Friday we were supposed to stop at Ushuaia, Argentina. This is the “southern most city in the world” and the launching point for Antarctica. It is also the port for Tierra del Fuego. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t being cooperative. This is probably a good place to mention that it is rare that a ship sailing this itinerary (or a variation) makes all the ports. The weather is just too iffy. I met a couple onboard who mentioned this was the third time they had cruised around Cape Horn and they still hadn’t done all the ports in one sailing. Though, this time by making the Falklands, they had hit all the ports – just not in one cruise! Thursday night the winds were up to 50 knots and the ship had a lot of movement. They closed all the decks to passengers for safety.

The captain reported that it wasn’t safe to try and dock the ship, so we cruised the Straits of Magellan and the Beagle Channel and enjoyed the fjords and glaciers. Another very cold, windy day on deck and it even snowed for a period of time! The glaciers were spectacular and the waterfalls beautiful.

Thursday.

Today was the main event! Cape Horn. The weather today started off pretty dismal. Rainy, cold and very windy. Actually, quite typical for this time of year! But, Mary and I manifested beautiful sunshine just as we pulled into sight of Cape Horn. I stayed up on deck for several hours. All bundled up. I was wearing long underwear, wool socks, two shirts, a sweater, a fleece jacket, and an all-weather jacket. It was cold and it is the middle of summer! Part of the cold is the wind. Between the actual wind and the movement of the ship it sometimes is hard to stay upright.

The ship literally glided around the Horn. She sailed all the way around it. We moved back and forth on deck to get views. Side note – The Star Princess has an enclosed deck that they can close the roof on so if you want to avoid the elements you can still get a great view. The onboard naturalist was on the speaker system narrating our voyage and the different points to see. This was such a cool experience. I am certainly in awe of the early explorers. I mean, we have engines, radar, maps, and heat. They had sails, hope, and prayer. I can’t believe those guys even attempted to sail these treacherous waters unchartered.

Wednesday. Oh My Gosh! Penguins!!!! I still can’t get over it. I didn’t just see penguins, I saw lots of penguins and they came right up to me – played with my shoelaces, backpack straps. It was so cool.

OK – I have to confess. When I saw Falkland Islands on the ship’s itinerary I was very much “who cares?” But, whatever - it’ll be a place not many people go to that I can say I’ve been. Prior to leaving home, I had been pleasantly surprised to find out they have penguins on the islands, so I figured that would be a cool excursion and honestly, there wasn’t much else to do except walk around Port Stanley (capital). So, I booked before I left. Good thing. All the penguin excursions were completely sold out before we even boarded in Buenos Aires.

They picked us up in small boats (held 12 passengers) and took us to Sparrow Cove. There we boarded jeeps for a cross-country expedition to the rookeries. This was fun! Basically, we just took off across the fields, bumping and skidding through the countryside. Took about 30 minutes and I banged my head really good twice. There were five of us to a jeep. 

When we arrived, the rangers instructed us where we could go (anyplace outside the rope) and not to touch, feed, etc. There were hundreds of penguins. It was end of nesting season (we were there late January), so most of the juveniles were close to adult size, but easy to spot because they still had down. We spent about an hour and a half wandering around and between two rookeries. The penguins were as curious about us as we were about them and they crossed the ropes to check us out. Guess the rangers didn’t tell them they had to stay inside!!! 

It was fabulous. 

A couple more people joined our solo group last evening. Jim (the guy Mary and I had dinner with the first evening) was on same shore excursion as I was, so I told him where to meet us before dinner and someone invited Anita. We are growing.