January 7th NCL Star cruise to Antarctica , Argentina and Chile with a 10 day stay photo travelogue

[scubacruiserx2]

 Entering El Chalten by crossing the Fitzroy River which was moving fast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As  busy as bees

 

 

The city is big with backpackers

 

 

And Skiers

 

 

 

High risk of fire hazard

 

 

Edited February 24 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  Breakfast back at the Hotel 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a breakfast sandwich

 

Edited February 24 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  The view of the dining room

 

 

The view from the dining room

 

 

The room that we stayed in on our first trip there was on the 1st floor

 

 

The room that we stayed on the second trip was directly above on the 2nd floor

 

 

The reading or lounging room on the 2nd floor

 

 All of the people that worked there were very nice and it was quite at night . All of the people at the desk were from Buenos Aires . Like us when we were their age we moved from the city . Unfortunately , the city has followed us with people who don't like things quite and /or nature . We had about 40 years before the city caught up to us .

Edited February 24 by scubacruiserx2

[valemart_1]

12 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

  Thank you Madeleine for you kind words and we're glad that you enjoy the photos and hope that you will enjoy the Star and your trip . If you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask .

We hope that you will enjoy your TA cruise . 

  We are sorry that you didn't have good weather and that's why we recommend a longer visit to Antarctica . Our first visit was 4 days and had 2 good and 2 not so good plus the trip to Patagonia first , before the cruise which we liked better  

  Our 3 favorite cruises over the years have been the 22 day Santiago to BA with 4 days in Antarctica and 9 in Patagonia . The Baltic from London including Russia , but not with the current President . We have friends there and none of them approve of the invasion of the Ukraine . We try not to allow the bad behavior of a couple of rotten eggs spoil most of the good people but it's hard when he is the leader . We have had some here in our country that we didn't much care for .  Lastly , a Transatlantic on the Eclipse from my home town of Miami to London . We did stay in Russia with a visa but Medvedev was in office . We really liked London and and had a great tour in Lisbon . We would recommend Inside Lisbon there if you've never been .https://insidelisbon.com/

  The account of our TA and London / Russia stay was our most successful thread with 380 K views before CC closed it to further replies . But it and the photos can still be seen here .

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you! I wish we´d had your advice re finding a cruise with 4 days in the Antarctic… We tend to make one “big” trip a year (around 35 days) but after the pandemic we did two cruises and saved money booking the Infinity at a very good price but only one day in Antarctica!

 

On our land trips we usually spend several days in each place in an Airbnb, alternating between “cultural” trips and wonderful scenery. Thank you for recommending Inside Lisbon, we´ll certainly keep it in mind! We´re going to stay 3 days in Lisbon (we´ve been there before), 2 in Obidos and 4 in Porto where my husband Martin´s family come from, ending up in Rome for a week. We´re going to indulge in what is now known as “Slow Travel”…

 

I´m already reading your Eclipse thread! We did a west-bound TA on her sister ship Equinox and loved it. I´m also looking forward to getting to the Moscow part to compare notes, as we did an independent trip to Russia in 2015. On that occasion we were happy to have stretched our budget and booked private guides in Moscow and St Petersburg, and we did so again on a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land. But normally we do our own thing.

 

I´m way off topic, so let me add that I´m enjoying your Chalten photos and also your captions! Thank you again for sharing!

Madeleine

[scubacruiserx2]

 After breakfast we decided to take a short hike because of the wind and our old knees . Additionally being flatlanders our breathing is not as easy as someone who lives at altitude .  So slow and steady it was with hiking poles .

 

 

We enjoyed it when we were told to go take a hike 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It had warmed a bit but was still very pleasant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom's parents lived in the country and had no running water in their house so they had an outhouse like the one that we used in the woods , only not elevated . And this one was more fancy , a 2 seater !

 

 

Edited February 25 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

14 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

Thank you! I wish we´d had your advice re finding a cruise with 4 days in the Antarctic… We tend to make one “big” trip a year (around 35 days) but after the pandemic we did two cruises and saved money booking the Infinity at a very good price but only one day in Antarctica!

 

On our land trips we usually spend several days in each place in an Airbnb, alternating between “cultural” trips and wonderful scenery. Thank you for recommending Inside Lisbon, we´ll certainly keep it in mind! We´re going to stay 3 days in Lisbon (we´ve been there before), 2 in Obidos and 4 in Porto where my husband Martin´s family come from, ending up in Rome for a week. We´re going to indulge in what is now known as “Slow Travel”…

 

I´m already reading your Eclipse thread! We did a west-bound TA on her sister ship Equinox and loved it. I´m also looking forward to getting to the Moscow part to compare notes, as we did an independent trip to Russia in 2015. On that occasion we were happy to have stretched our budget and booked private guides in Moscow and St Petersburg, and we did so again on a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land. But normally we do our own thing.

 

I´m way off topic, so let me add that I´m enjoying your Chalten photos and also your captions! Thank you again for sharing!

Madeleine

 

  We thank you for sharing your input and ideas . The BIG 3 trips that we would like to do is Egypt and the Holy Land . Switzerland and the countries of the Alps and the Big boy . That would be Australia and dive the Barrier reef on a liveaboard for a week and cruise to New Zealand and back through Tahiti and Hawaii to the West coast of the US .

 We haven't been to Rome but our son and DIL with their son have and loved it . She is from Peru and they were down there for Christmas , and her brother's birthday . The last time that they were down they wanted our son to give a 30 minute speech at his niece's speech at her Quinceañera . Needless to say they are all fluent in English and Spanish .

  Our next cruise will be our annual family holiday which falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas . We do it then because our oldest daughter and our DIL are both nurses and usually have to work on one or the other holiday . It's only a week on the Neuiw Amsterdam but there's 4 stops including Grand Turk , Bahamas , the DR and Key West .

[scubacruiserx2]

  The return trip to the town .

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hotel on the hill .

 

 

[valemart_1]

12 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 After breakfast we decided to take a short hike because of the wind and our old knees . Additionally being flatlanders our breathing is not as easy as someone who lives at altitude .  So slow and steady it was with hiking poles .

 

Lovely trail, and lovely pics! We couldn´t face that hike, but then we´re oldies compared to you...

[valemart_1]

9 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

  We thank you for sharing your input and ideas . The BIG 3 trips that we would like to do is Egypt and the Holy Land . Switzerland and the countries of the Alps and the Big boy . That would be Australia and dive the Barrier reef on a liveaboard for a week and cruise to New Zealand and back through Tahiti and Hawaii to the West coast of the US .

 We haven't been to Rome but our son and DIL with their son have and loved it . She is from Peru and they were down there for Christmas , and her brother's birthday . The last time that they were down they wanted our son to give a 30 minute speech at his niece's speech at her Quinceañera . Needless to say they are all fluent in English and Spanish .

  Our next cruise will be our annual family holiday which falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas . We do it then because our oldest daughter and our DIL are both nurses and usually have to work on one or the other holiday . It's only a week on the Neuiw Amsterdam but there's 4 stops including Grand Turk , Bahamas , the DR and Key West .

 

That´ll be a great family holiday – the best possible investment!

Has your son had the chance of travelling through Peru at all? It´s a fascinating country, and as well as Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Lima, their archeological digs North of Lima have unearthed remains of precolumbian and pre-inca cities like Chan Chan.

 

I coincide with your choices for future trips, although sadly the Middle East is going through a terrible time, and your “Big Boy” is too far for us. But I recommend Switzerland, it´s totally doable!!! Let me tempt you:

 

As we have to take expensive flights to get to Europe we usually combine several trips in one. In late September 2014 we went on our absolute favourite trip, 26 days starting in Switzerland: 4 days in Zermatt, the Glacier Express train over the Alps (glorious scenery) to St. Moritz, Bernina Express train to Lake Como and 4 days in Varenna, Trenitalia to Venice and 5 days there, ending in a 7-day cruise to Athens and the Greek Isles.

 

We could have called it a day there and then, but as we always try to finish a trip relaxing in some dreamy place we took a train from Venice to Salerno and then a private car to Ravello, high up overlooking the Amalfi coast, one of our favourite places in the world. We stayed one night in the Hotel Parsifal, an ancient monastery dating back to 1288, and then moved to a cottage with a view of Amalfi Bay for 4 days before taking a flight from Naples Airport and heading home…

[scubacruiserx2]

  Passing by our hotel to lunch because we knew that we had a free dinner there we went back to try lunch at La Tapera . The menu was the same as the night before but we were the only people there which gave us time to interact with the staff who are very laid back . 

 

We sat next to the firepit the night before .

 

 

Here's the ladder on the right ( the naval term for stairs ) which led to the washroom .

 

 

 

We forgot that they collected plates or we would have brought a Florida one . Here's one from where we spent our 46th marriage birthday .

 

 

 

 

 

I ate light with soup and an empanada

 

 

 

 

 

 

We split a dessert skyscraper

 

 

 

We really like this place and would recommend it . We did indulge in a siesta as an old tradition from my Firefighter days when we worked 24 hour shifts . It works well in Florida to stay out of the hot midday sun .

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

That´ll be a great family holiday – the best possible investment!

Has your son had the chance of travelling through Peru at all? It´s a fascinating country, and as well as Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Lima, their archeological digs North of Lima have unearthed remains of precolumbian and pre-inca cities like Chan Chan.

 

I coincide with your choices for future trips, although sadly the Middle East is going through a terrible time, and your “Big Boy” is too far for us. But I recommend Switzerland, it´s totally doable!!! Let me tempt you:

 

As we have to take expensive flights to get to Europe we usually combine several trips in one. In late September 2014 we went on our absolute favourite trip, 26 days starting in Switzerland: 4 days in Zermatt, the Glacier Express train over the Alps (glorious scenery) to St. Moritz, Bernina Express train to Lake Como and 4 days in Varenna, Trenitalia to Venice and 5 days there, ending in a 7-day cruise to Athens and the Greek Isles.

 

We could have called it a day there and then, but as we always try to finish a trip relaxing in some dreamy place we took a train from Venice to Salerno and then a private car to Ravello, high up overlooking the Amalfi coast, one of our favourite places in the world. We stayed one night in the Hotel Parsifal, an ancient monastery dating back to 1288, and then moved to a cottage with a view of Amalfi Bay for 4 days before taking a flight from Naples Airport and heading home…

 

 

  Our Son , DIL and our grandson Dante gave us a facetime call from Machu Picchu on December 27th , not long before we left on our trip . Carmen's family lives in Lima and this was their 3rd or 4th trip there .

 Switzerland sounds like the best bet in 2025 if we're still around . Fall is a great time for us to beat the heat and Hurricane season and we like to see the leaves changing . We do have time to plan add on stops .   BTW I'm 73 and the hike to the waterfall was only about a mile total and mostly flat . Much less than Punta Tombo .

[scubacruiserx2]

 Dinner was at the hotel where we usually had breakfast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat had more of the Gunaco and it's still a little chewy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice glass of wine came with dinner but we had some Pisco Sour in the room

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  The day that we had dreaded had arrived , Saturday  January 27th - time to head North for the Winter . The night before our water looked a little suspect which the front desk gladly exchanged for sealed bottled water .

 

 

They were having some trouble with Aerolineas Argentinas both checking us in and printing the boarding passes at the front desk . It was still the same during breakfast and when we left El Chalten . We had paid extra to drop the car at the Airport in El Calafate instead of downtown where we rented it . The man at the desk helped us with our bags , again refusing a TIP . It's about a 3 hour ride to the airport if I don't take too many pictures , which I always do , but look where we are !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Puerto Bahia Tunel turnoff

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Here's a video of us leaving taken near the Puerto Bahia Tunel Road  .

 

 

 

They used to offer a boat tour to the glacier but we could not reach them . It looks really cool if it's running when you go there .

 

https://en.patagoniachic.com/el-calafate/tours/chalten-full-day-viedma-navigation_47.html

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 A river or a lake would be a near or distant companion as we headed East and then South .

 

 

 

 

 

And the memories would fade but not soon as we were looking forward to the past .

 

Edited February 27 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We have driven by this place a number of times and just pass by , but nature was calling and we decided to take the call .

 

 

 

 

It's on the La Leona River which runs from Lago Viedma in the North to Lago Argentino in the South on the East side .

 

 

 

It's a good place to get your bearings or bathe your plants .

 

 

 

[valemart_1]

3 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

  

 

 

 

Great pics of Mount Fitz Roy! The peak is too often shrouded by clouds.

I love El Chaltén, it´s pretty unique: it was founded only 40 years ago, although mountain climbers had discovered the Fitz Roy years before. Slowly it began to receive an influx of young people looking for a simpler way of life close to nature. It became known as the Trekking Capital. Then Lonely Planet discovered it!

[valemart_1]

On 2/26/2024 at 9:30 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

On 2/26/2024 at 9:30 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

the hike to the waterfall was only about a mile total and mostly flat . Much less than Punta Tombo .

That endless walkway in Punta Tombo is rather off-putting. I read in one of the messages here that one can see lots of penguins in Punta Ninfas – we´ve been to Puerto Madryn three times and no one told us that there was a closer alternative to Punta Tombo!!! It also looks as if one can get nearer to the penguins as well…

 

The trouble with Madryn as a cruise port is that it´s too far from the main sights: 2.5 hours each way over rather dreary, boring roads. And the very top attraction, which is whale watching, is between June and November, before the cruise ships arrive.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  We were starting to run low on dollars here but that is all they would accept so I kept the buying to a minimum . A map that you can't here in the us very easily . We did like some other things though . The Tile of Cave of Hands in particular .

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cueva_de_las_Manos

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  We wanted to gas up the car before returning it and Pat remembered a gas station close to the airport . It was further than she thought and we had to go thru a police crossing to get to it . They just waved us thru and the station was before the city of El Calafate . 

 

 

 

 On our way to the airport we were stopped for a license check but we didn't need our passports as usual . We parked and grabbed a luggage trolley and loaded it and I got in a long line while Pat went to return the car . They were closed and she need to use the restroom . So I returned to the car rental and tried to slip the paperwork under the door and put the key in a locked drop box . The paperwork wouldn't fit so I asked the guy at the other car rental if we could leave the paperwork with him which we couldn't . He dropped the key in the box and tried to put the paperwork in the small box which wouldn't fit and  returned to his office , I crammed the paperwork all the way in the box . Returning to the trolley the line had now moved up to the ATM , still almost a block from the Airline counter .

 

 

We were last in line and it seemed as though it would stay that way . We still didn't have our boarding passes so I decided to abandon the trolley and walk up to the counter to see if they had a business class line , which we were flying . They did and it was empty so I showed the man there our old paper work and he said to go get our luggage which I did . Just before Pat walked up an English gentleman who seemed irate asked me " How do you get to skip the queue ? " . I explained that we were flying business class and away he went as Pat arrived just in time to hear the exchange .

Edited February 28 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

21 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

Great pics of Mount Fitz Roy! The peak is too often shrouded by clouds.

I love El Chaltén, it´s pretty unique: it was founded only 40 years ago, although mountain climbers had discovered the Fitz Roy years before. Slowly it began to receive an influx of young people looking for a simpler way of life close to nature. It became known as the Trekking Capital. Then Lonely Planet discovered it!

 

 Thank you , but it's hard to take a bad photo of it in the morning ! On the days that we were there it was clear in the morning but cloudy and a little rain in the evening . To our eyes and mind it's still not spoiled yet ( like we are ) . We are reluctant to share sometimes because we like to keep it nice . On more than 1 occasion we have shared and less considerate people can overdo it . We didn't see it in Lonely Planet but some other travelers shared it with us originally .

[scubacruiserx2]

22 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

 

 Yes it is quite a ride followed by quite a walk . We were fortunate to get there early before the heat and the crowds and it gave us a chance to get to know the other couple that we also toured with to see the penguins with . I read an account of the Punta Ninfas tour and he said that it was a 3Km walk to see the penguins . You can read about it here and see some photos at post # 90 .

 

 

 

[valemart_1]

51 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 Yes it is quite a ride followed by quite a walk . We were fortunate to get there early before the heat and the crowds and it gave us a chance to get to know the other couple that we also toured with to see the penguins with . I read an account of the Punta Ninfas tour and he said that it was a 3Km walk to see the penguins . You can read about it here and see some photos at post # 90 .

 

 

 

Wow! a 3 Km walk... not for me! Thank you for the link.

On a road trip we got to Cabo Vírgenes, where Ruta 40 begins, and there we could walk freely among 100,000 penguins. The noise and the stench and the wind were tremendous! But we were the only people there, and it felt good to have reached the southermost point of the American continent…

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Wow! a 3 Km walk... not for me! Thank you for the link.

On a road trip we got to Cabo Vírgenes, where Ruta 40 begins, and there we could walk freely among 100,000 penguins. The noise and the stench and the wind were tremendous! But we were the only people there, and it felt good to have reached the southermost point of the American continent…

 

 That does sound amazing . It's about 5 1/2 hours from El Calafate and we noticed that you can cross over from Route 40 to Puerto Natales , near Torres del Paine perhaps making a loop on the way back . We would need to spend a couple of nights . 

 Have you heard of The Long Way Up ? An actor named Ewan Mc Gregor from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and a friend of his ride electric motorcycles from Ushuaia to Los Angeles , California .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Way_Up

 

We streamed it on Apple TV and it was very interesting to follow . It took 14 weeks as their motorcycles could only travel 72 miles on a charge .

[scubacruiserx2]

  Meanwhile back in the El Calafate airport , the man at the counter spoke very good English and we commended him on his skills . He said that he worked for 10 years on NCL . When we told him that we had just been on the Star his eyes lit up with fond memories . We were the only ones in the Business Class line so as  soon as he finished with us he moved over to help the very busy other 4 lines . 

 When we looked at the plane we thought that it was larger than the one we flew down on .

 

 

 

 

 

 As we boarded early we noticed that we were in aisle 11 instead of aisle 2 and that it was 3 seats across instead of 2 . I stowed the luggage and Pat talked to a flight attendant who told us that there was no business class . She tried to move forward to talk to the head attendant and she was like a fish swimming upstream . She piggybacked behind an attendant to move forward and sure enough there was no business class . We still wanted the aisle # 2 that we had long ago prepaid for . Instead of moving us forward , they offered us aisle #22 with 3 seats . By the time that Pat told me that aisle was filled . Their next offer was to bump us to another flight 2 hours latter that may or may not have a business class . They did say that they would refund the difference in the price of seats and since they were closing the door , we were off .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28 by scubacruiserx2