My husband and I are just back from a dream cruise around South America. It was a bit of a last-minute decision. The cruise line for which I give talks on ancient history offered all its speakers a special deal on selected cruises in the first few months of the year. One had been on our wish list for a long time – starting from Valparaiso (the port for Santigo – Chile’s capital city) the ship sailed south through the Magellan Straits into the Atlantic and up the Argentinian coast to the country’s capital, Buenos Aires. It was too good an offer to miss!
It was a great cruise and the only thing that didn’t go to plan was that the seas were far too rough for us to go to port Stanley. Most people were disappointed not to be able to go to the Falkland Islands, but we did call into another port – Punta del Este – in Uruguay.
We visited some great ports and thoroughly enjoyed every one. Each one had its own charm, and it would be impossible to pick a favourite as they were also very different. In Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city, I took a trip on an old steam powered locomotive which still had its original carriages across the National Park which was great fun. I was fascinated to hear about the Welsh community which settled in Puerto Madryn 150 years ago which still keeps its traditions alive. I could have spent a great deal longer in the Ralli Art Museum in Punta del Este. I opted to visit the carnival museum in Montevideo which was great fun.
The street art in the La Boca district of Buenos Aires was spectacular.
The wildlife was magnificent. We saw lots of penguins and sea lions, pods of dolphin alongside the ship leaping out of the water and even a whale blow. There was plenty bird life too.
The Chilean fjords were fascinating and the Amelia Glacier was even more spectacular than the ones we had seen in Greenland.
On board the ship we were kept busy attending the talks given by the lecturers. The naturalist and the astronomer where not only extremely knowledgeable but able to pass on their enthusiasm to us. Not a feat all speakers can manage.
If you’ve been reading my Mysteries at Sea novels and you’re wondering if our South America Cruise will form the itinerary for another novel in the series, the answer is we authors never waste an opportunity. I’ve come back with copious notes about the places we saw and the trips we went on, but I’ve not even begun to think about a plot! Not only were there no suspicious happenings and definitely no murder, but there also wasn’t even anyone I would want to murder. Everyone we met was delightful and several we became quite friendly with, and the crew couldn’t do enough for us.
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