Colonia del Sacramento

There is easy and then there is so ridiculously easy that slowest child in class, the one that can usually be spotted eating his own boogers, can do it easy. I can safely report that doing a day trip from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento falls squarely into the latter category. There are two competing companies in BA that sell packages for under $100 which will get you there and back, get you oriented and even get you fed.

The transport options include either a fast (1 hour) or slow ferry (2 ½ hours) across the Rio Plata. Once there, a guide is waiting to hand out maps and brochures, lead an hour long walking tour and do her very best to sell visitors on the charms of this UNESCO world heritage site. And it is indeed charming, with its cobble stone streets and picturesque colonial architecture which speaks of the back and forth battle for possession between the Spanish and the Portuguese (Colonia changed hands multiple times between the two serial colonizers), but the itty bitty size of the historical district, the only part of interest to the day tripping tourist, really warrants much less than a full hour.

This is especially troubling when the tour is over and you realize that you still have eight hours to burn before the ferry departs for Buenos Aires. Our guide gave us a lunch voucher and suggested we visit the town’s five museums, most of which she assured us would take less than 5 minutes to see in their entirety. This turned out to be a pretty accurate time assessment. For less than $2, I bought a museum pass, which entitled me to entry into all 5 of the city-run museums. I strolled leisurely from one to the other, taking care to see everything on display in each glass case, stopping along the way for a mid-museum walk beer and yet, I was done in less than an hour’s time. With my remaining 6 hours, I climbed up the old lighthouse for a lovely scenic view.

I wandered into each and every souvenir shop and at a particularly interesting one, bought my nephew a really cool quartz crystal. I visited an aquarium featuring a collection of endemic fish. I sat in various cafes, reading my book. At one point, I even sat under a shady tree and attempted to take a nap. It all resulted in a contented, lethargic kind of day and it was this extended lethargy that stuck with me and led me to put off the writing of this blog entry. There was just not that much to say, but recently, as I was looking through the photos, I was once again struck by the prettiness of this place and I was reminded that, like getting there, taking a good photo in Colonia was so easy even a snot-eating kid could do it.

The entrance into the city.

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Montevideo: the last port of call

Sightseeing made simple.

Original jewelry by Cristina Schroeder

The Solis Theater, opened in 1856.

The final port of call and in all likelihood the subject of the last post of 2008 was country #79, Uruguay. More specifically, we stopped in the capital city, Montevideo. Like Valparaiso, this was once an important port city that lost its prominence once the Panama Canal was completed and trade ships could bypass it altogether. As a result, the once impressive Art Deco, colonial and neoclassical buildings have fallen into disrepair and the streets, at least on this Saturday afternoon, appeared eerily quiet. The only signs of life were a result of having two cruise ships in port, both the tourists they off-loaded and the multitude of police officers assigned to protect them. Some wise soul at the Montevideo tourism office came up a walking tour brochure, which a battalion of representatives cheerily handed out at the port, and also calculated every possible way in which a cruise ship passenger could wander off of the carefully designed trail. You could walk in any direction and there would be a bored cop ready to offer guidance, or as in my case accompany you, in the event you wander into one of the rougher neighborhoods. The walking tour, when properly followed, goes past two major squares, an outdoor market, an indoor market, plenty of once grand buildings and lots of shuttered businesses. It makes for a pleasant stroll, but the truth is there is nothing too noteworthy to see. Throughout the trail, we encountered friends we had met aboard the ship and were happy to join them for a drink or two, listening all the while to the street performers that frequented the tourist areas . Yet, the overwhelming heat was a sure reminder that our days of penguin sightings were over and it was time to mentally prepare for the end of the cruise, which would be the following day in Buenos Aires.

Seeing as there was not much to do or see here, neither for us, the indie traveller nor for the shore excursion folks, I am going to be generous and call this one a draw, leaving the final tally at NCL 2, Indie Traveller 4. Knowing what I know now, I would strongly recommend that anyone going on a cruise put in some time doing research about their destinations. Going on independent excursions not only saved a boatload of money (no pun intended), but in the majority of instances, led to a much more enjoyable, more personalized experience. The ship's scare tactics are nothing more than that. All the guides we encountered were extremely mindful of our schedules and usually even had back-up plans in place to ensure that we got back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. Plus, there is the good feeling that comes from contributing directly to the pocketbooks of the local people as opposed to that of a big corporation. That you can't put a price on.

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The cruise itself.

Our route. Map courtesy of NCL.com

The one and only towel creation that ever manifest itself in our room. Other guests ended up with entire menageries.


Passing through the Patagonic Channels.

The first of many glaciers.

Cruising through the Beagle Channel, something I would later do in a tour boat like the one pictured.

The legendary Cape Horn.

On the day we rounded Cape Horn, we had a ceremony where the Captain baptised us as honorary "Horneans" with ice cold water. Why I agreed to participate, I have no clue.

Our room was an inside cabin, therefore channel 22, showing the view from a mounted camera became our official "window".

Yup, I agreed to pour champagne into a pyramid of glasses aboard a moving ship. Not sure what I was thinking there, either.

I can see how it is possible to interpret my running tally, where I am keeping score pitting myself against NCL when it comes to shore excursions, as a sign that I did not enjoy the actual cruising part of the cruise. That plus, my stated expectation that I was sure to hate it. So, I thought this might be a good time to post some (!) photos and mention that, much to my surprise, I really thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff was remarkable. That they managed to stay cheerful and helpful for 14 days with some pretty difficult clientele on their hands is a true testament to their hiring and training dept. or to whatever drugs they had at their disposal or possibly to a combination of both. Andrea, the cruise director, was a marvel switching effortlessly between English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and German. He and his staff were ever-present throughout the day hosting activities ranging from bingo to trivia competitions to theatrical productions and theme parties. The entertainment itself was about what I expected it to be, ranging from passable to nearly intolerable, the low point being a clumsy, asthmatic juggler who panted into a wireless mike while dropping everything in sight, so much so that I had to walk out mid-show. Same goes for the multi-instrumentalist with the pan flute and the electric drums. The two exceptions, a sexy tango singer named Daniel Bouchet and a powerhouse Cuban entertainer named Elvy Rose , were a genuine pleasure to watch and most of the others made up for in effort what they lacked in talent. The food, which I had so deeply dreaded was a very pleasant surprise. There was a buffet restaurant with the requisite bland food and an excellent salad bar, but there were also a number of specialty restaurants featuring very flavorful and inventive cuisine. Best of all, every menu I saw featured at least one vegetarian option. Also a huge plus was NCL's "freestyle cruising" policy, which allows you to eat whenever you want and sit wherever you want, something which sounds pretty basic but I am told is uncommon among other lines. The scenery I witnessed by virtue of being on a cruise ship was incomparable. It is going to be hard to top rolling out of bed, going out to the closest deck and watching six glaciers go by or rounding Cape Horn, the southernmost point of S. America in 60 knot winds (the Captain told us 64 knot winds are considered hurricane force). Of course, there were things I wish had been different. The stays in port were much too short and the alcohol policy, designed to force you to buy exorbitantly priced drinks, was absurd. But then again, I never feel as if I have spent enough time anywhere I go and I hear that if you buy beer in cans while in port, the security screeners on the ship will mistake them for sodas and you can easily bring in a 1/2 case in your purse and place them into your mini bar fridge. So while I am not ready to make the leap to labelling myself a "cruise person", I am more than willing to admit that I was really impressed with NCL and would not hesitate to jump on another of their cruises if the opportunity presented itself. That doesn't make me a "cruise person", does it?

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