Sailing Around the Horn

By Mike & Darlene Jordan

            Ferdinand Magellan was a gutsy guy; and patient to a fault.

            We discovered this fact as we headed away from our stop in the Falkland Islands aboard the Norwegian Sun and began making our way to the very southernmost tip of South America. One of the goals of Magellan’s voyage around the globe, was to find a passage through the islands at the tip of South America that would save ships the dangers of sailing the Drake Passage, and the next few days of our trip would retrace portions of this historic voyage.

            The waters were calm as we sailed away from Port Stanley and you could almost feel the excitement of all 1,936 passengers prepared to sail just 500 miles from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and around Cape Horn.

            The “Horn” isn’t really a horn, like the Horn of Africa. Rather, it’s an island, and a pretty small one at that, part of an archipelago of hundreds of islands that dot the tip of the continent. The name comes from Dutch explorers who christened it Kaap Hoorn after the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands. The point is that it’s the very southernmost land of South America, and marks the entrance to the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica, which was (and is) one of the most treacherous sea lanes on earth.

            Sailing around the Horn is a big deal; so much so that the Norwegian Sun has a ceremony “baptizing” all passengers who make the trip. A couple of hours before arriving at the Horn, all passengers were called up onto the pool deck to take part in this celebration. Two barrels of sea water were set up and we passengers lined up and processed past the barrels as the captain and first officer ladled the water over our heads, transforming all of us from “pollywogs” to experienced seafarers. Everyone even received a certificate, signed by the captain. It was a nice touch, and Norwegian Cruise Lines is to be commended for this little perk.

            The weather did not cooperate as we had hoped as we rounded the small island, at least not at first. Clouds and intermittent rain made for some pretty foggy photos. When the weather did clear as the captain made two circles around the small island, the neighboring islands came into full view as the sun broke through. Despite their relatively small size, some of these islands towered above the sea, others were little more than a stepping stone. The Sun then headed north, and we entered the Beagle Channel for a stop at Ushuaia, Argentina, billed as the southernmost city in the world.

            This was one of our favorite stops on the cruise. Ushuaia has almost a “Switzerland” feel to it. It’s a small town with towering, snow covered peaks surrounding it. We took a small boat out into the channel to visit an island colony of seals, as well as an island colony of cormorants. We had good weather for this excursion and were awed by the sheer beauty of the surrounding mountains and the islands in the Channel.

            From Ushuaia our journey took us up to Punta Arenas, Chile, where after a morning tour of the city and an afternoon of hiking in some of the most beautiful forests we’ve ever seen, we reboarded the Sun and began to follow Magellan’s route of discovery through the passage that bears his name.

            Although the mountainous islands along the waterway are beautiful, they must have presented an incredible challenge to Magellan and his crew. The passage is replete with false channels and inlets. The explorer had to have men in small boats travel ahead to find the right route by trial and error, and the voyage of discovery of what is now the Strait of Magellan took months complete. Thanks to Ferdinand, we were able to complete the trip from Punta Arenas out to the Pacific Ocean in a day and a half.

            With only a few more days left in our journey, we set out up the coast through the Chilean Fjords only to have the trip interrupted by a distress call at sea! More on that next week—stay with us!

Want to take this trip? Email us at cruisesinc@gojade.org .

Last Minute Deal On Royal Caribbean Navigator!

Hi, everyone, and Happy Friday! 

Well, ‘tis the season of last minute deals!  Most of the cruise lines are offering some great last minute itineraries at incredible prices! In fact, most of the cruise lines have special offerings on lots of sailings, including $$-off promotions, reduced deposits and more! If today’s DEAL doesn’t impress you—or you’re just not ready to go in February—give us a call or reply and let us know when you DO want to go and we’ll find the best deal. You can also find some great deals on our website, mjordan.cruisesinc.com . 

Now…today’s DEAL!  Pack your bags! Royal Caribbean has a great last minute deal for those of you who’d like to get away aboard a GREAT ship for Valentine’s Day—The Navigator of the Seas—but you don’t have 7 nights to spare. This 5 night cruise from Fort Lauderdale features 2 sea days and 2 great ports.

Royal Caribbean Intl
Navigator of the Seas
Day	Date	Port	Arv	Dep
Sat	02/14	Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Embark – time subject to change.		05:00 PM
Sun	02/15	At Sea
Mon	02/16	Georgetown, Grand Cayman	09:00 AM	06:00 PM
Tue	02/17	Ocho Rios, Jamaica	08:00 AM	05:00 PM
Wed	02/18	At Sea
Thu	02/19	Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Disembark – Time subject to change.	07:00 AM

Prices are incredible!  You can enjoy your own private balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea or your beautiful ports for just $734.06 per person—INCLUDING all of your port charges and taxes! What a great way to celebrate Valentines Day with your significant other! Spend your days swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman or hiking to Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica—or doing nothing on the beach! 

If the balcony is too rich for you, ocean view rooms with a picture window are just $614.06 pp; and interiors are just $574.06 pp!  (Hint…for the $40 extra, take the ocean view—you’re worth it!) 

AND…if you’re traveling by yourself, Royal Caribbean has some price breaks for singles on this cruise, too! Give us a call for the details! 

So pack the sunscreen and your swimsuit, give us a call at 1-800-267-7613, and then head for Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale for a fabulous 5 days in the sun!

 Remember, prices are subject to change and availability, so give us a call, TODAY!

 Have a GREAT weekend!

 Mike & Darlene

Falkland Islands

 

Mike and Darlene Jordan

One of the great things about travel is that it brings history to life; even fairly recent history. It also helps to fill in the blanks when the memory is a little foggy about things that happened as recently as 1982.

A main attraction to booking our recent South America cruise was that one of the stops was the Falkland Islands.

             A part of British Overseas Territory, the Falklands are a geographical “blip” on the map. They’re located in the South Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. We sailed to this little archipelago following our stop at Puerto Madryn, a beautiful, if very flat, part of Argentina’s Patagonian region. Sailing into these islands is not easy. There’s a small strait at the entrance of the bay where the quaint village of Port Stanley (the largest in the islands) is located, and occasionally cruise ships have to cancel their stops there due to weather that can threaten the small passage.   

            We were lucky. A beautiful day greeted us as we boarded the small tender boats that took us from the Norwegian Sun to shore. Stanley is a town you can walk from one end of to the other in just a few hours. There’s a small cathedral along the main street on the waterfront, marked by a huge whalebone sculpture in the churchyard, and a wonderful nature walk along the shoreline. It is along this walk, complete with monuments and memorials, that you discover that the “little conflict” we heard about on the news in 1982 was a real, all-out, deadly, shooting war that the people of these islands (and the Argentines) take very seriously.

            Ownership of these islands has been contested between Argentina and the United Kingdom since the 19^th Century. In the midst of a political crisis, Argentina invaded the islands, which they call The Malvinas, in April of 1982, essentially taking the 2,600 or so residents, mostly British citizens, hostage. Although neither country officially declared war, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher came to the aid of her citizens with an all-out response involving naval and air forces and, after two and a half months of fighting, re-took the islands when the Argentines surrendered. 258 British and 649 Argentine soldiers lost their lives in the war.

            In addition to the numerous memorials, remnants of the war remain. In fact, we were witness to one of the more unusual reminders of the conflict. In order to try to prevent an amphibious landing near Port Stanley, the Argentines placed land mines around a number of the beaches in the area. Due to shifting sands and other factors, the minefields around the beaches remain, well marked and fenced off to avoid mishaps. Since the population of Magellanic penguins that live on those beaches are too light to set off the mines, these fields make a perfect sanctuary for the little guys. As we toured the area by car, we saw these adorable creatures marching in and out of the water (in line, no less) and generally enjoying their day on the beach.

            The views and landscape from the islands are fantastic, if a little barren. There are lots of gardens and trees in Port Stanley (evidence of the British influence), but the surrounding areas are nearly devoid of trees or other vegetation other than the grass that supports the sheep industry that makes the islands so valuable.

            We wrapped up our day on the Falklands with an “interesting” overland trip to the lighthouse on the south end of the island. Our driver navigated what would be a pretty tricky 4-wheel drive trek here in the States in nothing more than a Toyota van. It was worth the rocky, bumpy trip. There’s a remote lighthouse and some incredible rocky shoreline that made for some pretty dramatic pictures.

We were only a few days into our cruise, with the next day to be spent heading “around the Horn,” nearly at the bottom of the world.

Want to take this trip? email us at cruisesinc@gojade.org !