party and had a great time there.

pictures

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Fri - January 9, 2004

Last Day In Antarctica


The last day in Antarctica and two days at sea in Drake's Passage.

As I type this, we are going through 27' seas through Drake's Passage. Tonight it should get better because we will be past cape horn and into a small island group. People are getting sea sick left and right. As for me, i'm having a lot of fun. I stayed on the bridge for a half hour yesterday watching us jump over and crash into the waves. Sometimes the spray would come all the way up to the bridge. For reference, "The World" is 650 feet long and has 12 decks.
On the 7th, we visited Palmer Station. Palmer station is one of three US science research stations on Antarctica. We got there and watched their research ship leave dock. My family and I won the lottery to go to Palmer station so we went ashore and had a quick tour of the facilities. It was very nice compared to port lockroy, then old english research station. It looked like everyone there was having a great time. I have some pictures you can see here.
Later that day we went out on zodiacs and just were out for about an hour. There were lots of little islands as well as icebergs and the penguins on the islands had lots of little babies. It was also sunset when we were out so we got some amazing views, some of which i captured here . We got back and decided to go to the night club in all our antarctic gear, that was fun. I got a great picture with Danielle, Danielle, Andrea, Ethel, James and I.

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Tue - January 6, 2004

Walking on Antarctica


Our first day setting foot on Antarctica

USC beat Michigan, LSU beat Oklahoma. We will be splitting the national championship with LSU. I guess I can live with that.

Anyways, today we walked on the antarctic continent. That in itself was very cool. But also there was this big mountain, about 800 feet, that we could hike up and then you could slide down in the snow. It was so much fun. I went twice. The second time I went down I got snow in my boots, which turned into ice, and made me very cold. I ran back to the zodiacs and took off my boots and my socks. Going back barefoot was very interesting.

Pictures

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Sun - January 4, 2004

Iceberg ally, Deception Island


Icebergs, whaling, penguins, and seals



This is an iceberg, it's as big as a city block, and it was one of hundreds that we were cruising through. The water was like glass, there were penguins seals, and whales everywhere. At one point, the captain brought the ship right up to one and stopped so that we could all look at the seals that were resting on it. The weather was perfect the entire time we were in the icebergs. I stayed up on the bridge most of the time to watch us navigating through the ice. It was very interesting.
On the 3rd we went to a place called Deception Island which is a volcano which comes out of the water. Boats are able to sail into the crater. We came into the crater and there was another research boat there. On the land of the crater is some old whale processing buildings and support boats. I went on land and explored around, some people went swimming in this little pool the crew dug. The volcano made the water very warm. When we got back, a blizzard came through and they had to stop bringing people to the island. We got out of there pretty quick because there were 70 mph winds. We turned so quickly that the boat was leaning over and all the furniture at the back of the boat went flying to one side. I'll have pictures as soon as I can upload them. We barely have internet access here because we are so far south. I was able to watch the rose bowl on the 1rst though. And I will be watching the sugar bowl tonight.
SC #1, Fight On!!!

Pictures

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Fri - January 2, 2004

Elephant Island


Our first day in Antarctica

I woke up on the 1rst with a terrible soar throat. I got over it though as the day went on. The first thing I did was go up to the bridge and watch us maneuvering around ice bergs. It was very impressive, and we are currently going around the edges of some very large ones, trying to find a gap to get in. Yesterday, the 1rst, we went to Elephant Island which is a small island at the northernmost point of the antarctic peninsula. Going through all the icebergs was very impressive, especially in "The World". Here is a picture of the ship anchored just off the island.
We got into some zodiacs and raced around a little outside the boat looking at some famous landmarks and at the penguins. Everywhere you look in the water, there are penguins jumping around. While we were coming closer to the island, the penguins were jumping out of the way of the boat. Then in the zodiacs they would swim right around us, like they were interested in what was going on. The entire day I stayed very bundled up because I didn't want to get sicker than I already was. Today i'm feeling very good, so I'm hopping to go out in the zodiacs again. However, the captain just announced that we may not be able to get close enough to our next island, because of the icebergs. The weather yesterday and today is very nice, no storms yet. Afterall, it is the summer down here. You can see lots of pictures from the 1rst here .

Posted at 10:26 AM     Read More  

Happy New Years!!!


New Years on The World

Some Pictures:

Had a great new years part on the ship. The above picture on the left was at about 3:30 in the morning in Quantum, the night club. From left to right you have me, Danielle, Kyle, Emily and two people i'm not sure what their names are. At this point in the night, everyone was going off to bed, the group was much larger about a half hour before.
My parents and I had a very nice dinner with the Moores in Portraits that night. Then there was a party in the lobby for new years. Jemmy had decorated the entire lobby and it looked very nice. There was dancing and a lot of champagne. After new years, the party moved into the Quantum bar which was a lot of fun. Earl, Emily, Danielle, Andrea, and I all danced a lot. Later on, John and his wife (our neighbors) joined in. At about 3:00 in the morning, when most people were already gone, some of the crew came up from the crew party and danced with us. It was a great new years.

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Ushuaia


The Southern Most City of the World

Ushuaia

We were in Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world. About 150 people boarded the ship today. The ship has never had so many people on board before, there are over 300 now. That day in Ushuaia, we went on a tour that took us through a national park and on a little train. The train was used to transport convicts from the jail to the woods in order to cut down trees. Now those woods are a national park and the beavers are having a field day there. The town is more interesting for being the southermost of the world than for having a convict train. The train traveled 7 km/h. I wanted to get out and walk :)
That night, I went out and met a bunch of people in town. We had some drinks and then got back to the boat at 11:15 because the ship pulled anchor at 11:30. We hung out and drank a little back on the ship after that.

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Tue - December 30, 2003

Stanley, Falkland Islands and a day at sea.


A nice day in Stanley, the main town of the Falkland Islands, and a day at sea


We walked all around Stanley on the 28th. It is a small town with 2000 people and very brithish. They have their own money there, although it is equivalent in value to the british pound and it looks the same. They accept British pounds, but Britain does not accept Falkland Islands pounds. I kept a 1 pound coin and a 5 pound bill as souvenirs. The money is better than a post card because it has all the historical landmarks on it.
We walked to a small museum on the island, where I made a donation and got change in pounds. The museum was very interesting and the woman running the place was very nice and told us all about the islands. There are still areas on the island that you cannot walk because there are mines from when the argentines occupied the Falklands. Penguins are able to go in these areas however, because they arn't heavy enough to set off the mines.
That night i went out to the local pub. I didn't make it at first because the tender had some battery problems and had to return to the ship. I eventually made it to the pub and there were lots of crew and guests there already. I sang "loosing my religion" by R.E.M. with Manny, one of the members of the boogie street band. That was the first time I sang Kareoke. I'm very happy that I can say the first time I sang kareoke was in the Falkland islands. We all had to run back to the last tender which left at 11:30. The boat pulled anchor and we headed for Argentina that night.
The next day was a nice day at sea, very relaxing. I started my GMAT review at the computer center and went to the gym. That evening James was playing piano at the Quantum bar and I danced with Danielle^2, and Andrea. I also gambled a little, but left when I broke even.
Today we are in Uchuia Argentina and bought some boots for antarctica. We are going on a train ride through the country later and having dinner.
You can see some pictures from Stanley here .

Posted at 01:31 PM     Read More  


Sun - December 28, 2003

Falkland Islands


Our first day in the Falkland Islands.


We arrived at West Point island today after a night of some sever weather. I barely slept because the boat was rocking so much. The boat was barely moving side to side, but it was moving up and down a lot. We are forward of the middle of the ship, so we feel the movement a little more than others. I think there were some very large seas yesterday. When we got to West Point island, the ocean was to rough for us to get to land, so we kept going until we got to New Island. The weather was perfect at new island and we took three zodeaks to land. We met the owner of the island and saw the houses he had built there. We then hiked to the other side of the island (only about 10 minutes away) where there was a huge colony of Rock Hopper Penguins, Black browed Albatros, and Blue eyed shag's. It was a very neat site and I stayed there for a few hours taking pictures and watching their behavior. There were babies all over the place. You can see some pictures here . I got home late in the afternoon and took a long nap because I hadn't slept much the evening before. Tonight my parents and I ordered some food in our apartment and watched the first two episodes of 24, season 1. The weather is getting a little warmer and less windy, so maybe I will go to the pool tomorrow. We are anchoring outside of the only town in the falkland islands, Stanley. I here there are a few British pubs there, so I look forward to some good fish and chips and a pint of beer tomorrow.

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Thu - December 25, 2003

Puerto Madryn, Argentina


Merry Christmas!!!

Last Night we had christmas on "The World". We had a nice day in the sun on the boat. I hung out at the pool and got sun burnt. In the evening, we opened presents and went to dinner at Portraits, the nice restaurant on the ship. In the evening, the crew put on a big christmas show in the lobby. There was dancing and singing and we got to see everyone we know in another light. It was very nice. James played some excellent piano music, Jemmie sang a very funny christmas song, and some of the engine crew sang in a quire for us. After the show, there was a christmas service that was very nice. There were both residents, guests and crew there which made it a very nice atmosphere. Yesterday was a very nice day on the boat.
Today I woke up and we were docked here in Puerto Madryn. We are docked at the end of a very long pier and when I woke up, I thought we were anchored. Our apartment is on the other side of the boat from the pier and it looks like we are just docked in the middle of this cove. To my surprise, when we left the boat at 8:30 this morning, there was another cruise ship on the other side of the pier from us. It was a very interesting site to see. We got off the ship and got onto a bus for the next 2.5 hours, but the long trip was worth it. I was able to catch up on some sleep, and then we got to the penguins. There were thousands of them, all waddling around. You had to be careful, because you'd walk over one if you weren't looking. The rule was that you had to give the penguin's the right of way, and you couldn't follow them because they are self conscious when you look at them I guess :) The only place we couldn't go was the beach, where the penguins were going in and out of the waves.
When we got back to the boat, the tide had gone out and suddenly there was a huge beach. The boat was also much lower and they had to raise the gangway from the 5th floor to the 6th floor. A few minutes ago we left the dock and got on our way. Tonight we will be eating in Portraits again with some friends. I have lots of pictures that you can see here.

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Tue - December 23, 2003

Buenos Aires/ At sea


The Last shopping in Buenos Aires and a day at sea

Yesterday was a great day in Buenos Aires. We went shopping and bought a lot of cloths for not a lot of money. We went to the big shopping district that has a huge indoor mall. There wasn't a lot to take pictures of, so I don't have any, but I do have lots of new cloths. The idea was to get some things to leave here on the boat, but I think i'm going to take everything home anyways. Besides that, we didn't do a whole lot our last day. The ship left the harbor around 6 pm. Since we were very far up a river, we had to go out through a narrow channel. When we got to the open ocean, there was a strong swell and the boat started to rock a little. That continued until today. I went to the pool and the water was splashing forwards and backwards, sometimes very high. There are some kids on board and they were having lots of fun, but they had to close the pool and drain it once the water got to rough. Tonight I went to the club and gambled away all my winnings from last night. So I guess I'm even. Tomorrow is Christmas and we are going to have a nice dinner. There are lots of events going on tomorrow. Santa Clause will be arriving at 5:00 in the lobby I believe :)

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Sun - December 21, 2003

Buenos Aires


Good Wind!!!
2 days in Buenos Aires.

I have had a busy day yesterday and today. I went on a tour of the city and got to see some of the sights. The city is beautiful. It is summer here, so it is very hot. I went to lunch with my parents at the Jockey club where we met about 40 people from the cruise. We had steaks for lunch and they were very good. The steak was almost like butter when you cut it. They gave us two large pieces, but almost everyone only ate one. We then had the private tour, and came back to the ship. That night, we went to a Dinner and Tango event where we had steak again, and watched a tango show. The show was very nice, and the dancers were excellent, but it was a bit long. We got back to the dock at around 12:30 and I hopped into a Taxi and went to a club called Buenos Aires News. At first I got there and I didn't recognize anyone. It was one in the morning, but all the people at the club were still sitting at tables eating so I decided to sit at the bar and have a drink. Around 1:30 other people from the boat started arriving and by 2 am the tables were gone and everyone started dancing. At 3 am there was a fashion show. By 3:30 I found a group of girls who's birthday it was and they joined up with our group of about 5 or 6 people from the ship. Everyone at the club was so friendly, even the people who did not speak any english. I met a lot of very nice people and had a lot of fun dancing all night. I spent very little money, because drinks were so cheap. A vodka coke was $3. Well, every mixed drink was around $3. Towards the end of the night I had some pesos and started using those. Did I mention, the ratio of women to men was about 3 to 1. At 5:45 I was exhausted and sat down on one of the couches and almost fell asleep. The place was so hot, everyone was completely drenched in sweat. So at 6 am I decided to get back to the ship and sleep. My mom woke me up to get breakfast, but I couldn't get up. I was supposed to go on a tour with my parents today at 10 am, but I didn't make that. Although, I did wake up at 10 am and was not able to get back to sleep. Hopefully I will get a chance to go to one of the flee markets today and buy some presents and souvenirs. I have posted some pictures online here.
Tonight we went to a ballet with my parents, it was very nice but I didn't see much of it. I was so tired that I slept through most of it. I did catch the middle act though, and it was very good. We had dinner at a local restaurant where we met some other people from the cruise.
They drive their cars here like they do in Paris, lane markers are only suggestions. They squeeze as many cars into the road as is possible.

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Fri - December 19, 2003

Montevideo, Day 2



Today we visited an authentic cattle ranch in Uruguay. It was very nice and not touristy at all. Cowboys are called Gauchos in south america and they all came out to greet us when we got there. There were about 11 kids there that all rode around with us. The farm mainly produced milk, although they did have cattle for meet and some Emus and Ostriches. The farm itself was on the river and had a beautiful beach.
The beach was on the river, although it looks just like the ocean. They barbecued lots of food for us and let us ride the horses, and milk a cow. They also sheered a sheep in front of us. I tasted their local wine and beer, both of which were very good. The wine is called tannat I think.
Last night we watched another cruise ship, the Europa, leave the dock. That was much more exciting than it sounds. They had a tugboat help it out, i think to make sure that it didn't hit us. I got some nice pictures of the Europa.
The ranch reminded me of Rancho Santa Fe, where I grew up. There were lots of eucalyptus trees. They smell so strong, they always make me think of Rancho. You can see some photo's of Montevideo on my photo website .

Posted at 09:36 PM     Read More  
Montivideo, Day 1
Traveling to Punta del Este, Uruguay

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