Montevideo and Uruguay

We boarded the ship on the 30th and had a cabin upgrade which was very nice, as it gave us almost twice the space.

After an overnight crossing to Montevideo we did a tour of the town. We were very surprised by the difference between Argentina and Uruguay, with Uruguay being much cleaner and tidier.

Saw the Graf Spee's anchor at the harbour as the Battle of the River Plate, where the Graf Spee was scuttled, was only just offshore.

Kept running into that name "Rincon" again.

 

Buenos Aires

We arrived in Buenos Aires from Iguassu and spent the first day getting settled in and having a quick look around near the hotel. First impressions were that this was once a great city but is now a little tired and suffering from all the troubles of the last 30-40 years.

Went to see the Teatro Colon - the opera house - which was a real experience and which gave us an insight into what the city must have been like in the early part of the 20th Century - the "Paris" of Sth America.

Had dinner at a typical parilla, or grill, which is one of the things that Argentina is still renowned for. Had a great meal with fantastic meat and good wine. We went to a tango show on the night we boarded the ship and kept running into things named "Rincon".


 

Iguassu Falls

On Saturday and Monday we visited the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the Iguassu Falls. These are a natural wonder and are set in a National Park of over 250,000 hectares. We managed to be there to view something very special - a lunar rainbow formed by the mist from the falls refracting the light from the full moon. Really special, but I only managed to get some rather grainy images due to the conditions. The size and power of the falls is quite breathtaking - they seem to extend for almost a kilometre - and the pinnacle of them is the Devil's Throat through which over 50% of the water volume cascades. We stayed in the hotel on the Brazilian side and this is inside the park, allowing guests to access the falls before and after the park opens to others.

Rio de Janeiro in 2 days!!

Who would imagine you could see the sights of Rio in just 2 days - but we tried and did a fairly good job. We did the Sugarloaf/Copacabana/Ipanema tour ourselves on the first day. On the second day we took an open buggy tour which took us to the Redeemer statue, the park around Rio and the city sights - including the favelas and the massive cathedral.

A short tour of Santiago

Today we did a hop on/hop off bus tour around the city. There are some interesting buildings - some old and some new. It really is a very vibrant city and it is clean and well kept - they are obviously very proud of their city. Such a pity we only had 2 nights here - there is much more to see. Tonight we had dinner South American style - going out at 9.30pm and eating late.

Santiago - Chile

Well the flight from Brisbane to Santiago wasn't too bad - Qantas Premium Economy definitely not as good as Air New Zealand.

Saw the southern glaciers passing over New Zealand and the midnight sun effect during the flight over the southern Pacific.

The first view of the Andes was a bit unclear due to the very high smog in the Santaigo area. Nevertheless, we managed to have pisco sours and a Radisson signature dessert for our first night meal. The car sales room in a shopping centre was an unusual feature!!

Almost on our way

Almost time to go! Everything is in place, all the tickets paid for and we are ready to start packing. We are really looking forward to this extended trip, especially the cruise down to Antarctica. Tried to get there in 1979 without success and we have waited for 33 years for the opportunity to come around again. The excursions to Iguazu Falls and Machu Picchu should be the highlights of the trip but I am sure there will be many more. Off on Monday for an early start to Santiago.