Sunday 22nd January- We are saili’n

We left the Falklands behinds having fully enjoyed our day there and started wondering how we would handle another invasion by Argentina?? To be continued.

Sorry there are no photographs on the blog but the upload speed from the ship would not allow any pictures but I have been able to send them to my Phanfare photo blog, for your reference.

In the morning Noel sorted out his photos and blogged and then we went for a nicer windy 30 minute walk around deck before attending the Destination Lecture which again was most informative and confirmed that our choice of side excursions was correct, mind you they are bloody expensive. There is one where you fly on a private jet down to Antarctica for the day at about £ 3500.00 each and there appears to be many on board who have booked it.

We had lunch on the Patio Deck which was quite empty as most people wanted a much warmer environment. After lunch a nice relaxing chair in the lounge and watched the world go by for a while then a little light zizz before meeting up at the Panorama bar for pre-dinner drinks before Dinner.

Tonight is an Indian buffet and excellent it was with a wide choice of food that you could pick at. Our table was next to ‘Little and Large’ my name for the Welsh Comic and the Large American pianist and we tried a little chat but they were not interested.

Following dinner we went to the Grand Salon for the group of British Singers to perform a medley of tunes from Billy Joel, Elton John and Barry Manilow.

It was a good show and went on till just after 11 pm and so we went back to the suite as we have an early morning tomorrow as we arrive in Ushuaia which is the largest town in the closest to Antarctica which is only 1100 kilometres away.

Saturday 21st January- The BRITISH Falkland Island

We arrived around 08.00 in the morning and by 09.30 the first tenders were on their way in to the harbour about twenty minutes away. We have booked a trip to see the gyuys with little feet wearing formals outfits at midday and so wandered around the town for about one hour and a half.

We came across a couple of guys building a house and started chatting to them about life on the Islands and both were fiercely proud to be British and under no circumstances wanted the be under Argentine rule. I asked them about counter measures during the war but apart from a story about building the flag pole to small for the Argentinian flag there appears to be no attempt to help themselves but wait till Mrs Thatcher came along. There is a road of of course called Thatcher Drive.

The ports from South America have been blocked and so all good come from UK but I am not sure who might be paying the difference in cost, maybe the British Taxpayer. Fuel cost is again half the cost of the UK although food costs are higher.

There are approximately 3000 people living on the Islands with somewhere between 1000 and 3000 troops depending on who you ask. Prince William is due here soon, perhaps may even be here as according to our driver in the afternoon military aircraft activity has increased significantly to prepare for any attempt from Tevez and his mates to invade.

The locals are allowed full access to the military base to visit the Cinema, swimming pools etc

Our trip out to Bluff cove took about 20 minutes in a bus and then we transferred to  4x4 Land Rovers for the next twenty minutes across very rough grounds to the beach to see the Penguins. There were three types of  Penguins, a few King, some Gentoo and a small football team of Megellan  

We stayed about an hour making acquaintance and they smell like hell and have flees and are likely bite you for straying to close.

The weather today has been fantastic with only blue sky and a temperature around 14 degrees centigrade and so we were completely over dressed and kept taking layers of clothing off as it got warmer.

On the beach was a small café where were given free tea and cakes before heading back to town. In the Land Rover on the way back to the rough tracks the driver was listening to talk sport with commentary on the Liverpool game which somehow struck me as being odd when driving over rough ground on a beach 8000 miles from home.

People onbly use 4x4 on these islands as normal cars wont travel off road.

A final walk around town and connected to the internet at the information station and even they were charging £ 1.00 for ten minutes and so we ended up spending £ 3.00 between the two of us for about thirty minutes of very slow connection time compared to my home broadband which is very fast and costs a fiver.  

We arrived back on ship and went for the afternoon tea then retreated for a shower before heading of for a pre-dinner drink   

And then on to some British Food, prawn cocktails and Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and some Malbec, gosh we Brits know how to live

Friday 20th January-An easy day

A slow’ish morning really with very little planned and after Noel finished the Blog and photos which took a little longer than expected due to half of the instructions on’ How to connect to the web’ were missing and so a good thirty minutes wasted until after talking to reception the problem was resolved.

Why they have to make it so difficult and expensive I can’t imagine but they do.

Jennifer read her book and then Noel went to the Gym for 35 minutes or so.

We had a light lunch on the deck and then in the afternoon we went for a presentation on ‘The Falklands War’ by an ex Diplomat who nowadays would spend his time riding around the world free of charge on ships making presentations. I wanted to ask if I did one on UK airfreight could I have my money back but I don’t think they work this way.

Anyway it was an interesting talk for about an hour and he talked more about the land mines which are still in a lot of places which were put in by the Argentinians once they first took over the islands. They have not been taken out yet just in case the Argentinians decided to come back but somehow I doubt they would use these areas knowing they had put mines there. I would move them discretely.

The speaker made no mention of efforts by the locals to frustrate or kill their captors which surprised me a little.  Anyway we followed this with a cup of tea and then a little rest and then dinner once again in the Colonnade Restaurant where we joined a group of Americans. One couple was deathly quiet whilst the other much more fun, apparently he owns the Super8 motel chain in America, Clearly rubbish motels make money for the owner.

The show tonight was a welsh guy called Kenny Smiles who was actually rather good and made some fun of those sitting in the front seats but they took it all in fun. Anyway a good day and a final drink in the Panorama lounge and then back to the suite.

Thursday 19th January- A day all at sea

Breakfast was in the Collonade restaurant at the back of the ship sitting in the sunshine followed by a walk around the ship.

We both agree that this is a very nice vessel and even though full there are so many places where you can find empty chairs and space and without Muzac.

Tonight is the first formal night and so we both needed to get any clothes ironed which had become creased whilst in a suitcase for seven days and then a light lunch on the Patio Grill.

An afternoon of book reading and relaxing and Jennifer went for a swim and came back a few hours later looking like Robin red breast as she had failed to apply sun cream where she needed. At least we don’t need to turn the cabin lights on anymore.

We attended a presentation of ‘ what to expect’ on our side journey in Falklands etc hosted by the Chilean Travel host and he was excellent and made it very interesting indeed and even saying his own personal views on tours insofar as to say idf you are booked on this trip you would be better off on this other one.

He warned about the land mines still covering certain beaches and areas in the Falkland Islands and so don’t wander away from the main pathways- great.

We planned a pre-dinner drink in the upper front Panorama bar rather than go to the Captains and Crew welcome party and met the couple who had previously met in the same hotel as us in Buenos Aires. We discussed many things including politics, travel and also as they live in Austin Texas where we also had some friends it was a good early evening chat. It also came to pass that he opened the Blockbuster Video Rental business which he does not own anymore. 

We had made  our restaurant choice based on the menu and so we did not go to the main restaurant but to the Colonnade where we had a brilliant meal but the pace was empty. So after dinner we wandered down to the restaurant where the Captain and his mates were hosting tables and it was packed and very noisy and we were very glad we had decided to eat elsewhere.

We went to the evening show with a group of four English singers and along with the band they covered tunes form Supertramp, Beatles, Rolling Stones and others for about one hour and it was a nice show.

Final drinks in the Panorama bar where we listened to the smooth singing voice of an excellent piano player.

And so to bed.

Wednesday 18th January- Montevideo Port

Well we arrived at the Port of Montevideo as Noel suffered a bout of ‘ where are the nearest loo’s’ and so instead of touring the town as planned we had a quiet day on board. Needless to say Noel is not a happy teddy at this moment because of this

Problem

So we explored the Ship some more and Jennifer caught up with a few days washing at the on-board Launderette. We checked out the Internet and it is not free and can be very expensive, its USD 10.00 for 60 minutes and it is very slow.

You of course can have 24 hour a day connection for two weeks for a mere USD 400.00. So there won’t be much internet activity on board from the Groves then.

We had a small lunch at the Patio Grill before a restful afternoon watching the Montevideo Tango dancers and singer and it does get boring after a while. Of course at the end of the show they then try to entice the guests to have a go and after watching some real sites we left.

A little light reading then we went up on board to see the Ship leave port and it was very tight and with a 30 knot wind blowing the ship against the harbour wall it did require assistance from a Tug.

It is a pity that we missed the trip in to town, although I had suggested to Jennifer she should up with some others but she decided to stay and keep me company or from jumping of the highest point of the ship.

But I digress, It was noticeable however that many guests returned early to the ship with comments overheard from one person when he said I arrived and looked around for ten minutes and then decided it’s not worth it.

We had an early dinner again on the Patio Grill, yes what again, however in a few days’ time when the temperature drops we won’t be able to use the place to eat. They were serving cowboy steaks and much too large for us though and so Jennifer had the Salmon and Noel the Lamb chops and all very good.

We departed for the Panorama to watch the sunset only after being in the lounge at the other end of the ship and shortly before the sun went down the ship did a radicle change of direction and so hence our move.

Noel tested some Fernet Branca  for the inners and Jen a Benedictine on the rocks, large glasses both of them. We thought  that the comedian was on tonight but we  was wrong and it’s an big fat American piano player who very successfully ruined some of the best of Gershwin and other well-known composers. It was when he decided to sing a rap song that we gave up and left.

Could of have been a better day for reasons mentioned but let’s hope that whatever caused it goes away.

Tuesday 17th January- Tine to board

We had an easy morning slowly getting ready and checked out of our changed room and also they had repaired the air con so it was not leaking all over the floor.

We met an American couple in the Hotel also joining the ship and chatted to them for a time and then Noel watched the Wigan and Manchester City game on TV. We forgot to mention that on the previous day whilst sitting in the garden a tiny humming bird came to the little plants just where we were sitting and about two feet away and it was there for about four minutes and unfortunately the camera was in the room.

The taxi took the 20 minute journey to the port where the smart service kicked in and after checking in and passport control etc we boarded the Seabourne Sojourn and were able to go direct to the suite but the luggage arrived about one hour later and no time for a shower before the muster drill.

After emptying the suitcases we looked around the ship for a while and then went to the ‘sail away’ party for a few glasses and then had dinner in the sun at the Patio Grill.

After dinner we went to the ‘Club’ for a little light dancing and then back to the room quite late. A first impression of the ship which is apparently full is extremely good.

Monday 16th Jan- Impressions of Buenos Aires

Well after a few days around this town I thought we could share some of ouyr views on what this place is all about.

We learnt from our driver to the airport in Iguazu that he and many others were upset that the ‘ruling family’ a husband and wife team have been in power for almost sixteen years and enough is enough and so nobody cares about politics anymore  In other words a dictatorship of sorts.

The streets around Buenos Aires are struggling to cope with the rubbish which is left for the nightly collection and the rule is you put out the rubbish after 9.30 pm but people don’t follow this rule and put it out at any time and with dogs patrolling the streets ansd tearing in to the good smelling bags the rubbish men only take what they can easily lift and the rest stays for years. There are cars dumped on the streets and left to rot, not good unles you want a fiat of 1962 origin left to rot.

We have eaten out at a couple of local ,not tourist places, and find the serving staff have clearly not been employed to take care of the customer but mostly to chat with passing friends and their colleagues walking the floor. At one restaurant we saw a serving lady with two hot plates of food en-route to the customer when she espied some friends, she immediately put the plates down on a serving counter and then spent the next eight minutes or su talking to her chums and then she now takes the semi warm plats to the customer. However we did not find this problem in the tourist restaurants.

There are many shops offering last minute, end of sale, eand of year, for one day only sales of unbelievable prices and only for today that you do wonder.

We have seen dog walker with as many as 25 dogs all peeing and crapping and no attempt to clear it up and so it says a little about pride in the country.

I did question the lady on the front desk of the Hotel and she agreed that lack of pride was a severe problem and hence the rubbish and dog poo everywhere apart from the pavements falling to pieces and holes everywhere.

So impressions of this town are not great which is a shame indeed and we look forward at the end of our trip to meet the manager of my ex company office when perhaps he can enlighten us what is going on.

On the other hand today we found a nice little ice cream parlour which was tucked away and we enjoyed a nice cone of something cold.

Tonight we visited a local restaurant where the staff were slow but when 8pm arrived so did many more staff but asd the tables failed to fill the number of staff reduced badly, sounds a little like M Donalds to me.

Anyway we had a good meal, Jennifer had some really good pork chops and Noel beef tenderloin washed down with a bottle of Cabernet.

We got back to the Hotel and found that the new room we were in where the air condition system had started leaking water all over the floor however their was now a bucket to catch the water, so now we have a small Jakuzi in our room for no extra fee.

Oh well, we join the ship tomorrow mid afternoon with the knowledge of the ship that hit rocks of the Italian coast but this is an AMERICAN ship where this could not possible happen unless of course you happen to be parked in pearl harbour.

And so to bed to wait for the drip, drip plonk sound to start

Sunday 15th – Now it’s the Falls in Brazil

Another early breakfast in the Hotel and we left around 08.30 and it was only five minutes to the Argentine Border where the driver took care of passport matters after about a ten minute wait and then on to the Brazil Border post after crossing the river where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet. Another fifteen minute wait at this border while passports etc were checked and then on to the falls where we arrived after about one hours journey time. We passed some older and tired looking Hotels en-route on this road until we finally arrived at the reception for the Iguazu Falls experience.

Boy was it packed with coaches everywhere and huge line of people waiting to purchase entrance tickets but clearly the driver was the master of all this and led ius past the crowds and then he slipped in to the booth and a few minutes later appeared with the tickets.

The driver left us at this point and we agreed to meet him at 1215 which gave us just under three hours to look around. WE joined the long queue for the bus transportation down to the falls and thei are options when to get off if you want to go on boats or climb down the rock face but we opted for the walking version. The views are spectacular compared to the Argentinian side and most impressive with so much water pouring everywhere. We walked for about a mile and half and up and down steps and pathways until we reached the main falls where you can walk out on a small bridge and then get wet, which we did. The sounds and noise from the running water and the spray and with the sun beating down and at 30 degrees it wsa most impressive and well worth the visit.

This time the driver was right on time and it took us less time to get back through the two border posts and we arrived back at the Hotel around 1pm and in time to pack up and leave the room for lunch.

After a burger and fries we took the car to the airport and checked in and then realised that the flight was not going back to the Domestic Airport but the international Airport which is much further out of town. So quick calls to the Hotel to change the taxi. When they called the flight their seemed like over 300 people heading for one flight of a B737-700 which takes about 150 people and then we realised that although they have three gates they only seem to use one for all flights and so the other 200 odd people boarded a much bigger Airbus which in fact was bound for the Domestic Airport, Damn.

Anyway a safe flight saw us back at the International Airport and the baggage was quick arriving and the taxi was waiting and so we reached the Hotel around 9.15 pm.

This time we are very disappointed in the room which is tiny, almost of Japanese standards and hardly anywhere to put two large cases. Somehow we will cope as its only for two nights otherwise we would have gone somewhere else.

Anyway the trip up to the Brazilian Falls was excellent and should we go again we would also visit the bird park which is next door and we understand well worth the visit.

 

Saturday 14th January –Iguazu Falls trip

The car took us to the main entrance of the Iguazu Park and we immediately noticed different prices for different nationalities. Locals pay approx half of main international visitors whilst tourist from Latin American Countries pay about 70 per cent of what we did. Practising my Spanish accent did not improve the position

Our plan was to take the small train to the top and although we got on board with minutes of arriving at the park it was at the halfway stage/change train stage and there were so many people waiting we changed our ideas and went to the upper walkway first and then down many steps to the lower walkway which we think in the end enabled much better views of the Falls. We spent almost three and a half hours following the tracks around the falls and taking many photos, perhaps too many but let’s see. It was really quite busy with lots of tourists like us and one tour leader was at a medical desk having his blood pressure checked.

When we had enough walking and looking we headed back to the Sheraton Hotel which is actually within the park perimeter to had wait for the car to arrive as it was running late we were then able to cram in a beer which was much needed.

The car arrived eventually to take us back to the Hotel where we had a lunch in the bar/lounge and then went back for a shower as it had been about 30 degrees, quite hot and high humidity as well and what with the lots of steps and steep hills it was hard work.

Following lunch Noel had a kip then worked on Blogs and photos. We plan a quiet evening around the Hotel and will most likely go to the bar/lounge for our evening meal.

It was during our evening visit to the lounge with a TV showing a rather large cruise ship which had fallen over and was not surprised to hear it was Italian managed. We feel very sorry for the people on board and also those passenger waiting for their trip to start but what the hell was the ship it doing four miles of course. I can only think it was using a cheap Chinese Sat Nav.

Tomorrow we visit the Brazilian side of the Falls and were lucky to be allowed to keep the room for an extra four hours so that we have time to shower and change before finally leaving the Hotel.

The Hotel is strangely quiet tonight with hardly anybody in the bar or restaurant or even in the Casino and we thought this was peask tourist season. Finally one of the staff dressed as an ‘Elvis Presley’ look alike walked through the bar tonight, for what reason we have no idea. Oh well that’s life.

13th Jan- Perhaps not the best day to travel?

But first a brief update on matters forgotten, the weather when we arrived on Wednesday was grey and slightly damp whilst Thursday was much brighter and quite warm really.

Petrol is the equivalent of £ 0.80 per litre and Diesel is about   £ 0.65 per litre.

Anyway we were well organised to get to the Domestic Airport in ample time and we arrived about 90 minutes before departure only to find the flight schedule had been changed to 75 minutes later, oh well we will just have to hand around for a while.

The flight eventually left on time and it was a quite new B737-700 but was not really full. The flight north took 100 minutes and we landed in the rain at the small airport.

We obtained our baggage and met the taxi back to the Hotel which is the Iguacu Falls Hotel Spa and Casino and which is a nice Hotel. We had both pre-arranged a fifty minute relaxing massage which was good and set us up for the evening.

A nice glass of wine for me and a Tom Collins for Jen put us in the mood for dinner which we enjoyed very much. We wandered around the casino to watch people spending their money but it’s not our cup of tea.

Anyway we have an early start tomorrow as the car is arranged for 0830 to take us to the Falls and we expect to be there for about three hours of so.

12th Jan- Time to tour around

We both slept well and after a good buffet breakfast we headed away from the Hotel by taxi down to the graveyard where Eva Peron is also buried.

Some of the these little mausoleums are quite unique in that they are quite small but there are steps down, sometimes two flights, to storage space for coffins which are also easily visible in some of the chambers. Apparently made of stout oak, rather than three ply, the coffin last an age compared to the content.   

So we did start with an organised tour but the little lady went on and on and on and at that rate I might be dead before she finished so we left the tour and wandered around by ourselves for a while. This particular site if for the clearly rich and famous and there was also a large amount of foreigners listed in varying size of unit. We noticed a ‘Fahy’ and a ‘Flaherty’ so you can see what we mean

Following and exhausting coffin view clearly a coffee was needed and so we found a small place nearby and had a good large café Conleche before taking another taxi which are very cheap in this town. We arrived at a large square to take some photos of an old building only to find it was in the final stages of renovation and you could not get to near due to site works etc . So giving this up we walked back towards to old part of town where the shops are and after failing to find a suitable sandwich place we cheated by ending up at a Burgerking and it was bloody good.

From there we followed the old roads back to the Port area and had an iced coffee as by this time it must have been around 28/29 degrees and little warm for long distance walking. However we continued until around four thirty pm and then caught another taxi back to the Hotel for a shower and a breather.

After dealing with Blogs and photos we walked a couple of blocks to a bar and restaurant area where we had a good dinner with slow service but the food was very tasty and then a walk back to the Hotel for a nights sleep.

Tomorrow we catch a domestic Aerolinas Argentinas flight up to the Iguacu Falls for two nights tyo give us time to explore the falls from both sides.

11th Jan-We arrive in Buenos Aires

We arrived in Buenos Aires after an uneventful fourteen and a half hour flight having been lucky to sleep for a while. It always amazes me why the cabin crew wait until you are about one from arrival to hand out the arrival immigration and customs forms just when you are feeling rather tired. If they gave you the papers as you boarded then you would be fit and ready to go with your passport ready etc. but no they wait until you are properly tired and then hand them to you.

The immigration form was written in very small print and almost unreadable as far as I was concerned but then the customs form asked what mobile phone, model and serial number were you carrying, As we bought the phones about three years ago, who knows what model they are and as for serial number, we don’t even know how to open the back oif the phone and so left the info blank. The guy sitting next to me was obviously a little ahead of me on the form and said is this personal question; it says here are you carrying semen? Cause he said he wasn’t sure anymore.

After all the form hassle, they didn’t even look at the form when we arrived and just put the bags through the x-ray machine.

We had to chase around for our pre-booked car but eventually located it and we arrived at the Hotel Duque Boutique at around eleven o’clock in the morning and because of our early arrival we were offered breakfast and eventually got to our room about two hours later and ready for a shower and a brief rest.

We took a taxi downtown to the waterfront where all the old port buildings are and then walked around for as a while and then headed up to the shopping district which was pretty busy and surprised to see so many people and also so many police everywhere. They stood in pairs about every fifty yards or so and so we presume they are there protecting us tourists, We also came across a little demonstration with people banging drums and other people lying on the main road holding crosses and with placards that we really did not understand  but think it was about missing persons.

At about five pm we needed a glass of something and so went back to the port area again and came across a beef restaurant strongly recommended by one of our German friends and so after an extremely large glass of chardonnay with some appetisers we then ordered a rib eye for Jennifer and a T bone for Noel and they were both excellent and washed down, of course, with a bottle of Malbec and then we were really full.

We left the restaurant and it was going dark and so we walked along to the Hilton Hotel but stopped en-route to take some photos of the ‘red sky at night’ with views over the port and part of town.

The town of Buenos Aires is quite interesting with many large parks and old buildings which are slowly being repaired and brought back to life

We then took a taxi back to the Hotel around nine pm and really ready for a good night’s sleep.

It's nearly time for our trip to Argentina & Chile

Time is flying past so quickly, it it age I wonder, and tomorrow we leave on our long journey down to Argentina and Chile for about five weeks. This is a special trip to celebrate over forty years of marriage, And to the same person, so cant be bad.
So watch our for regular updates starting with our arriving in Buenos Aires etc and no dount we shall be practising the Tango. Her is me and Jennifer earlier this year on video.     So enjoy and we shall be keeping you up to date with our activities.