This is a South American trip report that involves more than Brazil but TripAdvisor wants to restrict postings to one forum so this was the start of the trip.
For our 30th Anniversary my partner and I set out on a month long trip around South America along with another couple. We first flew to Rio three days prior to scheduled embarkation on a two week cruise on the Star Princess around Cape Horn to Valparaiso. In Rio we stayed at the Excelsior Copacabana which we liked very much and we hired a tour guide whom we had used two years ago on our longer stay in Rio, Jose Olimpio (rioturist@hotmail.com and www.rioturist.com). On that trip Jose showed us so much of Rio in a few days that we decided to venture out of the city this time and asked him to take us to Petropolis, the summer palace of the last Emperor of Brazil. When one of our group was delayed getting to Rio, Jose quickly changed gears and we went to the airport to pick up the late arrival and headed on to Petropolis from there. Jose made recommendations for what we might see and where we might eat and was able to once again show us a wonderful time in just one day. At the conclusion of the day he again suggested several places for dinner and we selected Azul Marinho, a wonderful seafood restaurant directly on Ipanema Beach, where we ate, drank and watched the scenery walk by. As on our last trip we chose to cover Jose’s meals in order to have him stay with us since his commentary was an enjoyable part of the meals.
The embarkation from Rio was unnecessarily painful due to the Star Princess arriving late and having to share terminal space with another departing cruise ship. This slowed down the check-in but it was far worse than it had to be simply because the Princess staff failed to keep those waiting outside in the heat informed as to what was going on. One of our group was 82 and unable to stand in the heat that long. When we finally found a Princess staffer inside she initially insisted the 82 year old would have to stay in line but after strong protests she reluctantly found him a seat in an air conditioned room. We eventually were able to get into our cabins and relax before Muster. Our mini-suite was surprisingly comfortable and larger than I had expected. By dinner we were recovered from the two plus hour wait. The remainder of the cruise went smoothly with the exception of locating some of the shore excursions. Instructions were given to go ashore and look for the excursion but on at least two occasions there were no Princess staffers who could be located to direct us to the proper bus/van and on one occasion the Princess staffer simply gave out wrong information which was eventually corrected by the local excursion people. Since we had been to Montevideo previously and since our docking was on Christmas Day we walked into the downtown area and explored it on our own. To say the city was dead would be an understatement. The following day we were in Buenos Aires which we had also visited previously and we chose to take a taxi to the Alvear Palace Hotel where we had lunch at L’Orangerie. This was probably one of the highlights of the trip. Service was attentive, the setting was lovely and the food was delicious. Our cruise excursions included the Blunt Cove Penguin colony in the Falklands, a drive to El Fin del Mundo in Ushuaia, Argentina and the Otway Sound Penguin colony outside Punta Arenas, Chile. The best part of the Blunt Cove trip was tea at a small cottage near the colony. The El Fin del Mundo drive was interesting and we saw a red fox up-close. The Magallenic penguins were much more interesting (than the Bluff Cove Gentoos) to watch and the scenery was more interesting as well. Food on the ship was better than I had anticipated. Apart from a couple of soups being sub-par I thought the evening meals were outstanding. When we awakened too late for breakfast in the dining room we ate at the buffet which was disorganized as far as getting your food was concerned and it was difficult finding a table as well. The afternoon tea was a special and enjoyable touch. I loved the scones.
Following the smooth cruise disembarkation in Valparaiso we went to Santiago, Chile for several days. We stayed at the Radisson Santiago and found it comfortable with good service and a good restaurant. We had no trouble getting a taxi to and from the hotel to see the city sights. Finally we left Santiago to head back south to Punta Arenas for an overnight at Hotel Finis Terrae prior to being picked up for our trip into Torres del Paine National Park for a stay at the Explora Lodge. Hotel Finis Terrae was forgettable. The Explora Lodge was incredible with a view from our room that was breathtaking. Food was mostly delicious and service was attentive. All food and drink are included in the cost at the Explora and they were generous with both. My only complaint about the stay there was that it is geared toward a more physically fit group than we were. The young guides would describe a hike as “easy” and those easy hikes were very difficult for some of us over 65. Nevertheless, the guides were patient and waited when necessary for the slower ones to catch up.
