Are there suggestions as to the best shore tour in Ushuaia? How about the railway and Ensendad Bay versus Drive to the end of the world? Any other "have to" tours that we shouldn't miss from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires? How about Puerto Montt's Alerce Mountain Lodge and Firest Hike? Thanks
hannajm@charter.net

Did the Cape Horn itinerary last March on the Mercury, this is a great trip.

In Ushuaia, we took the trip that included a trip through Tiera del Fuego and it was beautiful. It was a 1/2 day trip and gave us time to stroll around town. We wish however, that we had booked the tour for the morning, then we could have come back and taken the cable car to the glacier.

There is a tourist information center near the dock that can give you all the information.

It is a lovely place.

Hi,

We did this trip 2001/2002. Reverse Itin though and had a fantastic time. Usuhaia - we did the drive and found it to be all we expected. As we come from Australia, big mountains are always on the list. We had enough time to explore the town prior to boarding.

Highlight - Penguins, the drive is long but well worth it and take lots of film and dress warmly. It was cold, windy, blowing water off the shore, but this added to the attraction of where we actually were.

Tip - at the time we were allowed to board the ship with wine (not spirits). They did charge us a corkage for the wine which we took to the dining room every night. It gave us a chance to go on a Argentine/Chili wine tour. Brilliant. I do hope that they still allow this, I have read some interesting posts on the subject.

We did not at any time feel crowded on the Royal so viewing was always a pleasure thru the Beagle Channel. Great sights.

Have fun, this is the trip of a lifetime, I could do it all over again and we found the Royal to be first class all the way.

If you are looking for anything more specific, please just ask.

Regards,
Mich

Read your post. Leaving in 2 wks. Sounds like layering is the key and be prepared for any type of weather. Going on 2 penguin tours and I wonder about shoes. Is there a lot of ice and/or snow? Would hiking shoes be better than tennis shoes? I hate to take a lot of xtra stuff. Any other tips or suggestions? Funny :-) I see you are from Australia. Almost decided to go there instead! Denise in St. Louis

Hi Denise,

I hiked around in boots, hiking boots for the penguins and walking boots for the other trips. Be careful if you are going on the Alerce hike as it is rough going so I was told and one of the passengers twisted her ankle in hiking boots. Layering, a definate must, and as I do not care how I look on these trips, they ended up tied around my waist. I move fairly fast around these places and burn up lots of energy. The penguins were the highlight as I am a animal freak. You will not be disappointed. It was windy, windy, windy, blowing rain, and cold, but no snow or ice. It was truely a adventure. It was about a 1k hike to the penguin rookery, viewing birds all the way, and standing on the beach really hits home as to what part of the world you are in, wild.

I also hate carrying heaps of stuff, so after many many years of travelling I have come up with the all purpose backpack for the day, lots of pockets in jackets for the hikes and have an uncanny nack of carrying credit cards, ship passports, in the old favourite - the bra. My husband and I do a lot of sailing so we had light weather spray coats that roll into a small bundles and head gear really helps keep you warm. Beanies. We also had with us our heavy weather sailing jackets. These are a pain in the butt, bulky, uncomfortable and take up heaps of room, BUT, it was blowing 50 - 60 knots as we rounded the horn and they were well worth the hassel of taking them. We were travelling at the time for 2 months, from hot to cold to hot, so we travelled with 4 large wheelies, 1 suitpack and 2 backpacks and could still move all this luggage with out trolleys, amazing really. Having light and heavy weather jackets covered all conditions. It was a perfect combination. At one stage we were the only crazy ones on deck, looking outrageous screaming into movies cameras carrying on like 2 children, but the WOW factor was in effect.

We recently invested in digital cameras, still and movies, that fit into pockets. Look out for waterproof cases. Its been a fabulous investment. We use to carry large camera bags and what a hassel.

Another small tip that we did and it is a great memento. We took with us a sea charts of the area and our gps, and binoculars,(typical sailing stuff) which proved to be really fun spotting around the Cape, and through the Beagle. The Navigator of the Royal Princess was kind enough to plot our course on our charts and we now have it framed on the wall - a great memory and conversation piece.

Hope the weather is kind and you have a great cruise. Let me know how great it was.

PS - The Faulklands are fabulous.

Regards,
Mich