22 December 2009

Picture of the day: the Chilean flag flying over Cabo de Hornos.

21 December 2009

Picture of the day: the Pía glacier.

20 December 2009

Picture of the day: Fuegian forest and stream.

Mare Australis

Below are some pictures from our cruise. It was the priciest part of our trip, but I think we can both say it was worth every penny.

We left Punta Arenas at 8pm on Saturday. The landscape there was flat and windy; when we woke up on Sunday morning, this was the view out of our cabin window:

The Cordillera Darwin (the end of the Andes), running east-west across Tierra del Fuego.

Sunset from the bow of the ship (about 10:30pm).

Looking south over Cape Horn. Next land: Antartica (600 km).

The Mare Australis, behind the ice fields by the Glacier Pía.

In Argentina

We've survived our trip on the high seas, and we are now enjoying the frigid (nearly) Antarctic air in Ushuaia. Computers are slow here, so we won't be posting a whole lot, but we have some pictures from the trip here that will trickle out over the next few days.

Expect the first in a few minutes.

We're on a Boat!

We're on Day 4 of our cruise today. Depending on the weather, we may get to visit Cape Horn. Keep your fingers crossed for mild-ish winds and smooth-ish seas.

For a good map of where we've been on the cruise, check out the Cruceros Australis website.

We get to Ushuaia tomorrow. We'll try to post some pictures once we get there.

Cementerio, oh Cementerio

Those who know me really well probably don't know this about me: I'm crazy about graveyards and cemetaries. Seriously. Some of my best memories of Iowa are when I could convince Kyle, who grew up 20 miles from the college, to drive me around to the old graveyards down practically unused dirt roads.

I don't know what it is about them, but in case any of you are as enamored as I am of old headstones and cool crypts, the following pictures are for you. (Since we're currently at sea and unable to post, I thought I'd set up these pictures to keep you all coming back...)

The cementerio municipal in Punta Arenas is probably one of the best cemetaries I've seen in South America. According to Lonely Planet, "in death as in life, Punta Arenas' first families flaunted their wealth--wool baron José Menéndez's extravagent tomb is a scale replica of Rome's Vittorio Emanuele monument." See for yourself:

Headstones and sculptures stretching as far as the eye can see.

Crypts lining the walkway at the entrance to the cementerio.