February 17, 2009
Yesterday we docked around 9 a.m. in a small and little know Argentine city called Puerto Madryn. I find out if I am assigned to escort an excursion usually late on the night before we dock, and sure enough, I was assigned to one at this port, described as “Punta Loma, Puerto Madryn and Welsh Tea. Welsh Tea, you say? Yes, surprisingly there is a settled of Welsh people in this rather desolate southern section of Argentina called Patagonia. Ronnie did not have a strong interest in the tour, so we decided not to spend the money for her to go and she hooked up with one of the ladies that teaches arts and crafts and walked into the town.
I appeared early for my escort assignment as I always do, and found that the boat, while docked, was having trouble securing the gangway because of the high winds. After about 45 minutes we finally left, my group following along as I held up my sign with a large 10 on it to indicate the number of our bus. One of my assignments as an escort, aside from holding the sign and counting heads, is to fill out a report rating the excursion, the tour guide, and the driver. I always introduce myself to the tour guide (pretty obvious with my sign, Regent shirt, and name tag – p.s. the first shirt I checked out had no buttons thereby exposing a lot of skin, so I ended up sewing on a button so I wouldn’t look like I was out to pick up the ladies!), and write down his or her full name along with the name of the driver. Of course they know I am rating them, so even though I am this lowly head counter, the guides tend to pay a lot of attention to me. So far all the local guides that we have had on the tours I have escorted have been excellent. This one was no exception, except that she was a little hard to understand. Her English was quite good, but her accent was quite strong. But it was her enthusiasm that won us over right away, and the other tour participants and I could not help being captivated by her.
I did not realize how desolate the Patagonia would be until we started driving to this look out where we were to see sea lions and penguin like birds (called rock shags) in the Punta Loma preserve. We bumped along in our small bus (which held about 20 – there were 19 of us including the guide, driver and me) over incredibly dusty dirt roads and I kept wondering if the bus was going to hold together. It did, but the ride to this preserve to see one sea lion in the water some 100+ feet below us was not my favorite experience of the trip. The rock shags were actually more interesting with a colony of 60 or so ringing the rocks above the shore. Some were less than 20 feet away from us. They are black and white with web feet and are able to both fly, dive and swim in the water with their web feet.
We then drove about 30 miles through this desolate terrain (the soil unable to sustain crops and the climate so dry that dust is always in your face) to the remains of the Welsh settlement in a town called Gaiman. Gaiman is a kind of oasis in the middle of this arid countryside, mostly because it is on the only river that goes through the area. The early settles were smart enough to divert the water and build small canals in many parts of the town. We stopped at a Welsh Tea House and had a version of high tea, with small cheese sandwiches and lots of tantalizing sweets, and of course, British tea. To be honest, the people there are not really Welsh anymore but because they are descendants of the Welsh settlers they do carry on some of the traditions of their ancestors, including the music, and some do still speak Welsh along with Spanish. One of the local choirs came to sing for us, and they performed beautifully versions of both Welsh and Argentine choral music. My favorite was Cwm Rhondda, the tune we use for several of our great hymns including “God of grace and God of glory” and “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.” We were supposed to visit a Welsh chapel, but for some reason the tour guide told me they were told not to include that, and she said that the couple of chapels that still exist are used only once a year.
We had a brief tour around the town when we returned to Puerto Madryn, which felt and looked mostly deserted. Ronnie really enjoyed her time there, but by the time I returned from my excursion, most everything was closed. They have rather odd opening hours of 9 a.m. to noon, and then 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. However, a few shops were open and Ronnie and I both found some local craft items that were quite reasonably priced.
The entertainment on the ship continues to be high quality, with two dinner shows, one called “Forbidden Broadway” on the first segment and the other “Tango” just a couple of nights ago. They flew in the cast of “Forbidden Broadway” from New York, and their spoofs of Broadway shows were creative and fun. But the Tango one, purporting to be a demonstrated history of Tango, was superb. The dancers were talented and the every step was executed to perfection. Last night we went to something called “The Liar’s Club,” which is similar to the parlor game “Balderdash.” The four staff members making up definitions to strange looking words were a riot. It did get a bit bawdy, but within reason. Cruise Director John hosted and did his usual good job with a lot of humor thrown in. Unfortunately Ronnie did not feel well and left before the end and we both had a rough night with my coughing and her upset stomach. We both are much better today, and even had our usual room service breakfast of pancakes and oatmeal.
I still never miss my tea time trivia group unless I am off the ship, and our team has become known as “The Dream Team” since we do so well, one day even getting 15 out of 15 of the questions correct. Lately, however, we have been experienced stiff competition from anther couple who combined with some passengers on for this segment.
February 18, 2009
Just finished our visit to the Falkland Islands of the southern coast of Argentina. You may remember that the British and Argentines fought a war over these islands in 1982. At the time I remember thinking that the British were at fault for fighting for these islands so close to Argentina. After visiting here I understand the war better. The inhabitants are almost all British, and they felt invaded and occupied by the Argentine military. There are memorials in town to the British soldiers who “liberated us.” The people felt they wanted to chose for themselves what country they belonged to, and further felt the invasion was a diversion from the trouble the ruling Military Junta in Argentina was having with the economy. The interesting thing is that the islands have truly prospered since the war, partly for the attention that it brought to them but also because of the stability of the clear British rule. The population and the economy have soared.
They told us to prepare for cold weather, so we were well bundled up when we got into the tender boats to take us to the dock. However, as soon as we docked, we realized that the day was relatively warm and sunny, so that we felt over dressed if anything. It was probably in the low 60s, but that is a warm day in the Falklands. We walked all over the town of Port Stanley, which we shared with a few thousand people from a Princess cruise ship also anchored in the harbor (more than doubled the population of the town. Quaint town, with some distinctive English architecture, although Ronnie said it could have been Cape Cod. Then we took a shuttle to Gypsy Cove where we saw a large moulting magellanic penguin colony. They were mostly in a beautiful bay with a large white sandy beach, but some were also further up on the slope, as close as 15 feet from the trail, with their little noses pointed straight up in the air. Quite something to see several hundred of these penguins right in front of us.
Another sea day tomorrow with a scenic trip around Cape Horn, and then to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most city in the world. We are getting ready for the coldest days of the trip as the temperature continues to drop outside. Thanks to everyone who reads this for your prayers and support. We are truly blessed!
Yesterday we docked around 9 a.m. in a small and little know Argentine city called Puerto Madryn. I find out if I am assigned to escort an excursion usually late on the night before we dock, and sure enough, I was assigned to one at this port, described as “Punta Loma, Puerto Madryn and Welsh Tea. Welsh Tea, you say? Yes, surprisingly there is a settled of Welsh people in this rather desolate southern section of Argentina called Patagonia. Ronnie did not have a strong interest in the tour, so we decided not to spend the money for her to go and she hooked up with one of the ladies that teaches arts and crafts and walked into the town.
I appeared early for my escort assignment as I always do, and found that the boat, while docked, was having trouble securing the gangway because of the high winds. After about 45 minutes we finally left, my group following along as I held up my sign with a large 10 on it to indicate the number of our bus. One of my assignments as an escort, aside from holding the sign and counting heads, is to fill out a report rating the excursion, the tour guide, and the driver. I always introduce myself to the tour guide (pretty obvious with my sign, Regent shirt, and name tag – p.s. the first shirt I checked out had no buttons thereby exposing a lot of skin, so I ended up sewing on a button so I wouldn’t look like I was out to pick up the ladies!), and write down his or her full name along with the name of the driver. Of course they know I am rating them, so even though I am this lowly head counter, the guides tend to pay a lot of attention to me. So far all the local guides that we have had on the tours I have escorted have been excellent. This one was no exception, except that she was a little hard to understand. Her English was quite good, but her accent was quite strong. But it was her enthusiasm that won us over right away, and the other tour participants and I could not help being captivated by her.
I did not realize how desolate the Patagonia would be until we started driving to this look out where we were to see sea lions and penguin like birds (called rock shags) in the Punta Loma preserve. We bumped along in our small bus (which held about 20 – there were 19 of us including the guide, driver and me) over incredibly dusty dirt roads and I kept wondering if the bus was going to hold together. It did, but the ride to this preserve to see one sea lion in the water some 100+ feet below us was not my favorite experience of the trip. The rock shags were actually more interesting with a colony of 60 or so ringing the rocks above the shore. Some were less than 20 feet away from us. They are black and white with web feet and are able to both fly, dive and swim in the water with their web feet.
We then drove about 30 miles through this desolate terrain (the soil unable to sustain crops and the climate so dry that dust is always in your face) to the remains of the Welsh settlement in a town called Gaiman. Gaiman is a kind of oasis in the middle of this arid countryside, mostly because it is on the only river that goes through the area. The early settles were smart enough to divert the water and build small canals in many parts of the town. We stopped at a Welsh Tea House and had a version of high tea, with small cheese sandwiches and lots of tantalizing sweets, and of course, British tea. To be honest, the people there are not really Welsh anymore but because they are descendants of the Welsh settlers they do carry on some of the traditions of their ancestors, including the music, and some do still speak Welsh along with Spanish. One of the local choirs came to sing for us, and they performed beautifully versions of both Welsh and Argentine choral music. My favorite was Cwm Rhondda, the tune we use for several of our great hymns including “God of grace and God of glory” and “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.” We were supposed to visit a Welsh chapel, but for some reason the tour guide told me they were told not to include that, and she said that the couple of chapels that still exist are used only once a year.
We had a brief tour around the town when we returned to Puerto Madryn, which felt and looked mostly deserted. Ronnie really enjoyed her time there, but by the time I returned from my excursion, most everything was closed. They have rather odd opening hours of 9 a.m. to noon, and then 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. However, a few shops were open and Ronnie and I both found some local craft items that were quite reasonably priced.
The entertainment on the ship continues to be high quality, with two dinner shows, one called “Forbidden Broadway” on the first segment and the other “Tango” just a couple of nights ago. They flew in the cast of “Forbidden Broadway” from New York, and their spoofs of Broadway shows were creative and fun. But the Tango one, purporting to be a demonstrated history of Tango, was superb. The dancers were talented and the every step was executed to perfection. Last night we went to something called “The Liar’s Club,” which is similar to the parlor game “Balderdash.” The four staff members making up definitions to strange looking words were a riot. It did get a bit bawdy, but within reason. Cruise Director John hosted and did his usual good job with a lot of humor thrown in. Unfortunately Ronnie did not feel well and left before the end and we both had a rough night with my coughing and her upset stomach. We both are much better today, and even had our usual room service breakfast of pancakes and oatmeal.
I still never miss my tea time trivia group unless I am off the ship, and our team has become known as “The Dream Team” since we do so well, one day even getting 15 out of 15 of the questions correct. Lately, however, we have been experienced stiff competition from anther couple who combined with some passengers on for this segment.
February 18, 2009
Just finished our visit to the Falkland Islands of the southern coast of Argentina. You may remember that the British and Argentines fought a war over these islands in 1982. At the time I remember thinking that the British were at fault for fighting for these islands so close to Argentina. After visiting here I understand the war better. The inhabitants are almost all British, and they felt invaded and occupied by the Argentine military. There are memorials in town to the British soldiers who “liberated us.” The people felt they wanted to chose for themselves what country they belonged to, and further felt the invasion was a diversion from the trouble the ruling Military Junta in Argentina was having with the economy. The interesting thing is that the islands have truly prospered since the war, partly for the attention that it brought to them but also because of the stability of the clear British rule. The population and the economy have soared.
They told us to prepare for cold weather, so we were well bundled up when we got into the tender boats to take us to the dock. However, as soon as we docked, we realized that the day was relatively warm and sunny, so that we felt over dressed if anything. It was probably in the low 60s, but that is a warm day in the Falklands. We walked all over the town of Port Stanley, which we shared with a few thousand people from a Princess cruise ship also anchored in the harbor (more than doubled the population of the town. Quaint town, with some distinctive English architecture, although Ronnie said it could have been Cape Cod. Then we took a shuttle to Gypsy Cove where we saw a large moulting magellanic penguin colony. They were mostly in a beautiful bay with a large white sandy beach, but some were also further up on the slope, as close as 15 feet from the trail, with their little noses pointed straight up in the air. Quite something to see several hundred of these penguins right in front of us.
Another sea day tomorrow with a scenic trip around Cape Horn, and then to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most city in the world. We are getting ready for the coldest days of the trip as the temperature continues to drop outside. Thanks to everyone who reads this for your prayers and support. We are truly blessed!
Love the updates and LOVE the photo of penguins! That is really neat. We miss you guys!
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