Posts In The “South America” Category
“Someone stole my necklace!” Jennifer exclaimed, as she felt her small gold chain being ripped off her neck from behind. We both turned to see a man running away through the crowd. “Is that him?” James asked. As he said that, two men tackled him to the ground. One man tried to grab the phone…
Santiago, founded in 1541 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, lies in a fertile valley flanked by the Andes and the Chilean Coastal Range. With a population of roughly 7 million, it is one of the largest cities in the Americas. 19th-century neoclassical buildings fill the downtown core, while several stand-alone hills offer sweeping views…
Launched in 2020, the Aqua Nera is the newest by a decade of the roughly half-dozen commercial river boats that cruise the Peruvian Amazon River. The ship is operated by Aqua Expeditions, who have branched out from their beginnings on the Amazon River to operate small-boat cruises in the Galapagos, Indonesia, and the Mekong River….
November brought winter weather to Seattle, with heavy rainfall and temperatures that brushed around freezing. We escaped the cold weather, but not the rain, on an Amazon River cruise later in the month. Temperatures there were in the high 90s F (32 C), with the sporadic downpours typical of the tropics. Preparing for the trip…
The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by discharge volume and second longest in the world (after the Nile). Originating in Peru, the Amazon flows 4,000 miles (6,400 km) eastward drain into to the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. The river has two seasons, high water and low water, with a 35-45-ft (10.6-13.8m)…
Iguazu National Park was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984 for its “striking natural beauty and the magnificent liaison between land and water” and also was voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Straddling the border between Brazil and Argentina, the Iguazu River pours over the edge of volcano-blasted Parana…
At latitude 54°48′ S, Ushuaia is the earth’s southernmost city and bills itself as the “end of the world”. (Port Williams in Chile is actually further south, but has a much smaller population and is classified as a town.) Ushuaia’s population initially was not Argentinian, but British. The city was founded in the 1800s by…
The Drake Passage lived up to its reputation for big weather on our two-night passage back to Ushuaia from the Girlache Strait. We experienced 33-40 ft (10-12m) seas with winds blowing steadily 60 kts and gusting to 70. We didn’t, however, experience the dreaded “Drake Shake”. The National Geographic Endurance handled the conditions remarkably well,…
Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, is the departure point for the majority of Antarctic cruises. Our flight there from Buenos Aires was delayed by the overnight return of the victorious Argentinian World Cup team. Over a million fans had traveled to the airport to greet the players, abandoning their cars and walking when…
On our second day in Buenos Aires, we took a bus tour through the city as part of our Antarctica cruise package, followed by dinner on our own overlooking Puerto Madero. Buenos Aires is a striking city, full of grand historic buildings, extensive parks, impressive monuments and much public art. We particularly enjoyed our visit…
We reached our sixth continent when we landed in Buenos Aires, with the seventh soon to come. After an enjoyable flight across the country from Seattle to Atlanta, we embarked on a 10-hour, 5,080-mile (8,175 km) trip south. Our Buenos Aires hotel was in Puerto Madero, the old commercial port district that has been beautifully…
We arrived into Argentina on December 19th, the day that Argentina would take on France to decide the winner of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Everywhere we went, people were setting up televisions indoors and out in preparation for the game. Our hotel setup two and we watched the game from there. The game was…