Thursday, 30 January, 2014

Thursday, 30 January, 2014

This was another one of those “Words just can’t possibly describe or do it justice” days for us.  We’ve had a few experiences on this adventure that fall into that category.  This entire day was spent exploring one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Iguazu Falls, which straddles the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, &Argentina.  We began with an early breakfast at our beautiful 5 STAR hotel, the Iguazu Grand, and then  boarded our bus for the 20 minute ride to Iguazu Falls National Park.  Our first adventure of the day was to  board open air land transporters for a 30 minute ride through the jungle out to the spot where we donned  life jackets & protective plastic covering for our incredible Jetboat Zodiak ride literally into the base of the falls. We couldn’t take pictures from the boat because of the massive amount of water coming down on us but the crew took a video of us as we cowered from the deluge falling upon us.  The 25 minute video shows  and tells it all very well.  I tried to download the video onto our blog, but it is much too large of a file for the  weak internet service that is provided here to handle.  I did attach some photographs that really don’t do it  justice but at least gives you the idea.

Following that drenching experience, ( we would do it again without hesitation!) we then proceeded to  hike up out of the cataract canyon (over 175 steep stairs) and onto ground level trails that took us to numer-ous vantage points to view the tremendous volumes of water cascading over the edge into the cataract.  One of our favorites was The Devil’s Throat, which was absolutely spectacular.  Years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Roosevelt, visited Iguazu Falls, and was reported to have said of her experience,  “Poor Niagara Falls!”  The waterfalls literally go on for miles, originating deep within  in all three different countries of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Without a doubt, you cannot see and experience something this impressive without coming away from it a changed person.  This will go down as  one of the highlights of our life.  What an incredible way to end an absolutely amazing month-long cruise adventure.  We’ve been able to see and feel and hear and touch some of God’s most beautiful natural creations upon earth, and fortunately for us and for everyone else, forward thinking men and women have
 figured out a way to protect them from the ravages of humanity.  

After a completely exhausting day, we crawled back into our hotel room, cooled off with a cold shower and massage bath.  The local temperature today was 97F with about 80% humidity.  What a change for us! For  dinner, we just wanted a simple hamburger, so we ordered one with fries to share.  What we received was a  burger that was easily 10 inches across and must have weighed at least 2 pounds.  NO, we couldn’t even begin to try and finish it.  I attached a picture of it with Marla’s hand to show it’s  massive proportions.

 So, tonight is our final night,  and tomorrow morning we begin our long, long journey back to Utah. We’ll fly back to Buenos Aires, about 1,200 miles south of here, then we have to transfer from the Domestic airport to the International airport.   We will then fly 10 hours nonstop to Atlanta, have a 5 hour layover, then 4 hours to Salt Lake City, arriving Saturday afternoon. We are not looking forward to the next 36 hours, but all good things must eventually come to an end. This has been an incredibly good experience for us, and we have no complaints whatsoever. 

 Thanks to everyone who has shared our adventure through reading the Blog and thanks to our daughter Juli for making it possible.  Our love to everyone and we’ll be seeing you all real soon.

  Love you all,  Tom & Marla

Wednesday, 29 January, 2014

Wednesday, 29 January
     Greetings from Iguazu Falls, on the border of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.  It's been a long and busy day as we disembarked the cruise ship for the last time and made our way through Buenos Aires to the local airport for our flight to this remote but beautiful tropical haven in the middle of South America.  There won't be a blog posting tonight as I haven't had time to download pictures or create a blog update.  Tomorrow is going to be one of the top three highlights of this month- long adventure as we spend the day exploring the Iguazu Falls by land, by jetboat, and by train, so there will be lots of photographs and much to share with you.  Have a great evening and we'll be back online tomorrow.  Lots of love to all our friends and family.   Tom & Marla

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Tuesday, 28 January, 2014

We arrived in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires, early this morning and after breakfast, we boarded our all too familiar tour bus for a full day of touring this huge and historic city. The really BIG difference today from every other day of this cruise is that the weather finally changed and we experienced torrential rains until about 12 noon, so our city tour was affected. One foul weather bonus was that many people stayed inside due to the rains, so the crowds in and around the city were not as large and chaotic as usual.  One of the highlights of Buenos Aires that we visited was The Boca district with its colorful flavor and very gaudy buildings and decorations which you can see a sampling of in the photos posted on the blog tonight. We also were well entertained by a professional dancing couple who performed the Argentine Tango for us.

We also toured the grand historic buildings of the old-town, and the Mausoleum where Evita Peron is entombed, by far the most popular tourist attraction in this city. We spent considerable time in the May Square where much of the civil unrest gets its start in Argentina. This is also the location of the Pink Palace, where the Perons lived when General Peron served as President, and from where she gave her final "Don't cry for me Argentina" address to her country from the famous balcony. You will recall that Eva Peron was an extremely popular and very young First Lady who had the masses supporting her because of the immense time and energy she spent working for the poor of Argentina, from where her own roots originated. She also neglected her own personal health issues, and refused medical care when she became ill at age 33, dying after a short battle with uterine cancer. Eva Peron is the most admired and revered woman in the history of Argentina, almost considered a saint by the masses, but not by the government or the military who disdain her, and for decades refused to permit her burial in Argentina.

Following a  long and busy day in the city, we returned to our ship for the final time and finished the process of packing for our departure tomorrow morning. We will head to the airport and catch a midday flight up to Iguazu Falls, which straddles the borders of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. This massive series of waterfalls covers many square miles, dwarfs all of the Niagara Falls combined, and is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. We're very excited to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Dinner tonight was our final one on the ship, and that's probably a good thing. It's been an amazing epicurean journey but certainly not what we're accustomed to. Actually, we're really looking forward to a good homemade casserole. Tonight's dinner started with Shrimp Cocktail, a Pineapple Mango boat, a fresh fruit platter, followed by a delicious Chilled Pineapple Pina Colada Soup, then a Crispy lettuce and Mango Salad. Marla had sweet and sour pork on rice with steamed vegetables for her entree, and I had Blackened Sea Bass with grilled salmon and vegetables. Dessert for Marla was Mango Sorbet and I had a Heath Bar frozen yogurt Sundae. It's time to leave the ship while we can still move!

Three more days and this incredible adventure comes to an end. Mixed emotions, but life goes on. We'll be seeing you very soon.

Love to everyone from both of us.

Tom and Marla

Monday, 27 January, 2014

Monday, 27 January 2014

This morning we awoke to the view of the bustling and beautiful capital city of Montevideo, Uruguay, with a population of about 1.3 million. It is considered to be one of South America's oldest cities and much of its architecture attests to that.  Because it lies on the north shore of the world's widest river (nearly 125 miles wide where it meets the Atlantic), the Rio de la Plata provides mile after mile of beautiful white sand beaches which are very popular this time of year with tourists coming from all over the world.  We toured much of the city today, and had the opportunity to also go to the Montevideo LDS Temple, located in a beautiful upscale neighborhood. Uruguay is not a country with an emphasis on religion like so many other South American countries, so we only saw a couple of different churches in the entire city.  We had several hours to enjoy the local flavor of Uruguayan foods and craft shopping. I finally found my much sought after Uruguayan black leather belt. This country is well known for its leather products. 

It is interesting here how the President is elected and how he lives. He is very much loved by his people but the country's constitution only allows the President to serve one term of 4 years. He lives in his own modest home with his wife, no children, drives a beat up old 1960's era VW Beetle, and he even does his own grocery shopping. He also donates half of his monthly Presidential salary to the poor and destitute of his country. Boy, would a few countries and its leaders learn some valuable lessons from this man?! 

After shopping, we returned to the ship for a short afternoon snooze, and then it was time to eat dinner, again. Tonight was International Night, so the menu offered selections from six different continents. We began with Vietnamese Asian spring rolls, followed by chilled pumpkin soup, followed by a flaky pastry filled with brie cheese and covered in an apple cranberry chutney. Marla's entree was the Chef's Special, sauteed shrimp over rice and broccoli and mine was braised beef tenderloin with potatoes and vegetables. We both enjoyed Baked Alaska for dessert. Only one more night of dinner on board!!!

We are now journeying up the Rio de la Plata for 120 miles heading for the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. We should be pulling into port early in the morning and will tour the city and museums all day. Lot's of history to be found here, but also a lot of civil unrest currently going on so we've been cautioned to be careful tomorrow. We plan to do so, and then one more night on the ship before flying to Iguazu Falls. 

We're looking forward with mixed emotions to the end of this incredible journey, but we're also eager to see the family and hold our new grand-daughter for the first time. 

Love to all of you from South America. 

Tom and Marla

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sunday, 26 January, 2014

Following a wonderful night’s sleep on our last day at sea, we awoke to civilization again in the harbor of the beach resort city of Punta del Este, Uruguay. This is definitely the playground of the rich and famous.  We were tendered from our ship to the city pier and boarded our tour bus for a 4 hour city tour.  There is a lot of money invested in high rise real estate here, including Donald Trump and his Towers.The entire popu-lation of Uruguay is just a few thousand more than the state of Utah, and it is considered a wealthy country by South American standards.  We were taken to the Beverly Hills section of the city and toured the world   famous Ralli Museum where many of Salvadore Dali’s sculptures are on display, along with numerous other odd and strange pieces of contemporary and erotic art.  It was interesting, but certainly not our style or taste.       We also went to another part of the city where we saw a most amazing home/museum, the Museo-taller de Casapueblo, built by another artist Carlos Paez Vilaro.  This palace covers over 10 acres, has more than 25,000 sq ft on 16 levels high on a cliff overlooking the Rio de la Plata River.   After a short visit in the downtown shopping district, where Marla found the most darling hat, we were back to the ship. 

Our final Fireside with Dr. Michael Wilcox was this evening, and it was one of the most spiritual and enlightening sermons we’ve ever heard..  His topic was on our Savior Jesus Christ, “The Greatest Life.”   Many of us, including Dr. Wilcox were in tears as he concluded his remarks with his stirring testimony. We’re all going to miss the incredible wisdom and knowledge that he’s shared with us on so many topics throughout this cruise.

Following the Sunday Fireside we once again found ourselves eating. Dinner tonight began with Thai glass noodle wraps and watermelon salad balls, followed by a delicious bowl of chilled blackberry soup.   Marla’s entree was a lime-turkey tossed salad, and I had wonderful grilled salmon.  Dessert for Marla was an apple turnover topped with ice cream and I chose to have another delicious filet of grilled salmon. 

The pictures I’ve attached tonight need some brief identification and explanation.

#1  A photograph of Dr. Michael Wilcox during one his many lecture seminars.

#2  A photo of our 5 Antarctic experts who shared great wisdom and knowledge with us throughout the cruise. From left to right: Captain Dick Taylor-Ice Pilot, USCG; Christopher Wilson-Antarctic Flora and Fauna expert; Patrick- Cruise Location Guide; Guy Guthridge-Antarctic Political and Sociology expert; and Dave Bresnahan-Antarctic National Science Foundation scientist and Antarctic resident for over 40 years.

#3,#4,#5 Last night’s dinner:  Escargot (snails), Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, and Lobster with Filet Mignon, baked potato and grilled vegetables.  What a Dinner!! 

#6  We have arrived in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

#7-#12  An assortment of locations in Punta del Este including the museums.

#13  A photo of our tour bus group, together everyday since day 1 in Santiago.

All is well with us, and we’re beginning to pack our bags.  Tomorrow morning we arrive in the capital city of Montevideo, Uruguay and then we’re off to Buenos Aires, Argentina, followed by our final destination of Iguazu Falls, on the Brazil, Paraguay,and Argentina borders. We’ve got five very busy and hectic days ahead of us before heading home. We look forward to seeing everyone next week.  Love you all,  Tom & Marla