Two days of scenic cruising – as we travel the various passages several hundred thousand miles south through Chile.

January 14, 2026 //

Yesterday was supposed to begin with scenic cruising past Wager Island, but instead it began with scenic cruising through heavy rain and pea soup fog. Wager Island was not to be seen which certainly enabled us to understand this morning’s lecture better.

This is an accurate representation of how much we saw before noon yesterday, so instead I attended a lecture and lost $104 playing blackjack.

Amidst all of this we started seeing a lot of albatrosses and other sea birds, but mostly the albatross (photo above taken with iPhone 17 Pro). Sneaky birds didn’t come close enough for me to capture them frequently but as I spent over an hour walking laps on the promenade I certainly was able to photograph plenty of them.

When the weather cleared it was really spectacular.

After I spent time on the promenade in the afternoon I ended up spending forty five minutes on the treadmill. What’s great after the treadmill? Time on the bow on the 9th deck in front of the fitness center. Isn’t it beautiful? As there was a considerable breeze it also helped with cool down.

As the day began to wind down, we settled down for dinner at Oosterdam’s Italian specialty restaurant – Canneletto. The food here was great, but the views were even better.

Along the mountains here along the edge of the sea there is a fairly wide level area, perhaps twenty minutes walk across, which reminds me of the east side of Barbados or parts of the west coast of New Zealand. Elsewhere in southern Chile it just drops off to the fjords or the water.

Most of these places seem like they have nobody around

This morning we woke to more scenic cruising. Imagine you’re sitting at the desk in your cabin looking out the window and you start seeing little bergy bits such as these going past. Still with pajamas on (I know people are going to flame me for this) I threw on a sweatshirt and walked to the far end of Deck 4 to go out to the bow because I knew we were near the glacier.

The moment I knew we were nearing something different

Captain Kevin managed to pull the ship into a narrow passage at the base of Brujo glacier.

He has also been keeping the bow open for most of the day for cruisers’ use for sightseeing and photography. I spent a short time out there but as I was not dressed as Nanook of the North like the folks above I eventually retreated to our aft cabin, where I continued to duck out into the rain and cold for photography.

View from our wrap-around aft veranda, 963 feet to the rear

Fortunately Captain Kevin elected to spend over an hour in this spot all while doing pirouettes and pivoting in circles so we could all have a view.

Periodically we would hear rumblings from the ice. I believe the glacier is about ten kilometers long. From the above it appears to be several hundred feet thick at its thickest point as well. I’m not certain without checking the map but I suspect the snowpack and ice collects beyond the initial range of mountains and squeezes through this valley to the top of the fjord. It isn’t the only one around in the immediate vicinity.

In today’s overcast weather the ice had infinite shades of green and blue as well.

Eventually after nearly ninety minutes spent we waved goodbye to the ice and made our way back towards the sea.

The headlands along the fjords are much more barren today than yesterday or the day before. It’s clear that winters here are longer and sunlight is harder to find – and the scraping of glaciers is more recent.

And now the weather has turned rainy again. Fortunately, I can sit here with our plant (the ship refreshed our prior green friend for a more sturdy and robust model) as we travel south.

Tags adventure, antarctica, antarctica-experience, cruise, cruise-experience, cruising, scenic, travel, voyage-writing

Categories South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel

Hot Springs in Puerto Chacabuco

January 14, 2026 //

Monday morning started off with a full English breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. Sadly they ceased having the ability to make fried eggs and everyone else (literally, aside from me) was served poached eggs as the grill had broken.

There was a nice selection of excursions available in Puerto Chacabuco. We went on the “Patagonian Fjord Cruise & Hot Springs.” My mother went on “Patagonia Nature in Depth.” I haven’t debriefed with her yet but probably will tomorrow if you’re interested.

The Fjord Cruise was nice and you would think from the above that there were maybe twenty people on it. In reality, it was about 80 people. We tendered ashore, walked into the port building (which is smaller than my house), and sat in a room. At a certain point when no HAL tenders were coming in they walked us down the pier past the tenders to a catamaran.

Note – this is the first port where they took security seriously, both outgoing and incoming. I still didn’t empty my pockets though.

We took a nice cruise out through the fjord to Termas Ensenada Perez. This hot spring consists of three cement ponds that were built to collect volcanic hot springs. Two of the cement ponds were about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (30.5 C) in temperature; the third was about 104 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C) in temperature. They warned us not to spend more than 10 or 15 minutes in each cement pond and encouraged us to take a break by showering under the cold springs water (about 6 degrees C or 42 Fahrenheit). I only did this after sitting in the really hot springs.

This hot springs experience was great. We thought it had the opportunity to be a drag as it was over an hour ride out there and well over a ride on the return. We figured we might go out there and get bored after thirty minutes and then just sit on the boat and read, but we were wrong. We cycled in and out of the tubs four or five times; I stayed in the hottest one only briefly though at which point I went and successfully stood under the very cold mountain spring water for a couple of minutes. It was very therapeutic.

It almost did have a 1980s science fiction film feel to it though.

After the hot springs we went back on the catamaran and they took us around a national monument area (they had to serve us wine and drinks before entering the area, and then again after leaving the area). Coming south from Santiago the scenery was still spectacular; since then we have seen more so we may end up being a bit jaded.

The experience reminded me of visiting Milford Sound, New Zealand in 2015, and sitting on the back of a similar vessel listening to the diesel engines as most others had grown weary and were settling back into their seats with cocktails inside.

While we were in Chacabuco, we also strolled around a local shipwreck.

The Vina del Mar vessel is apparently Chacabuco village’s sole attraction. I don’t think there is much else within walking distance other than a few dozen homes, a mini-mart, maybe a small cafe or two, and a small hotel. All of the excursions largely went elsewhere.

But I liked Puerto Chacabuco itself more than Puerto Montt. It was a good day.

Tags adventure, cruise experiences, hot springs, nature, travel

Categories South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel

Puerto Montt – Sunday, January 11

January 14, 2026 //

So, On Saturday I wrote a teaser:

We’re not going ashore so early tomorrow so I’m going to try and write in the morning after breakfast.

We came into Puerto Montt this morning and it was gray and gloomy but not raining. That managed to hold up until 1 or 2pm in the afternoon then it started raining miserably. Finally, as we were leaving, the sun came. It was a beautiful sunset.

Anyway. We went on what I felt was the best excursion we’ve been on ever, “A Taste of Chile: Fresh Fusion.” There were only twenty of us. We were driven to the local market in Puerto Montt where we met a chef and he took us around and we learned all about the local Chilean produce as well as seafood. And then we rode in the bus with him to a private dining room.

It was like being at someone’s house with a long table and spending five hours prepping a meal and eating it. We even helped. So much wine, so much pisco, and so much food.

I never got around to writing the entry, at least not here. It was a busy weekend!

Yesterday was The Boss’s first tender ride – and they sat her by the open doorway. Fortunately it wasn’t raining and the boat wasn’t bouncing. I was jealous regardless, though.

As I said, our excursion yesterday was “A Taste of Chile: Fresh Fusion.”

We rode a bus (19 people) to a market and met a chef.

The market was primarily a seafood market but also had a number of vegetable and other vendors. Many of them started handing out samples even though they knew we weren’t going to buy anything, such as in the above she started handing us spicy pickled olives which I could have eaten all morning.

Sadly, the oysters were not fresh enough or purchase. The chef has his own standards for buying things such as these which make sense. “Tap it and if it moves, however small, it’s good.” I don’t know if that works for us at home as nearly everything is on ice.

Lots of good fish. Hake and Sea Bass were common.

I mean, the garlic here was as large as the eggs – each clove was

This wasn’t the garlic he used for cooking. In their market they have both Chinese garlic (identical and the same price as the packs of four we get in the supermarket for a buck or two) as well as local, Chilean garlic with a little dirt on it (identical to the garlic we buy at the farmer’s market, or what we’re trying to grow ourselves but keep failing at).

Eventually we made our way to Puerto Varas where his private kitchen is that he’s using this year. We were given the option to stay and cook – or drink wine. The alternative was to go shopping in Varas. Only one person chose to join the guide for the shopping excursion. The rest of us drank. Eventually he invited us to join us with prep and five or six of us all got up to assist – all men. We split tasks between shelling beans, splitting clams, and cleaning mussels.

Eventually. He started handing us food to sample (mind you, we’d been sampling since at the market – where vendors handed us grapes, pickled spicy olives, cheese, and a number of other treats).

One of the things I tried was the raw clam. Our second dish after we sat down was actually the cooked version thereof – put under the broiler briefly enough to cook it in butter but that’s it, as it gets tough quickly. It’s the same delicacy that’s required to cook shrimp just until where they’re done as well – something I’ve managed to capture at home in the saute pan but not yet on the grill.

His team also deboned and fileted their own fish removing the parts to keep for stock. The heads and so forth were simmered with onions, chives, parsley, and other stuff for a stock; he reminded us to never boil seafood stock. When the stock was ready he kept the fish heads and we ate the cheeks with our forks at the table.

His ceviche was majority sea asparagus which was cleaned by one of our fellow cruise passengers. We always have ceviche which is spicer at home and often is more tart, but Chef has a way of making it not so much.

His version of ceviche is more balanced than what we’ve encountered. Less tart than usual. He also served us pieces of hake that had been stewed with the stock and some apple cider.

I don’t remember what else we ate. We did have blueberries in custard which was good. Every time we turned around they refilled our glass. At one point they switched from Carmenere to a lesser-known Cinsault which was really, really good and a “reserve” bottle. We asked if we could buy a bottle and yes, they let us take one home. Or rather, to the ship. I’m told it’s definitely coming home with us.

It poured rain all afternoon until we were back on the ship at which point glorious sunshine returned. We spent much of the rest of the day and evening resting in our cabins and watching football – they have it available on the NFL channel, but otherwise on the ship aside from the casino bar not so much.

Tags adventure, cruise experiences, experience, Foodie, travel, travelogue

Categories Foodie, South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel

Day 2 – things learned on a sea day off the coast of Chile

January 11, 2026 //

So today was a good sea day if a bit busier than I would normally hope to be on a sea day. Things I learned today –

If we order room service for delivery at 6am they will actually show up close to 6am.
All of the treadmills are in use by 7am; only one of us was able to run this morning and she spent 2 1/2 hours on the treadmill. Not certain if anybody stuck around long enough to notice.
The fitness instructor doesn’t care if people doing yoga want to stay balanced on both sides.
HAL likes to focus on meal pacing. Tonight they asked us if they were pacing our meals properly or if we would like to go faster or slower.
Even with a beverage package they want you to sign – sporadically, part of the time.
The cable boxes (IPTV converters) freeze when the WiFi freezes, or when Elon Musk coughs, but they can be rebooted from the hallway.

All in all, we’re beginning to understand why Holland America cruisers are so loyal. Whenever you ask someone to do something, if it’s within their authority and they have time and energy, they do it. People have been so helpful. Tonight, we had a couple of additional chairs delivered to our cabin so now we can host parties. We bought a beverage beyond the limit of our package and they told us not to worry about it. They handled our query about fixed dining perfectly – and followed up, both from the concierge and the maître d’. In short, it sounds like they were trying to tell us to “just use Club Orange and dine whenever we want.” We decided “we’d rather depend on having the same waiter every night and having the same spot near the window.” And they’re smart enough to tell us the Club Orange menu now (they were before, we just had not asked).

We had a couples massage this morning. Swedish massage. We both fell asleep in the middle. The upsell was moderate to heavy, probably because they know we are suckers sometimes. We also enjoyed the large hot hydrotherapy pool mostly to ourselves – picture loungers in the water with jets and bubbles; this is where we will be when we get chilled from watching for penguins flying in boats.

We also went to the Cruise Critic meet and greet, where people clapped when I said “this is the longest we’ve taken off work in three decades…”. I met one of the cruisers who was staying at the Sheraton Thursday night who was having fits with the excursion crew in Santiago Thursday night. He was actually at the winery at the same time we were at an earlier time (I wish he were in our crew because he’s an interesting guy).

We’re all settled in for another twenty days here.

So, because I couldn’t get on the treadmill this morning I walked several laps on the promenade instead this morning even though it was windy and cold. I met a man who lives on the same road as my parents – he grew up “back home.” Turns out he lived for 17 years about six blocks from where we live in Arlington. What a small world.

Because I couldn’t do the treadmill I decided I either need to get up tomorrow morning for treadmill time or I needed to do it this afternoon. I went this afternoon instead (it’s rare for me to get motivated for this on vacation). I watched The Extraordinary Attorney Woo on Netflix while running a few miles. In this show whales act as a metaphor for Attorney Woo helping her analyze life as an autistic attorney. Whenever she has a brainstorm, or a deep thought which breaks the wall of autistic thought patterns, she sees whales or dolphins, usually splashing out of the ocean. Today, I had a pleasure of watching the whales with the ocean as a backdrop.

Reporting in on logistical matters –

People dress nice-ish on dressy nights on HAL scenic cruises. Nobody is messy but there are not too many dresses and we didn’t see too many tuxedos. The split between suits and just a dress shirt seemed to be about 60/40 towards a suit. Not too many people wore ties either (myself included; I’ll send photos sometime as I look perfectly presentable and professional without a tie).

Dressy night got us a few extra menu options. Tonight’s steak options were a tenderloin and a NY Strip Steak. Orange menu got us a braised short rib. I had “rack of lamb” which consisted of two thick lamb chops. They were good and didn’t taste like they were sent from New Zealand so they may have actually been brought on the ship in Santiago. At lunch today I had crab Louie salad.

We played blackjack for a bit this afternoon, losing more than winning but having a good time. We likely won’t play again for a few days as the next two are port days.

Tonight, after calling the cable guy, we’re watching football. We sent out laundry today and I called my kid to have a difficult conversation. It’s almost as if we’re at home. Well, we do our own laundry at home.

Weather – cold and damp this morning, upper 50s (14C). Warm and sunny this afternoon, around 70 (21C) but with nice warm sun. I sat shirtless in the sun a bit and became a little pink. Tomorrow…. I frankly have no idea but it looks like upper 50s and “chance of a shower.” People report that weather can be highly variable in Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabuco. we’ll see.

17,947 steps today. Not enough sleep last night so we shall be sleeping soon.

Tags adventure, antarctica-experience, cruise-blogging, cruise-experience, cruise-foodie, cruise-life, food, Foodie, relaxation travel, Running, travel

Categories South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel

Embarkation day in San Antonio, Chile!

January 10, 2026 //

Hi all,

So as is always the case, the HAL tours require a bit of patience.

First off, one of the best parts of the day is this – I woke up early and went up to the 21st floor “Executive Lounge” at the Sheraton before 7am, before the sun came up. It was spectacular. The haze that appears in the daytime was non-apparent so I spent half an hour taking photos of the town and the mountains as the sun came up.

View of the tallest building in South America with the Andes beyond

A word on the executive lounge.

We live in greater greater Washington and often end up traveling to places like New York, Boston, San Diego, and Chicago. The end result of this is we have a partially-skewed sense of pricing. Therefore, when we come to a place like Santiago where we could have a King deluxe room for two nights for $140 a night, if we can upgrade to a higher floor for $160 or $180 a night and then get the lounge for $220 a night, well, we do it. Not always, but sometimes we do, and this time we did. The end result is we had “executive lounge access.” In DC money it saved us about three meals meaning it saved us probably about $200. And here’s a pro tip – if you bring a couple of friends during happy hour they don’t charge the friends for the buffet or happy hour cocktails as well; just items ordered from the menu such as the pizzas we had on Wednesday evening.

But Santiago is a relatively inexpensive place irregardless.

Now, to the parts requiring patience.

HAL’s excursion desk told us yesterday morning to put our luggage in the hallway by 7:30 am with our cruise tags attached. This morning, their sign said, “If you have a transfer, put your luggage in the hallway by 7:30am. If you have a tour and then transfer, bring your luggage downstairs by 8:30am.” Well, with our massive amount of baggage by the time we came down to the lobby at 8:30am all of the luggage carts were in use and there was no way we were bringing our bags down, not to mention half our floor had luggage in the hallway. The end result of this was we left our luggage in the hallway and trusted HAL’s tour operator to figure it out. Thanks to the magic of Apple AirTags we saw that our luggage managed to make it into a large box truck behind the hotel by the time we left on our tour a little after 9am. From there the AirTags showed our luggage sitting at the hotel until… 3:30pm, long after we arrived at the ship. Then they moved. They were in San Antonio, the port city.

Our luggage didn’t make its way to our cabin in totality until 5:45pm. The end result was we spent our time on board – after 3pm – touring the ship, briefly visiting our cabin, chatting with the Neptune Suite concierge, and… drinking wine. Eventually our bags showed up and we went downstairs to change our dining to late fixed dining rather than anytime dining and we had a very nice dinner, better than we were expecting, and saw a set in the Rolling Stone Lounge and came up to bed. Somewhere during all of that we unpacked.

So, recommendations here –

HAL does not have a tracking system. You hand them your bags and they’re in the abyss in Chile. You have to trust people to do their job. If you have a problem with this, hire a private guide for a private transfer – the kind that has a van that seats six or eight people or fewer. This way you can show up to the terminal at your leisure and see your luggage as it is passed on board. The Neptune concierge explained to multiple people multiple times that the procedure for luggage here is labor intensive. They bring in a big truck full of suitcases. They offload it in the tents outside the terminal warehouse (it really is a warehouse). They run them through security. They put everything back on a truck. They haul it over to the ship. they offload it at the ship, and it comes on board in batches of two, four, six, or eight bags at a time. It’s crazy. Like a wing and a prayer.

But it’s a 22 day itinerary so if you can’t hit the ground running the first night it doesn’t really matter.

Things you see on the “City Panorama Tour”

Today, on the way to the port we had a short “city panorama tour” and then we went to Viña Casas del Bosque. This winery we visited is perfect for pre-ship touring. They took us through the vineyards showing us the soil and the Pinot Noir vines, and then took us past steel tank fermentation, and then past barrel aging. The wine was good but not pretentious. It was like the Central Coast of California. They excel at Sauvignon Blanc and maybe Pinot Noir (we didn’t try it). They make a decent Carmenere which they ferment from grapes grown elsewhere in Chile. And they have a tract of land dedicated to Syrah vines here. We bought three bottles there. In addition, we have two bottles of better Carmenere which we bought in town yesterday.

Pro tip – HAL doesn’t scan your carry-on luggage for wine in San Antonio. They’re supposed to charge $20 corkage or take it away from you until the end of the cruise, but depending on what is going on they don’t really know. Port security doesn’t speak to HAL security. Downside of this is we don’t know if they tossed our passports into the Pacific or not (well, I’m just kidding). In the future if you see me writing notes like this at 11:30 in the evening local time just assume “pro tip” means “here is something interesting.”

Anyway. This is our first Holland America cruise. We‘re enjoying it. We have a lot going on at home that is causing stress and strain but the moment the ship turned towards the Pacific Ocean and started leaving wake I felt as if we were sailing away from our problems. This is what inspired me today.

Tomorrow I’ll post a bit more on our dinner tonight as well as Rolling Stone Lounge in the evening. One of us also signed up for the fitness package. We’ll see how that goes.

Tags adventure, cruise, cruise-experience, cruising, travel, travel-advice, travel-tips

Categories South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel, Travel Logistics

Santiago Day 2 – with logistical recommendations

January 9, 2026 //

So it has been a long day.

Today we chose to wake up early and go for a run. The Sheraton is near the park along the river here so we decided to run on the trails along the river. If you’re a runner or a cyclist it’s actually quite nice. It’s a bit disjointed around the business district as there are a lot of street crossings but once you get nearly a mile north past South America’s tallest building it becomes a proper suburban trail with room for runners and cyclists. When we first hit the trail at 7am it was pretty quiet. By the time we returned near 8am it was busy with bicycle commuters as well as a moderate amount of joggers.

On our return to the neighborhood around the hotel we discovered a random Gandhi memorial.

One of the things I like to do when visiting major cities is to, well, go for a run. And after the run rather than enjoy the free or paid hotel coffee, I tend to find a local coffee or espresso bar. Today was no exception. After a shower we headed out into the Providencia neighborhood to find an espresso bar.

We found a great place called Bafel’s Coffee which opened at 9am (translation – they don’t do an early espresso here). Bafel’s provided me with a proper latte and “Mediterranean eggs” which I translated as “a proper shakshuka, albeit with American-style bacon.” After Bafel’s, thanks to the wonders of modern technology I spent ninety minutes on Zoom with my kid’s therapy group talking about supports needed back home, so, yeah, that used up some of the day, but nonetheless I am happy I wasn’t doing it from the ship.

Sometime yesterday we decided we were going to take the gondola up Santuario Cerro San Cristobal rather than try to walk or run up it; honestly, until The Boss said it sounded like fun I didn’t have a huge amount of interest. Nonetheless the view was amazing at the top and it was about a quarter of the price of similar attractions at home.

Gondola – or cable car as the locals call it

On our way there we bumped into a few members of my mother’s cruising group who recommended we visit a restaurant at the bottom of the mountain because “they served us a whole bowl of whipped cream when we asked for cream.” We did, but we did not ask for cream. Instead I asked for a Flat White. And beef.

So, I’m going to write about this in more depth, likely when I return home. We visited the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos aka the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. It may become clear why I’m waiting to write about it. It’s a very interesting experience and quite thought provoking especially in the current environment, but it may leave you feeling melancholy. And it’s open a little later than we expected, until 6pm, which came in handy as we were running out of time. I had hoped to go to jazz tonight but for purposes of maintaining rest and readiness I decided we should hold off unless we had a proper siesta which we did not. Instead, we were re-packing this evening and settling down so we do not exhaust ourselves tomorrow.

Dinner was outdoors at one of the hotel restaurants (there are four it seems). I had Chilean oysters and a rockfish crudo along with a Carmenere red wine. My mother and one of her friends joined us.

Logistically –

– The restaurants at the Sheraton can get busy or even close when there are conventions. The poolside restaurant closes if there is a chance of rain as they grill outdoors.

– Uber works great here and is 100% legal. It is about a quarter of the price of home. I’ve been ordering Uber Black for half the price of UberX at home. If you’re curious, the two cars we ordered were both made in China – an SUV built by the company that is “Great Wall Automotive” and another one built by Chery.

– The Human Rights Museum is a 30 minute ride in busy traffic.

– Ask the server in restaurants if tip is included. It often is. In the hotel they told us to write “yes” if we want to tip the included amount. In one case elsewhere I provided the recommended tip and also gave a 2,000 peso (about $1.80) note. In cafes I have been rounding up the dollar amount – by about 15 to 20 cents.

– Around the Plaza des Armas, the Presidential Palace, in the grand parks, and other areas which look and feel safe and are otherwise guarded, don’t wear jewelry – anything that can be snatched, whether it’s earrings, a chain around your neck or otherwise. In these neighborhoods the streets are busy but there are a lot of tourists. Pickpockets are there. There is one scam going around where someone splashes something on you and then an old man tries to help you by holding your bags while you clean up. Watch out for stuff like this. In the local, nicer neighborhoods you will see the locals walking around with phones stuffed down the waistline of their pants sticking out where it seems safer and likely is (and there is no police presence, unlike the places referenced above). Three people on our cruise so far have reported being robbed or otherwise on various groups.

– At the airport if you need a taxi see the taxi counter IN THE AIRPORT and follow their instructions.

– Bring Chilean Pesos. It’s safer at local establishments than using a card. At non-tourist establishments, if you stop somewhere randomly, they do not have provisions for dollars.

Now to rest, until tomorrow.

Tags adventure, coffee, espresso, Foodie, gondola, latte, relaxation travel, restaurant, Running, shakshuka, travel, travel-to-south-america, vacation

Categories Foodie, Running, South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel, Travel Logistics

We’re in Santiago!

January 8, 2026 //

So it’s been a long day – and night and day. We’re currently ensconced in the 21st floor lounge at the Sheraton in Santiago with a wonderful view of the city and mountains after two flights yesterday (one redeye), customs madness at the airport today, and a city tour with lunch. Oh, by the way, it’s summer.

Logistically what we followed is we booked a private transfer through Cristian at Vamonos Tours. He recommended we expand it to a city tour and I agreed as we did an upgrade to First / Business Class on American Airlines meaning the flight was actually restful and I wasn’t too certain the Sheraton would check us in early (spoiler alert – my mother flew in on a different flight today as well and they wouldn’t check her in without an extra fee).

So I’ll say this. What enabled us to have the energy to do this touring was this – American’s Business Class to South America was great. They offered us better service than I recall from Virgin Atlantic or British Airways’ business class although BA at least was a bit more comfortable (caveat – it wasn’t first class, and this was 2002 when I had the privilege to be upgraded there). Although the lay flat bed once flat felt like a coffin where your feet were constrained, the food was great and the service was very good. They even made us hot fudge sundaes. The domestic product flying to Miami worked well for us as well although obviously there is no lay flat bed (who needs it on a flight less than three hours?) but they did call us out by name as we boarded and as they provided us service.

Today we stayed fit by walking and climbing St. Lucia hill with Hidalgo castle on it. We managed to get more than four miles in (just one mile in the airport alone) and as of 6:57pm 9,586 steps. After all of that craziness, we checked into the hotel (there’s a Walmart convention here in addition to a thousand Holland America cruisers), went up to our room, showered and siestaed. This didn’t really do much for my six hour sleep debt according to Oura, but it let me decompress enough to write this all up.

We’re truly inspired by the setting of the beautiful city of Santiago, in a valley surrounded by mountains, near the coast as if it were California. Although it is rough around the edges, the people we encountered on the street and in the market today were incredible. There is a lot of flair in the city.

Our guide was happy we were lucky enough to show up when there was activity in the streets. He also laughed at us because he dropped us at the base of St. Lucia and told us to wait because he had instructions; we mis-heard him and walked up the mountain instead.

One of the best parts of the day was seafood lunch at El Galeón at the market. It was such a lively scene there – on a random Wednesday afternoon in the summer. I’ve added photos and videos around the city – dancing in the streets, the Mercado itself, and of course a Pisco Sour.

Dancing

Mercado from the outside in the mid-afternoon sun

Tags adventure, food, travel

Categories Foodie, South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel, Travel Logistics

Travel day is here! Southward Ho!

January 6, 2026 //

Good morning! For those who have not seen it –

Holland America 22-Day South America and Antarctica

Today’s Dad Joke –

I don’t like people who don’t cover their nose and mouth when they sneeze. They make me sick.

It’s 10:30 in the morning and we’re due to depart for the airport in a few hours. I am busily finishing off the remaining Christmas cookies, chocolates, and other candies. That, and heading off a minor crises at the office.

Yesterday I came downstairs just as The Boss brought her main luggage up from the basement. It’s HUGE and I didn’t realize how huge. Two years ago I had purchased a piece at the off-price section at Macy’s which I thought was the maximum limit for European carriers for our Queen Victoria Atlantic Coast Adventure. Well, she went to the same place and bought something bigger. So I pulled out the measuring tape and even with our upgrade on American Airlines it turns out we’re both in the $200 zone for oversize baggage. End result we’re heading to the airport a little earlier than planned in case something unexpected happens and we need to return home or over to the mall to acquire smaller baggage.

Nonetheless, we are excited. Meraz the Greyhound has been taken to her friend’s house. I made my last minute trip to the bank (walked halfway there once and turned around because I forgot my wallet and returned to get cash). Last night we checked in for our flights. This morning I filled out Chile’s SAG form online for agricultural declaration. In the interest of science I’m declaring my factory-packaged ginger chews and will report back here hopefully with them asking why I declared them; they aren’t plant or animal products!

I also received the good news yesterday that as my employment anniversary is this year I now have an extra week of leave each year!

Curious, who else tries to cram into one bag? I know there are people out there who would travel with carry-on only for a 22 day cruise. That’s not us. And this time we’re packing for three seasons.

I’ll share some of my own strategies for reducing clothing packed –

Get the laundry package. We plan to send out laundry for the first time either on embarkation day or the day following to beat the rush. We expect weather will transition from “summer” to “spring” by the first port day (third day of the cruise).
Use yoga shirts as under shirts and then work out in them the next day. Same with plain, dark t-shirts, for my chosen button down evening shirts they can be worn casually through the day but under a shirt to be dressier in the evening.
I have an LL Bean coat lined wind breaker which is rated for 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Liner removal means it gets used with a layer and a hoodie underneath at a handful of port stops, in addition to with liner and scarf and hat and three layers when doing the Antarctic drive-by. Will report back on success of this approach.
I’m packing three pairs of shoes. One, beach sandals to go to the pool and/or spa; two, dressy sneakers for most evenings; three, dressy boots which are good when polished for dressy nights (you may debate me on this). As the boots are wearing and may be retired this spring, I’ll wear them for Volunteer Point in the Falklands as they are still waterproof (again, you may debate me on this as well and point out the error of my ways).
I’m wearing my running shoes to the airport.

I think we’re both now of the opinion that for most adventures we need to downsize our standard luggage a little. These monsters are going to be unwieldy if we need to move them anywhere further from curb to cab, and even though we’re both relatively fit it’s painful for us to carry them loaded down a flight of stairs.

Tags adventure, antarctica-packing, cruise experiences, cruise-packing-list, cruising, cruising-tips, luggage, overpacking, packing, packing-essentials, relaxation travel, suitcase, travel-blogging, travel-packing-list, travel-to-south-america

Categories South America - Antarctica January 2026, travel, Travel Logistics

Travel Reading and Time Management for Dummies

January 5, 2026 //

Good morning everybody! We fly tomorrow. End result – our fridge is empty, teens have gone off to their mother’s for a few weeks, and we’ve packed up. Our dog is ready to be dropped off at her friend’s house tomorrow morning where they’ll have a great time for the next month.

Yesterday’s pre-travel opportunities included lining up the neighbors to take our trash out later this week and bring the bins back in; coordinating with the plant caretakers; and most importantly polishing my shoes while watching football!

Also, I finished my third “Travel reading” book, Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler. It’s going to Antarctica with me so I can hand it off to my mother while will be on the same cruise.

Sara Wheeler breaks Terra Incognita into roughly three different parts. Her first part is where she flys from New Zealand to McMurdo, the American base on Ross Island by the Ross shelf and spends at least a couple of months at McMurdo as well as flying, sledging, helicoptering, and otherwise traveling out to various research camps elsewhere on the ice including a visit to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet as well as the South Pole research station. She spends a lot of time talking about the early explorers of Antarctica especially the British (spoiler alert – Sara is British). She isn’t exactly easy on the British; for instance, she poked fun at their attitude that “of course a Brit would reach the pole first.” Much of what she discusses about life on the ice especially life at the Pole was shared with me by a friend of mine who spent ten months wintering at the South Pole in 2004 and 2005.

After her stay at McMurdo in the first part of the book, she transfers to the British bases the largest of which is Rothera; her experience there is entirely different. Although the book is set in the 1990s which seems like the modern era to me, and only ten years before my friend was at the pole, her experiences on South America, especially at Rothera, seem as if they were from another era. During this time she was much happier at research camps away from the stations rather than at the station itself. Also, in order to travel to Rothera, on the Antarctic Peninsula, she literally had to fly throughNew Zealand and Los Angeles and then home to London to return via Royal Air Force transport to the Falkland Islands and then a Dash-7 to Rothera…. It certainly was thelong way round.

For her final stay, she felt called to return – towards the end of the Antarctic winter, and in case anybody is interested in reading it, I won’t spoil it, but it was her happiest time on Antarctica it seems.

One thing she reminds the reader, and this is relevant for Antarctic cruisers – The Antarctic Peninsula is the banana belt. Especially in the summer it is warmer than Ross Island by 20 degrees and warmer than the South Pole by even more. Year round the peninsula is close to the temperature of the water around it. Areas that are surrounded by ice or land are much, much colder. It’s also the wettest part of the continent.

Anyway, if you read this, thanks for reading along. If you’re interested in the science and experience of being in Antarctica as well as the history, Terra Incognita is a great read. I also read Travels in a Thin Land where Sara Wheeler speaks of her experiences traveling the length of Chile – top to bottom – for the better part of a year, and I read Endurance by Alfred Lansing about Shackleton’s expedition. Hopefully if all goes well we will come close to Shackleton’s landing spot on Elephant Island.

Finally, I have an Antarctic Cruise Guide for understanding the geography around the peninsula as well as the wildlife, and I have a Lonely Planet South America guide forideas on how to spend time in Santiago as well as port days where we don’t haveexcursions planned. I wouldn’t recommend the Lonely Planet book – it’s too heavy and takes up the weight of a couple of pairs of jeans in your checked baggage! I’ve included a gratis photo of “Time Management for Mortals” for those who worry about getting everything done before traveling…

Today I wrap things up at the office and tomorrow is the day we travel. I may have felt comfortable waiting until Wednesday to travel but I figured we would want to get to know Santiago a little before getting on a ship and this gives two whole days for things to go wrong rather than one.

Happy Monday to all who celebrate!

Tags antarctica, antarctica-experience, antarctica-life, antarctica-packing, travel reading

Categories Books, travel

Heading South to Santiago and Antarctica – two days away

January 4, 2026 //

Good morning!

Two more days until we fly. This is really our final prep day as we’re working tomorrow and about two thirds of a day on Tuesday. Today is the day I ensure teenagers tidy up their rooms and prepare to go back to school tomorrow, and then the best they can get their things ready for a few weeks straight at mother’s house. Don’t worry, there will be revenge on the other end when February comes, and I am certain every day after school my younger teen will call me via ship’s wifi to check in and report on the day and ask for penguin photos.

Meanwhile, the tree and decorations are down and put away, laundry is mostly done, the fridge is emptying out. Yesterday The Boss (Julia) said she was done shopping for more things to pack because she already decided half a dozen times she packed enough.

So when I decided to do this, I figured I’d focus on a handful of things. My goal is to spend maybe thirty minutes in the morning catching up here and then a brief catch up in the evening. Also, I’m writing a bit in a blog as well, for future posterity, although I am pretty certain in another ten years (or even now, according to some) blogs may have gone the way of the printed newspaper. For real time I may share photos on instagram.

Rather than run eighty photos and stream of thought, here is my focus. Mind you it may go out the window by the third or fourth port visit where I get excited about everything I see.

– Logistics and reality – you want to know what will affect you on future voyages.

– How we remain active and fit on vacation (we do use the treadmill, we run on shore, and HAL does have yoga and pilates offerings). I’m not going to go on at length.

– Any interesting food and entertainment.

– Opportunities for rest and relaxation to recharge. I have a feeling this will consist of “today we sat on our aft veranda watching the wake because we didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

– And finally, what experiences in the moment really inspired our emotions.

For example of this final category, I’ll present this photo. It’s not the best photo but it’s a great photo, taken after all of the ships left for the day. I was walking around the tidal flats and nobody else around except the couple sharing a beer. It was nearing sunset and quiet.

I’m off to finish Sara Wheeler’s Incógnita now. More on that and my other Antarctic reading later.

Tags adventure, antarctica-packing, blogging, writing

Categories Uncategorized