Ushuaia

Since Montevideo we spent two days at sea--landed Port Stanley, the Faulkland Islands. Did a short tour to see the penguins--also past a mine field that was fenced off, a remnant from the was between Great Britain and Argentine. A rough ride the night before coming into this area--the South Atlantic was generating some fairly large waves. Cathy slept right through it.

Spent another day at sea, and rounded the southern tip of South America -- better known as Cape Horn, and located at latitude 56 degrees south--at 6:30 local time on the 22 day of Feb 2009--This point is farther south than any other land mass in the world, and is still about 2000 miles north of the south pole.

Today, we are tied up at the port city of Ushuaia, the southern most city (town of 140,000) in South America. This is the jumping off port for the ships going to Anartica. Beautiful bay, ringed with majestic peaks, many of them snow covered--the end of the Andes Mountain chain.

Leave today at 3 pm and will pass several glaciers before night fall around 8:30.

Cruise

Boarded the Amsterdam last afternoon, took in an onboard show, later had a late meal and retired for the night. A VERY NICE room with an unobstructed view, port side. The ship was built in 2000, is 760 ft long, will accomodate 1350 people, with a crew of over 600. We are still in port today and sail tonight for Montevideo for a day and then reverse course for the Faulkland Islands.
Onboard they want $55 for 100 minutes on the internet, sooo, you can bet we will be looking for internet cafes at each port of call.
Problem with cruiseing is that if you have a few extra pounds around the waste (and elsewhere) when you board the ship, you can bet your sweet bippy that you will have MUCHO MUCHO extra pounds when you leave. And for Alan---the deserts and ice cream are great, and in too great a supply.

Up the Lazy River

Took a mini city tour today that ended at a point on the Tigre River, where we boarded a very nice air conditioned launch that carried us North into the delta (many small islands and numerous additional rivers flowing into the Tigre and then into the ocean). The wealthy have hundreds of summer places along the river, and there was much boat traffic, including sail boats, motor launch, and Seedoo. This water is like mud---absolutely brown from bringing sediment down from the inland. Also as we were informed, the water is quite polluted--everything from industrial waste to human waste, and is not safe to swim in--so why did we see so many people swimming in it?
If you have ever flown over the delta formed by the Mississippi as it hits the Gulf, you will understand what I am describing. In this case, the water never changes color for hundreds of miles, north or south.
Our boat trip took one and a half hours, and brought us back to BA commercial harbor, and we finished up by going to a large street fair--swap meet--flea market, etc.
Another encounter with a "little ole lady", this time sitting on the curb with a goofy outfit and playing a home made horn. When Cathy approached to take a picture, she held up a sign that read "Show Me The Money". What a gal!!!!

Funny thing, I can take a DC-10 and circumnavigate the globe, find a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Pacific to land on, but my biggest challenge here, when stepping out the door in the morning, is to remember whether to turn right or left to go to a destination that we have already visited numerous times. Now this is where the famous "Copeland" memory system comes into play, as she likes to remind me (many times). Seems she has memorized the landmarks along the way, and then gets to direct me as to the proper turns, streets, etc. She says that makes us even, reference my comments about the elevator.

La Boca area...Italian´s 1st settled here in Buenos Aires

Jungle and Iguazu Falls