We were dropped off in front of a lovely pink hotel, reminiscent of the Beverly Hills Hotel. From there we could view the falls, as well as the many raccoons so trained by previous tourists that it was possible to pet them (as they sniffed and scratched your bag for food).

A short path led to different views and different falls, eventually ending right next to a rather large on. Admittedly, the sope of the falls was tremendous, but I did not find them as beautiful or majestic as the guidebook suggested.

Back in Foz, Matthew and I said our good-byes and I returns to Puerto Iguazu for dinner and bed.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 16, 1992 from Foz do Iguacu, Brazil
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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This gave me about two hours to spare (during which time I probably could have hired a taxi to take me to the ruins) and in the rain there really wasn't anything I could do but hang around the bus station. Admittedly, however, for the first time this trip I really began to feel like a traveler. There were no other tourists on the train (or at least not in Pullman class) or on the bus.

The bus traveled through mostly rainforest area and I quickly realized why we are losing so much rainforest -- every couple of Miles was a logging company. I've never seen anything quite like it. Each enterprise seemed small, but taken together it is clear that the impact is tremendous. There was some attempt at reforestation, although ti seems that those little trees will take forever to grow.

Also along the way we stopped in several small towns. They all seemed clean and some had very nice homes -- quite a contrast to the one room wooden shacks we passed in both the train and along the main road.

The bus arrived in Puerto Iguazu around 5:30, an hour later than I expected. I checked into a cute hosteleria near the bus station, showered, and trapsed into town

Being Sunday evening, the town was dead; being a tourist destination, the tourist office was open. So in I went, for 5 - 10 minutes of essentially useless information. So now I am sitting in a cafe in the center of town watchign it wake up for dinner.

As I walked further on, I met up with a fellow Lonely Planet traveler -- Matthew from Australia. We shared a pizza and conversation and agreed to meet the next day to explore the Brazilian side of the falls.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 15, 1992 from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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Around 2 p.m. I headed for the train station. It was interesting to watch the scenery change, from suburbs to slums to beautiful ranches and polo fields. There were lots of birds to see, and I had the good fortune to be seated next to an extremely nice woman named Angela. Language was definitely a barrier but we both tried hard. She kindly pointed out sights to me, provided company during dinner and was, on the whole, a pleasant companion.

(I discovered that I lost my necklace).

written by  shoshtrvls on March 14, 1992 from Posadas, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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In the morning we were all bussed to Tierra de Fuego National Park. While the scenery was spectacular, no one was really in the mood for it. Additionally, the guides constant repeating of every word was annoying, to say the least. (I told Kyle we should tip her to shut up). Then we walked around Usuaia until lunch, a sad affair of fried fish and potatoes. Lunch was outdone only by the drary and endless 5 hour flight back to Buenos Aires. Moreover, our final dinner was a but of a let down -- Carole and Cory were about ready to fall into their plates. However, the food was marvelous and Bill generously picked up the tab.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 13, 1992 from Ushuaia, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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After a tour of Natalie's flora preserve and the farm itself, some of us took a short walk out to the bone house and to a lake for birdwatching.

We stayed at Harberton several hours before continuing on to Ushuaia. Once docked, the finale was upon us -- the Captain's Dinner. I "dressed" by putting on clean clothes -- which were quickly dirtied by the spilt baked alaska. Post-dinner was again spent with the Smiths, the Rodenbachs, Corey and Carole.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 12, 1992 from Ushuaia, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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Dinner was delightful, with Bill and Ruth, Carole, Corey, Franklin, and George and Chris Llano. Bill bought some champagne and we toasted to new friends and Antarctica and listened to George's tales of his life.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 11, 1992 from Antarctic Peninsula, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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After lunch we made our last stop in Antarctica -- Hannah Point on Livingston Island. This stop essential brought together all of the wildlife we had seen over the last few days -- chinstraps, gentoos, fur seals. In addition there were several macaroni penguins -- fatter than the others with Bright orange feathers on their heads. They were also mellower and seemingly not disturbed by our presence. There were also numerous petral chicks -- big and fluffy. But most interesting were the molting elephant seals -- at least thirty of them -- lying along the beach.

We then said good bye to Antarctica with hot cider.

Before and during dinner (with Cory, Carole, Bob, Joan and Rod the racist), Peter Deeth began circulating a petition "censuring" Travel Dynamcis for the Falklands fiasco. The letter was completely negative and failed to recognize how incredible this trip really was and how great the on board staff was. He got few signatures fortunately.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 10, 1992 from Antarctic Peninsula, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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Half moon was quite striking physically, with craggy rocks backed up against the white of Livingston Island. The inhabitants included the ever-present fur seals, chinstrap penguins, a couple of Weddell seals, and a few gentoo penguins. As at Paradise Harbour, the sun came out and the morning was so beautiful that no one wanted to leave. Also on the island was an old wooden boat used by the first Antarctic "cruise" ship, the La Pataia, charted by Lindblad.

But leave we did, heading for King George Island. On the way I slept through a lecture by Natalie Goodall on "small cetaceans of Tierra Del Fuego." our stop at King George was the site of three different research stations -- Marsh (Chile), Bellinghausen (Russian) and Great Wall (China).

Our landing zodiacs were met by Victor, who quickly herded us all to the several Russian shops on the island. Although we had been told that this base was closing and the trading would be good, this was not the case. They were here to stay and had gotten on the political bandwagon quite rapidly -- the store was "Russian" (not Soviet), the scientists were from St. Petersberg (not Leningrad) and there were no souvenirs with "CCCP" on them. After checking out Bellinghausen and a quick stop at the Chinese station, complete with families, I and a few other hardy souls made the long trek to the Great Wall station. Unfortunately, they were not expecting us (i.e. no souvenirs) and in fact had packed and were leaving for the season. Nevertheless, they were very warm and welcoming and they certainly had the nicest base we had seen -- clean, comfortable, nice furniture and wall hangings. (George Llano suggested that they have no real scientific work, possibly explaining the setting).

After the walk back, I actually felt as though I deserved the meal I was to eat that night. First, champagne with Mary Hammond , Ed and Eddie, Carole and Monte. Dinner was with Carole and Ed, the ship's doctor, and Eddie, his wife. They were delightful, providing much information about the ship company (Travel Dynamics) and about themselves.

Afterwards, the Greek crew made a stab at dancing and some overly sweet baclava was served. Bill Rodenbach waxed poetically on life after death and Carole and I finally said goodnight around 12:00.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 9, 1992 from Antarctic Peninsula, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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After lunch, as we sailed further north, we came upon several more whales, including one right whale, which I missed. While we obviously were not as "up close and personal" with these, they did breech for us and did a lot of fin waiving.

We then made a stop near Fayn Harbour, site of a 1920's shipwreck, but our hardy scout troop was unable to find either a place to land or anything interest to see, so we moved on to Charlotte Bay.

The sun came out for a bit and we found some more humpbacks for the zodiacs to play with. This time, however, I stayed on board and got an entirely different view. When the whales were near the boat and close to the surface, you could see their entire bodies. Also, you could follow their movements because you could see their white flippers just under the surface. It was interesting to see the zodiacs from a bird's eye view.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 8, 1992 from Antarctic Peninsula, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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After dinner, Jim (also from Palmer) gave a slide show on his six months in Antarctica. Both he and Debra were very funny -- something tells me that a sense of humor is a prerequisite to getting a job here.

written by  shoshtrvls on March 8, 1992 from Antarctic Peninsula, Argentina
from the travel blog: Antarctica and South America (1992)
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