Day 40, 15.11.2018 , Cumberland Bay, Isla Róbinson Crusoe, Juan Fernández Islands, Chile. Isla Róbinson Crusoe, then known as Más a Tierra, was the not-entirely-voluntary home to the marooned Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk from 1704 to 1709. Robinson Crusoe is a fictional character by novelist Daniel Defoe but is believed to be mainly inspired by Selkirk. …
Day 37, 12.11.2018, Santiago de Chile. Sonja’s flight arrived from Heathrow an hour and a quarter late but that didn’t count as something going wrong as I was in a hotel just across the street and knew it was delayed. I had to wave a name-card with the hundred’s of other meeters and greeters for …
Day 36, 11.11.2018, Puerto Montt and Santiago, Chile. November 11th is a strange day when you live in the gap between the British Empire and a Unified Germany. The day from a churchy point of view is St Martin’s Day. In Germany this always involves an unfortunate goose being invited for dinner. At the 11th …
Day 34, 09.11.2018, Amalia Glacier and Torres del Paine NP, Chile, We had the morning weaving through very complicated mountainous islands and fjords. It’s a big landscape with no sign of human habitation anywhere. It must be really nasty in the winter. The last few miles to the glacier saw lots of mini-icebergs in the …
Day 32, 07.11.2018, Ushuaia, Argentina, Ushuaia is a former penal colony for Argentina on the Beagle Channel and is a place about as remote and desolate as it gets. This trip includes a few former people-dumping grounds. Madeira and Cape Verde (Portugal), New Caledonia (France) and Australia (UK) also share this fabulous honour. Arguably Robinson …
Day 29, 04.11.2018, Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, Argentina, Puerto Madryn is mainly an aluminium smelting town. We didn’t go downtown but it didn’t look too attractive from a distance. The town though is not the main reason for visiting here. We had a bus trip today to see some wildlife on the huge Valdes Peninsular. This is …
Continue reading “Elephante Marino on the Valdes Peninsular”
Day 26, 01.11.2018, Buenos Aires, Argentina, H was busy so in the morning I went out on the streets of Buenos Aires by myself with bike. Mostly around the Casco Historico with its excellent neoclassical, art-nouveau and art-deco buildings and also around Puerto Madero with its derelict docklands turned entertainment/business centre. There were several demonstrations …
Day 25, 31.10.2018, Montevideo, Uruguay, We were last in Montevideo four years ago and that time we rented a car to look at the coast and countryside but it was not the most inspiring of trips. This time we stuck to the city on foot. Montevideo , at least the old part of city, is, …
Day 21, 27.10.2018, Rio de Janeiro, A great day out. H had arranged a driver and guide to speed things up. First stop was the train going up Corcovado to see the iconic Cristo Redentor. We had a celebratory caiprinha at the top. As it was getting dark we dashed on to the Sugarloaf mountain …
Day 19, 25.10.2018, Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, Arrived in warm and sunny Salvador de Bahia. We decided against a bike ride as time was short but the topography of this town is unforgiving so it was for the best. We walked through the big tourist tat market near the port called Mercado Modelo. As usual …
Day 11, 17.10.2018, Mindelo, Cape Verde, Arrived in Mindelo but expect to be staying here longer than anticipated while some ship repairs are worked on. I took my bike around the streets of Mindelo until it got dark. The island of Sao Vincente looks a bit like one of the drier Canary islands but with …
Day 8, 14.10.2018, Funchal, Madeira, For those of you following the weather and this blog, you will know that we have crossed just ahead of the track of Hurricane Leslie and have been running down its southern flank. It’s been a bit rough but nobody has had to be tied to the wheel in soaking …