Valper, so say the locals.

Another Stop off. Valpariso ,one can go to Santiago from here but it is a 9 hr trip. I prefered to go around Santiago and I enjoyed it very much. We saw a statue of the national hero, Admiral Prat, no relation to Cliff. His ship was the Esmerelda and his forces won the Pacific War ,I think it was with Peru but the Pisco Sour intruded and made me forget. We were taken to a gorgeous marina with yachts to die for and into the Yacht Club. We were treated to some small pasties and a large glass of ambrosia aka Pisco Sour. As this was only 11am, we were all quite' squiffy ' afterwards . Result, I want to move to Chile, buy a yacht, join the same Yacht Club, oh and buy somewhere to live. There were many sea front properties for sale and had we been there another day, I should have been 'off ' pricing up. I really like Chile and the people , we have stopped off four times already and have one more stop to make before Peru. After the Yacht Club we drove along the coast which is marvelous. Rocks slightly off shore, the waves break over them and look really picturesque . We stopped to photo some sea lions on a rock then some birds and then went to a Wine store. We bought them out of Pisco Sour and had a good ' go at ' their wines too. I had a good laugh at our coach, we were not supposed to park in front of the shop so after 5 mins or so he had to drive around the block. He did it four times. The first time we all thought he was leaving us, it did not deter us though. We knew that the ship could not leave without so many of us even if the Captain was muttering to all and sundry. It is a formal night tonight so away I go to 'fancy ' up. TTFN .XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

please check

Chris and Steve, I keep forgetting to ask these things. Chris, have you remembered to leave my dining room light on to charge the fire alarm ? every now and again that is , not permanently. Steve, are you deleting rubbish e.mail from my site please? also have you found anything about Travelscope on the net? Keep looking please. Thank you both.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

Concepcion City

Tuesday, I think. We are berthed at Talcahuano for Concepcion. I have been there on a tour this morning, it is more or less a university town and the uni' is huge and modern. We also went to a museum re. the struggle for independence which was very interesting also an art museum on modern art . Now that was something else altogether. Is there anyone out there? I have not had a word from anybody for ages and ages, makes me wonder if I am real or not. byeeeee XXXXX.

Ushuaia

Well it seems that all my blogs have turned up together and made a mess of things. What is that saying about 'it takes a
computer to really mess things up'. We have been to Ushuaia in Argentina. I did not know that Tierra del Fuego belonged in part to Argentina and in part to
Chile.A bit more geographic knowledge for me. I went on a catamaran trip around the Beagle Passage, we saw lots of birds and
an island with penguins and two sea lions. Later we went to another island with many sea lions, the babies were playing and
the old bulls were facing up to each other and roaring. One of them had a really large head and was attacking a smaller one and
roaring so loudly, it was fearsome. We went up quite close in the boat to take photos so we could see them clearly. It was
amazing to see wild creatures in their own habitat doing their own thing. In the aft. I went with Maureen and Rita on 'The
Train To The End Of The World' so called because it goes to the end of the Pan American Highway which starts in Ankara ,
Alaska. I suspect this will be of more interest to Americans .I received an invitation to the Captains cocktail party and afterwards to dine at the Captains table. Twas great, I only had one
cocktail as with white and red wine to follow, one can not be too careful can one Jules.The steak cut like butter it was
wonderful, sadly I had to order a small portion. I can not eat three courses normal size never mind five. I slept well afterwards.
We now have two chilean pilots who know the ins and outs of the Chilean Fjords so we have some special things to come. Bye