A perfect day

Today was a great day.  The weather has been perfect since we got back.  The temps. in the high 60's - mid 70's.  I wanted to take Chicho (my dad) something for New Years.  When I was at his house last week I noticed a couple of empty pints of Gin on the floor.  So, I brought him a bottle of Gin along with some snacks and bread.  I think he was happy.  It made my day.

        This is the view of the Volcano from Chicho's front yard.

                            This is his front yard and house.

  
                                 This is Chicho greeting me.

                              This is Chicho saying goodbye.   

Happy Holidays

What a wonderful Christmas present.  We got back from our trip this AM and were greeted with our casita all decorated by our employees.  They didn't want us to come home to a house not decorated for the Holidays.  They scoured around the house and found the decorations and did this for us.  How 'bout that Christmas tree???   

Ipanema

You might recognize some of the features in the photos.  We entered Rio De Janeiro, Brazil this afternoon.  We are finally off the boat.  Annie and I are staying at a hotel on Ipanema Beach for the night then on to Panama mid day tomorrow.  Our latest journey is over.  What a trip.

Buenos Aires

Out of all the places we visited, Buenos Aires was at the bottom.  This really bothers me because Annie has been there twice and absolutely loves it.  We went on a tour and the first 1/2 was through all the bad areas.  Very depressing.  It was hot and not very attractive.  These pictures are of the port, Caminito (which is a dressed up tourist area) and a cemetery where we had only 15 minutes to visit because we had to wait over 20 minutes extra for 2 people who were wandering the streets in LaLa land.  I'm not into large tour groups.

Broadway?????

Was I in Broadway?  The shows on board the boat were top notch.  I kept asking other experienced cruiser if this was the norm for entertainment.  It was wonderful.  As you all know me, I'm not a theatrical type of guy but this was entertaining.  We went back and saw the 2nd show some nights.

On to Montevideo, Uraguay

Next stop after the Falkland Islands was Montevideo, Uraguay.  The weather was getting warmer and we visited another winery (Santa Rosa) that was amazing.  All the wine you wanted with some fantastic Tango dancing and a wonderful lunch.

The Falkland Islands

What a wonderful surprise.  The beaches were like the Caribbean.  White sand and clear water.  A little different in temp.  The water was 47 degrees.  Unfortunately, most of the beaches have land mines that are left over from the British/Argentinean conflict.  They are all fenced off.  The weather again was perfect, as you can see.  It must have been in the 60's.  Very unusual for them.

                          This guy had a reindeer in it's yard

                   They had 5 types of Penguins on the island

The sand dunes and white sand with clear water was amazing.

The strangest things

I was out exploring the ship today and I ran across a section of the boat I hadn't seen before.  It had the strangest pieces of machinery and people doing the oddest things with them.  They were sweating and groaning.  There was were even people laying all over the floor in the weirdest positions I have every seen.  I kind of scared me so I won't go there again

Cape Horn

Well, we made it around Cape Horn.  It is not uncommon to have 30-40 foot seas.  As you can see, it was almost dead calm and 47 degrees out.  Lucky us.

Ushuaia, Chile

A beautiful little port just west of Cape Horn

Our living quarters

This is our accommodation on our cruise.  Actually, it's almost as big as our house.

Almost forgot Punta Arenas

I almost forgot to send something from our first port of call. Punta Arenas was a 3 day sail south along the coast of Chile.  

This is some of the fine Alpaca knit knit sweaters, hats and scarfs

A view from a hill looking down into the small city.

Annie all bundled up.  Its was 46 degrees out.  Really not too bad.

Some sights

These are some of the sights we see as we approach the southern tip of South America.  The sun raises @ 5:00 AM and sets after 10:00 PM.  

We're on board

Well, for those who have not been on a cruise ship or those that don't have a desire to, you have no idea what you are missing. There is as much as you want to do or as little.  The food is spectacular and the entertainment is first class.  The shore excursions are so organized you have no idea that you have 2500 fellow passengers with you.  We chose this cruise because it gives us 7 out of 14 days at sea.  I don't like going to a port everyday.  We highly recommend this cruise.  The main lobby is like a grand hotel in a city. 

The Love Boat

We got back in Santiago, Chile and took a bus to Valpariso, Chile to board the "Star Princess" cruise ship.  This will be my first cruise.  We spent one night in Valpariso at a place called Robinson Cruso Inn.  The outside was all galvanized paneling and not much to look at.  But, when you got inside it was spectacular.  Not a bad idea for the property appraisal. 

Muddy

While we were in Mendoza, I had the opportunity to do some mud wrestling.  I won and these were my winnings.  Yeah baby. I beat the blonde and the brunette.

Mendoza, Argentina

When we got to Mendoza, Argentina we stayed at a B & B in a nice quiet  residential section of the city.  Except it was across the street from a middle school.  With school getting out on Friday, and we arrived on a Wednesday, we had 3 nights of school celebrations to serenade us to sleep.  But, the wine tours made up for it all.  Would you believe they told us that each empty oak barrell costs them $1200.  Add that up.

Zoom zoom

I think we were on the same road as the one they filmed the Mazda commercial on.  This was breath taking.  It is the road from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina and goes over the Andes.

Sorry for the delay

Sorry I haven't written anything lately.  As you probably know, Boquete has survived the terrible floods and rains.  Annie and I are now on a trip through South America.  Our first stop was Santiago, Chile.  After an 8 hour delay leaving Panama we arrived in Santiago @ 3:00 AM.  Not a good start.  But everything has been great since.  Internet service is very slow so I can't upload many photos.