From the River Plate – Part 2

Buenos Aires (BA) is the first really modern city seen in South America. Although it has some beggars and some low quality housing, it also has a modern business district, many modern and classical statues and beautiful wide avenues. One avenue is allegedly the widest in the world – 140m wide. There was money here in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries and there is money here today.

TSH and Diva did two sightseeing excursions, which gave them a reasonable understanding of the city and its neighbourhoods. The highlight is probably the Theatre Colon, which is an extremely elegant opera house, certainly smarter than most UK venues, even in London.

On the way out of the port area, TSH spotted the train museum and the steam train which sits outside. There is also a warehouse named ‘Manchester’.

All the excursions go to the elaborate cemetery of La Recoleta, where there are hundreds (thousands?) of elaborate mausoleums. One of the most famous is that of Eva Peron, although one guide pointed out that her remains were moved around so often by so many different groups of people that she may not actually be buried there.

During a refreshment stop at a traditional café, Diva held her pastry at the wrong angle and all the sugar fell off. Across the table, onto the floor and against her clothes. She would not have been pleased if anyone at done that at her house.

BA is the end of the second leg of the cruise. TSH and Diva saw a disembarking guest shambling off the ship in his Silversea-supplied slippers because he had packed all his shoes in his suitcases which by then were safely awaiting him in the terminal building.

TSH and Diva are finding the S American attitude to the indigenous people very dismissive and lacking in respect. If they are mentioned at all, they were ‘primitive’, ‘weak’, ‘incapable of working in the fields’. Eventually ‘they died’ or, occasionally, ‘were killed’. (One guide even mentioned genocide without a hint of shame.) They were replaced by ‘strong black African people’ who ‘had no clothes’ and had to be given them. No mention of slavery.

Other cruise ships in BA: Celebrity Infinity.

Stanley Valentine

The weather did not worsen, so TSH and Diva were on the balcony for their arrival into Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. In fact, although they had heard how often it is not possible to land at the Falklands (other than by using the military harbour one hour away from Stanley), Diva and TSH woke early to a blue sky and calm sea.

The ship was welcomed by Megellan Penguins, which could be seen in the waters around the ship. Diva and TSH embarked on the first tender of the day (07:30) for the 20 minute journey to Stanley and then boarded a rugged 4 x 4 vehicle which almost required a ladder to get in. The vehicle held five people including the driver who was originally from Plymouth but now lived in the Falklands with her Chilean husband. The other two passengers were from Switzerland.

The journey to Volunteer point to see penguins takes two and a half hours. The first hour is spent on roads (some of which are have tarmac) and the other hour and a half is cross country over rough terrain. This latter part of the journey involved crossing ditches, streams and what felt like hundreds of pot holes. TSH is aware that he spent quite a bit of time bouncing above the seat rather than sitting on it. Diva hated the journey but eventually judged it to have been worthwhile.

The vehicles travel on the off-road section in convoy so as to be able to provide assistance when they get bogged down or, as was the case on this trip, nose down in a deep ditch with the rear wheels in the air. Fortunately, Diva and TSH were not in the offending vehicle, which had to be pulled out by one of the other vehicles.

Volunteer point does have some facilities – very limited basic toilets which we were advised to use before too many other people arrived.

An abundance of penguins (King, Gentoo and Megallan) were visible and could be observed at close quarters on the beach as they went down to or returned from the sea and also in the colonies further back from the sea. There are about 2,000 King penguins in the colony there and Diva and TSH saw some with young chicks.

The Megallans nest in burrows and they could be seen going into them. The Gentoo have just a few stones for a nest and the Kings don’t bother with any nest.

After an hour and a half, Diva and TSH returned to the bone shaker for the ride back to Stanley. They ate the lunch provided, which included a tuna and cheese butty and a biscuit in a heart shape to recognise that it was St Valentines day. The journey back to Stanley was uneventful but. as the driver had predicted, everyone was pleased when they were back on the road.

Diva and TSH were back on the ship just in time before it sailed for Uruguay. Although the journey to Volunteer point had been long and hard, Diva and TSH had really enjoyed the day.

Interesting facts about the Falklands include-

·         Squid is caught in large quantities around the Falklands by Asian countries, including Korea and China. Also by Spain.

·         There are very many times more sheep than people, although unlike the people they seem to be spread out over the islands.

·         Education is free – this includes university, where all fees, accommodation and travel costs are met by the local government.

·         The Falkland Islands runs a surplus budget. Income includes port costs for ships, fishing licences and sale of quarried stone. There is income tax but no sales tax. It was claimed this made wine cheaper than in the UK.

·         Supply ships for food etc only visit every few weeks and Amazon ordering is popular. The cheapest way to buy many items is to get orders from UK supermarkets delivered to a place in Bristol where they are packaged up and shipped out.

·         The Falklands was originally part of South Africa but the movement of the tectonic plate on which the island sits has moved it to its present location.

·         There are highly unusual stone rivers in the Falklands. A stone river is a conspicuous rock landform, a result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age.

·         Unemployment is low and there is quite a young population.

As it was Valentines Day, Diva and TSH found that the suite had been decorated with heart shaped balloons and later a supply of pralines. Also, a penguin (later named Stanley), had appeared, complete with a ‘Circlers’ T shirt.

Dinner was taken at Stars supper club.

Also in port: Celebrity Infinity. 

Fjords and burgers

Today did not go to plan. A short excursion was cancelled due to lack of numbers but this had the benefit that there was no 7:30 departure and the start to the day was more leisurely. Plan B was thwarted when, after a few minutes queuing for the tender, the Captain announced that service was temporarily suspended to allow the ship to move. This was to allow space for MSC Orchestra and Celebrity Infinity, which turned up just after Silver Cloud had taken prime position at the head of the fjord. Since ‘all aboard’ was 10:30, it was no longer worth the journey into Geiranger. So the morning was spent on deck, Tai Chi training and observing the magnificent fjord, with its mountains and waterfalls. Lunch was also outdoors – the first Silversea burger of the holiday, accompanied by a rare lunch-time beer for TSH.

The afternoon stop allowed time for a short walk around Hellesylt (pop. < 100). This boasts a factory outlet shop, waterfalls and a Sherlock Holmes pub. Do they know that these are not the right waterfalls? The pub had a dragon motif on its roof trim but the reason for this is unknown. A wild aquilegia was seen on the river bank.