Laninga's Travel Blog

Although our cruise started in Buenos Aires, we actually didn’t leave port until the second day. Instead, we had a tour of a local ranch, where we learned about their lifestyle. We viewed the ranch, watched horsemanship demos, learned more about folk dances, and ate some local barbecue. Washed it down with a local red wine.

Our first true port of call was Montevideo, Uruguay. Uruguay has some 300 million cows, and 3 million people. So local industry was heavily skewed to leather and beef. We had a pleasant stroll through the city and “shopped” a local art fair. A storm was brewing, and we made it back to the ship just before a major storm struck. Others were not so lucky, and got a good soaking.

A short cruise brought us to Punta del Este, a local hotspot for the rich and famous. Beautiful beaches and a cheap economy makes it a haven for people like Madonna and Leonardo deCaprio, who frequent this area. But we also saw the poor side of the area, showing the contrast between the haves and have nots.

We ended out first week at Puerto Madryn, AR. Not exactly a tourist town, but a 2 hour drive in a cramped van brought us to Punto Tomo, a major rookery for Magellan penguins. Thousands of them were here, we saw penguins from hatchlings to elders. We also some some local rather rare birds and small mammals.

A few pictures are shown below, but feel free to click on the Flickr link (below, right) then click on Albums for our complete albums.

Local dances and color

Cooking lunch, Argentina style

Downtown Montevideo

The storm approaches!

Montevideo beaches

Artist feature on beach

Magellan rookery

Magellan penguin