scubacruiserx2

  Next week I hope to field test my new full size camera by shooting birds . There's a place half way between where we live and Port Everglades that is great and free . If you are in Ft. Lauderdale and rent a car it's 45 minutes away on the highway .

 In 1999 the US decided to release 5 Quarter dollar coins a year in the order that they entered the Union . The front is the same but on the rear each state was different . 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_State_quarters

 The photos are of the 2014 Florida Quarter and the 2 birds that it honored . The photos are from the bird place and why you need a telephoto lens to reach them from a distance and not disturb them from mating and nesting .

 The bird drying it's wings swims underwater to catch it's food like a penguin and when it's wings dry it can fly . It's an Anhinga also called a Water Turkey or a Snake bird when it swims because only the head and long neck sticks up like a snake .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhinga

The other bird is the Roseate Spoonbill , the only spoonbill in the US but not  commonly found here .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseate_spoonbill

8 hours ago, cruises42 said:

Great pictures Scubcruiserx2! What cruise line did you use?

 Thanks , it was the NCL Star . We had originally book it to Iceland and Norway in May but we couldn't wait . When we saw the same room 9006 at half the price we jumped on it . The best room that we ever had ! A video of it with 2 balconies , one forward facing and one Starboard .

The Travelogue of Antarctica and a 6 day stay in Patagonia 

 I love my pocket camera and it's the one that I used for videos  food and Panorama photos . This time last year we celebrated our anniversary by going to San Francisco for 2 days , Kauai for a week and San Francisco for 2 more days ( Yosemite ) . All of these photos were from my pocket camera .

  Doors off helicopter flight in Kauai 

The NCL Pride of America sailing from Kauai

This tree is over 100 meters tall ( panorama shot to get it all in )

We hiked a couple of miles at elevation in feet of snow in Yosemite National Park

Bathroom break

Half Dome and El Capitan

Where we spent the night - in the woods

This waterfall 's spray turned to snow before it hit the ground !

 The park is currently closed this weekend expecting feet of snow 

https://abc30.com/yosemite-national-park-full-closure-blizzard-warning-sierra-nevada-weather-conditions/14480336/

2 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Great photos of Torres del Paine! They made me want to take a look at my old pics once more, and it´s funny to see that sometimes we´ve taken the same photo, but yours are much better quality - I just use a pocket camera… Here are a few to complement yours.

 

Back in Argentina we stopped at a gas station where we saw a mechanic working on a truck, and his two young guanacos kept nudging him, attracting attention. He told us he´d adopted them as babies when their mother died in the Patagonian steppe, and bottle fed them for months. Here´s a pic…

 We love these photos . They prove that good  things come in small packages , and the best camera is the one that you have ! Especially for candid shots like the chulengos !

 Antarctica and the Falkland Islands

  So what's new on the home front ? We keep getting bombarded with mail from the expedition cruises . They want twice as much to do what we did . Here's the cheap one .

 So Nat Geo has finally discovered Glacier Alley , Torres del Paine or the Falkland Islands . All for 25 K - 45 K p.p. base priced .

 My older camera ( 12 yo is having a few issues so it's been retired ) , so in with the new . It looks similar from the outside but it should up our game .

3 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

I hope you both have fully recovered from Covid, and thank you for this wonderful travelogue!

 You're welcome and thanks for going along for the ride . Here's a few photos from Torres del Paine from our last trip there when it wasn't so windy . This was the Large waterfall this time with a video and the last time when it wasn't so windy that we could hike to the water fall for a better view of the Masstif .

Zapatito de la Virgens near the waterfall

Upland geese and chick

Gunaco playa

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Hope you have fully recovered by now, sometimes it (the cough) can linger

 It's pretty well gone but we're gonna swab any way . There's also pollen in the air and maybe an early Spring since we have 5 pineappletles so far .

  After our gathering of the bags at MIA we had some problems with our Global 1 machines . They told us to see the Customs and Immigration officer and he breezed us through . A rogue cabby found us and we were off to the Brightline station in Miami where I recognized the streets , but not all of the new buildings sprouting up like mushrooms . 🍄

  We had enough time to grab a bite to eat in the Brightline lounge before our pre booked train . Fortunately for us it was a semi express train to Orlando with the only stop in Palm Beach . 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlPdE9-C0Zo

 We had picked up a dry cough on our flight and we were coming into a cold front moving through in Florida . Since we  retained our sense of smell , and didn't have chills , we thought it was just a cold from the flights and the weather change . But our oldest Grandson who picked us up and took us home also tested positive for Covid as we did . He only had it 3 days but had the chills and a fever and ours was more just a prolonged cough for almost 2 weeks .

 By a strange twist of fate , 2 leaplings were in Stanley , the Falkland Islands yesterday .  🐸 🐸

 The NCL Star was in from 0600 - 1600 and the HAL Oosterdam  from 0800 - 1800 . There must have been some lineup for tenders in the afternoon ! Blame it on the Leap Year . 😉

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

It wasn't quite that bad but it certainly wasn't what we had booked.

  Most of the time we have been quite happy with our private tours , and they like our cruises have met or exceeded our expectations . We mentioned one or two gone astray and ultimately we just want what we have booked and paid for like you and most people . 

 Today is the last day that we have given Aerolineas Argentina to refund the money that we paid for Business Class from El Calafate to BA , which we have not received in terms of their promise kept by performance as promised or a refund as they promised . 

 It's been more than a month and our TA who is a native Spanish speaker has spoken with AA more than once is trying again today . It appears that the charge will have to be disputed with the credit card and we can no longer rank AA at the upper level and recommend them as we have done in the past .

 The flight from El Calafate wasn't comfortable but it was short and we were soon back at the Sheraton Convention just 15 minutes from Jorge Newberry Airport . We even had the same room so it was Deja Vu all over again . There is a driver rental in the hotel so we set an early morning time . We had hoped to get to EZE early to eat breakfast at the AA club as we were flying Business Class again ? 🙏

  The driver was 1/2 hour late and we got in a logjam at customs and immigration and PSA . So breakfast would be on the plane . The last final act before boarding the plane is putting your carry on luggage on an exam table so the PSA doctor can probe around or have you remove everything that you had nicely packed . We were finally seated on the big bird and ready for the lights out flight . But unlike Pavlov's bell , we were trained to salivate when the overhead lights came on .

The flight was mostly listening to my oldie favorites on my wired noise cancelling headphones . A USB outlet kept my antique Ipod and I Touch alive like Dr. Frankenstein's creation of spare parts .

 I had some good music to snooze to between feedings . 

 The next meal I broke tradition .

 I was desiring a Malbec from Bariloche to go with my pasta but I enjoyed it anyway .

  On the flight down we saw the remake of the 1991 movie Point Break and it was a decent action movie . But on the flight home it just music and the information station .

 We did hedge our bets this time by befriending a nice single elderly lady who was bilingual . The last time that we returned from EZE to MIA they made an announcement in Spanish only that the luggage carousel had changed , even though the sign said that it was at the original carousel . Miami Dade County is currently officially more Hispanic than Anglo .

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

We too have found there is often a communication/ interpretation issue in countries where English is not the first language. We booked a private tour in Chile for 4 of us, only to find we were with 1 other private tour group of 4 and 2 small groups in a larger mini bus for 12 pax. There was no seat for the guide, so he stood up in the van the whole tour. When queried, we were then told that the bus was shared but the actual tour of the winery and city were private. The winery had 2 more small groups  join our group (now 20 strong) and the city tour had (16). Sometimes you just have to laugh it off and just roll with it.

  That sounds similar to a number of experiences that we have had in a number of countries . Since we do mostly semi private/private tours with local guides we've seen lot's of variation between guides , partly

communication/ interpretation and partly cultural . 

 This cruise on the NCL Star to Antarctica began last year as a cruise to Northern Europe . U.K. , Norway and Iceland in May of this year with a week in Iceland to finish the cruise . In some ways similar to avoid the crowds and go to cool places . But the devil was in the details and the guides in the Nordic countries refused to book or talk with us until after the New Year . And the cruise / stay would have cost double what this trip cost . We have run into some intransigent behavior with a lack of cooperation when it comes to requesting photo stops - even with mostly solo guides . They seem to know what's best for us as they are the experts - at twice the price .   Your tour sounds like a Chicken Bus tour in the words of our guide in Guatemala .

  Meanwhile back in the El Calafate airport , the man at the counter spoke very good English and we commended him on his skills . He said that he worked for 10 years on NCL . When we told him that we had just been on the Star his eyes lit up with fond memories . We were the only ones in the Business Class line so as  soon as he finished with us he moved over to help the very busy other 4 lines . 

 When we looked at the plane we thought that it was larger than the one we flew down on .

 As we boarded early we noticed that we were in aisle 11 instead of aisle 2 and that it was 3 seats across instead of 2 . I stowed the luggage and Pat talked to a flight attendant who told us that there was no business class . She tried to move forward to talk to the head attendant and she was like a fish swimming upstream . She piggybacked behind an attendant to move forward and sure enough there was no business class . We still wanted the aisle # 2 that we had long ago prepaid for . Instead of moving us forward , they offered us aisle #22 with 3 seats . By the time that Pat told me that aisle was filled . Their next offer was to bump us to another flight 2 hours latter that may or may not have a business class . They did say that they would refund the difference in the price of seats and since they were closing the door , we were off .

4 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

Wow! a 3 Km walk... not for me! Thank you for the link.

On a road trip we got to Cabo Vírgenes, where Ruta 40 begins, and there we could walk freely among 100,000 penguins. The noise and the stench and the wind were tremendous! But we were the only people there, and it felt good to have reached the southermost point of the American continent…

 That does sound amazing . It's about 5 1/2 hours from El Calafate and we noticed that you can cross over from Route 40 to Puerto Natales , near Torres del Paine perhaps making a loop on the way back . We would need to spend a couple of nights . 

 Have you heard of The Long Way Up ? An actor named Ewan Mc Gregor from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and a friend of his ride electric motorcycles from Ushuaia to Los Angeles , California .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Way_Up

We streamed it on Apple TV and it was very interesting to follow . It took 14 weeks as their motorcycles could only travel 72 miles on a charge .

22 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

 Yes it is quite a ride followed by quite a walk . We were fortunate to get there early before the heat and the crowds and it gave us a chance to get to know the other couple that we also toured with to see the penguins with . I read an account of the Punta Ninfas tour and he said that it was a 3Km walk to see the penguins . You can read about it here and see some photos at post # 90 .

21 hours ago, valemart_1 said:

 

Great pics of Mount Fitz Roy! The peak is too often shrouded by clouds.

I love El Chaltén, it´s pretty unique: it was founded only 40 years ago, although mountain climbers had discovered the Fitz Roy years before. Slowly it began to receive an influx of young people looking for a simpler way of life close to nature. It became known as the Trekking Capital. Then Lonely Planet discovered it!

 Thank you , but it's hard to take a bad photo of it in the morning ! On the days that we were there it was clear in the morning but cloudy and a little rain in the evening . To our eyes and mind it's still not spoiled yet ( like we are ) . We are reluctant to share sometimes because we like to keep it nice . On more than 1 occasion we have shared and less considerate people can overdo it . We didn't see it in Lonely Planet but some other travelers shared it with us originally .

  We wanted to gas up the car before returning it and Pat remembered a gas station close to the airport . It was further than she thought and we had to go thru a police crossing to get to it . They just waved us thru and the station was before the city of El Calafate . 

 On our way to the airport we were stopped for a license check but we didn't need our passports as usual . We parked and grabbed a luggage trolley and loaded it and I got in a long line while Pat went to return the car . They were closed and she need to use the restroom . So I returned to the car rental and tried to slip the paperwork under the door and put the key in a locked drop box . The paperwork wouldn't fit so I asked the guy at the other car rental if we could leave the paperwork with him which we couldn't . He dropped the key in the box and tried to put the paperwork in the small box which wouldn't fit and  returned to his office , I crammed the paperwork all the way in the box . Returning to the trolley the line had now moved up to the ATM , still almost a block from the Airline counter .

We were last in line and it seemed as though it would stay that way . We still didn't have our boarding passes so I decided to abandon the trolley and walk up to the counter to see if they had a business class line , which we were flying . They did and it was empty so I showed the man there our old paper work and he said to go get our luggage which I did . Just before Pat walked up an English gentleman who seemed irate asked me " How do you get to skip the queue ? " . I explained that we were flying business class and away he went as Pat arrived just in time to hear the exchange .

14 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Thanks, that more or less is what I was getting at, which is why I didn't put traditional dining in with open dining. We prefer open and do not expect the waiters to know our likes or dislikes prior to them meeting us.

We do however expect to have water and bread within 5 minutes of being seated. We do expect to have drink orders taken within another 5 minutes after that. we do expect to have our food orders within 5-10 minutes after that, which means with 20 minutes of sitting down. Once we ordered we expect a 10-15 minute wait between courses.

I do not think that is unreasonable and some nights it was delivered, others it was even quicker but some nights it was no where near being like that.

 We don't think that a greeting , bread and water is too much to ask on a cruise ship , even prisoners get that . 🙂😊

  We were starting to run low on dollars here but that is all they would accept so I kept the buying to a minimum . A map that you can't here in the us very easily . We did like some other things though . The Tile of Cave of Hands in particular .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cueva_de_las_Manos

  We have found that most ship worker like routine including servers . If they see the same people at the same time at the same table they establish a rapport and routine with you . That's why when we eat in the MDR we choose a fixed time . The same goes for the room attendants if know when we're out they usually tidy up when they know that we're gone . 

  The advice from @VMax1700 works well also to help correct issues . But we mainly use it to commend good service which helps deserving people move up in pay scale with promotions . It may help if you with future HAL cruises , while you're on the cruise .

 Cheers Mic and Rosie 

 We have driven by this place a number of times and just pass by , but nature was calling and we decided to take the call .

It's on the La Leona River which runs from Lago Viedma in the North to Lago Argentino in the South on the East side .

It's a good place to get your bearings or bathe your plants .

 A river or a lake would be a near or distant companion as we headed East and then South .

And the memories would fade but not soon as we were looking forward to the past .

 Here's a video of us leaving taken near the Puerto Bahia Tunel Road  .

They used to offer a boat tour to the glacier but we could not reach them . It looks really cool if it's running when you go there .

https://en.patagoniachic.com/el-calafate/tours/chalten-full-day-viedma-navigation_47.html

  The day that we had dreaded had arrived , Saturday  January 27th - time to head North for the Winter . The night before our water looked a little suspect which the front desk gladly exchanged for sealed bottled water .

They were having some trouble with Aerolineas Argentinas both checking us in and printing the boarding passes at the front desk . It was still the same during breakfast and when we left El Chalten . We had paid extra to drop the car at the Airport in El Calafate instead of downtown where we rented it . The man at the desk helped us with our bags , again refusing a TIP . It's about a 3 hour ride to the airport if I don't take too many pictures , which I always do , but look where we are !

The Puerto Bahia Tunel turnoff