Trips

Thurs., 1/16 - Punta Arenas

Another working container port - Punta Arenas, Chile. The Port provided a shuttle bus for the 20 minute ride into town to the Plaza de Armas. In possession of a free city map, we walked around the square viewing a drum corps, a pan piper, a church, and the Sara Braun palace, now a hotel and gallery. A walk down to the sea and further west took us to an area of handicraft stalls - mostly wool things, leather belts and purses or wood items. On returning to the center of town, we found a nice souvenir/handicraft store and each bought a very pretty Antarctica T-shirt for $12 US.

It was nice to walk on land. It was blustery and around 50°F. The sky was mostly cloudy and sometimes rather dark, but it never rained.

Memorial to Ferdinand Magellan	Fruit carving artisan
Local band entertaining	Sacred Heart Cathedral (really quite plain inside, as well)
Palacio Sara Braun	Palacio Sara Braun
More wonderful electrical work	Monument to Liberator Bernardo O'Higgins
Fri., 1/17 - Glacier Alley and Ushuaia, Argentina We got up early to see and hear the commentary on the glaciers in Glacier Alley. All the seats in the Crow’s Nest (Deck 9 bar and lounge with picture windows for about180 deg. around the bow) were already “reserved” an hour earlier than the commentary with a book or jacket on every chair, so we went to the Lido and looked but didn’t hear the information. The Zaandam passed five glaciers, all of which have receded a lot since we were last here in 2015. Only one still calves into the Beagle Channel. One has a very large waterfall into the channel. The glaciers were named after five European countries by the 19th century explorers who documented the region: Holanda (Holland), Italia (Italy), Francia (France), Alemania (Germany) and España (Spain). For a while, there was a “separation of the waters” with dark, warmer, more dense sea water moving beside the colder, aerated glacial melt. Glacial water is a milky green-blue.
Espana Glacier	Separation of the waters: Dark sea water and lighter (milky green-blue) glacial melt
Alemania Glacier	Waterfalls everywhere
Alemania Glacier	Franca Glacier
Italia Glacier	Italia Glacier
Holanda Glacier	It rained off and on all day. The sun would pop through briefly and give us rainbows - at least four of them today.
Rainbow over the Beagle Channel
	A double!
The Zaandam arrived in Ushuaia 2 1/2 hours early so we ate lunch and then went into the town. Five other Antarctica cruise ships, none larger than ours, were docked with us. The wind on the dock was so strong it was very difficult walking to land. Our walking tour took us down the seaside to the old prison, then up one block to the main shopping street. All we did was sight-see, this is our third or fourth trip here. Ushuaia is a favorite place of ours. It is the farthest south of any city in the world. It was windy and raining, with a little hail, so we decided to go back to the ship, where we did nothing for the rest of the day.
Flag of Argentina	Typical license plate
	Lots of ships going to or coming from Antarctica and other South American ports - a busy place!
We had the most wonderful king crab dinner here a couple years ago - wish we could have managed it on this trip	The Zaandam left Ushuaia and Argentina at 8 PM to sail back into Chilean waters which meant that someone had to come on board and do a customs check while we drifted. The ship sails past Cape Horn around 6:30 AM tomorrow and then it is off into the Drake Passage.
Ship sending zodiacs to a landing on Cape Horn	Cape Horn

Sat., 1/18 - The Drake Passage

This morning, at 7 AM, our ship arrived off Cape Horn. We sat in the Crow’s Nest to hear the commentary about the 1,000 ships that have sunk around here and the albatross monument on the rock island dedicated to the thousands of sailors who were lost here at sea. The wind was howling and we did not get very close. Another boat like the OAT one we were on in 2012-13 did get in closer and put people on the shore in zodiacs. The wind at the monument must have been frightful today!

It was rainy and foggy and extremely windy. Marge took a picture or two but the outside deck was not nice to be out on!

The Zaandam then entered the Drake Passage with 12 to 15 foot waves and 40 MPH winds hitting our starboard side. Waves splashed all the way up to our window.

We ate bagels for breakfast and felt okay with our sea bands and scopolamine patches behind an ear. Many on the ship are staying in their rooms and ordering room service. We felt pretty lucky to not be sick.

Three more lectures were on the agenda for today: The Geology of the Antarctic; the second lecture was about Douglas Mawson and his heroic expeditions in Antarctica; and “Pondering Popular Penguins.”

Tonight, around 11pm, the Zaandam will cross 60° south latitude and enter the area protected by the Antarctic Treaty System. Within this area there are strict rules about reducing and controlling human impact. That means, in addition to not allowing passengers from cruise ships to land, no food or drinks will be allowed out on any deck. So no Dutch pea soup w/bacon as we look at glaciers, ice sheets, seals, and penguins (boo-hoo).

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