Buenos Aires, Argentina - March 8 2024

The last full day of the cruise was spent docked in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Laura and I were last in Argentina in 2015 and we were looking forward to a return visit, however short. We booked a guide and driver and went to four different neighborhoods, so it was a busy day. We started by walking around La Boca, which is a colorful area of shops and restaurants by the old (now disused) port. Next we had lunch at Puerto Cristal in the Puerto Madera neighborhood and were amazed to see out the window a museum ship which we knew of from its Antarctic rescue history - the ARA Uraguay. So after lunch we paid the $1 each admission fee and explored the ship! Our last two stops were at the MALBA art gallery and the Jardin Botanico, where apparently we did not take many photos - oops.

This is the last blog posting of the cruise. The next morning we were off the ship by 7:30am and flew home later that day. What an amazing trip! We loved the Seven Seas Voyager, its crew and restaurants and we cannot wait to sail on it again.

Montevideo, Uruguay - March 7, 2024

After 8 days and 9 nights at sea, we were very happy to wake on the morning of March 7th already docked in Montevideo. Luckily the cruise ship dock is right next to the downtown area so we had no need of a guided tour and took a leisurely walk into the city. Montevideo is a very walkable city, safe, with lots of pedestrian only streets with shops and cafes, and at almost every corner you could see the ocean in one direction or the other.

We took an early lunch at the lovely Jacinto restaurant. Sitting at an outside table, we sampled their appetizers and tried the local beer and wine - all great! Then we strolled through a couple of neighborhoods to the Plaza Independencia where there is a lot of history to learn. We loved our few hours in Uruguay and will definitely return for a much longer stay another year.

Antarctic Day 3 - Tabular Icebergs and Elephant Island - March 2

On the way to Elephant Island, Captain Gianluca brought us up close to a tabular iceberg to allow us a closer look. Most of the bergs we had seen until then were "Glacial Bergs", meaning they are a chunk of glacier that calved off, and they are usually irregular in shape. However Antarctica has several massive ice shelfs where ice builds up that is attached to land, but floating on the sea. These shelfs can grow very tall indeed, and when a chunk breaks off it is called a "Tabular Berg". Our ship has 10 stories above the waterline, and this berg was considerably taller ... despite 8/9ths being under the water!

For those unfamiliar with Shackleton's voyage on the Endurance, I would recommend the book "Endurance" by F. A. Worsley, which is the book which started my fascination with the history of Antarctic exploration. Spoiler Alert - the Endurance was lost in the pack ice, Shackleton and his crew made it to Elephant Island in boats ... and for the rest of the story you just have to read it. Many of us on this cruise were self described "Shackleton Nuts" and so we were all super happy to have Elephant Island as our last area to visit before heading north.

Elephant island is bleak, forbidding and of course ice-clad. Not a place you would choose to spend the best part of a year, waiting for a rescue that might not come. Here is how it looked from the comfort of our cruise ship.

That is it for our Antarctic adventure. Headed north now but still another week of voyage to go!