January 7th NCL Star cruise to Antarctica , Argentina and Chile with a 10 day stay photo travelogue

[scubacruiserx2]

 There were a couple of places down the street for dinner but they were both closed and the Hotel only served breakfast . The lady at the desk was nice and said that we could walk ( 2 miles ) or that she could call us a cab , which we chose . We asked her to called the hotel where we had stayed before to make dinner reservations for the next day . We loved that place for dinner .

 

 

 

 

 

Local Trout

 

 

Ossobuco

 

 

Dessert

 

 

Our room was tiny compared to our nice Cabin on the Star and as we waited for the cab we noticed that 2 of the suitcases had been tampered with . Pat's large suitcase had been opened and relocked  probably using a TSA key . Nothing was missing but the contents had been rearranged . But the new piece of luggage had the locking holes where the zippers meet and the lock broken off . It was dirty clothes and hiking boots ( Pat's were brand new ) but nothing appeared to be taken . We had the lady at the desk call the airlines but they said that it had to be reported at the airport before we left .

Edited February 15 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We had a late dinner in town that was good and early the next morning we were to go on a Glacier cruise . When we got back to the room it was hot . They have no fans or AC so the only way that we had to cool the room was to hold the window and door to the hallway open . We did lock them at 11 PM but people kept driving on the gravel road beneath us and talking very loudly in the halls until after midnight .

 How I wished that we had brought our rechargeable fans that we use after hurricanes and the power goes out . A little breeze and some white noise from the fan would have been a blessing . 

[scubacruiserx2]

 It appears that the NCL Sun and the HAL Oosterdam may be in Puerto Chacabuco today so it may be crowded .

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9221281

We miss the good old days when they went just North to Puerto Aysen up the river . It was much more scenic and less crowded . As you can see from this photo in 2007 on the NCL Dream . There were more tenders than passengers , much nicer than waiting an hour in line .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We were up early but not bright for a quick breakfast at 0630 . Our ride was due at 0700 and we were packed but we wanted to have a quick bite to eat and take care of business before the long ride to the boat . As it turned out we were the first picked up and picking up all of the other people took nearly as long as the ride to the boat . You have to pay a park fee which had to be paid in A Pesos . Then a line for the boat . It was a nice day with some clouds in the distance that looked like rain .

 

 

 

 

 

 We paid a little extra for a smaller room in the aft on the 2nd deck . It had a private viewing deck and bathroom . It also served a nice meal for lunch .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We were pleasantly surprised that our Christmas was alive and well after being gone 3 weeks and 3 days ! It has since morphed into a Loveuary  tree for Valentines Day and we wonder if it can make it to a March like a lamb tree .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 The Sun has turned south away from the Port of Chacabuco probably looking for the Glacier .

 

Edited February 16 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  A view of our balcony

 

 

 

Near the mountain

 

 

 

And away we go

 

 

 

A couple of Condors and a rainbow

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Before we knew it we were in the icebergs - some small and some bigger than trees .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

8 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 It appears that the NCL Sun and the HAL Oosterdam may be in Puerto Chacabuco today so it may be crowded .

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9221281

We miss the good old days when they went just North to Puerto Aysen up the river . It was much more scenic and less crowded . As you can see from this photo in 2007 on the NCL Dream . There were more tenders than passengers , much nicer than waiting an hour in line .

 

 

 

No NCL Sun be we have Regent seven seas Voyager with us again

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

No NCL Sun be we have Regent seven seas Voyager with us again

 

 We noticed that they went South in the Fjords to the Glacier we think . They are scheduled to go to Chacabuco tomorrow so you may pass at them at sea . We hope that you had a great day .

[scubacruiserx2]

  We knew with Icebergs this close that we would soon see a Glacier

 

 

An attempt to harpoon Agua the great Blue Iceberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 The Captain had invited our small group up to the bridge . I wonder why ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aft room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The runoff from glacier

 

 

 

The Glacier face

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We stopped at the island of the Cows and most of the people went for a walk while they set up for lunch . Our knees told us not to go and we stayed on the nearly empty boat .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch was served a course at a time 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite good and the lamb was tender .

Edited February 16 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 After lunch we began making our way back to port . I had some nice chats with the people at our table and the couple that sat at their own at table for 2 in between the other larger tables that held  6 . She had spent most of the morning sleeping , so I thought that she was local . But she said that she was from Mexico along with her new husband of a year after the death of her long time husband . They were older than us and we had a nice talk about how much and many places that we had visited there , almost always on the coasts .

 It was the late afternoon and we had a long ride back to the port at a high rate of speed but she was warm and wanted the outside door closed . Well the majority of the people wanted it propped to get some air in . An English lady at our table who now lives in Spain gave her an earful after ascertaining that she was sick and not wearing a mask . There an uneasy silence for the rest of the trip back to the Perito Moreno glacier . And she did wear her mask after that .

 

 

 

  It was much cooler at the glacier and we went up top for a little . We were not the only ones .

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple of clicks we headed back down to the rear . It was less crowded and sheltered from the wind . There was a quick trip boat there and some kayaks on the back side of the glacier .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other boat and our boat let some people off there on the rear of the glacier .

 

 

 

We moved in for a closer view before a high speed run back to the port

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 17 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  In hindsight we think that this is where we may have gotten Covid .  After the van brought us back to the hotel we wanted an early dinner because we had a really long day for the next day . We tried the Mexican street food place which more a Bar then a place to eat . There was also a pizza joint behind it . As we looked at the menu we didn't notice any traditional Mexican food . The closest thing was a beef or a chicken empanada . So we tried one of each and ordered a 4 cheese pizza . The pizza was delivered from the pizza place and they were all pretty good . We saved the leftovers as we had a small icebox . One again we were up past midnight with the noise . I tried to go down early to get a coffee for Pat and the door to the breakfast place and the office were locked and unattended . Breakfast is at 0630 and at 0600 nobody was at the office yet . At about 615 a guy rode up on a motorcycle and opened the office for himself . We were not allowed to enter until 630 . Since it was cold outside we sat on the stairs to see if our ride was there yet . When 630 came we were allowed inside to eat and wait . The lady working there heated up the pizza for as as we were tired of ham and cheese for breakfast and didn't want fruit loops .

 Our guide and driver got there after 7 and we headed out for the day . The map shows 3 hours and 21 minutes driving time not counting the border crossing at Cerro Castillo . If you look under the MORE Icon you will see El Chalten where we would drive to later on the map link below .

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/El+Calafate,+Santa+Cruz+Province,+Argentina/Torres+del+Paine+National+Park,+Magallanes+y+la+Antártica+Chilena,+Chile/@-50.7318217,-73.3137751,8z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0xbdbb0cc0138f62cb:0x30d4035d88e4dc69!2m2!1d-72.2647982!2d-50.337969!1m5!1m1!1s0xbda51b0183dbaf07:0xbd9f2657451ace58!2m2!1d-73.4067879!2d-50.9423262!3e0?entry=ttu

Edited February 17 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We had to present paperwork and show our Passports to leave Argentina and about 2 miles later do the same to enter Chile .  Then we began to see wildlife and scenery .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop after the boarder crossing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look and listen to the wind , no tenders or ships stopping here even if they could come this far inland !

 

 

 

[gotscrapz]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. Love the details, photos, and videos! You seem like such a lovely couple who are enjoying your traveling years ❤️

I am off to read your Alaska review!

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, gotscrapz said:

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. Love the details, photos, and videos! You seem like such a lovely couple who are enjoying your traveling years ❤️

I am off to read your Alaska review!

 

 

 Thanks for going along on our cruise  . We do enjoy traveling and the next scheduled one isn't until Thanksgiving with the family . Thank you for your kind words . 😊🙂

[scubacruiserx2]

  One thing that we had forgot to mention was that after we crossed into Chile we picked up a new guide at the store . He was a Park Ranger and an Ambulance driver in Puerto Natales .

 The city was settled in the late 19th century by European immigrants, primarily Germans, British,including English, Welsh and Scots, Croats, Greeks, Italians , and Spaniards. 

Wikipedia

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

The Paine river rapids and the Torres

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped by the Ranger Station and bathroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  A slight reprise . The breakfast of champions and the map at the Hotel while waiting for our ride to Torres del Paine , Chile .

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  More pics and videos from the trip . As we neared Lake Pehoe the wind  kicked up to 100km/h or 62 mph blowing the water and dust .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Chilean guide showed us photos of busses overturned by the wind . As we approached the Nordenskjold Lake there's a waterfall .

 

 

 

 

And an overlook of the place that we at lunch at on the HAL tour 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 cameras , same view

 

 

 

 

At the border crossing the sign had blown down while we were gone and was weighted down !

 

 

The view from the way back machine

 

Edited February 18 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We had snacks that we purchased , but no lunch so we requested to be dropped off at a place that we really liked for dinner instead of the hotel . We would just take a cab from there . The place that we really liked is called Pura Vida - the Pure life which is the theme and life style of Costa Rica .

 

 

 

 

 

I had a lentil stew that was like Chili and Pat had a lamb pot pie that were very good . They did want a 1 hour wait time . So we went to take some photos and found a Sushi place near there .

 

 

 

 

Tribute to the Falkland Islands War

 

 

 

 

The Sushi Place

 

 

 

We really like the vibe and people there so we asked them to cancel our reservation at Pura Vida . The food was fresh and top grade .

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 While we did enjoy our trip to Torre del Paine and our stay at the Hotel we would recommend the people that we used before . We used Get your Guide instead of Tours by Locals because TBL didn't offer a trip to Torres .

 La Cantera did not answer our requests but we would recommend them instead of where we stayed in El Calafate .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  Because our first 2 days in El Calafate had tours we didn't rent a car so on Wednesday we rented a car . It would require some extensive training since our new car is old enough to be an adult in all 50 states .

 

 

 

 

 

 

  It had Air Conditioning so we thought that we might sleep in the car that night ! The first stop was at a bank where we tried to withdraw the maximum 50,000 A Pesos , about $50 . The machine wouldn't work so we asked a bank officer for help . He said that the most that we could withdraw was 10,000 with a 7,000 fee . In other words to withdraw $10 would cost $7 ! 

 We did like this mosaic on a wall across from the bank .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Look out Argentina , here we come .

 

Edited February 18 by scubacruiserx2