Falkland Islands Fri 30/3/07

Why would anyone go to war over these islands? They are bare of trees, cold and windswept. The harbour was full of rotting hulks and most of the beautiful beaches can't be used because of mines. The one that can be used is so cold that the water can only be swum in for about 20 minutes in mid-summer before you start feeling the effects of hypothermia. We had a 2hr highlights of Stanley and our guide was very enthusiastic and a very nice person but she had trouble finding any highlights for us to see. After she had shown us her son's house we stopped to see a 75 yr old gentleman cutting peat for us, the highlight was that the shovel had a hole in it to let out the water. However we did enjoy our day out and it was very interesting to hear about the war from a residents point of view. She pointed out the sites of several battles, but again one wonders why. After absorbing South America it was very strange to experience a little outpost of England complete with Government house, red letter boxes and fish & chips in the cafe.

Life on the Ocean Wave

We are now in our second day just cruising at sea. When we left Monte Video we cruised for a day before arriving at Puerto Madryn, this is a small town which is the centre for wild life excursions. As we had seen lots of penguins and sea lions we decided to just walk around town for a while, We manage to catch up on a few essentials, like shopping at the supermarket and finding a reasonably priced beauty salon. After leaving the port we are back on a day at sea before we arrive in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Life on board can be as busy or as lazy as you choose. The day starts with a work-out at the gym followed by a buffet breakfast with lots and lots of choices, then a talk on the next port of call, a cooking demonstration, a health talk and then a relax in the hot tub out in the sun. We have been very lucky so far with the weather clear sunny days and very calm seas. After lunch we may have a siesta for a short period before a stroll around the deck before we attend Tango lessons. Time then for a shower before we have a gourmet dinner either at Chopsticks or the Pasta Cafe, but often a buffet dinner at the Four Seasons. This is then followed by a Broadway Show in the Stardust Theatre and maybe a little TV before we collapse into bed to recover for the next days excursions.

Monte Video - Mon 26/3/07

The ship left Buenos Aires about 6:00 pm and cruised all night before arriving in Monte Video in Uraguay early monday morning. All we had done was actually crossed the river Plate. The old town adjacent to the docks was old, poorly maintained and looked deserted it was quite a shock and not a good introduction to a city that we eventually found to be beautiful. Three quarters of the city fronts the river which has all the appearance of a sea beach with white sand and a very mild sea. The promenade abounded with joggers and walkers and extended for many kilometers. On the land side were continuous high rise accomodation units, rather like Surfers Paradise but not so tall, on the other side were trees and lawns before the beach. Behind the high rise were beautiful suburbs the elegant houses. The city contains many statues to their heroes and the people are very proud of the cohesive mix of their citizens and the standard of their free education. The country became independent in 1860 (30 years after Perth was founded).

Iguazu Falls - Fri 23/3/07

After a few days in Buenos Aires we caught another plane and flew to Iguazu, about 11/2 hours flight on the border with Brazil. We stayed the night at the luxurious Iguazu Hotel & Casino, a lovely hotel recognised as one of the best small hotels in the world. The next day a short coach ride to the Brazilian border then on towards the falls. Before we reached the falls we stopped and caught a helicopter to overview where we were going and what we were to see. What an experience, about 3 kilometers of falls ranging from very small to titanic. When we got to the falls we trekked 3 km to view the different falls finishing with a close-up underneath the Garganta del Diablo (The devils throat). Awesome!!! Then a beautiful lunch with the soundof the falls in the background. Back on the coach to go to the Argentinian side of the falls and caught ther green train (a gas powered train that goes through the jungle). Then we went for a trek to look over the top of the Garganta del Diablo. What an experience standing on top of this huge waterfall and being sprayed with the mist that covers everything. The train then took us to Circuito Superior to view a range of falls ranging from Salsto san Martin to Salto des Hermanas a distance of over 1 km containing over 8 dramatic falls. A very weary George & Terry collapsed into bed before flying back to BA the next day to board the Norwegian Crown to start our cruise.

Buenos Aires

After a very, very long flight we arrived in BA via Sydney, Auckland and Santiago. Hotel is brilliant and we were almost tempted to stay there rather than explore the city, but explore we did . At 9 in the morning we joined the rest of our group for a tour of the city. We visited many interesting areas and saw many interesting sites,but one of my must sees didn't disappoint. Evita's sepulchre, complete with fresh flowers after 52 years, was moving and magnificent. All the mausoleums in this cemetery Recolate were fascinating, it felt like a city of the dead and covered two city blocks in area. We also saw the famous balcony in the pink Government House where Evita made her famous revolutionary speech (Government House is pink because it represents the truce between the two factions, red federalists and the light blue unionists) The highlight of the day was an evening dinner show featuring passionate tango, super food and super dance. Today we shopped until we dropped and discovered a gem of a museum just behind the hotel. It was a museum of the Spanish religious influence in South America and was full of priceless artifacts.