Falkland Islands

When we originally booked this cruise, we were scheduled to go to the Falkland Islands.  Later on, we received notice from Holland America that we would not be able to go there and would go to Puerto Madryn in Argentina instead.  We knew that landing at the Falklands was always iffy since it is a tender port and the weather is often quite windy which makes tendering difficult and even dangerous.  There also have been some problems with Argentinian authorities with ships that have stopped at the Falklands.  Even though the war between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falklands was over in 1982, Argentina has been attempting to claim them again especially because oil has been discovered off shore.

After we left Buenos Aires, the captain made the announcement that the weather looked good and that they had decided to go to the Falklands after all and that we would no longer go to Puerto Madryn.

 It was raining quite a bit by the time we got into the town of Stanley. 

Luckily we had our rainproof, windproof parkas.

 Those are whalebones in the the monument in front of the church.

We took a tour to the other side of the island to one of the penguin areas.

Most of the penguins here were Gentoos.

 There are a few King penguins in the center of this photo. 

They have the orange on their heads and beaks.

 It was quite an ordeal to get to this site.  First we took a 16 passenger minibus from town out to the end of the gravel road.  Then we took a 5 passenger Range Rover across the bogs to get to Bluff Cove where the penguins were.  There was no road - we just drove over the fields and streams.  It was VERY bumpy!  I really thought the Range Rover would capsize a couple of times.

 Back in Stanley

 Falklands War Memorial

Montevideo, Uruguay

It was Christmas Day when we were in Montevideo.  We hadn't arranged for anything in advance because we thought everything would be closed.  One of our dinner tablemates, Richard from southwestern England, had arranged for a walking tour and invited us to join him.

 Our guide, Bruno, and his mate drink

 We were able to go in to the main cathedral during part of their Christmas mass. 

The music was beautiful.

 The old presidential palace

 The new presidential palace

 

 Sailing away from Montevideo

Montevideo had lots of interesting buildings in interesting neighborhoods.  Uruguay seems to be living in the shadow of its larger neighbors, Argentina and Brazil.  We were told that it is one of the "greenest" countries in the world and that it was the first country in the world to give all of its elementary school students a laptop.  Quite an achievement!

Buenos Aires

We arrived in Buenos Aires on Christmas Eve.  Before we left home, we had arranged for a private tour so that we could see and do as much as possible in our limited time in port.  We also weren't sure what would be open on Christmas Eve.  We found that having a private guide was about the same price as the organized ship's tours but we could do exactly what we wanted.  Our guide, Virginia, met us at the port with her driver, Eduardo.

First, we drove around the Centro and to the Plaza de Mayo.  Note Evita's profile on this building.  We were told it lights up at night.

 Casa Rosada with its famous balcony

 Catedral Metropolitana

 

 We happened to be in the Cathedral when the guards arrived to open the tomb of San Martin.

We stopped for a coffee at one of the oldest cafes, Cafe Tortoni. 

Note the art nouveau and Christmas tree. 

 

San Telmo area

Puerto Madero

A Calatrava bridge

 La Boca

We had lunch outdoors at a restaurant with a tango show.

 It was really hot that day.  Check out the huge fan next to the announcer.

Entrance to the Recoleta Cemetary

 Evita's marker on the family mausoleum

 Sailing Away from Buenos Aires.
We had a great day but we were melting by the time we got back to the ship -
it was so hot and humid!