Denis Gilbert's Photos of a South American Cruise

Today Denis tells the story of a monumental cruise that he and his late wife, Charlotte did around South America and the Falkland Islands.

THE VOYAGE OF CHARLOTTE AND DENIS GILBERT ON CRYSTAL SYMPHONY
================================================================

Our journey began at Heathrow where we boarded our aircraft Buenos Aires a long flight we paid for a sleeping berth and after dinner settled down for a sleep. We arrived in Buenos Aires feeling fresh and were driven to our hotel by the airport coach. When we left the coach to walk to the hotel I was slightly nervous by seeing many empty wallets and handbags in the gutter and on the pavement. When booking in the hotel I enquired and was told to be extremely careful when walking because of street crime and was advised never to display anything of value. We decided not to travel out unless in a group

We boarded Crystal Symphony the next morning to sail to Montevideo. We visited a small village with a beautiful yacht haven named Punta del Este which is like a smaller Monaco and ate in the wonderful Blue Lagoon restaurant.

Our next port of call was Puerto Madryn when the coach took us some 60 odd miles inland to an area which was occupied by many Welsh folk and their families, the house names, street names and food menu names were all in Welsh. We stopped to have tea and a broadly spoken Welsh lady who was making the tea said ‘I’ll just get the crocs ‘ we British folk knew she was referring to crockery but a big American guy said ‘ you got crocodiles in here? ‘. We had to laugh

Our next port of call was Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands where we went ashore in Port Stanley viewed the beautiful Cathedral and read some very sad events of the 1982 occupation A street is named Margaret Thatcher Avenue as a token of respect for the action she took to keep the Falklands British.

We then sailed on to Cape Horn and expected bad weather as the reputation warns on of , it was a formal night on board and we were all dressed in evening wear with the ladies in their finery , when the view of Cape horn was announced we went out on open deck and to my surprise it was warm , the sea was a flat calm ,visibility was good and I took many photographs ; knowing Edinburgh so well the shape of the mountain at Cape Horn was so similar to Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh .

Our next port of call was Ushuaia where we travelled up the Beagle Channel and berthed among several other ships most of the coastal vessels as so much has to be delivered only by sea The walk ashore was most interesting with so many different nationalities who were passing through on their various ships

Punta Arenas was next where we had a tour arranged which visited an amazing cemetery with enormous memorials with lengthy inscriptions, there is a huge bronze statue in the town square and we were told that to touch the big toe of the statue would bring good luck, so many people must have done this over many years as the toe shone like gold!

We then sailed on into the Chilean Fjords and the Ship’s Captain sent a tender up towards the ice flow to collect fresh ice which we were told would be hundreds of years old, an announcement was made that if you went to the bar and ordered your drink you could have the Fjord ice in it.

Crystal Symphony then sailed up through Sent Eyre Fjord and through the Chilean Fjords to Puerto Montt for another stop to visit the local architecture and shops; then on to Valparaso where we went ashore to visit Santiago. The ship then headed north to stop at Lima, a fascinating city where to older houses have wooden window frames and wooden balconies. We were accosted by a guy with a camera who said he’d had taken our photograph and wanted payment. As I am a keen photographer I told him to show me his camera which he did without letting go of it, I noticed that there was no film in his camera, I then said that I will take a photograph of him with my camera and give it to the police, he turned and ran away!

From Lima we took the trip to Cusco and boarded the train to Machu Picchu and climbed so high so quickly that breathing was difficult for a short while. The complete village is a joy to behold, especially for me as my business was in stone masonry; the stone joints in the buildings are what we call ‘dry joints‘, there is NO cement or adhesive at all, all joints fit to each other exactly as the photographs show. I took many photographs.

Our next stop was Guayaquil in Ecuador where we sailed up a Isla Sabana Chica channel which was quite narrow but the ship’s captain kept in the centre of the marker buoys perfectly. A soldier boarded the coach with a huge rifle carrying a young crocodile. He asked if anyone would like a photograph holding it; some folks paid him in fear looking at his gun, I looked in an opposite direction .

We then sailed up towards the Panama Canal passing under The Bridge of Americas into the Miraflores Lake past Corte Culebra through Avenida Gaillard past Isla Barbacoa under the Puente Atlantico bridge through Bahia Limoncellos and into the Caribbean Sea towards a short stop at Aruba to refuel. Then we went to St.Maartin and finally berthing at Fort Laurderdale after a 37 day Voyage. We stayed on more day in Maartin then the flight back to Heathrow, An amazing experience.



1 Punta del Este Blue Lagoon Restaurant




2 The Welsh Settlement Patagonia




3 Charlotte Gilbert at Thatcher Drive Falklands L




4 The Freedom Memorial Port Stanley




5 Passing Cape Horn in Calm Seas




6 Sun Set at Cape Horn




7 Punta Arenas Harbour




8 The Statue in Punta Arenas




9 Sailing off the Coast of Chile




10 The P X Glacier off Chile




11 Sun Set off Chile Coast




12 City Square Lima




13 My Favourite Shot of Machu Pichu




14 Dry Stone Joints at Machu Pichu




15 Entering Gatun Lock - Approach




16 The Americas Bridge , Approaching from The Pacific