Two Days 'Til Departure
Tucson, Arizona
Wednesday, 28 November 2018

Only two days away from departure for our South America cruise and we are still in the midst of packing and last-minute arrangements and details.  At least we leave at a reasonable hour on Friday (3:16pm), rather than the early morning hours we are usually condemned to flying to make East Coast connections.  Houston is just 2 1/2 hours from Tucson, and we have several hours to relax there, before our 10:20pm flight to Buenos Aires.

Of course, we only just now realized that we will be flying to Argentina at the same time as diplomats from around the world, including Donald Trump, the Saudi heir apparent, and Vladimir Putin (to mention only the most notorious names), for the World Economic Summit.  Just wondering how much chaos that will cause.  In addition, the major soccer game that was cancelled last weekend because of fan violence, is going to be played while we are there.  Hopefully all the disturbance will be far away from the tourist areas.  I will keep you posted--unless someone decides to disable wifi.

We are looking forward to traveling in United's Polaris Business Class, with seats that convert to full-out flat beds.  And we each get two free checked bags at 70 lbs each, although i hope we wont be carrying that much with us, especially since we get free laundry services on Holland America.  Travel to South America is a little easier than it was just a few years ago.  When I sailed to Rio several years ago, I had to spend a significant amount of money and deal with the logistics of government agencies to secure a Brazilian tourist visa (which is good for ten years from date of issue so I can still use it for a few more years on a return visit).  And when I flew to Santiago de Chile, the year before that, I had to pay a hefty arrival fee (in US dollars cash) in lieu of a visa.  Currently none of the three countries we will visit (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile) require visas and the arrival and departure fees have been completely done away with.

After arrival and tranport to our hotel in B.A. on Saturday, we have a free afternoon and evening to sample the joys of the city, where the latest weather forecast calls for temperatures slightly cooler than normal for this time of the year (it is summer in Argentina).  In fact, it will be much like Tucson's current weather--highs in the 60s and 70s and lows in the upper 50s.  On Sunday afternoon we will be taken on a water tour on the Tigre River, for some local color and dinner.  At noon on Monday, we embark on the ms Zaandam for 14 nights.  The ship will remain in B.A. for this first night, and on Tuesday we have signed up for a shore excursion to see the highlights of the city and to experience a tango session.  

The Zaandam departs at 6pm on Tuesday for the short overnight cruise to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.  Then we have two days at sea, for rest and relaxation, on the way to the Falkland Islands and the first of our Patagonian adventures.

I hope to be blogging again soon--with interesting tales and photos from South America and the bottom of the world.