Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Home

6:30 AM and getting ready to dock in Buenos Aires. Set clocks back an hour last night, but somehow the clock that does wake-up calls didn’t get set back, so a lot of people on the boat got calls an hour early. Lots of grumpy people! We’ll try to be “glass half full” kind of people, however, and use that hour to write our last blog.

We spent a short day in Montevideo Uruguay yesterday and chalked off a new country for us (Panama was our other new country). Montevideo is a lovely city, although a little “tired”. If you can see past the crumbling facades and desperate need for a power wash, it’s reminiscent of Barcelona—beautiful architecture.

Our guide told us a lot about the country and it’s different from other South American countries in many ways. Freedom of religion is practiced, although there are as many agnostics and atheists as there are Catholics (40% each). The current president is the second socialist president and he’s generally well-regarded. It’s a very poor country and most people are dependant on services from the government. The salaries of policemen and teachers are the equivalent of $700 per month. The government will pay for a college education for anyone who wishes, but once you earn your degree, you pay a tax back to the government—currently $120/year for each degree you have.

Picture 1 is a cityscape of Montevideo. There is a 17-mile-long Rambla from the old city all the way down the Rio Plata that follows one beautiful beach after another.  Our guide told us that a 1000-square foot condo on the beach would only cost about $200,000!

Picture 2 is the Montevideo ship graveyard. It appears that, as ships die, they are just packed into this jumble of old ships.

We’ll be leaving the ship for a day in Buenos Aires and then flying home tonight. Our next blog entry will be in March when we fly back to Buenos Aires and sail back to Ft. Lauderdale. Thanks for traveling with us—we’ve had a great time!

The Falkland Islands

Yesterday was a brief stop at the Falklands—very British, quaint and remote. They have no natural resources, the population is 3000 and there are 600,000 sheep. The only trees have been planted in the capital, and only city, Stanley. Everyone has a greenhouse for growing things. Otherwise, everything must be shipped in. There’s wonderful wildlife: sea lions, fur seals, elephant seals, 3 types of penguins and lots of interesting birds.

So why did Argentina invade in the 80s and Britain fight back so vigorously? Our lecturer is of the opinion that Argentina needed something to divert attention from the social, political and economic problems at home. And the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, fought back vigorously, protecting British rights, even though it’s thousands of miles from anything else British. There are “Falklands are British” signs in Stanley and “Malvenas Belong to Argentina” signs in Ushaia (Malvenas  is the Argentine name for the Falklands). Very interesting….

Picture 1 shows Stanley from the Bay. Of the 3000 residents, 2400 live in Stanley. The remaining residents live on large sheep farms throughout the islands. Little towns of 50 or less people grow up around these farms. Picture 2 shows the first building we saw as we walked down the main street—very British with lovely gardens (although types of flowers not grown on the British Isles).

Picture 3 shows the Anglican Cathedral in Stanley and 4 blue whale jawbones that celebrated 100 years of British rule. The Falklands started life as a whaling station. A sign in the church indicated that 60-70 people attend services each Sunday.

Pictures 4 and 5 give you some idea of the desolation of the islands. Picture 4 shows a shipwreck in the harbor that has sat there for a long time and is finally falling apart (after being used for storage for decades). The islands are beautiful in an eerie sense, but not exactly our first choice for vacation!