The South American and Antarctic experience on the Zaandam

[scubacruiserx2]

Because of the mix up in Santiago we had not been able to purchase our 2 bottles of corkage free wine , and so we went for a walk to the local supermarket

 

 

We bought red and a white name brand wine and 2 bottles of Pisco Sour for about $ 20 . HAL charged us $36 for a corkage fee for the wine .

 

 

And after returning to the port

 

 

We give 2 thumbs up for Claudio , Tours by Locals , Las Buenas Brasas and Puerto Montt .

 

 

A couple of parting shots from the telephoto :

 

The church on a hill 

 

 

and the odd couple .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Our next stop was an early morning stop in Castro , Chiloe .

 

 

Early morning room service

 

 

We were the last ones seated on the first tender and we sat in the fold down seats by the door . This allowed some photos during the ride in

 

 

 

 

It was low tide so some of the boats were on their side

 

 

 

 

 

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It also meant a steep walk up the ramp 

 

 

The buses were waiting

 

 

near the terminal

 

 

We were meeting about 10 people for a Top Private Tour . Some people had not arrived and I took a walk with the camera .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

When we were all assembled we set out for a ride to the Parque Nacional Chiloe where we would be walking the Sendero El Tepua trail through the lowland rain forest.

 

 

 

 

There is a number of wooden walkways , but some were not in great shape .

 

 

 

 

 

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A little later it became more dense

 

 

 

 

 

In fact , one of our group fell and needed to return to the bus .

 

 

 

 

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Flora and  fauna

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of our guides used a bird call recorded on their cell phone to attract this Austral Thrush

 

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Our next stop was for lunch

 

 

 

 

Our dessert was berries

 

 

I think that they were Calafate berries

 

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Chiloe is known for it's wooden churches many designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_of_Chiloé

 

The church of Chonchi

 

 

 

 

 

We also visited it's adjacent graveyard

 

 

 

We would later visit a more famous one in BA .

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Our last photo stop would be to see the colorful Palafitos in Castro one with a sailboat in front of it 

 

 

 

Colorful mural

 

 

 

The Zaandam

 

 

Castro

 

 

Iglesia de San Francisco

 

 

[LORDBOWDON]

This is brilliant.  I have done this sailing three times now.  This trip (Dec 17) had the least good weather of the three, but statistically, it was "average" in that we landed at Falklands, had two clearish days in Antarctica, and could not land at Ushaia.  Rain in Chilean Fjords was a real disappointment though, however, Castro was delightful.  I added on Iguassu Falls, and after reading this report of taxis in BA, feel extremely lucky that we found an honest taxi driver to take us from AEP to EZE - a five hour window between flights used all but 30 minutes of it!!!

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, LORDBOWDON said:

This is brilliant.  I have done this sailing three times now.  This trip (Dec 17) had the least good weather of the three, but statistically, it was "average" in that we landed at Falklands, had two clearish days in Antarctica, and could not land at Ushaia.  Rain in Chilean Fjords was a real disappointment though, however, Castro was delightful.  I added on Iguassu Falls, and after reading this report of taxis in BA, feel extremely lucky that we found an honest taxi driver to take us from AEP to EZE - a five hour window between flights used all but 30 minutes of it!!!

 

Wow , that's cutting it close ! On our previous cruise to Glacier Alley and Ushuaia in 2013 we had Chamber of Commerce weather - but no Falklands , Brujo or Antarctica . So we were thrilled to see those and to get that extra 1/2 day of great weather in Dallman Bay . We are looking to editing and sharing those photos .

  

[scubacruiserx2]

On thy way back to port we saw a monkey puzzle tree 

 

 

Saying good bye to our guides

 

 

We couldn't believe how close this guy got to the ship

 

 

It was sunny and nice as we left Castro

 

 

We saw a number of mussel farms along the way

 

 

 

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Some of the farms were guarded by a seal team

 

 

 

In the distance loomed a mountain range

 

 

With this good looking volcano - Corcavado

 

 

Almost sunset

 

 

The evening's dinner menu

 

 

 

The next day :

 

 

Edited January 24, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Dinner is served (in our cabin )

 

Chicken Gumbo Soup

 

 

Salmon

 

 

Yankee Pot Roast

 

 

This was our 3rd cruise to South America but our first balcony . With the easy access to the outdoors we could see and photograph a lot things that we may have missed before . Thus we ate a lot of meals in our cabin  .

 

An Albatross looking for dinner

 

 

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Puerto Chacabuco sits in a pretty area , but there's not much to do there

 

 

 

And so we found ourselves on a road trip with the group from the previous day . The first stop was the Virgin Falls

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a video clip :

 

 

 

As you can see and hear - it was quite windy .

 

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Just down from the falls was this

 

 

We stopped at a lookout of Coyhaique

 

 

 

 

Coyhaique National Reserve

 

 

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This is where our picnic lunch was

 

 

Our lunch

 

 

A walk in the woods

 

 

On the way back to the ship we stopped at the Rio Simpson Museum ( it was closed but we could walk around the park area ) and the Puerto Aysen Suspension Bridge for photos .

 

 

 

Our next days When and Where :

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Our cruise through the fjords was overcast , grey , and misty . Not the best for photos .

 

 

 

The featured highlight was the shipwreck of The Captain Leonidas

 

 

But it is a pretty area as you can see in this video clip :

 

 

 

We decided to go watch the organ play in the Atrium

 

 

 

 

A video clip of a timely tune :

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Odd photos to amuse ourselves before dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dinner

 

 

is served

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We didn't know which glacier that we were going to early in the morning but we have been to Amalia twice 

 

 

In 2007 we had wet snow on the NCL Dream

 

 

 

In 2013 on the Zaandam it was better

 

 

 

 

And so what would it be this time ?

 

 

 

 

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We were up early for the sail in and we were not alone .

 

 

In fact they brought the Artillery

 

 

It wasn't too crowded when we first got there

 

 

 

And as we drew closer to Brujo the business picked up

 

 

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We almost forgot that we had ordered breakfast in our room so we hustled down

 

 

So the rest of the photos would come from the balcony 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

 

Videos :

 

Entering the glacier

 

 

 

 

The Brujo Glacier

 

 

 

[EllieinNJ]

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