It’s been a while so I may struggle with brevity as I start blogging about this trip, and from my phone no less.

It all started in 2017 .. (already oversharing!) when I had a big birthday and I started researching a trip to Antarctica.

Expeditions range from 6 days with a flight to and from the White Continent, to those lasting 30 days on a research vessel, to a full 45 days starting in South America and finishing in New Zealand. All variations sounded exciting and worthwhile to me. But not to anyone else in my family. And I understand—climate concerns, time commitments, cruising generally—means this is not a trip for everyone.

A few cabin mates offered to come along but none took until last Christmas when my college roommate found himself having to cancel his trip to Peru and the discussion led to a shared desire to experience Antarctica.

Cabin mate, check. Time commitments and the ability to kayak on the Southern Ocean, and a butler (wink), determined the remainder of our choices. We chose to cruise the Drake Passage (more on that later) with a voyage lasting 10 days. Our ship: Silversea Silver Endeavor. So, if you keep reading, that’s where we are off to…

The trip comes to a close here in Costa Rica. We are all just one or two stops from home and preparing for the return to our normal lives. We make our final excursion with the group (a fish caught, some snorkeling), a nap, and then off to the final briefing and dinner to say our farewells.

It’s been a fast-paced highlights tour with stops lasting only two or three nights in each location. Traveling with a group at this pace is physically (and sometimes mentally) challenging. In total, we have flown roughly 45 hours over the last 36 days. For plane enthusiasts like us, these hours are an integral and enjoyable part of the journey. And we know better now how we would craft a trip of our own.

I have one more post after this and then the blog goes back into hibernation. Thank you for the comments along the way. I will reach out to you individually soon!

Meet Hui Ling. She is among the happiest people I have met on this trip! She came from Taiwan to be on this trip with us. She brings amazing positive energy and overcomes the language barrier using google translate and is always organizing group photos.

I told Hui Ling about the blog and she has been translating and reading my posts. She has written a short reflection on our visit to the coast of Peru.

I love meeting new people. And on day 29 of 35 with the same 17 people who wouldn’t be eager to make newer friends?!

Anyhow, it turns out that there’s an amazing group of women traveling together here in Chile. They are the invited guests of a blogger specializing in solo female travel. The women had applied for one of only 10 spots on the trip. One particularly outgoing woman is a specialist in compensation and organizational structure at a FinTech firm; another an outdoor enthusiast working at North Face; another at American Heart Association with an expertise in development/fundraising. So, yes, I am glad we skipped that day’s hike and sat by the pool to enjoy their company. (And no I didn’t take one of my bad selfies with them—you’re welcome.)

The prior day we made two short hikes – the first to Moon Valley and the second to Rainbow Mountain.  Geologically this area was an ocean that was created when two of the earth’s plates separated.   As the water evaporated the area became a salt plane so while the ground might look like it recently snowed, what you are seeing is salt.  I tasted it.  Harvested sea salt is better. 

The activity I was most looking forward to was stargazing. The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth which means that there are no clouds to obscure your view of the night sky. Our guide gave us an introduction to the high school science many of us had forgotten (speed of light, time it takes for us to see the light given by stars and their distance, size of our galaxy). It was a good reminder of how small we are in the universe. Being in the Southern Hemisphere means a different view of the stars and constellations. The southern cross is the prominent navigation technique. The Big Dipper was barely above the horizon. I had to mentally imagine myself as a figure standing on a globe to turn the sky around in my head to match what I was seeing. (That doesn’t sound like it makes sense; maybe it doesn’t.)

Night sky photography is not a skill in my wheelhouse but our guide took a group photo which I have posted (with permission) and then I got a good one from the lounge chairs at the hotel with my iPhone.

I often get to this point in a trip: where I’m two destinations behind the place I’m writing about.

So here I am in the Atacama desert in Chile  – the driest place on earth  – attempting to write about Iguazu Falls, a rainforest on the border of Brazil and Argentina. 

The Iguazu falls post is a simple one. We stayed on the Argentinian side at the Awasi hotel. It is a small lovely boutique hotel with the best service we’ve experienced on this trip. (I would add « so far » As a caveat were I not certain that this declaration would hold true when we touchdown back home.)

There is a debate as to whether or not viewing the Iguazu falls is better from the Argentinian side or the Brazilian side. I can’t weigh in on that argument since we saw it only from the Argentinian side. We walked the upper circuit and the lower circuit seeing the falls from the upper half and lower half before taking the train and walking to the “devils throat” – the point at which the river first makes its tumble. What I can tell you is that the walking trails through the two circuits are beautiful and easy.  And that the river at Devil’s throat was running fast due to recent rains, its color reflecting the deep orange clay sediment of the soil it carried. The photos don’t adequately reflect the contrasting colors, of rock, river and rainforest—black orange and green. 

A teeny tiny bit of history: There are still indigenous people living in the area but the Province is named “Misiones” and the Jesuit missionaries succeeded in transforming many of the cultural norms. Jesuit influence is still present and there are former missions that you can visit. It’s good to remain mindful of the destruction of the indigenous culture and practices brought by the Spanish colonists and missionaries. But to their credit, the Jesuits later tried to protect the Guarani people and their villages. That history was made into a film with De Niro called The Mission.

Next up, two fuel stops! Woo hoo!

Classic cars, Latin Art and open landscapes along a beach town with a chill vibe. There’s a Miami side of town and a Manhattan Beach side. You can probably guess where we spent our time.

The ultimate welcome 🤗

When we arrived at the Fasano in Punta del Este a local classic car club was ending a road rally! This sweet 1972 was in perfect shape. Its owner didn’t seem to leave with a trophy however. This one did…

Here’s another sweetie:

Before rekindling the blog for this trip, Buenos Aires was the last trip I posted. One of the places we loved on the BA trip in 2015(?) was the MALBA museum.

So for this trip, we skipped the group’s city tour itinerary and went back to the MALBA. Again, we were impressed by the curation of art – this time a husband and wife team that made art from the 30s-60’s. The museum is small but on both occasions we left with a greater understanding of the artists and the context in which they worked.

Meet Juan del Prete and Yente

The accommodations were in the Recoleta section of Buenos Aires, a fairly affluent side of town with all the luxury accommodations based there. We were posted at the Four Seasons but we spent little time there. Thanks to recs from LP and Andy’s sleuthing we enjoyed cocktails at a speakeasy behind a flower shop, excellent morning cortados, and a delicious and beautiful meal.

There was another group outing, this one to tango. We didn’t feel like we could miss it without offending folks so…

Tango is an important part of Argentine culture and we enjoyed the casual version that Cava Wine Lodge hosted over the one with the group in BA. But here are images from both and you can make up your own mind.

Lastly, we happened to be there during a national holiday – a truth and recognition day. The holiday acknowledges and honors its controversial past history of oppression and the “disappeared”. We witnessed marchers of varying political perspective along with dancers percussionists and other celebrants. I have a few pictures but in matters of truth and reconciliation one can feel like an interloper. So I took very few.

First, a vibe check…Welcome to Cavas Wine Lodge

Mendoza and Malbec. I gave up heavy red wines years ago but when in Mendoza (or anywhere in South America, for that matter) often the best wines on offer are Malbec.

Over the course of the month, we have had several. A few stand out. One is by Rutini. It was a big, rich, black cherry with a long finish. Low astringency made this go down almost too easily.

(You will notice that I tried a Pinot as well. Strawberries with fairly high acidity.)

Best though was Lagarde’s Primas Viñas 2013 (fully matured, soft and earthy, with ripe dark berries) and its Gran Reserva Henry 2018 (decant or hold, black currants, structured tannins, and tightly wound). The first we had in Bariloche and the second was served as part of a beautiful luncheon and wine pairing held at the winery in Mendoza. As lovely as they are, we aren’t collecting wines on this trip. But should you go, steer yourselves here. You won’t be disappointed.

Most people see a dead tree and think, “Why don’t they cut that tree down and open up the view?”

But that dead tree is a resting spot for birds – lots of them!! I woke up to a buffet of birds and thanks to MerlinBird ID I identified several new species for my life list!

Without a local guide, I can’t often say if a little brown bird is one particular sparrow or another but I am improving. It’s been a nice mostly private diversion for me on this journey. Since I left on March 4, I’ve added 92 species.

All of these were either in the tree or walking around the grass. So, yes, I chose espresso and binoculars for two days rather than take the gondola to the top of the hill, chocolate tasting or other group activities.

If you go, stay in the new wing at Llao Llao and remember that dead tree has lots of life yet.

p.s. I have not been able to import all of my birding records into Merlin. If I could, I believe I am closer to 1000 total species. (Still missing Tanzania, Thailand and Costa Rica.)