Cruising to South America on the Zaandam : A pictorial review

[scubacruiserx2]

Those are spectacular photos. It made me appreciate more nature's beauty.

Thanks.

 

 

 

Thank you easyboy . It is a very beautiful area , and there's still a lot more to see ! ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Catching up.

love your reports and wonderful pictures.

[scubacruiserx2]

Catching up.

love your reports and wonderful pictures.

 

Thank you .

[scubacruiserx2]

While down on a lower deck aft I was really enjoying the day with just my cameras

 

 

 

Upon sighting a waterfowl I changed cameras to the one with the telephoto mounted for a close up

 

 

 

 

 

With the bird still visible in the lower right corner , I observed some strange colors and shapes in the water

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zooming in I really enjoyed what the wake was doing to the shape and texture of the water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was like a visual paradox

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

A few parting images of this pristine area .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forward to Ushuaia !

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last video clip of this amazing scenery !!!

 

 

 

Warning !! This clip is hypnotic and almost doesn't seem real , but it is !! ;)

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We had some great memories of Ushuaia . A romantic dinner of Centolla for two at Kaupe .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A cruise around the harbor with friends

 

 

 

 

A mountaintop view from The Martial Glacier .

 

 

 

 

 

And just being at "The end of the world and the beginning of everything ".

 

 

 

 

 

So we felt ready - for Ushuaia 2.0 . ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

o herald our arrival in Argentina the Navy sent out a "reception committee" ( you did remember to pay your reciprocity fee , didn't you ? ).

 

 

 

 

 

Passing the airport

 

 

 

 

 

The AIDA cara had arrived before us

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were only in port from 2pm until 7:30 so we had to move quick . The plan was to withdraw money , grab a cab to the chairlift at the glacier and a quick dinner or a boat trip around the harbor.

 

 

 

 

Because it was a Sunday we found that almost every thing was closed - including the glacier !

 

 

Walking around the streets looking for a bank was confusing because of the signage

 

 

 

The first 2 ATM's that we tried were out of cash. We hit pay dirt with #3 . I think these are the ships that John spoke of. We had inquired at a kiosk on the way out to the city and their harbor cruise left at 3 pm and lasted 4 hours .

 

 

[Chelly]

Spectacular photos.

Can't thank you enough.

C.

[scubacruiserx2]

Spectacular photos.

Can't thank you enough.

C.

 

You did thank me enough ! And thank you for taking the time to write . Stay tuned as we're going to encounter wildlife at our next 2 ports and the best scenery came after the cruise ! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

After a couple of quick photos , we chose the harbor cruise instead of dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quickly returning to the kiosk we bought some of the last tickets for the English speaking tour . The rest of the passengers were German with many speaking English.

 

 

 

 

 

Soon we were boarded and on the way !! The tour that were on was a much smaller boat than the catamarans

 

 

 

 

They were able to get very close to the islands

 

 

 

:)

 

[Chelly]

You did thank me enough ! And thank you for taking the time to write . Stay tuned as we're going to encounter wildlife at our next 2 ports and the best scenery came after the cruise ! :) :D

 

OK. Wildlife is what this cruise will be all about for me!!!!!!!!! Many thanks again.

C.

[scubacruiserx2]

Before we could view most of the wildlife we had to pass our stately ship The Zaandam .

 

 

 

 

Our first viewing would be the Sea Lions of Alice Island . When we arrived these two jumped in the water to swim away from the boat

 

 

 

 

It was funny to see the different reactions of the Sea Lions to our presence:

 

 

 

Some snoozed (reminding me that it was nap time)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some were bored

 

 

 

 

 

Others shared some affection

 

 

 

 

 

 

While some were downright snooty !!!

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

It was early summer so there were many moms and pups

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were also some Imperial Cormorants present on the island

 

 

 

 

 

It was difficult to get some quality photos and video because of the continuously moving boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it was starting to get crowded

 

 

 

 

 

So we and our sister KAMS boat moved on to our next destination. :) :D

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

OK. Wildlife is what this cruise will be all about for me!!!!!!!!! Many thanks again.

C.

 

I forgot to show the rhea chicks on the run at Torres del Paine

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After a long ride (about 30 minutes) we came to Sea Lions Island . There really wasn't much going on there except 1 swimmer near the blue pointer

 

 

 

 

It was interesting to see the Cormorants nesting so close to the sleeping Sea Lions

 

 

 

 

 

At Birds' Island the most action that we observed was the arrival of our boats

 

 

 

 

 

But it is a pretty island

 

 

 

And the nests were well populated

 

 

 

And we had a great view of our next visit Les Eclaireurs lighthouse .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Les Eclaireurs lighthouse is considered to be a symbol of Ushuaia .

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Eclaireurs_Lighthouse

 

As we moved in that direction our sister ship arrived first and started to circle the lighthouse

 

 

 

We waited our turn giving us a chance to take some pictures with the sun at our back and a calm sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After circling the light house we found some nice color and birds :) :D

 

[vino100]

I'm loving your reviews and your pictures are stunning. thanks for taking the time to share your adventure.

[OVgirl]

Enjoying all your wonderful photos. Thanks so much.

[scubacruiserx2]

I'm loving your reviews and your pictures are stunning. thanks for taking the time to share your adventure.

 

You're welcome , we're in Cozumel getting ready to go diving , so I'll try to put up photos later , if I can .

[anaco_angler]

Thank you, scubacruiserx2, for your beautiful photo review and thank you especially for annotating your photos. We are hoping to do the same cruise the beginning of Dec 2017. We had worried it would be too early in the year but obviously there is more snow cover on the mountains earlier in summer. And weather can be good or bad during any month. Again, thank you so much. You helped convince us to take the plunge and head to South America.

[TonyC1952]

Thank you so much for this photo essay. I've never considered a South American cruise, now I see what I've been missing! Keep up the good work!

[Cruizer Bill]

Wonderful pictures! Thanks so much! :)

[scubacruiserx2]

Enjoying all your wonderful photos. Thanks so much.

 

You're welcome ! There are some better ones in the future when we get home . :cool:

[scubacruiserx2]

Thank you, scubacruiserx2, for your beautiful photo review and thank you especially for annotating your photos. We are hoping to do the same cruise the beginning of Dec 2017. We had worried it would be too early in the year but obviously there is more snow cover on the mountains earlier in summer. And weather can be good or bad during any month. Again, thank you so much. You helped convince us to take the plunge and head to South America.

 

We too are looking at going next December . :)::D

[scubacruiserx2]

Thank you so much for this photo essay. I've never considered a South American cruise, now I see what I've been missing! Keep up the good work!

 

You're welcome , this was my favorite cruise for nature and scenery . :) :D