Not long now….

Packing started and just need Viv to recover from her cold and hacking cough, then we are off.

Heading away from the cold at Heathrow, we head for Lima via Madrid. Lots to do and see in Peru before we join the Crown Princess in Santiago for a cruise around the Cape and head for Buenos Aires via the Falklands. After a day or so in Buenos Aires we head for the Iguazu Falls then on to Rio before returning home. Keep track of what we are up to and we will try to keep in contact….

Keeping fingers crossed

Watching the weather forecast with bated breadth! Heavy snow forecast for this afternoon and evening, flights to and from Heathrow for today already being cancelled. Our flight to Madrid and on to Lima for Friday is still showing as Ok but all subject to what happens later today.

Car booked for 4.30am Friday morning and hoping we can still get away – who decided to travel on Friday 13th?

Heathrow Forecast @ 2.40pm

All looking a bit scary!

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/#?tab=warnings&regionName=se&fcTime=1484179200

Snowing…..

I am sure somewhere in the world there are skiers crying out for snow so they can enjoy their holidays…… but we don’t live in a ski resort!

Not fretting yet …. we have every confidence that this is the right type of snow, it’s white and coming down from the sky so that’s a good start. Total confidence in Surrey County Council that the gritter lorries have been fully loaded with top quality salt and grit and are spreading as we speak….. 

So far so good!

Picked up on time, whisked away to Heathrow airport at pace, bags checked through to Lima, breakfast in the lounge and gate for the flight to Madrid is allocated.

Do you know? I think we may have cracked it!

Now in Madrid waiting for our connecting flight to Lima. Arrived early in Madrid, sunny and a positively barmy 7 deg C!

Time for a small glass of wine after all we have been up since 3.30am this morning which is 7 hours ago. Based on normal wake up time of 7am that makes it 2pm so that makes it ok!

Flight on time at the moment. 

Don’t be too jealous – thunderstorms and only 12 deg forecast for Machu Picchu!!

A long day but we are here in Peru

All flights took off and landed on time so well done BA and Iberia. Flight from Madrid to Lima was rather bumpy, even the Captain said so!

At hotel now in Lima, Viv asleep and I will be soon – it is now over 24 hours since we got up this morning.

Wake up call at 6am, bags outside the room by 7am and 8.30 am the start of a half day tour of the city before we return to the airport for the short hop skip and jump to Cusco.

Caught a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean tonight – the guide said it never rains in Lima – 9m people live in this sprawling city out of total population of 31m. I think most of them were at the airport tonight – it was heaving!

Hopefully some pics tomorrow if we have wifi in Cusco hotel.

Be good everyone and catch up tomorrow.

Sacred Valley

Great day searching for the Incas! Stunning scenery among the mountains. Quiet meal tonight then Machu Picchu tomorrow !

Macchu Picchu – definitely a 7th wonder!

Brilliant day and so lucky with the weather. A 2 hour coach ride followed by the train to MP and then a hairy 25 minutes coach ride up the mountain side to the site. What an amazing place -only discovered just over 100 years ago – a stunning must see example of Inca architecture. Great history and a wonderful occasion.

On our way to Chile

Up at 2.45am this morning for the 5.40am flight from Cuzco to Lima. Now at Lima airport for 4 hour wait till we fly to Santiago.

A view just after take off from Cuzco of snow capped mountains on the edge of the Andes.
More later from the next wi-if stop!!

Chance to catch up…..

With a 4 hour wait till our Santiago flight and a good wifi at the airport what better way of spending the time than updating everyone on what’s been going on!

So far we have been ‘enjoying’ a full on itinerary with long days and very early morning starts. Sometimes jet lag can be really helpful when you need to wake up early!

Cuzco – lovely city and wish we had more time to see it. Very much the centre for trips to the mountains, the Sacred Valley and of course Macchu Picchu.

The Peruvian people we have met have a lovely relaxed outlook on life, at times laid back but always willing to help. One problem we have encountered is that our complete lack of Spanish education is a drawback. This is not part of the world where the classic lazy English way of speaking slower and louder immediately creates a translation!

Weather has been pretty much true to expectation – it is the rainy season in the mountain area and yes it does rain heavily when it rains.

Trains to MP run on time although last night’s return journey was impacted by the wrong leaves on the track, wrong kind of snow and we broke down! A replacement engine within 30 minutes solved the problem. Are you listening Southern Rail?

Next stop Santiago where tomorrow we board our ship, home for the next 14 days. Only one unpack – deep joy can’t wait and also no alarm calls for a few days – even deeper joy!

That’s all for now folks…. more anon!

Sunday night under the lights in Cuzco

Chile …. onwards and downwards?

A great full night’s sleep – the first in South America ! Not all down to time differences it has to be said. Alarm calls ranging from 3.30am on day one, 4.30am on Macchu Picchu day and the cracker of 2.45am yesterday! Yes this is holiday !

Real lazy day today, not even out of bed yet and it’s 8.25am, leisurely breakfast, stroll around the local park then a 2 hour drive to the port.

Embarkation planned for this afternoon then unpack in our cabin – hide the suitcasss for a whole 2 weeks! Whoooopee!

Then set sail for Puerto Montt ( for those who don’t know, and we didn’t it’s further down the coast of Chile towards the bottom). I am indebted to Edward Ralph for pointing out that travelling down in the Southern Hemisphere is not necessarily correct. Why? Well who said North is up? It may be for us but is that right for those south of the Equator? Food for thought.

Puerto Montt in Chile

Arrived after a day at sea having left Valparaiso on Wednesday. Pacific Ocean was a little choppy on the first night but didn’t stop the enjoyment of a first night dinner with three other couples, two from the US and the other ex Brits who moved to Oz in the 60’s.

As you would expect I wasn’t slow in lobbing in a grenade re Donald Trump and  the result was quite amazing. Of the two couples who live in the same State, one was staunch Trumpette and the other very Clintonesque! A lively debate.

Viv told me not to do it again on night two so I moved on to religion instead!

Weather forecast on BBC News for the tip of South America suggests we could have some interesting days ahead – time to batten down the hatches methinks?

Probably won’t have a connection for the next few days – feels a bit like the Apollo space ship going round behind the Moon and going into radio silence!

More to follow soon……

Apollo has returned

After a two day absence, we have resurfaced! Yesterday was a day to remember battling 20 ft waves, 40 mph winds and needing a couple of sea sickness tablets to calm the stomach. Always expected at the bottom ( or top) of the world.

Today we arrived and docked in Punta Arenas still in Chile but only 20 miles from Argentina. A tender port ( I don’t mean the soft cuddly type) but one where you need to board a lifeboat to get to shore. The trip today involved taking a chair lift to 4000 ft above sea level and then a trek through the Patagonian forest back down again. Great experience and good fun! Amazing that one US couple clearly didn’t read the overview of the trip first when they booked because they were afraid of heights and wouldn’t get on to start with. Eventually they did and we could all get on with our day – the joys of group holidays ! Great views of the Straits of Magellan and the town itself.

i will post some pics next if the connection holds.

Tomorrw is Ushuaia or Tierra del Fuego in old money

Arrived in Ushuaia 

Sun shining and all of 5 deg C – warmer than home! 

Fantastic journey this morning through the Chilean fjords – incredible views of snow capped mountains and glaciers.

Now we are in Ushuaia, formerly Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. Told not to wear Falklands Islands logo clothing when we go ashore – hope they don’t mind my North Downs Golf Club beanie!

2.5 hour trip on catamaran this afternoon to search for wild life – so far very calm in the Beagle Channel.

We leave here at 7.30pm and head for scenic cruising around Cape Horn on the way to our next stop Port Stanley. Won’t be in contact for next two days – at least not in contact with signal but if the seas are like two days ago could well be in contact with the bathroom! 

All well here and it will be getting warmer as we head north to Uruguay and Argentina and Brazil. 

Beagle Channel – Tierra del Fuego

Just back from a wonderful if bitterly cold afternoon aboard a catamaran on the Beagle Channel.

Travelling out from Ushuaia port we encountered a colony, class, herd, well whatever…. a load of sea lions. What a noise and quelle odour! The daddy was a big bugger as shown below….

So soft and cuddly!

Next stop was another island with a flock of cormorants … thousands of them. Stunning backdrop of the Andes mountains.

Amazing place at the end of the world. 

Trips available from here to the Antarctic – just £2999 each …. no adverse weather refunds! Decided against it on this occasion!

So, tomorrow morning from 6.30am to 7.30am we have the splendour of scenic cruising around Cape Horn. Should be interesting……. 

Hi everyone – still here!

Having rounded Cape Horn, yes we actually did! we made landfall in the Falklands. 

No wifi or mobile data (at a sensible price) so sadly no blog update till now.

Great day on the Falklands and we had a wonderful tour entitled Battlefields and as you would expect focussed on the events of 1982. History seems very strange when you lived through the actual events…. who remembers the voice of Ian McDonald – a voice that could silence a busy bar – whatever happened to him?

It was really interesting seeing those places we heard about nearly 35 years ago,   Goose Green, Bluff Cove, Tumbledown etc  – quite chilling. 

The weather was unseasonably mild but windy. Landscape barren as expected.

That is a view of Twin Sisters one of the key objectives in the final push to take Stanley on the night of 11th/12th June 1982.

No roads in 1982 – our boys had to ‘yomp’ miles and miles.

Tendering in from the ship to shore was interesting but went ok and it was so good to get ashore. 

Leaving Stanley we had a day at sea heading for Puerto Madryn – a couple of storms at sea – lightning looks scary at sea!

Off for a walk around town shortly and more pics to come soon. Then another day at sea and heading for Montevideo – have to share a laugh with you ……. had breakfast yesterday with some people from the US ……. they pronounced Montevideo as if it were Monty Video (as in VHS!).

Hope you are all keeping well……

Puerto Madryn…. Spanish or Welsh speaking?

All these miles from home and what do we find? On the coast of Argentina, the town of Puerto Madryn is the home of many Welsh settlers who landed here in years gone by. Welsh flags flying and monuments to the stoic Welsh who came, saw and stayed!

Having spent little time exercising, Viv and I decided to walk to the Ecocentro which was a not so cool 5kms from the ship. Well worth the walk as we saw an amazing display of sights, sounds and bits from the Southern Right Whale, and lord of other sea based creatures. Fascinating sights, except for a rather obese loud American who insisted on Facetiming her family back in the US. There are times when technology has a lot to answer for and this was one of those times! The other is the inventor of the selfie stick who should have had the first prototype firmly inserted where the sun doesn’t shine.

Talking of which take a look at this weather shot

I will post some other pics from this morning’s ecocentre separately as they seem to upload quicker.

We set off later at 4.30pm for Montevideo and arrive there at around 7 am on Monday morning so a day st sea tomorrow and with luck a chance to catch a few rays to get some colour.

A city tour in Montevideo beckons including the soccer stadium – oh did you notice that Wolves beat the mighty Liverpool today in the FA Cup. COYW!

Happy birthday David and stop crying Gerry after all it’s only the FA Cup….

After Montevideo we head for Buenos Aires then back on dry land for the trip to Iguazu Falls and Rio but that’s a while off yet.

More later…….

Morning all….. from Monty Video!

Just pulling in and waiting to park up … as you can see two days left on the cruise and already mastered the seafaring language!

So, managed another day at sea travelling north and incredible to see that in three days sailing at 20 knots the temperature has gone from 9 deg to 34 deg. Bit breezy on deck but managed to get some colour. Sadly body looked more like a beached whale by the pool rather than the ‘adonis’ figure I had promised myself whilst on the pre holiday diet……

Today offers a city wide tour of Montevideo taking in the Legislative Palace, one of the three best in the world – according to the Uruguay Tourist Board – we shall see; the Graf Spey monument – the ship still lies just off the coast; and the Soccer stadium – scene of two World Cup finals including the first in 1930. Viv is so looking forward to the tour of the stadium…….. 

 Will update after the tour but in the meantime hope you are all well and not too cold and wet.

Mega Montevideo !

What an amazing place this is. Capital of the second smallest country in South America with 1m of the 3m population living in this city.

First stop the statue of Artegas then the soccer stadium, scene of the 1st World Cup in 1930. The stadium is still used today, held 85,000 in 1930 and now houses a museum of World Cup football and the Summer Olympics. Managed to find one artifact from 1966 but as you would expect there is loads of stuff relating to South American footie.

For some reason the pics won’t go at the moment so will send separately.

Last stop was the Legislative Palace made inside and out from Uruguayian marble. Incredible architecture.

Well worth the visit.

Lots of other pics to show when we get back home and get a stronger wifi.

Quiet afternoon then we sail for Buenos Aires – just a short hop over the bay to the land of Tango!

Beautiful Buenos Aires…

Here we are…. last stop on the cruise… the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, home of the tango and Eva Peron.

A city tour planned this morning before our last afternoon, the dreaded packing of suitcases, luggage tags and saying goodbyes before we head off to the Iguazu Falls and Rio for the remaining week of our adventure.

Another wonderful sunrise as we slowly slid into position alongside the quay. A typical port with containers everywhere …. what is in all these massive iron boxes and where are they going? All these backdropped against the city skyline of Buenos Aires…. we do seem to be on the flight path to the airport and we wave to the aircraft every five minutes or so!

May Square

Not Theresa but Eva Peron’s place where she delivered her speeches.

Agree Rita – not a lady to be messing with!

That’s the cruise done….

Just tonight’s farewell dinner then hopefully reclaim our luggage in the cruise terminal and off to the airport to fly to Foz do Iguazu for 3 days then on to Rio.

Beautiful Buenos Aires, amazing artwork in La Boca ( also home to the Boca Juniors, they of the Maradona fame). Odd stadium and very tightly built in amongst the houses in the area. Street artists abound despite the rain today.

On to May Square and the famous pink Government Palace where Eva Peron delivered her rousing speeches.

Her final resting place is in an incredible cemetery – the Recoleta Cemetry (see pic above) where she and members of her family are buried. There are hundreds of mausoleums of the rich and famous from the city and the rest of Argentina. Gets us very understated yet a very popular visiting spot for tourists and residents alike – she did many things for the poorer folk of Argentina in the late 40’s and early 50’s.

An incredible city of culture, art and dance with so many Spanish and Italian influences to be seen everywhere.

As we leave the Crown Princess after a wonderful two weeks we can look back on a glimpse of the many varied features of South America from the wineries of Santiago and Vaparaiso, to the German settler influence of southern Chile; the Patagonian scenery and wildlife of Punta Arenas and the Amalia Glacier and chilling winds and snow capped mountains of Ushuaia.

Cape Horn was calm and kind as was the Falklands, a journey back to the 80’s and a time to pay homage to those who fought to protect the Islanders. 

To the Welsh who settled in Puerto Madryn and whose influence is still in evidence today; the bustle of Montevideo and lastly the artistic flavour of the Argentine in Buenos Aires.

We have been so lucky to have had an issue free cruise unlike the poor people on the cruise before us. Someone was smiling down on us, evidently.

Now the wonderful sight of the Iguazu Falls awaits, hopefully we can bring you a flavour when we get there. 

In the meantime hope you are all keeping fit and healthy……

Incredible …… just incredible

Today at Iguazu Falls (the Argentinian side) we witnessed one of the best, if not the best creation of nature in the world.

Described by many as breathtaking, mindblowing, stunning, beautiful and amazing, it is all those and more.

Set deep in the Iguazu Jungle reached by train and a long walk, the first view of the Falls comes at Devil’s Throat. A panorama of 275 cascades falling hundreds of feet with a water flow of 400,ooo gallons a SECOND! The noise and spray are both incredible and spectacular.

From the Upper Trail you are able to enjoy even more impressive cascades of water, with bridges literally just above the waterfalls themselves. 

The beauty and splendour of this magnificent site is just unbelievable and so hard to show in a mere photo but here goes….

If yesterday was incredible….. today was…. well ……..

There are some things that words and pictures cannot express. Today, we went to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls and it was utterly spellbinding.

A smaller trail on the other side of the Falls, looking across from where we were yesterday and at every turn the view became more and more spectactular. 

The enormity of these natural creations is incredible, not as high as the Victoria Falls; not as much volume as Niagra Falls but Iguazu Falls are the widest at 1.6 miles across. 

The pictures are a poor attempt to show the majesty of the different Falls but hope the above pictures go some way to doing that.....

Arrived in Rio….

Not a bad view from bedroom window…

Fab meal….

Just come back from great meal close to the beach. Wonderful evening with lovely walk in 29 deg C along Copacabana beach.

Lively vibrant full of colour!

All ready for tomorrow’s trip to Christ the Redeemer…….

There was a showgirl…. her name was Lola …..

4.3kms of sandy beach, a sunny afternoon in February, a crowded beach of folk from all walks of life….. games of beach volleyball, bodies soaking up the hot Brazilian sun, bronzed, tanned and all shapes and sizes …… this is Copacabana Beach…..

Another great icon….

Running out of superlatives…… here is another moment to treasure.

Hard to believe we are seeing all these iconic sights in one trip…. all very different and all with a magic of their own. Oh and also the weather to match!

Sugarloaf mountain tomorrow and then chance to catch our breath before we come home.

Not a bad finish at all…

Last day of touring and we finish up seeing the Maracana Stadium – close up; the Samba Stadium where they hold the Samba competition during the Carnival; the rather strange Rio Cathedral and last but by no means least Sugarloaf Mountain. 

Two cable cars to the top, then splendid views if the whole of Rio…

Nearly over……..

Some of the group have just left for Rio airport……leaving for home today. We have another day so went off to the beach again this morning and got back before the rain came. Yes, rain…. not much and dried up soon after.

Many strange shapes and sizes on the beach – not only the tall slim bronzed bodies you see in the adverts…. some to be honest really shouldn’t be wearing what they are! 

In the interests of good taste and decency best not post them on here!

Afternoon by the pool and the last night