Nearing the End of the World

Nearing the end of the World

We have traveled 5816 Nautical miles since we left Fort Lauderdale. Tomorrow we will be in Punta Arenas, the last port in Chile. Two days later we'll be in Ushuaia, Argentina--considered the southern-most city in the world, or "the city at the end of the world." From there we will travel past Cape Horn and on toward Antarctica.

To understand how far we have traveled, and will travel, consider the following. Using latitude, we started in Fort Lauderdale, 26 degrees North. We will be traveling to a latitude 64 degrees South. Ninety degrees of latitude is 1/4 of the way around the circumference of the earth. By the time we return, we will have traveled half-way around the circumference. Even now, we are as far East as Greenland--two time zones east of Baltimore time.

At dinner last night, from other guests, we learn of the adventures this ship had a few years back. Traveling near Cape Horn, the ship was struck by two mammoth rogue waves which caused all the china and liquor to be destroyed. Until Holland America could fly in replacements (into Ushuaia) meals were served on paper plates. Some passengers were so spooked by the event that they refused to reboard the ship in Ushuaia, where the ship retreated after the waves hit, and rented a car to drive back to the U.S. Apparently they soon realized the error of their ways, so they reboarded the ship in Argentina. (It's a long drive to the U.S. from there!) We were assured that since that wave incident, our ship has been equipped with improved stabilizers. BTW, last night's special South American menu included, as the entree, a dish featuring....Tongue. It had been slow-cooked for five hours, and was served with a delicious sauce. Sumner, a much braver soul when it comes to trying unusual foods, received extra slices from Alice. She managed two bites and found it to be marginally better than beef liver. Luckily the menu also included beef empanadas, a little corn-based cheese-topped casserole, shrimp, and a delicious rendition of butternut squash soup that was long on beans and short on chunks of squash. We are gaining ideas for menus to make for family and friends when we return. Be warned!

We saw a large glacier this morning--this being one of the few areas in the world that has glaciers. Some of the islands in the Fjords still have snow on them, though it's the middle of the Summer down here. We learned during our tour of the town of Coyhaique that climate change and global warming are having a big impact even in this very remote area of the world. There is much less rain in recent years, and while they used to get 3 meters of snow a year in the Coyhaique region, for the last few years it has not snowed at all there. They are believers in global warming down here. (We hope those up North are dealing well with all the snow! We are eagerly reading the New York Times news reports about the storm.)

Today, in addition to learning the importance of latitude in geography and time, we enjoyed an illustrated talk about the ancient peoples of the Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) region of Patagonia. There were once four tribes; now they are all gone, with the last full-blooded Yahgan survivor dying in 2002. Quite a story--more on this later, once we visit the city of Punta Arenas and town of Usuaia and gather more details. For now, suffice it to say that Darwin was strongly influenced in his theory of evolution by the three surviving kidnapped Yahgans he encountered on board the "Beagle 2" voyage as they were being returned to their habitat. They spent two years in England, traveling there on "Beagle 1," being taught English, manners and religion so they could serve as contacts and guides for future European explorers.

We are stunned by the incredible scenery in this surprisingly extensive southernmost part of the world. Our glacier-studded mountain-lined route through the Strait of Magellan has been a very smooth cruise, unlike the times when the ship has had to go into the ocean between sheltered passages. We are steeling for almost a week of cruising in heavy seas in the Drake Passage, to and from sightings of Antarctica--weather permitting. We are told that very soon the tree line will disappear.....