East London, South Africa

East London is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa, situated at 32.97°S and 27.87°E in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and hosts the country’s only river port. East London today has a population of over 400 000, with over 1.4 million in the metropolitan area.

East London Town Hall

We enjoyed going Hemingways Mall which was built three years ago.

Easter, Orient and Nehoon beaches are popular attractions; Bonza Bay and Nahoon offer ideal conditions for boardsailing while Nahoon reef is an internationally noted surfing destination.

The Ann Bryant Art Gallery has an invaluable collection of works of English and South African Artists.

The East London Museum focuses on natural and cultural history of the border area. Among its displays are a gallery devoted to the coelacanth, comprehensive collections focusing on South African fish and seashells and ethnographic collections focusing on the Xhosa-speaking people.

East London’s Steve Biko Memorial commemorates the death of the father of the Black Consciousness Movement, who died in police custody from injuries he sustained during interrogation in Port Elizabeth in 1977.

Durban, South Africa

Durban South Africa

 

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is also the third largest city in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism because of the city’s warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. The municipality, which includes neighbouring towns, has a population of almost 3.5 million, making the combined municipality the biggest city on the east coast of the African continent. The metropolitan land area of 2,292 square kilometres (885 sq mi) is comparatively larger than other South African cities, resulting in a somewhat lower population density of 1,513 /km2 (3,920 /sq mi).

We were able to take a free shuttle to uShaka Marine Park on the north beaches. From there we took a taxis and hopped aboard a Viatour bus for a 3 hour tour of the City ( 100 Rand or 12 dollars). It was great. Unlike the hop-on hop-off tours we have taken previously, this tour stopped only once for a ‘refreshment’ break.

At the end of the tour we were dropped off at uShaka Marine Park. This marine park is unlike any park we had ever seen.

uShaka

uShaka Marine Park

On the site there is a huge refurbished freighter that has been converted into two restaurants where diners sit in booths adjacent to massive salt-water aquariums and all manner of sea life.

The Umgeni River Bird park has over 3,000 exotoc birds as well as 4 waterfalls.

Durban has a huge Indian population, descendants of laborers brought in by the British to work the sugarcane fields in the latter 19th century (young Mohandas Gandhi lived in Durban for twenty years of his life.

Sue and I spent some time at a restaurant on a pier watching the surfers and swimmers.

It is a very picturesque City …..

Vasco Da Gama

Golden Mile in Durban

…but does have its problems as well. Below is a building that acts as a church and a supermarket.

We had previously cruised with MSC (Poesia) and it was interesting to see one of the administrative buildings.

MSC Head Office

Cape Town, South Africa

Nautica

Our flight from Buenos Aires left at 6:00 pm and took just 9 hours of flying time to Johannesberg, South Africa. We landed at 8:00 am South Africa time in the International Terminal and had to make our connecting flight to Cape Town at 10:00 am. We were hoping that our luggage would be transferred directly through to our final destination, Cape Town. However, since JoBerg was our point of entry into South Africa, we had to retrieve our luggage an go through Customs & Immigration with our luggage then tag & dump the luggage into the ‘drop bag’ system with the hopes that it would make the next connection.

We then proceeded to try and find our gate (E2) in the Domestic Terminal. We found it in the basement of the airport, no staff at the gate, and only a few people sitting in chairs looking out the basement windows at the large transport buses going by. About 15 minutes before we were to load the plane, a mass of people showed up and about 5 large transport buses. We were driven around the fairly large airport to the plane and climbed three sets of chairs with our four pieces of carry-on luggage. The flight was uneventful. We arrived in Cape town at noon. The Cape Town airport was modernized just before the 2010 World Cup and is really very nice.

All of our luggage arrived very quickly and we were met by two staff from Oceania who drove us to the ship, Nautica. While en route they gave us a very quick tour of Cape Town that was very helpful and informative.

Nautica was docked at the very impressive Victoria & Alfred Mall Waterfront complex. The mall has over 400 stores and is modern as we had ever seen.

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa after Johannesburg, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape.

As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is also Africa’s most popular tourist destination.

Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa. Today it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. As of 2011 the metropolitan region had an estimated population of 3.74 million.

The city was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.

We are going shopping. Sue is doing the happy dance.

However, by this time, we had not slept for a very long time and we crashed after boarding the ship and sorting out all of our luggage.

We slept 12 hours and immediately jumped up and hopped on the Hop On Hop Off bus and toured the cape for 2.5 hours. ( Downtown Cape Town, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Hout Bay, Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, Sea Point Three Anchors Bay )

After the tour, we headed for Victoria & Alfred shopping complex and set about to re-provision for the next part of our journey.

Kirstenbosch Gardens

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after Greater São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent. Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the third-largest conurbation in Latin America, with a population of around thirteen million.

The city of Buenos Aires is not a part of Buenos Aires Province, nor is it the Province’s capital, but an autonomous district. In 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalised and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores (both are currently neighborhoods of the city). The 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (Autonomous City of Buenos Aires). Its citizens first elected a Chief of Government (i.e. Mayor) in 1996; before, the Mayor was directly appointed by the President of the Republic.

Buenos Aires is rated one of the 20 largest cities in the world. It is, along with São Paulo and Mexico City, one of the three Latin American cities alpha category for the study GaWC5 and has been ranked as the most important global city and competitive marketplace of Latin America. Buenos Aires has the best quality of life in Latin America, ranked at 61st in the world and its per capita income is among the three highest in the region.It is the most visited city in South America, and most important, largest and most populous of South American capitals as well as the Latin American Documentary “United by History” is the Paris of South America.

Buenos Aires

People from Buenos Aires are referred to as porteños (people of the port).Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, and is known for its European style architecture and rich cultural life, with the highest concentration of theatres in the world.

Buenos Aires is currently bidding to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.

We elected to disembark the ship as an early ‘walk-off’. This allowed us to stay close and in control of our luggage.

Originally we had planned to have a car ready tp pick us up at 9:00 am but later decided that it would be best to have the pick-up time delayed by an hour. The car was waiting at the agreed upon time and we travelled for an hour through the City to the International Airport (EZE). The City really lives up to its name. It is a sprawling metropolis with mile upon mile of high-rise apartments that appear to have been built in the 1950’s.

We are presently in the Business Class lounge and our flight on South African Airways leaves at 5:55 PM and arrives in Johannesberg at 8am Terminal A for a very tight connection to Cape Town that leaves at 10 am from Terminal B. The wrinkle…is that were advised by SAA staff we will have to pick up our luggage and go through immigration before we can check the luggage on the connecting flight.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo, Uruguay

Uruguay, like much of neighbouring Argentina, is a country of grassy prairies interrupted only by scattered patches of scrubby woodland.

The grasslands extend into the northern third of Argentina and together these areas comprise one of the world’s great grasslands – the Pampas.

As in the Ukraine and in our own Grain Belt, the Pampas has the deep, rich soils required for high yields of grasses and cereal grains. Breadbasket of South America, the region is densely populated; what land is not under cultivation supports large herds of livestock.

The soil is up to a 1,000 feet deep and a large amount of clay in the soils stops the runoff of water and the formation of shallow lakes and ponds. In the spring, the landscape is a carpet of lush green grasses stretching for hundreds of miles

Montevideo is a large city with an area population of 1,800,000. It is relatively small when compared to Sao Paulo ( 20,000,000 ), Rio (9,000,000) and Buenos Aires ( 10,000,000).

The residents of Montevideo are almost all of European extraction, chiefly Spanish and Italian.

Uruguay has often been called the “Switzerland of South America”, primarily because of its small size, and its once high standard of living and its extraordinarily democratic institutions.

Social programs that are unparalled on the continent and when promulgated were more advanced than reforms in the hemisphere including the United States and Canada: an eight hour work day, paid holidays, social security, free medical treatment, nationalization of essential industries and servces, abolishment of capital punishment, separation of church and state, etc…

We had originally planned to take a four-hour City tour of the City with Princess at a cost $138 pp. Our previous experience was that you spend a lot of time waiting for the tour guides to organize and assist the least capable in the group while the majority sit with a ‘slow burn’. Instead, we walked off the ship and immediately boarded a double-decker open-air Hop On Hop Off bus for a three hour tour at a cost of $20 pp.

It was perfect for our needs.

We were able to see most of the historic monuments and buildings, tour upscale residential neighbourhoods, and go along the beach area, which is very much like the West End of Vancouver, only much larger.

The temperature was 27 C and was very comfortable. The City feels very safe and its people were very friendly everywhere we went. It was definitely the highlight of our trip so far.

We are now packing for our disembarkation tomorrow morning at 9 am. There is presently a 6 hour time difference between here and Vancouver. When we travel the few miles across the River Plat from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, we gain an hour and have to remember to set our clocks accordingly.

Puerto Madryn

After a day at sea enduring the ‘rolling 40’s’ waves, heavy rains; and celebrating New Years Eve, we arrived in sunny Puerto Madryn.

(It was interesting to hear from Princess staff that New Years Eve is financially a make or break evening for the cruise to make money. We noticed, that despite heavy seas, the ship had slowed from a speed of 20 knots to 15 knots and had fully engaged the stabilizers. At dinner, we could see huge waves rolling by the window yet the ship was very stabile. Staff commented that it was important on New Year’s Eve to have everyone enjoying themselves and ordering Champagne and not being seasick.)

The small City of 100,000 is about halfway between Buenos Aires and Cape Horn.

The City is of moderate interest, but it is the jumping off point for two of the most spectacular wildlife settings in the world: Peninsula Valdes and Punta Tombo.

Punta Valdes is an arid low-lying, goblet shaped peninsula attached to the mainland by a thread of land. It is the site of Salina Grande, a glistening white salt flat which, at 132 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in South America, Argentina’s equivalent of California’s Death Valley.

Welsh influence is pervasive in this part of Patagonia, where you can still hear the language spoken in the streets. There are Welsh tea shops and Church of England religious services being held on a regular basis.

The harbour is dominated by a huge smelter that produces Aluminum from Bauxite ore shipped from Australia, Suriname and other countries. Hydroelectric dams in the Andes produce the energy needed for such an operation.

The waterfront is lined with an expansive promenade, a wide boulevard, and cafes and hotels. Unfortunately, we arrived on New Year’s Day (January 1, 2013) and found most businesses closed.

We walked most of the streets in the City with Mel Ross ( a friend of our next door neighbours Bryon & Ginny Lawes in Richmond BC ) and had coffee at an upscale barrista.

Tomorrow is a ‘day at sea before arriving in Montevideo and disembarking in Buenos Aires ( 5 am Arrival) the following day. This day at sea will allow us time to pack. We still have not heard formally from Princess as to whether or not our trip will be disrupted because of the ongoing political tension between Argentina and the UK. We were previously advised in writing by Princess that there was the possibility that we may not end our trip in Buenos Aires. We have to assumed that we will not have to make alternate arrangements to take a high speed ferry from Colonia del Sacramento (just north of Montevideo) to Buenos Aires in order to catch our flight from Aeropuerto Internacional de Ezeiza: Ministro Pistarini (EZE) on Friday, January 4, 2013 at 5:50 pm on South African Airways to Johannesberg ( 9 hours) and then on to Cape Town. We arrive in Johannesberg at 8:00 am local time and at noon in Cape Town on January 5. Our next cruise to Hong Kong on Oceania’s Nautica leaves at 8:00 pm on January 6^th.

We expect that it will increasingly hectic over the next few days.

Stay tuned.

Port Stanley, Falklands

Port Falklands Weather

Today, Stanley is the main shopping centre on the islands and the hub of East Falkland’s road network. Attractions include the Falkland Islands Museum, Government House – built in 1845 and home to the Governor of the Falkland Islands (currently Nigel Haywood) – and a golf course, as well as a whalebone arch, a totem pole, several war memorialsand the shipwrecks in its harbour. The Falkland Islands Company owns several shops and a hotel. Stanley has four pubs, eleven hotels & guesthouses, three restaurants, a fish and chip shop and the main tourist office. There are three churches including the AnglicanChrist Church Cathedral, the southernmost cathedral in the world. A bomb disposal unit in the town is a legacy of the Falklands War.

The town hall serves as a post office, philatelic bureau, law court and dance hall. The police station also contains the islands’ only prison, with a capacity of thirteen in the cells.

The community centre includes a swimming pool (the only public one in the islands), a sports centre, library, and school. A grass football pitch is located by the community centre and hosts regular games.

Stanley Racecourse, located on the west side of Stanley, holds a two-day horse racing meeting every year on 26 and 27 December. The Christmas races have been held here for over one hundred years.

Stanley Golf Course has an 18 hole course and a club house. It is also located to the west of Stanley.

King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is the islands’ main hospital, with doctors’ practice and surgery, radiology department, dental surgery and emergency facilities.

Several bus and taxi companies operate out of Stanley.

Stanley is also home to the Falkland Islands Radio Station (FIRS), the Stanley office of theBritish Antarctic Survey, and the office of the weekly Penguin News newspaper.

A nursery and garden centre is also here, in whose greenhouses some of the islands’ vegetables are grown.

The Falkland Islands ( or Islas Malvinas as they are known in Argentina) are a British protectorate.

The short bitter conflict between the UK and Argentina started in April 1982.

“In April, 1982, Argentine Special Forces invaded the islands and met fierce resistance from the Royal Marines, in particular of the defence of Government House. Argentine reinforcementswho followed later though were poorly trained and equipped. By June of the same yearArgentine forces were defeated, setting the stage for the collapse of the military regime.”

The conflict resulted in the restoration of constitutional democracy in Argentina. Although, billboards throughout the country still declare “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” or the Malvinas are Argentine.

Much of the flatter land is boggy, making overland travel arduous. The bogs have a positive in that they provide an important source of peat.

The climate is not bitterly cold (as seen in the above chart), although frost can occur at any time of the year much to the chagrin of gardeners. The islands are at the same latitude south as London, England, is north and the temperature rarely drops below 12 F. It rains or snows lightly about 250 days of the year and gales are frequent. Calm and sunny days are rare. We have arrived in heavy rain, fog and the temperature is 6 C. There is a British warship at the entrance to the harbour.

The Captain of the Star Princess has advised us that the tender to Port Stanley will take between 30 to 45 minutes, that the seas are rough and the weather is expected to worsen. (Sue is having a massage at the Spa).

The islands are a paradise for bird-watchers with 120 species being counted and half being resident.

Sport fishing for sea trout (sea-run brown trout) is said to be excellent.

The 1982 “War” Memorial was designed by a Falklander, paid for by public subscription and built by volunteer labour. ( There was technically no war between Argentina and the UK since neither had officially declared war)

Princess still has not advised us as to whether or not we will be able to disembark in Buenos Aires and make our flight connection to Cape Town, South Africa. Nancy our great travel agent with Cruise Holidays White Rock was able to amend our car pick-up time in BA from 9:00 am to 10:30 am. She has also suggested, as an option, that we could disembark the day before in Montevideo and stay in the small town of Colonia which is adjacent to the high speed ferries between Uruguay and BA Argentina. We are still “at sea” as to what will happen.

We leave the Falklands and head for Puerto Madryn after a day at sea ( and New Year’s Eve). The weather in Puerto Madryn from the internet appears to be much warmer (23C). We look forward to the warmth and sunny skies after a week of rain……

The tender ashore was very rough. The locals told us that it had snowed on Christmas day ( usually the warmest day of the year ) and that it had rained for 14 days in a row. They thought that the weather was changing because of ‘global warming’.

Cruising Cape Horn

Upon departure from Ushuaia at 10:00 pm, the Star Princess navigated towards Cape Horn. We stopped just outside the harbour of Port Williams remaining in position with its engines, just for enough time to allow the Chilean Immigration Officials onboard since Puerto Arenas to get clearance for the transit.

Early Saturday morning, now out in the Atlantic Ocean, Star Princess followed a westerly course towards Hornos Island and circled the island for an hour.

Cape Horn is the most southerly point of south america and marks the boundary of Drake Passage; this is the strait between South America and Antarctica.

After we circumnavigated Hornos Island we headed in a north north-easterly direction to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

The temperature was 5 C.

We are told that the temperature in the Falkland Islands will be about 9C and that by the time we reach Puerto Montt it will be in the low 20’sC and and the low 30’s C in Montevideo.

Cape Horn

Ushuaia, Argentina

Ushuaia is the capital of Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina.

Ushuaia Argentina

It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world (a title long disputed by smaller Puerto Williams). Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. It is the only municipality in the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of 9,390 km2 (3,625 sq mi).

Our journey from Puerto Arenas was relatively smooth. By 8 am, we were in a narrow passage referred to as Glacier Alley, with eight large glaciers lining the port side of the ship (our side).

The Captain planned to arrive at Ushuaia at 2 pm to ensure full-tide for the ship and allow us to disembark by way of a gangway rather than a tender. We leave the City at 10:00 pm. Sunset is at 10:15 pm. The high temperature today is expected to be 10C with overcast skies, no rain.

Ushuaia was born as a mission town, then became an Argentine naval base, then a convict colony and today is a bustling City of 80,000 that claims to be the southern most city on earth.

It is the jump-off point for many Antarctica expeditions and and is the southern terminus of the Panamerican highway, literally the end of the road. It is the capital of the island of Tierra del Fuego; and it is one of the most expensive cities in Argentina.

It is spectacular in its location overlooking the Beagle Channel, named for the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery in 1831-36.

The appearance of the town is vaguely Russian and is similar to that of Sitka Alaska. Both are about 55 degrees north and south.

Argentina has three flightless birds; the penguin, the ostrich-like Rhea and the steamer duck.

Beavers and rabbits were introduced to the area in the 1950’s and quickly became a problem for ranchers. Sheepmen have tried with little success to reduce the number of rabbits with poison gas and a disease specific to rabbits, myxomitosis.

Princess has suggested that passengers do not wear any clothing in town that bears a logo of the Falkland Islands, due to the ongoing political issues between the UK and Argentina.

Punta Arenas, Chile

Punta Arenas (English: “Sandy Point”) is a commune and the capital city of Chile’s southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. The city was officially renamed Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to Punta Arenas. It is the largest city south of the 46th parallel south. As of 1977 Punta Arenas has been one of only two free ports in Chile.

Located on the north shore of the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas was originally established in 1848 as a tiny penal colony. During the remainder of the 1800s Punta Arenas grew in size and importance due to the increasing maritime traffic and trade destined to the west coast of both South and North America. This period of growth also coincided with the a gold rush and sheep farming boom in the 1880s and early 1900’s. Chile effectively used Punta Arenas to firm up its sovereignty in this southernmost part of South America, which led to the Strait of Magellan subsequently being recognized as Chilean territory in the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. The geopolitical importance of Punta Arenas has remained high in the 20th and 21st centuries because of its logistic importance in accessing the Antarctic Peninsula.