RTW Adventures of J&M

Claim to Fame: Punta Arenas is the southern most city on the contiguous continent of South America
Excursions: Trekking the Magellan Forest Reserve (all four of us)
Brief Thoughts: We saw a lot of stray dogs in the city. The hike was nice, but J and I learned that we liked hiking by ourselves as opposed to with a huge group of people. It was extremely windy. Perhaps as windy (if not more) as the time we went up that little tram in Lake Hakone in Japan back in 2006

1-4. Views along the first of two trails - Mirador de la Garganta. Highlights included windswept trees and a deep canyon

5-9. Views along the second trail - Mirador Zapadoraustral. Highlights included the forests of Patagonia and a vista where we could see Punta Arenas and our cruise ship.

10. Gigantic corn

Since the penguins were so popular I thought I'd share this video, too! Enjoy!

Claim to Fame: Ushuaia is the southern most city in the world.
Excursions: End of the World Train & Gaucho Show (J's Parents); Hiking in Tierra del Fuego (Me and J)
Brief Thoughts: We decided to forgo the ship excursions for a couple of reasons - 1) Nothing on the ship excursion list really appealed to us 2) We wanted to see how much cheaper we can do an excursion for compared to RCCL's prices and 3) We wanted to spend the rest of our Argentine Pesos as it is our last stop in Argentina. Our conclusion is that there is a 3X markup for ship excursions.

1-3: Ushuaia
4-14 : Tierra del Fuego National Park
15-20: A few of the numerous glaciers we saw on our way to our next port.

Who can guess what #14 is?

Port of Call: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Excursions: Bluff Cove Penguins (Me and J); Rockhopper Penguins (J's Parents)

Brief Thoughts: Getting to and from the penguin rookery was an experience in itself. "off-road" is an understatement. We saw thousands of adult and chick Gentoo penguins at Bluff Cove as well as a few King penguins. While the adults avoided us, the chicks were fearless, especially the two little ones which you will see in the photos below. The chicks had started to moult and were absolutely adorable. J and I really enjoyed this excursion. It was definitely the highlight of the cruise so far.

Here are some assorted penguin pictures from today. Can anyone guess what Picture #18 is?

Current Location:52D09.03'S and 058D01.85'W

Port of Call: Montevideo, Uraguay
Excursions: J and J's parents went on a city bus tour. I decided to opt out of the bus tour and walk around town on my own.
Brief Thoughts: I much prefer Montevideo to Buenos Aires. The city seems more friendly, cleaner, smaller and safer. This is a city I'd be very interested in returning to in the future.

1. Once I got off the boat, I saw a big bulletin board advertising the route of the offical city walking tour. This route is patrolled by the "tourist police" on virtually every other block.
2. The flea market at Plaza Matriz
3. A tree-lined walkway in Plaza Matriz
4. Sarandi - a pedestrian street
5. 19 de Julio - a huge avenue that cuts through the middle of Montevideo
6. A random apartment building
7. A statue of Jose Gervasio Artigas in Plaza de la Independencia.
8. A man fishing along the waterfront in Montevideo
9. Locals relaxing near the water
10. Our ship - RCCL Radiance of the Sea
11. A view of the city from the Radiance
12. Montevideo as we're sailing away
13. Our towel animal for today - I think it's a rat.

Current Location: 35D46.58'S and 055D31.12W' ("D" stands for the degree symbol)