In Buenos Aires airport we were met by representatives of Princess Cruises (and I was offered a job because I helped out some other passengers having trouble understanding the process) and were taken on a slow drive through the Argentine capital city’s traffic to the port area to board the ship.

As with many places that cruise ships dock the port area of Buenos Aires was a commercial zone with not a huge amount of interest to look at if you’re not fond of shipping containers and cranes but the weather was gorgeous, we were in a foreign country, I had my camera to hand, there were some lovely pieces of brutalist architecture on show too, and photographs were quick to follow.

In addition to taking pictures from our mini suite balcony when we first arrived in Buenos Aires we took a walk up onto the top deck of the cruise ship and I snapped some photos of the commercial port and the Río de la Plata from there too.

Our cabin was on the starboard side of the cruise ship which meant we got the evening sun as it dipped towards the western horizon beyond which lay Argentina. As my wife was showering and I was waiting for my turn I took a couple of photographs of the calm Atlantic ocean as dusk was approaching. It was a very relaxing sight with the sun partially obscured behind wispy clouds.

After showering and getting ready we then made our way to deck seven to meet up with quiz partners for the evening trivia taking place in the Explorers Lounge. It was at the end of this entertainment and because the curtains hadn’t been closed at that time outside the venue that everyone became aware of the light pouring in from outside. The promenade deck rapidly became filled with people making their way outside to see not just an incredible sunset but easily the most incredible sunset I’ve ever seen. The colours in the photograph below are almost 100% accurate to what we witnessed on the ocean gazing west on that evening. The photograph was taken on my phone as my camera had been left in the room and I didn’t want to miss a thing by heading up for it.

In the (temporarily removed) video below you can hear the low voices of other people around us on the promenade deck in awe of the spectacle as we looked out at the sunset.

We’ve seen many sunsets while on cruises but nothing has come close before or after that one on the Atlantic off Argentina.

There was still a little while before everyone else would be on board and we would depart the Falkland Islands so I went for a little wander around the top deck of the ship to take some photographs of the Falklands landscape from our bay location.

Sunbeams coming through the gathering clouds as the afternoon slipped into early evening and our departure from the Falklands grew ever closer provided for some nice photos too and some additional memories to group with the ones we already had from our day on the islands.

The Falklands had given us ridiculously clear blue skies but Cape Horn had something a little less photogenic in store for us. Low, grey clouds, occasionally spitting with rain on us, lending everything a desaturated yet still very atmospheric look was the order of the day. It was windy – as you’ll be able to tell from the videos here – but the sea wasn’t too rough, which was a shame as my wife and I love rough seas when you’re on a cruise ship and we’d been looking forward to seeing what Cape Horn could deliver in that respect. Luckily, we’d get big waves and rough seas a little further round our South American trip.

Commentary about the islands of Cape Horn that we were passing was broadcast over the ship’s speakers. I was tempted for a while to go up onto the main deck in order to get views of the Star Princess‘s passage around the tip of South America from all angles but the chilly wind convinced me that our balcony view and its benefit of allowing me to duck back into the room to warm up would do just as well.

I was quite pleased with one of the photographs I managed to get when the low cloud cover thinned enough to allow the weak sun to shine through onto the ocean.

One of the good things about cruising when you pass a milestone such as crossing the date line or the equator is that you will typically get a memento of the occasion and we were pleased to discover certificates confirming we’d cruised around Cape Horn on our beds that evening.

It was a constant battle to keep the camera lens clean of drops of either spitty rain driven in by the wind or by spray from the boat. My advice to keen photographers and videographers partaking in an excursion down the Beagle Channel would be to get a decent hood for your camera if you can and keep a cleaning cloth in your hand at all times to check and wipe the front of the lens every couple of shots. I did my best to keep on top of the difficult photography conditions but there are still noticeable soft spots in the photos where water drops got in the way.

Speaking of hoods, you’ll want to wear one. I wore a hoodie, a woollen hat, and had a hooded waterproof jacket on as well. Also: gloves and two pairs of socks on. It was incredibly cold on the deck of the boat taking us down the Beagle Channel. Many people stayed inside except for when we stopped to look at the local wildlife more closely – my wife amongst them – or ventured out only occasionally until the temperature sent them scurrying back inside for comfort. Only one person on the cruise down the channel remained outside for the entirety of the nearly two and a half hours. That person was me. I figure if you’re going to die of exposure somewhere you may as well make it somewhere beautiful like the end of the world.

Owing to the sheer number of photos I took of the Beagle Channel this excursion will be split into a number of parts.

There are more photos and write-ups of our Beagle Channel cruise here:

• Beagle Channel Cruise (Part 1)
• Beagle Channel Cruise (Part 2)
• Beagle Channel Cruise (Part 3)
• Beagle Channel Cruise (Part 4) – Sea Lions And Cormorants
• Beagle Channel Cruise (Part 5) – Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse

While the cruise down the Beagle Channel had taken place out in the centre, more-or-less, with the impressive mountains of the surrounding landscape fairly distant from the boat we headed back to Ushuaia closer to land. This part of the trip was also conducted at a generally faster speed, only slowing occasionally for a few points of interest and photo opportunities for anyone who wanted them, which made taking pictures very tricky indeed.

Because of the wind direction and speed during this return part of the excursion I was forced to keep my head and camera turned away as much as possible; my method of photography then became one of trying to spot a picture I wanted to take, giving the lens a quick wipe from the spray or rain coming in, then whipping it up and snapping the shot as fast as possible in the hope that not too much moisture would get in the way and spoil the image. And, of course, all the time I was nearly frozen solid. That’s what you get for standing outside on a boat in the middle of a stretch of water in single digit temperatures.

The Beagle Channel cruise excursion took about two and a half hours. It was exhilarating being on top of the boat for that entire time, taking photos of the stunning scenery and wildlife, but I was quite happy to see the Star Princess grow in size as we neared her at the end of the trip. A highly recommended excursion indeed.

Protest

We didn’t have to walk very far into Ushuaia before we spotted and heard groups of locals out in protest at something. Coming upon protestors in Argentina seemed to be a thing as we’d encountered a group on our arrival in Buenos Aires as well. The difference here was that we hadn’t been told about any planned protests in Ushuaia so we didn’t know what they were protesting about and we were on our own without a tour guide at this point. What we did know was that we’d been instructed not to wear anything Falkland Islands-related on account of the region’s relationship with the location and our recent visit to them (we didn’t; we respect common sense) and we’d spotted some graffiti that seemed to indicate tourism was killing Ushuaia (although my translation of the Spanish was based purely on guesses based on other languages and might have been completely wrong). Subsequently, we put two and two together and concluded that our cruise ship’s arrival might be the cause and that we should keep a low profile. I mostly kept my camera aimed away from the people at this point and we tried to look inconspicuous as we looked for a souvenir shop.

In the souvenir shop we picked up a few items and paid with some dollars in order to get Argentinian money in change. We’d been unable to get any Argentinian money before heading to South America and we like to keep souvenir notes or coins from wherever we go. The shop assistant was surprised when we requested the oldest, tattiest-looking notes in change but was happy to get rid of them. I then asked about the protest going on outside the shop and was told it was against the government. This was such a relief so on leaving the store I decided to hang around and take some photos of everyone around with more confidence that I wasn’t going to get yelled at.

We later discovered back on board the ship that a couple we knew on account of becoming regular quizzing partners with us had had a closer encounter with the protest groups. They’d been bolder than me and had approached the group directly asking what they were protesting about. On finding out their grievances with the Argentinian government they’d helped the protestors first with stoking a brazier that many were huddled around to keep warm and then marching with them at one point waving flags and banging drums. I envy their experience although I think keeping a respectful distance and seeking information indirectly was possibly still the wisest move.

Ushuaia Art

We left the protestors behind as they marched down towards the waterfront and continued to have a look around Ushuaia. I’m very fond of local street art wherever I go and there was plenty to see of varying levels of quality; simple tagging to murals and stencil work were all present and we found a brightly-coloured craft centre with a number of monuments and sculptures nearby. The protests and the artwork showed us that the people of Ushuaia were very passionate and it’s another reason why I absolutely loved the place.

Ushuaia Dock

By the time we reached the waterfront area the protest group had headed back into the town so we had a chance for a few last shots of the area from Ushuaia itself.

We were getting periods of sunshine warming everything up by this point and it was impossible not to imagine living here and never tiring of the views of the landscape.

I stopped to take a photo of a sign in the dock area that reiterated the Argentinian view of the Falkland Islands as seen from that region of the country although, as explained elsewhere, the Argentine people we’d met on the Falklands didn’t seem to share quite as strong a view.

The last shots of Ushuaia from dry land were of the few vessels along the dock.

In addition to taking photos of our approach to Chile from our balcony we also had a stroll around the mostly empty promenade deck.

We had a couple of views of the tender boats being dropped into position to start ferrying passengers ashore.

I imagine there were a few cancelled excursions at Punta Arenas due to our late arrival in the port. Luckily for us, we’d booked a short trip as nothing else really appealed and this was still doable as it wasn’t due to start until the afternoon. I’m not sure but I think that there was a long trip to Antarctica (by plane) and to a Chilean national reserve park that could have been taken in this port; the former was definitely cancelled and I suspect the latter might have been too as they were full day trips. We’d considered booking the Antarctica trip at one point although it would have meant doubling our cruise price with no guarantee that the flight to the southern polar region would even have taken place. We decided that if we are to visit Antarctica at some point (and we do want to) then it will be on a ship heading there for a number of days to reduce the chance of cancellation.

We’d spent the previous day in Punta Arenas which was in the sheltered Strait of Magellan but out on the ocean things started to move. We were awoken in the morning by drawers opening and closing in the bedside cabinets and we’d already had to remove all the coat hangers from the wardrobe to stop them clattering around. I stepped over to the balcony window and leaned against the wall to support both me and the camera in order to shoot some video. You’ll have to imagine it because I’ve removed the video, temporarily, hopefully.

After we’d had some breakfast I then spent a little time taking video and photos of the swimming pools which had been netted off to stop anyone getting in and enjoying themselves. Spoilsports.

I realised I’d get a more interesting view of the waves in the pool crashing and splashing from the balcony above and was soon joined by another photographer trying to get some pictures of the enjoyable event too.

After we completed our day’s scenic cruising to see the Amalia Glacier we would return to the rough seas for the evening and we spent some enjoyable time in Skywalker’s Nightclub (which was surprisingly busy); being at the top and aft of the ship it was subject to large amounts of movement and we were highly impressed that the waiting staff never spilt a drink even when their trays were full and they occasionally had to stop and hold a hand out for support as they navigated the lounge area. Our drinks on the table were sometimes filled to the brim and top-heavy with garnish and had to be drunk immediately on arrival to stop from losing any liquid as the ship lurched. Immense fun.

The conditions may have been calmer but the general weather was dull and overcast with occasional rain. The overall effect was to drain the colour from the surroundings which was a shame although pretty atmospheric.

As we got deeper into the channels the surrouding rock faces loomed larger and there was more low-lying cloud rolling between the peaks. The geology of the rocks was quite nice to look at but in terms of fjords the ones in Chile cannot compare to Norway’s offerings (or Alaska’s from what we’ve heard).

Most of the photos of the Chilean fjords were taken from our balcony as the cruise along them coincided with a period where there was nothing of interest to us taking place on the ship. We’d been informed over the tannoy when we were expected to arrive at the glacier so knew that we could get an afternoon quiz in just before then. We took advantage of this fortuitous timing to take a walk around the promenade just prior to this in order to get some fjord photos from a different perspective.