CRUISING AROUND CAPE HORN ... and other places

march 29 and 30 , two lazy days at sea

ship's log :
march 29 : at sea , gentle breeze , slight seas
march 30 : strong breeze , rough seas ,
7:26 pm , entered 'rio de la plata'

when we went out on deck after dinner at about 8 pm , we felt like we were on a highway , ships were coming and going in great numbers ,
the ship channnel is quite narrow and we felt that if we would stretch out our arms , we'd touch one of the othere ships - quite amazing !

the sunsets were very beautiful and we often stood by the railing for half-an-hour to see the sun set slowly - and to suddenly disappear !











mrs h can't get enough of watching the peaceful sunset


when we returned to our cabin , our steward had a rabbit with two chocolates waiting for us


the pilot will come aboard during the night and we'll be in buenos aires in the morning - let's tango !

All right, let's tango..

idyllic it sounds, and looks

i'll have a few more pix to post .
garden needed some attention .
also have to untangle my feet for some "tango-ing"
hbg

in the meantime , why not listen to some...TANGO MUSIC... !

friday , march 31 and april 1 : buenos aires

ship's log :
march 31 - 2:29 am - pilot onboard
6:38 am - docked

april 1 - 7:07 pm - unmoored
9:44 pm - pilot off
----------------------------------------------------
buenos aires certainly is quite a beautiful city - despite all its squalor !
the morning of the 31st we made a bustour of the city and had stops along the way .
our first stop was at the cathedral . i put put my camera away ...
as we were coming up to the cathedral a group of soldiers with rifles and bayonets fixed came goosestepping out of the cathedral !
i thought another revolution had started , but no one seemed to pay attention to this spectacle !
when we entered the church , i saw that one soldier had been left behind and that he was standing at attention at one of the shrines .
i took a quick shot - with the camera - but it didn't turn out very well .

(thumbnails)


one of the many "doll shrines " in the cathedral .


next stop : the buiding from where evita addressed the thousands of people that would assemble to hear her - it's pretty well deserted now !





broad avenues lead into the centre of buenos aires


we made a lenghty stop in the artists' colony of b.a. - there wasn't much action yet . it was before noon and the locals like to sleep in we were told .









monument honouring the volunteer firefighters - they had a stand set up selling hats and trinkets . tourists were going home wearing t-shirts reading : b.a. volunteer firefighters (probably in spanish

april 1
we had no organized tour booked for april 1 .
instead , we used the "FREE" limousine service by h. stern , diamond merchants . we were driven to the store , looked at the jewellery, picked up our gift (i like it when they say "free gift" - are there any other gifts ?) , and since i had forgotten my credit card ( ) left by the backdoor for a walk through the city . they graciously took us back to the ship so we wouldn't miss lunch aboard !

(thumbnails)









after lunch we accepted another "free ride" to PATIO BULLRICH , the most opulent shopping centre in buenos aires .
we felt like a couple of farmers who had been dropped into civilization !
it was more more like visiting a "shopping cathedral" - the ceilings decorated with lavish paintings , the stores overflowing with the most expensive goods . you could outfit yourself for golf , polo , hunting - you name it , they have it - if you have the money !
unfortunately i had again left my credit card onboard the ship ( ) .






ship's log :
7:07 pm - unmoored
9:44 pm pilot off

we stayed up late and watched the stars - another beautiful evening
to and a great day !

montevideo tomorrow !

sunday , april 2 - montevideo , uruguay
ship's log :
- 5:24 am - pilot onboard
- 7:05 am - safely moored

we got up about 6:30 to get ready for our own tour of montevideo .
by about 7 am why stomach started to growl and a few minutes later the 'norwalk virus' paid me a visit ( ) .
well , that was it for montevideo !
some immodium pills and a glass of juice quieted things down somewhat , but we agreed that it would be foolish to leave the ship or even the cabin.
in the early afternoon i felt a little better and i had some white rice and boullion - what a delightful meal !

- 6:00 pm -all lines gone , unmoored
- 6:48 pm - pilot off , commence sea voyage

as we later found out , even the captain had an appointment with the 'norwalk virus' . we were told : 'the captain has a slight cold" - but the nurse let the full story out one night when we were on deck watching the lights of rio disappear .

april 3 + 4 we were sailing towards rio de janeiro in absolutely beautiful weather .
from the ship's log :
moderate breeze , moderate seas , partly cloudy .

just the kind of weather to get the batteries recharged , relax in a deckchair , read a book , watch the waves rolling along , now and then a bird flies by ... peace !

wednesday , april 5 , rio de janeiro
ship's log : 11:00 pm (april 4) - pilot aboard
2:00 am - docked

while most passengers left the ship in rio , it was the half-way point of the
cruise for us .
the captain wanted all passengers to leave the ship for a thorough clean-up .
only about 60 passengers were staying on the ship to continue the cruise to
lisbon . (new passengers came aboard for the crossing and all cabins were
filled when we left rio ). we were offered an all-day tour of rio with
lunch 'free of charge' to entice us to leave the ship for the day .
that offer was hard to refuse since it would have cost us US$200 pp for the
tour . so at 8 am we were ready for the tour - and a great tour it was !

after a two hour tour of the highlights of rio , we stopped for a tour
of 'cristo redentor' .
we took the cog-railway partway up the mountain and ascended by elevator to
the platform for a great view of rio .

(thumbnails)










englishman's hill station






'sugarloaf mountain appearing out of the morning mist'









waiting for the cog-railway to take us down again



sugarloaf mountain in the background ,
the little blue speck about half-way up the left mountain is a 'paraglider' ,
hope he said some prayers at 'cristo redentor' first !



not many locals on the beach , 'it's too cold for them '






look for the paraglider !



enjoying a great seafood lunch courtesy of 'holland-america line'



after lunch it's off to 'sugarloaf mountain' ,
the ascent is by way of two cable cars ,
the first goes to the intermediate platform , the next one goes to the top ,
when looking at the pictures , mrs h said : 'did we go up there ?
i don't think i realized how we would get up there ,
i'll never again do that !'



looking out of the cable-car






we came up that way ? AHHHRRRG !












the cablecar - the only way to get down - or the paragleder !



we were back aboard by 5 pm . what a great day is was !
the pilot is ready to guide the 'rotterdam' out of the harbour



good bye , rio !


we stood on deck for about an hour - rio slowly disappeared in the mist .

ship's log :
- 5:00 pm - port pilot aboard
- 5:17 pm - unmoored
- 5:54 pm - commenced sea voyage

I thought Rio was the most amazingly beautiful city, what a setting!! Great to have some reminders of it here.

hi , clary !
yes, rio sure is a beautiful city - just wouldn't want to be a poor person living in rio . we noticed that the fares to get to 'cristo redentor' and the sugarloaf were quite high - didn't see any poor people up there !
remembering a funny incident :
as we were driving past the beautiful beach-hotels , someone asked about 'motels" . our guide , a young and beautiful women couldn't stop laughing . she explained that 'motels' can only be rented by the hour . at that moment we were passing a motel with the name 'sin hotel' (in english !) . she pointed to it and said : "see , i told you !" . much laughter !
hbg

friday , april 7 - salvador , brazil
ship's log : 82 am - safely docked
5:56 pm - unmoored
8:00 pm - commenced sea voyage

arrived in 'salvador' - sao salvador de baia de todos os santos - holy saviour
of all saints' bay - quite a mouthful
it's all called 'the fortress city' ,
it is the capital of bahia province ,
the city has 365 churches , one for each day of the year - i didn't count
them !

entering the harbour , the city is rather grim and run-down looking -
this part is called 'lower town ,
the nicer part of the city is called 'upper town' - how appropriate !

(thumbnails)

lower town , just opposite the docks





the first elevator built in brazil taking you from lower town to upper town


the municipal market , you want it , they got it
mrs h bought some nice embroidered tablecloths - hope they are not from china



near the lower town is a rather nice beach area



an upcoming thunderstorm produced a rather unusual picture ,
after a short but heavy shower the sun came out again ,
i'm glad i took the picture





the 'rotterdam' sailed at 6 pm ,
on one side a beautiful sunset ,
on the other side the dock-lights make a beautiful display




...and away we sail
tomorrow a lazy day at sea
sunday we arrive in 'recife'

nice

<did I really look at all of these? I don't recall them all>

sunday , april 9 - recife , brazil
ship's log : 6:10 am - port pilot aboard
7:07 am - safely docked
9:56 pm - unmoored

recife is our last port of call in south-america .
in two days will be crossing the equator - message from captain : watch for bump when crossing
recife was a bit of a letdown ; since it was sunday not many places were open . brazilians like to enjoy sundays with family and friends rather than work .
particular on sunday morning it looked as if the city was empty !
brazilians like to enjoy saturday night parties and probably didn't go to bed before sunrise , we were told .
also , after buenos aires and rio this was just a provincial town - we are becoming jaded !.

a rather grey morning greets us


we were taken to an empty shopping centre ,
madam flozinha had some nice clothes exhibited , but the store was closed !
no opportunity to spend much money



in the afternoon we were taken on a tour of the city .
we visited a small and very exquisite park and museum ;
it was the 'brennand museo' that belongs to the family and is established in an old brick factory , right next to a tile factory .
it had an extensive collection of old brazilian prints .


















we were back aboard by 5 pm and after "another" wonderful dinner went to see the floorshow . and we were out on deck by 9 pm to see south-america slide away in the dark .

three days at sea , next port of call will be "mindelo , cape verde islands " on thursday , april 13 .

I had trouble getting the thunderstorm/sun one to show up...

loved the last photo of the first batch on this page...

continue to enjoy seeing all of this, especially places I've heard of but not imagined, like Recife...

hi , ossobucco !
glad you like the pix . i have to admit that seeing the pix now , really brings back the memories . much of it went by much too fast and i'd forgotten much of what we saw .
i've reloaded the the sunset pix and tested it . it seems to work fine from here . pls let me know if it still doesn't work . i think i should be able to post it full-size .
btw we are having ossobucco for lunch ; it's one of my favourites .
take care !
hbg

april 10 , 11 and 12 - at sea
ship's log : gentle to moderate breeze , slight to moderate seas ,
partly cloudy skies

april 13 around noon we'll arrive at the cape verde islands ;
so in the meantime we can relax and make our own entertainment , go dancing , see the floorshow at night ... and sample the food that's amply provided , nobody need to go hungry !

since we were crossing the equator - the 'line crossing' , the obligatory baptism had to be performed .
of course , this also provided good entertainment for everyone .
king neptun came aboard , was greeted by the captain and performed his duties .
and all were issued with the official 'line crossing' certificate !

(thumbnails)
the captain and his officers are going to receive 'king neptun'


the candidates are being led (dragged) to king neptun's court


king neptune is ready to receive the candidates


candidate being examined by king neptun


a liberal dose of leftover spaghetti and sauce is considered an appropriate 'baptism' ointment .
let's hope the leftover of the leftover don't appear on tonight's menu


...followed by a dunking in the pool


a 'nurse' stands by to ensure the dunking is complete


...no one was interested in using the pool in the afternoon !

april 10 to 13 - lazy days at sea !

(thumbnails)
a favourite spot on the promenade deck


we never get tired of watching the ocean and the waves









sunset in all of its beauty - time to dress for dinner



april 13 - cape verde islands - one of the rocks appears out of the haze ,
after three days at sea we felt like 'old salts' getting ready for shore leave after three MONTHS at sea !

Hi, m & mrs hamburger

it is really GREAT!!

your diary combined with the images makes me thinking i did the voyage myself. hope to enjoy the last part - after having crossed the atlantic - soon.

greetings across the ocean seevetaler

hello , seevetaler ! welcome to a2k !
glad to see you joined this 'illustrious' group !
more images will be posted later this week .
hbg

Seevetaler!

Welcome to Able2Know.

It's marvellous to find you posting here.

~~~~~~~

You can find something of the hamburger's earlier adventures here

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2044661#2044661

( waving at the Seevetaler clan from Toronto )