August 23, 2025 (Bergen, Norway – Part II) Welcome to Bergen! Situated on the peninsula of Bergenshalvoyen and surrounded by seven hills and seven mountains, Bergen serves as Norway’s international center for agriculture, shipping, subsea technology and its offshore petroleum industry. It is also Norway’s national center for higher education, media, tourism and finance. Following…

August 23, 2025 (Bergen, Norway – Part I) There is much to explore within the city of Bergen – history, architecture, art, shopping, FOOD! – but we’ll be saving that for later in the day. And because there is so much to explore, we’re breaking today’s post into two parts, beginning with the a.m. activities.…

Our last day of the cruise was spent in Bergen, Norway. Pam had never been before, but Ken was here in 2022 when, as we mentioned in an earlier post for this cruise, Pam had to leave for a family matter. Here’s what Ken had to say about that visit… Bergen is the second largest…

August 22, 2025 (Geiranger, Norway) The Geirangerfjord in western Norway is home to some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve ever seen – not just on this cruise, but ever – and snuggled into that scenery at the head of the fjord is breathtakingly beautiful Geirganger, Norway. Named Best Travel Destination of Scandinavia multiple times…

In June 2022 We began a Viking Cruise similar to the one we are doing today with our friends Keith and Kathy Snider. Unfortunately, a family emergency led Pam to the leave the cruise early and Ken continued on without her (for a bit; he would soon join her in Ohio). One of the places…

August 20, 2025 Today we are in Leknes, the trading and shopping center of Lofoten, an archipelago in Northern Norway known for its towering mountains, deep fjords and picturesque fishing villages. This is not the Lofoten we saw. We were met with typical August weather for the area, cloudy skies and a near-constant rain. It…

August 19, 2025 (Narvik, Norway) Linked by rail to Sweden but not to any other town in Norway, Narvik might have gone completely unnoticed by the rest of the world were it not for its large ports that remain ice-free throughout the year. Prior to 1882 Narvik was a quiet little farming and fishing village…

August 18, 2025 (Tromso, Norway) With a population of nearly 80,000 Tromso is the first “proper” city we’ve visited since we left New York. Its many artistic and musical offerings have earned it the nickname Paris of the North, and its world-class university may explain part of its cultural diversity. The city boasts a population…

August 17, 2025 (Honningsvag, Norway) Welcome to Honningsvag, our second favorite stop in this Artic journey. We were here once before, in July 2022, and visited the North Cape, the farthest point north on the European continent. You can click on this link https://jodockworldtravel.com/2022/07/04/honningsvag-nordkapp-norway/ to learn more about that visit. This time we wanted to…

August 15, 2025 (Longyearbyen, Norway – Day 2) Mining is where it all started for Longyearbyen. Workers drawn by the promise of high wages moved themselves and their families here, mostly from other areas of Norway, even before Longyearbyen was officially part of Norway. It is the main reason that sixty-six percent of this town…

August 14, 2025 We woke this morning to a string of texts from Ken’s family debating which of the following two sunsets was best – the first one having occurred in Texas as a storm was rolling in; the second in Arizona. We’ll let you decide, since I don’t think they ever did. Meanwhile, we…

August 11, 2025 (Isafjordur, Iceland) We’re baaaack! We are back in Isafjordur, where we made an initial visit just six days ago on August 5th. Having already explored the local area and town on our previous visit, this time around we opted for a 4-wheel drive adventure to the jewel of Westfjords, Dynjandi Waterfalls, and…

August 10, 2025 (Reykjavik, Iceland) …move on to Plan B! We were looking forward to today’s outing, an all-day tour of the Golden Circle in Reykjavik, Iceland. The Golden Circle is a 190-mile route that includes a national park that sits where the North America and Eurasia tectonic plates meet, a geothermal area home to…

August 9, 2025 Visitors arriving on Heimaey’s sunny shores today would never imagine the horror visited upon it slightly more than fifty years ago. This capital of Atlantic Puffins (some say the population of puffins can outnumber people by a ratio of 1,777 to one!) and the only populated island in all of Iceland’s Western…

August 8, 2025 “Valley of Waterfalls.” That was the title of today’s tour – and we did see waterfalls, but it seems to us that the entirety of Iceland could claim this title. Everywhere we look in all of these towns surrounded by towering fjords there are waterfalls. It’s a bit like churches or castles…

August 7, 2025 In the innermost corner of a fjord in Eastern Iceland lies a picturesque town of the same name with 680 residents living an idyllic life amid constant threat of landslides and avalanches. The 100 or so students who live there share classrooms with multiple grade levels and more and more often go…

August 6, 2025 The Diamond Circle is a 155-mile loop in North Iceland that begins and ends in Akureyri (pronounced ah-koo-ray-ee), Iceland. It connects geothermal hot springs, a community rich in whale watching history, and Europe’s second most powerful waterfall with vast lava fields for a varied and scenic journey. Akureyri is the largest town…

August 5, 2025 Welcome to Iceland, a country smaller than our own U.S. state of Kentucky, the least populated NATO country, and the only member without a standing Army. It is also a country that consistently receives high marks for international comparisons of quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, government transparency and economic…

August 4, 2025 Our itinerary tonight takes us from Nanortalik, Greenland to Isafjordur, Iceland, a straight shot across the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately for us, Viking chose a more round-about route through Prince Christian Sound, affording us 60 miles of amazing views of fjords, glaciers and canyons. Prince Christian Sound separates mainland Greenland from the Cape…

August 3, 2025 Famous for its stunning natural landscapes and recognized as the southernmost city of Greenland, Nanortalik sits quietly atop an enormous island of granite, metavolcanic rock and metasediment. Its name literally means “the place of polar bears.” No, we did not see any during our visit, but in the winter months they live…

August 2, 2025 When Pam was researching Qaqortoq (pronounced Kah-core-tok) in preparation for this cruise she was particularly struck by the promotional article that used the following pitch: “Whether you’re interested in sampling local cuisine, viewing ancient Viking ruins, or paddling a kayak around icebergs…” “Ken’s gonna love this, ” she thought. And as we…

August 1, 2025 Today is our third day at sea. We were originally scheduled to have one day at sea after Halifax followed by a stop in Newfoundland, but one of the passengers had a medical emergency on the way there and because of the limited healthcare available in Newfoundland we had to return to…

July 29, 2025 We woke this morning enveloped by a fog so thick we could barely see the rails of our stateroom balcony. The result of the interaction of warm, moist air from the St. Lawrence River mixing with the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean routinely creates such an environment, and we were wondering…

July 25-27, 2025 This weekend we are back in one of our favorite cities – New York! With a scheduled arrival time of 4:00 p.m. we were confident we would have no problem getting to our hotel and fitting in dinner before making a 7:00 p.m. performance of Hell’s Kitchen, a play loosely based on…

Summer 2025 It’s another summer of travel for the senior Jodocks. After a quick stop in early June for our oldest grandson, Dillon’s, graduation… …we met up with our oldest daughter, Jenn, and her husband, Michael, in Vegas for a Kenny Chesney concert at The Sphere. Our short weekend visit included stops at the gardens…

December 27-31, 2024 Not quite 36 hours after leaving Johannesburg, South Africa we arrived safe and sound in Orlando, FL. We thoroughly enjoyed the first-class travel arranged by Regent, and greatly appreciated the fully appointed executive lounges we were able to access during our long layovers. Air Canada’s First-Class digs were without doubt our favorite!…

December 25, 2024 Another perfect morning here in Botswana, and none of us is anxious to leave.  We’re wondering why we can’t just fly home from here tomorrow instead of Johannesburg.  The staff have been fantastic, the food is delicious, and the location is picture perfect. Pam, Ken, and Karen soak up as much of…

December 24, 2024 This will be our last full day in Botswana.  Tomorrow morning we will pack up and head to Johannesburg in preparation for our return flight home. We begin with an early morning game drive, which Karen elects to skip.  That comfy bed and deep tub were just calling her name this morning. …

December 23, 2024 (Part II) It’s about a 30-minute drive from the Victoria Falls Lodge to the Zimbabwe-Botswana border.  We are advised that pictures are not allowed.  When we arrive, our luggage will be transferred to our new escort’s rig while we are getting our passports stamped.  It all goes very smoothly.  We step outside…

December 23, 2024 For Ken today is what this trip has been all about – everything else has just been dressing.  Having seen Niagara and Iguazu Falls he is anxious to see how Victoria Falls stacks up.  The three are often compared to one another and each has its own unique characteristic that makes it…

December 22, 2024 Following breakfast at the hotel our post-cruise group of four gathered in the hotel lobby for transfer to the airport for our flight to Zimbabwe and a visit to Victoria Falls. We were surprised yesterday when there were only four of us on the city tour and thought perhaps Regent had divided…

December 21, 2022 Beautiful views and mostly clear skies greeted us as we pulled into CapeTown this morning around 6:00 a.m., an early indication of how different this experience of Cape Town would be from our initial introduction to it a little over two weeks ago.  Today’s guide has lived his entire 53 years here…

December 20, 2024 After 14 days, six ports of call, and 3,665 nautical miles, it’s time to bid our ship a fond farewell. We spent the afternoon packing, enjoyed our last dinner in the main dining room and spent our evening saying good-bye to all of Aunt Dori’s boyfriends and our favorite crew members, and…

December 20, 2024 What?  An ostrich what?  Whoever heard of going on a safari to see ostriches???  But that’s exactly what we did!  Mossel (aka Mussel) Bay is without doubt the nicest port we’ve visited, and this was definitely the most enjoyable tour of our cruise thus far.  The ship is unable to dock in…

December 18, 2024 Hluhluwe-Imfolozi (say that three times fast!  Pam can’t even get it out once!!) Game Reserve is one of the oldest reserves in Africa. It was opened in 1895 and covers over 230,000 acres. Characterized by rolling hills and open spaces, its original focus was the saving of the white rhino.  At the…

December 17, 2024 Our travels through the Indian Ocean have brought us back to the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, this time to the town of Richard’s Bay.  Relatively new (opened in April of 1976), Richard’s Bay is home to one of the world’s deepest natural harbors, making it an ideal location for South Africa’s largest port. …

December 15, 2024 We were supposed to be strolling the wide boulevards of Mozambique’s lovely capital tomorrow, stopping at must-see attractions like their ornate train station, bustling central market and 18th-century fortress, enjoying a demitasse of espresso and signature Maputo delicacy called pastels de nata (a pastry that comes from Portugal, where we first tried…

December 14, 2024 Later that afternoon we boarded a coach for a city tour.  Durban claims about 3.4 million residents, a little more than twenty percent of which live in Durban proper.  Aunt Dori has been battling a cold, so she opted to stay in and get some much-needed rest. During Apartheid Black people were…

We have spent the last several days zig-zagging our way along the southern-most coast of the African continent.  The map below shows our route.  We began in Cape Town, traveled north on the Atlantic to Walvis Bay, back south through the Cape of Good Hope to Port Elizabeth, and   then further northeast to Durban, where…

December 12, 2024 Officially founded as a port in 1820 by a British Army officer serving as the Cape’s governor at the time, Port Elizabeth was originally named after the governor’s deceased wife.  After centuries of colonia rule by various countries, South Africa – and the port –gained its independence.  In an effort to distance…

December 9, 2024 Namib-Naukluft National Park in Western Namibia was established in 1907 and includes some of the world’s oldest desert.  It claims the world’s tallest sand dunes, some of which rise as high as one thousand feet and is the largest game park in Africa.  Alas, that is not what we were here to…

December 8, 2024 We have officially left South Africa and are now in Namibia.  Namibia literally means “desert,” and that’s exactly what this area is.  In fact, it is the dryest country in all of the area of Africa located south of the Sahara Desert, even when it’s not in a massive drought.  At 318,772…

December 7, 2024 Friday, December 6th marked the beginning of  our first cruise with Regent Seven Seas, and our second with Aunt Dori.  She joined us for Pam’s 60th birthday cruise in 2023 but had her own cabin.  This time we’re sharing our space, and, thanks to the size of the Regence cabins, it’s working…

December 4, 2024 South Africa is the southernmost country on the African continent.  Bordered by Namibia to the northwest, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the north and Mozambique and Swaziland to the northeast and east, respectively, with coastlines that border the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest, it has three…

June 1, 2024 Although it is much smaller and considerably less grand than the Peles Castle we saw earlier this week, Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s Castle) is easily the most popular tourist attraction in all of Romania. On the day we were there it was teeming with visitors, not just those looking to tour the…

The journey to and from our next destination was almost as much fun as being there. After driving a short distance from Sighisoara, our bus dropped us off in an empty gravel lot. Our guide took us to an informal trail head in the far corner, which led us to a tree-lined path that wound…

May 31, 2024 Lunch was in Sighisoara, one of the most well-preserved medieval cities with people still living in it. There were once 27 towers like the one you see in the first picture, built to protect the town. Seven of the original towers remain. We were told the house with the antlers on the…

May 31, 2024 Finally! Today we visit Transylvania, Pam’s pseudo-home (years ago, when it was discovered Pam’s body wasn’t making blood, and she was still getting by on very little sleep her family declared her a vampire…we all know from Bram Stoker that vampires originated in Transylvania…) and a destination we’ve been looking forward to…

May 30, 2024 Seventy-seven miles north of Bucharest, nestled high in Romania’s dramatic Carpathian Mountains stands the most beautifully elegant castle we’ve visited this entire trip. Built between 1873 and 1914, Peles Castle reflects the German heritage of its original owners, King Carol I of Romania, and his wife, Queen Elisabeth. The King was brought…

May 29, 2024 The hour-and-a-half bus ride from our dock in Giurgui to today’s tour in Bucharest gave our guide ample time to educate us on current events in the area, especially as they pertain to Romania’s relationship with Ukraine. The view as we hit the highway provided the perfect set up. We apologize for…

May 28, 2024 A long and scenic drive through the rich and fertile farmlands of the valley and the steep limestone cliffs of northern Bulgaria delivered us from our ship’s port in Ruse to our first official stop in Arbanasi. As we traveled past field after field, we noted that there were no homes or…

May 27, 2024 Welcome to Bulgaria, where yes means no and no means yes, direct eye contact is everything and the people are formal but very friendly. We spent our morning exploring the Belogradchik Fortress, located on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains, and its famous rocks. The fortress was built during the Roman…

May 26, 2024 Each night while we’re at dinner our cabin steward turns down our bed and leaves the ship’s newsletter and our tickets for the next day’s excursion(s) on our bed. We always look at the tickets to remind ourselves what we signed up for almost a year ago and what time we need…

May 25, 2024 People in Belgrade could be forgiven if they sometimes forget where they live. The largest of all of Serbia cities, and currently its capital, has been the capital of a total of nine different countries over the last 150 years. Our tour guide, Tanya, is in her mid-40s. She has lived in…

May 24, 2024 There is something a little…unsettling…about visiting a country whose history includes a war that began and ended during your own early adulthood – a war you were only peripherally aware of through nightly news reports on the TV – at the same time another war is currently raging on this same continent…

May 23, 2024 In the central basin of Hungary lies very fertile marshland and a tiny town time has all but forgotten. The 16,000 or so Magyar descendants who live in the town of Kalocsa are working hard to remain relevant and preserve the heritage of which they are so proud. It is not known…

May 22, 2024 The sun was setting as we finished dinner on the outside dining space of the ship. The air was filled with anticipation. Our Cruise Director, Niki, had promised a spectacular show of city lights as we left the port tonight. Budapest did not disappoint, and Ken did a great job of capturing…

May 22, 2024 While Pam was working on the blog for Budapest Ken took a little walk, a walk that led him across the river and up the hill to that beautiful building we were admiring during dinner last night, the Hungarian National Gallery. Originally built in 1275 as a Royal Palace, the building and…

May 21, 2024 As we sail into Budapest in the early morning hours, we get a small taste of the history that awaits us. The country of Hungary is nearly the same size of our state of Indiana, but with about 3.2 million more people. History buffs may recall that it was not always so…

May 20, 2024 About 50 miles east of Vienna sits Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. Since gaining its independence from Czechoslovakia in 1992 its economy has grown, and they are currently under the governance of their first female president. Bratislava is known for its unique UFO bridge restaurant and quirky bronze statues. The UFO…

May 19, 2024 After a quick trip back to the ship for lunch we were off again, this time for a behind-the-scenes visit to the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. The Spanish Riding School of Vienna has been teaching students and horses the Renaissance tradition of “Haute Ecole” (high school) classical dressage for more than…

May 19, 2023 We have never seen so many beautiful buildings in one place, so Pam was shocked when she Googled “Most Beautiful Cities,” and found New York on this list but not Vienna. As far as we are concerned it definitely deserves the title. Vienna has a long history as an important center of…

May 18, 2024 Making our way further down the Danube towards our next stop in Krems, it’s easy to understand why Niki is so proud of his heritage. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful place, and history is everywhere you look. This is Austria’s white wine region. Wineries cover the hillsides, and every other…

May 18, 2024 We’ve arrived in the homeland of our Cruise Director, Niki Nicholas, and the joy and pride he feels being here is infectious. Ken started is morning at the Melk Abbey while Pam caught up on the blog, and then we journeyed into town together for some of the most delicious pork we…

May 17, 2024 What would America be without Salzburg, producer of our favorite flavor-enhancing mineral, filming location of the beloved American musical, “The Sound of Music,” and home to one gentleman who forever changed the world of music, and another who’s contributions to the world of science now make it possible to predict the weather?…

May 16, 2024 Our day in Regensburg was followed by an entertaining night on the ship. As always, the scenery is beautiful, and tonight we got a special treat – a viewing of Walhalla. Both pictures were taken from the ship as we glided by. We were fortunate to have seen the monument from our…

May 16, 2024 The picturesque town of Regensburg is one of Europe’s best-preserved cities. Tucked away in the hills of Bavaria, Regensburg was the site of the world’s first stone bridge, for centuries the only bridge over the Danube River between Ulm, Germany and Vienna, Austria. This allowed Regensburg to become a major center of…

May 15, 2024 Today, after leaving Nuremberg, we reached the “top” of the river, going through the biggest locks of our journey. Gaining almost 80′ elevation while sitting on a boat is a pretty amazing experience! The lock gets more and more narrow the further into it you go. A line is tied onto a…

May 15, 2024 Today’s port brought back many happy memories for us. Has it really been ten (!) years since we last visited these same sights with our good friends Keith and Kathy Snider? Nuremberg then, and now… It was a bit colder in November 2014 – we were all freezing! So much nicer to…

May 14, 2024 As we approached Bamburg we marveled again at our good fortune with the weather. Research done in preparation for packing had suggested we would be experiencing 60-degree temperatures during this portion of our trip, but we’ve had nothing but sunny 70’s since we got on the boat and today is no different.…

May 13, 2024 After our time at the Residence, we turned our attention to the town of Würzburg. There are more than 100 cathedrals throughout Germany, and Würzburg is home to the fourth most important one. The Würzburg Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Kilian, an Irish monk sent to the Franconian…

May 13, 2024 Cruising along the Main River of Northern Bavaria we come to Würzburg, the third largest city in the Franconia Region, and home to no fewer than 14 Nobel Prize winners, including those who invented the x-ray. It’s also second only to Amsterdam in its number of cyclists. Cycling is such a prevalent…

May 12, 2024 What can we say about the town of Miltenberg, Germany? It is a quaint German town without a lot of cultural or historical significance. It does have a LOT of old buildings, including two of the oldest buildings in all of Germany – Miltenberg Castle and the Gasthaus zum Riesen, and is…

May 13, 2024 Our “European Sojourn” with Viking will take us from Amsterdam to Budapest. Along the way we will travel through eight countries along three rivers…the Rhine, the Main, and the Danube. Our boat is the Lofn. She is 443 feet long, has 4 decks, and holds 190 passengers and 45 crew. Built in…

May 12, 2024 Throughout the course of our journey we will ascend nearly 400 feet, as demonstrated in the slide below, shared in a presentation by our cruise director. Rivers flowing so steeply downhill lose depth in places and create a rate of water flow too dangerous to navigate (engineers and maritime folks bear with…

May 11, 2024 After touring Marksburg Castle we met up with our boat in Koblenz and spent the afternoon cruising down the 40-mile stretch of river between there and Bingen. Lush forests, vineyards dating back to the Roman Empire and nearly two dozen castles dotting the hillside join forces to provide a feast for the…

May 11, 2024 High on a hill overlooking the town of Braubach sits Marksburg Castle, one of only two in Germany that has never been destroyed, and the only one that has never fallen into disrepair. It was originally built for the protection of the townspeople and never intended as a primary residence, though it…

May 10, 2024 Today we visited the city of Cologne, Germany, most well-known for its beautiful location along the Rheine River and its connection to the events of WWII. Prior to WWII Cologne was the fourth largest city in Germany and the largest along the Rheine with a population of approximately 800,000 people. As a…

May 9, 2024 Today we are in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kinderdijk (pronounced kinder dike), most known for its 19 well-preserved 18th-Century windmills. Many are so well- preserved people actually live in them! Windmills are typically defined as “an apparatus that harnesses wind power for a variety of uses, e.g. pumping water and…

May 8, 2024 Welcome to the famed Keukenhof, where 40 gardeners work over a period of six weeks to plant 7 million bulbs (each one by hand!) representing 1,600 different varieties of flowers donated by 100 growers so that roughly 1.5 million visitors can enjoy them for a a total of 8 weeks! Keukenhof was…

May 7, 2024 A visit to Amsterdam wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Red Light District…but that may not be true for much longer. The Red Light District we visited is much smaller than the one someone may have visited even 10 years ago and if the new mayor has her way it…

May 7, 2024 Immediately after our wonderful Rijksmuseum tour we hoofed it across multiple canals and down many a cobbled street to meet Captain Eric and six of our closest (not!) “friends” for a small group canal tour. If you ever get a chance to explore Amsterdam, this is the way to do it, and…

May 7, 2024 Oh my goodness! What a day!!! Today’s activities included a visit to the Rijksmuseum, a canal tour and a visit to the famed Red Light District. There’s so much to share I’m creating three separate posts. We’ll start at the beginning. One of the many things I love about traveling is that…

May 6, 2024 Ahhh!  The sweet, sweet smell of freedom!  Or is that cannabis?  In Amsterdam they may be one and the same.  Long considered one of, if not the most liberal city in the world, it has been said that perhaps the only thing the Dutch won’t tolerate is intolerance. As we familiarized ourselves…

February 9, 2023 On this, our last day in South America, we embarked on one extremely long bus ride through the Andes Mountains to Portillo, considered one of the best ski resorts in the world. The World Ski Championship was held here in 1966. Along the way we passed through the Aconcagua Province, where we…

February 8, 2023 Nearly one third of Chile’s total population lives in its capital of Santiago, which has been marked by political unrest since the fall of 2019 when a group of secondary students unwittingly lit the flame for a massive political uprising.  The students were protesting a recent hike in subway fares.  The situation…

February 7, 2023 After 21 days at sea it’s time to get our land-legs back!  We disembarked the Oceania Marina in San Antonio, Chile and made our way to the incredibly steep roads of colonial Valparaiso, deemed a UNESCO World Heritage for being an excellent representation of late 19th-century urban development. There are so many hills…

Puerto Varas, Chile February 5, 2023 Today was the last excursion of our South American cruise.  We’ll have a final sea day tomorrow and arrive in Santiago for a short land tour before finally heading home on the 11th. We docked in Puerto Montt and made our way along the Pan-American Highway to Puerto Varas,…

Puerto Chacabuco, Chile February 4, 2023 Located in a very remote area at the head of Chile’s Aisén Fjord lies Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, a small, picturesque village surrounded by snow-capped mountains that serves as the area’s main port and the rest of Chile’s connection to the Patagonian Channels.  A salmon hatchery and tourism provide the…

February 3, 2023 Today’s excursion was, without a doubt, one of the most unique we’ve ever enjoyed. We docked today not at a port, but in the middle of the Chilean Fjords, where we were met by a covered catamaran that ferried us off to our final destination. Laguna San Rafael National Park is located…

February 1, 2023 We spent February 1st and 2nd sailing through the Chilean Fjords. Here are the images we had hoped to see (taken from the web)… Unfortunately, heavy low clouds decreased the quality of our viewing. Here’s what we actually saw… But when you’re on a cruise, you can always eat your disappointment away!…

Punta Arenas, Chile January 31, 2023 Overlooking the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas claims to be the southernmost city on Earth.  That’s a pretty big claim!  Once home to one of the most important ports in the world, today’s Punta Arenas is an isolated area with no railways or highways. Its population of 140,000 people…

January 30, 2023 Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago at South America’s southernmost tip, shared by Chile and Argentina.  Known for its dramatic landscapes of snow mountains, glaciers and tundra, its main island is home to our port for the day located in the town of Ushuaia.  Often referred to as “The End of the…

January 29, 2023 Antarctica is surrounded by water that moves in a circular direction around the continent, in opposite directions – easterly and westerly.  In 2021 this water was named the Southern Ocean and officially became the world’s fifth recognized ocean.  The two directions meet in an area known as “Drake Passage,” renowned for its…

January 28, 2023 Today’s itinerary called for us to visit Half Moon Bay. Unfortunately, the ice had other ideas. For this portion of the cruise the Marina’s Captain is joined by an Ice Captain, a captain who has specific expertise navigating the waters of Antarctica and understands how deceptively dangerous its ice floes and icebergs…

January 27, 2023 The itinerary called for a cruise by Paradise Bay today, but the ice floes had other ideas.  We don’t know what we missed in Paradise Bay, but what we did see was stunning. The continent of Antarctica was discovered in 1820 by an individual looking to expand the seal trade.  They had…

January 26, 2023 Some interesting history from Antarctic Guide (First speculations about Antarctica (antarcticguide.com)…Antarctica is the only continent that, from the perspective of human thought, began as a sophisticated concept emerging from a series of deductions. In the sixth century BC Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras calculated that the earth was round, and about a…

January 25, 2023 We have an Antarctica Expedition Team on board with us and they are offering a series of lectures on the area we are about to visit.  We took advantage of our day at sea to attend some of those lectures.  We learned about the different types of ice and how they are…

January 20, 2023 Punta Del Este is the southernmost point of Uruguay.  In this beautiful town of 20,000 things get so quiet in the low season of tourism that they turn off the traffic lights.  When the tourist season is in full swing, however, the population increase more than ten-fold and those traffic lights come…