reallyjillytravels

  Friday, February 24, Punta del Este, Uruguay  Punta del Este doesn’t have a big enough dock for cruise ships, so they anchor out in the bay and tender people to shore. The ship’s blurb about it says this place has a year-round population of 12,400 but that inflates to an average of 450,000 residents in the summer season (which is now). Hard to get your brain around that! Among other monikers, it’s known as the “San Tropez of South America.”  The ship arrived about 9 am and I went to shore on one of the early tenders, having two goals in mind: 1) visit La Mano, a sculpture depicting 5 giant fingers coming out of the sand at Playa Bravo and 2) visit Casapueblo, a hotel/art gallery a half hour bus ride away. There were people handing out maps on the pier when we got off the tender. The main part of town is a peninsula that can be navigated fairly easily on foot. The woman who handed me the map said it would take 2 hours to walk the perimeter. Maybe. I cut across the middle...

  February 17-20, 2023 Antarctica It’s hard to describe Antarctica or do it justice with photos. It’s not owned by any country, but many countries contribute to research with scientists, navy vessels, helicopters, or resources of one kind or another through the Antarctic Treaty—a very unique set of agreements. The treaty emphasizes scientific cooperation, protection of the environment, conservation of plants and animals, preservation of historic sites, management of tourism among other agreements. No wars here, no border disputes. Not many people. This inhospitable environment is teeming with wildlife. Whales, seals, penguins, sea birds. Brilliant green mosses appear rarely on hillsides, breaking with the black, white, and distinctive glacier-blue motif. Whaling is not allowed, and we didn’t see any signs of fishing although some fishing is allowed. Ships have very slow speed mandates to avoid whale strikes (a major cause of whale deaths we were told).  Tourism is growing...