Looking back on our cruise around South America, I really experienced it as a series of highlights interspersed with times to simply relax and be pampered. Silversea admittedly is a “luxury’ travel line and going in we knew that more than the basics would be covered. It’s not every day in real life that we have a butler, daily maid service, late afternoon caviar and shrimp cocktail delivered to our suite, a choice of on-board restaurants with food available any time of day or night, yadda yadda yadda…We are certainly blessed to be able to experience this level of service, and I have no complaints in that regard.

What we did learn about ourselves as avid travelers and adventure-seekers is that too many “at sea” days make us a bit antsy. I mean, how much chilling can us Type A wanderers take? (Don’t answer that!). This was an 18-day cruise that covered a huge distance around the South American continent, so there were close to a week’s worth of simply sailing days. Before sharing the port highlights, here’s a few examples of the kinds of onboard activities that I really enjoyed.

Prior to many of the ports we stopped at, a guest lecturer discussed the area geography, historical milestones, and cultural evolution. There were many indigenous people scattered across South America over many centuries and all of them had to contend with aggressive explorers and would-be conquerors from across the globe. It was both fascinating and tragic to learn about how the languages and traditions of early peoples have been either embedded in more modern cultures or decimated depending on who ended up running the show. The story of our American indigenous people has good company in this part of the world.

Another set of sessions were focused on how to make the most of the myriad functions in iPhones to enhance travel photos. Despite my thinking that I knew how to take decent photos, I did learn a few new tricks that I hope my photos going forward reflect.

Each cruise ship engages a troupe of singers and dancers to deliver a show each night, and the group on this trip had a couple of super talented singers. While the couple of dancers were skilled and nice to look at, the tiny stage was incredibly small and narrow – I kept worrying that one of them would take one too large a leap and end up in the front rows! Most enjoyable were nights when 70s music was featured (singalong!) and we had a guest pianist who was incredibly talented, having toured many international venues.

The ship has a very nice gym so I took advantage most days and did some cardio, weight and balance training. I feel like on such a long trip it’s important to do exercise of some sort every day – especially since the excursions on this trip were much less active than we are used to.

We ended up having dinner with different people many of the nights which kept things interesting. More than half the passengers were from the UK, another big swath from the US, and a smattering from other countries. When we went to one of the restaurants with no reservations, we were asked if we’d like to sit with another couple who requested meeting people and so we did. It ended up being two couples from the UK – very nice people very well-traveled. However, the gentleman sitting next to me was clearly very conservative and made it clear he didn’t believe in global warming or evolution because he was a “Christian”. It was at this meal that I got a refill of wine!

About halfway through the cruise, Andrew decided that he really enjoys sea days because there are absolutely no obligations to do anything. I sort of agreed – in moderation… I can definitely deal with an occasional massage, facial, and nap.

As we headed south the weather did change with some rain and cooler, breezier days and evenings. That was actually fine as we did pack layers and they came in handy. In truth, even at the very tip of the continent in Ushuaia, it didn’t get as cold as we thought it would – we were just glad that we weren’t hopping over to Antarctica!

So, that’s life on the cruise ship – and now a quick glimpse of the beautiful nature we were privileged to get up close to.

Punta Norte, Peninsula Valdes Nature Preserve & Puerto Madryn

We took an excursion to the Valdés Peninsula that is connected to the mainland via a narrow isthmus. Valdés is an amazing nature reserves that is the protected home of sea lions, elephant seals and many species of seabirds and penguins. It was named a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. Most of the peninsula is barren land with some saltwater lakes. Along the way there are a few private sheep estancias (ranches) and we spotted many guanaco – these look like llamas and are apparently a relative. We even caught sight of a mara – a large Patagonian hare.

The northern part of the peninsula, or Punta Norte, is the only continental breeding colony of elephant seals in the world, and we saw many. These guys are huge mammals that can be 21 feet long and weigh an average of 3 tons. alongside the big seals were colonies of sea lions mixed with a variety of birds. We then headed toward an estancia with a privately-owned penguin reserve called Estancia San Lorenzo & Penguin Colony. Most of the land on this peninsula is privately owned by families that raise cows, sheep etc.  but the coastal areas are regulated to protect wildlife. When we got to the rookery near the water we came face to face with the most incredible squad of Magellanic penguins. There was a footpath we needed to stay on that wound its way through the hillside and down toward the beach. At the beach we saw more seals and sea lions – a real treat.

We were then treated to a hearty lamb roast at the estancia. Clearly at this remote location, tourism related to the animal preserve and typical ranch-style food that the locals have raised helps supplement the economy here.

Puerto Madryn

We were supposed to head to the Malvinas – or Falkland Islands – but our ship’s captain looked at the weather forecast and decided it was best to stay another day in the Puerto Madryn area and lower the risks associated with the impending bad weather.

We adjusted our touring schedule for this second day based in Puerto Madryn and took a tour of Punta Loma where we got to see even more sea lions, and loads of cormorants nesting on the jagged cliffs on the shoreline.

Our next stop was truly a highlight for me…We were guests at another estancia that specialized in raising sheep especially for their wool, and we got to participate and watch a shearing. This was set up as a “tourist estancia” because the owner could not possibly sustain his ranch on the wool alone. Estancias in area need to be totally self-sufficient or buy critical resources such as gas, heat, water and food staples because they are quite remote and there aren’t government subsidies. The shearing of each set of sheep only once a year (maybe twice) and a traveling shearing team tours estancias. They bring all all the needed equipment and manpower to do this job. Since our visit was in essence a show, they did enlist some volunteers to help bring the two sheep ready to be sheared into the arena…for some reason unknown to me (???) I volunteered. Holding on to one of the hind legs of a very unhappy sheep, the scene ended up being quite funny – no sheep was hurt in this activity:

We were told that the expert shearers can shear an entire sheep in three minutes and the shearers get paid by the sheep.

We had some unusual company – Sophie the guanaco came in to check out some “merch” for sale!

Sea Days & Ushuaia

Because the weather as we were to head south to the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands turned ragged, we instead headed for Ushuaia.  What this meant was three at-sea days to keep our scheduled arrival. Unfortunately, the first couple of nights were rough going…loads of swaying and jolting through the night on the 9th deck!  Andrew and I had to pop on our Scopolamine patches on and we muddled through. Things did settle down as the third day and night passed. Sea days are great for sleeping in, leisurely meals, reading, gym visits, and computer work catch up. We did have a few more sea days and I actually did look forward to them as much as exploration days.

Still to come – rounding the bend at Ushuaia, the Chilean fjords, and more…