Hard to believe that a week has past. An amazing week of incredible beauty. A week of developing a deep appreciation of ice, penguins and the soul of the Antarctic. It is difficult to describe this place and impossible for a camera to capture it adequately. However we hope that the photos will give you at least a sense of the grandeur. To me it seemed like the way the world was when everything began.

Following the Drake rite of passage, our journey continued in the South Shetland Islands . Excursions went out from the ship 2X a day. A hike often started our day and a zodiac cruise rounded out the afternoon. We visited penguin rookeries, had magical ice berg cruises, saw whales ( orcas, humpbacks and minke ), seals and the great wandering albatross. A lot of the time I just sat and tried to take it all in. The Sun set at midnight and rose at about 2:30 am – it never was entirely dark. We managed to capture both on camera. Our time on the Antarctic peninsula was spent hiking up to penguin colonies which were often 1000 meters above sea level on rocky outcrops with spectacular views. We were incredibly well taken care of by Quark and I recommend them whole heartedly to anyone planning a trip to the Antarctic. The quality of food, care, expertise was outstanding, as was attention to detail in every aspect of safety and ship management. One caveat – the Antarctic is not wheelchair friendly. You will get the most out of the trip if you are reasonably fit.

For those of you who are interested in following our progress on a map our ports of call were

Mikkelson Harbour
Cierva Cove
Cape Reynard
Port Lockroy
Leith Cove
Danco Island
Orne Harbour ( where we stepped onto the Antarctic continent)
Fort Point
Yankee Harbour
Frei Station

I hope you enjoy the photos of the South Shetland Islands and Antarctica – it truly is the end of the world as we know it in more ways than one.

Another day of rare good weather in Ushuaia for our trip down the Beagle Channel. The channel was named by Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle who Darwin sailed with. I was trying to imagine Darwin’s thoughts as he sailed down the channel for the first time.

Our first penguin colony greeted us today. The catamaran we were aboard ran right up on the beach by the penguins and we spent a lovely 30 minutes with the little birds before heading on our way. Our trip meeting is tonight and we board our ship tomorrow. Will be out of Internet range until the 19th – hope to load Antarctic photos and blog in Chile when we stop over in Puento Arenas.

Today was a wonderful day in Tierra del Fuego national Park. Human habitation goes back here almost 10,000 years. The Yamana people lived along the coast living on sea mammals and fish. We also had the opportunity to taste some of the mushrooms and other native plants that they ate during our trek today.

There were 3000 Yamana in 1880, 1000 in 1890 and about 100 left in 1910. Disease and genocide by settlers and sealers was the main cause. Today there is one 85 year old woman who still speaks the Yamana language.

The scenery along the route of our trek was incredible as we walked through forests and along beaches bordering the Beagle Channel. A lot of similarities between the PNW coastal forests and a lot of differences. Same windblown trees – no conifers though – three types of Beech trees – 2 deciduous and one evergreen, lots of plants in miniature. Climate here is pretty uniform. 10 degrees C average in summer, 0 degrees C average in the winter.

At the end of the day we boarded a raft that floated us down the river and into the ocean where we disembarked at the end of Hwy #3 – the Pan American Hwy that starts in Alaska. A magical day 🙂

Traveling through La Paz to the airport at three am in a cab driven by a driver over stimulated by coca leaves was interesting…. The cabbie spoke no English and our spanish is pretty rudimentary – charades come in handy. Anyway we got there – and after filling out forms, more forms, paying to leave and then yes you guessed it more forms, we got our bags searched by narcotics police and finally got on the plane. Get to the airport early if you go…..

Some South Americanisms we have picked up on our trip so far.

1) Don’t worry – translation – we have a problem
2) No problem I’ll take of it – translation – We have a serious problem
3) No problem, I’ll take care of it,don’t worry – translation – time to get out of Dodge….

Our flights went fine – I had three seats to myself on the Lima to Buenos Aires haul and Carol had 2 – so we caught up on some much needed sleep. Buenos Aires is like most other big cities 14 million of the 42 million people n Argentina live here. Our driver took us the circuitous route to our hotel so we had a chance to see the outlying slum areas and then the inner city around the main square including the pink palace which is lit with pink lights at night. After a rest at our hotel we were picked up at 8:30 for a gourmet dinner and tango show. Fabulous dinner and fabulous show. On to Ushuaia tomorrow.

Ah…… the Bolivian border. If you go here are some tips. once you get to the border you will need to visit Peruvian immigration in the yellow building on your left.You will need to surrender your white visa paper and get your passport stamped. Once that is done, head across the street to the bathroom (it can be a long wait at Bolivian immigration) bathroom cost is 1 soles – and then change the money you need into Bolivianos at a money change place next to the bathrooms. Bolivianos are useless outside of Bolivia so change money conservatively. If you are a citizen of a country that requires a visa to get into Bolivia get a photocopy of your passport with the Peruvian exit Visa stamp on it before crossing the bridge into Bolivia. Stay in a group as you cross the bridge in to Bolivia and immigration. Both Peruvian and Bolivian immigration police can pull you aside, demand to see your passport and ask to see your money – you can be robbed at that point. it is safer to put all your cash in your pocket and have an empty wallet with a bank card in it to show them. If they ask how you will support yourself say ATM. If I were crossing the border alone I would attach myself to a group going across. You are less vulnerable that way. Bolivia is subject to power outages. the Bolivian immigration had no power when we went though. members in our group who needed Visa’s used the flashlight app on their IPhones to provide light for the immigration officials to work with. As we had no idea about the photocopy requirements of the exit Visa’s and because the power was out in immigration Carol and a couple of other group members had to walk back to Peru to get a photocopy of their stamped passport – they also had to re-enter and re-exit Peru to do this. By the time Carol came back with smoke coming out of her ears it was like Moses parting the waters as the crowds ahead of her scattered recognizing true authority 🙂

After a lunch of llama which had been pounded to about 1/8 inch thick and was quite nice:-) We visited the pre-Inca ruins of Tiwanuka. This civilization flourished from about 1200 BC to 1300 AD when they were wiped out by a 60-90 year drought. There was one particular temple that was very interesting. The culture had a good knowledge of medicine as well as penicillin. The temple walls were covered with faces showing various defects and diseases in the population – we saw everything from cleft palates to thyroid issues to fevers represented in the stone carvings.

The entry into La Paz is stunning – mountain ranges and plains, plus a beautiful pink roofed city.

We had a city tour today – mailed a bunch of stuff home as the Antarctic trip has strict weight limitations on luggage and have a 2:30 am wake up call to get to our flight to Buenos Aires tomorrow.

Our morning started with a tuk tuk ride to the harbour to catch our boat destined for the floating islands. There were two of us in a tuk tuk (small cart pushed by a bicycle) – the peddlers were all A type personalities and the trip was all downhill, it was a tuk tuk derby!

Some interesting cross intersection experiences….. – made the docks in record time. Got on our boat (already windblown) and headed out onto the Lake.

Lake Titicacca Factoids

84 floating reed islands 2000 people live on islands that have been settled for 2600 years
The temperature on the islands runs three degrees warmer than mainland
The Lake is 190 km long, 80 km wide largest navigable lake in the world.
48% of lake is full of huge reeds that the islands are made off – it is also a bird sanctuary.
The Islands are on 2 meters of reed matt and roots, covered with .5 meters of cut and cross hatched reeds. A new layer is added every 15 days. Dry reeds that are removed are used for cooking
The Islands can float up to 5 km and last a total of 8 months before replacement
Interestingly they were only discovered 35 years ago.

Our visit was awesome – we were warmly welcomed and shown how the village runs, how the islands are built and maintained and how the women make their textiles. The embroidery is exquisite, Diets are much improved now that tourism dollars are flowing into the community and life expectancy has basally doubled with the addition of fruits and vegetables obtained on the mainland.

Following our return to the mainland we headed to the pre-Incan (800 – 1400 AD) archeological site of Sillustani – a famous burial site for kings and other nobles. It was believed that in order for the soul to ascend to the next level the body must be mummified, not burnt. Mummies were placed in circular towers together with precious stones and metals as well as any slaves willing to make the trip. Although the contents are long gone due to the Spaniards, the burial towers are being gradually restored. It was a beautiful place overlooking Lake Titicacca. Nice spot to spend eternity.

An excellent lunch followed in Puno before headed back to the hotel and collapsing. It is about 13,000 feet here and the endurance just isn’t there… Tomorrow on to Bolivia.

Today was a 10 hour bus ride that actually turned into a good day. We set off at 7:30 from Cusco. Our first stop was Andahuaylillas where we visited the Temple of San pedro an san Pablo – it is called the Sistine Chapel of America and was built in 1580. The entire building is full of murals and paintings – not one inch of space is uncovered. Our next rest stop was at Raqchi – the Raqchi archeological complex is an outstanding Inca and pre-inca site that is being restored.

The highest point of the trip was La Raya (4000 + m). The desolate landscape supported a surprising amount of human and animal life.

Our journey ended with a stunning approach to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicacca . Tomorrow we head out onto the Lake to visit the floating islands.