I've been wanting to take this trip for a while but we were hesitant about the length of travel and of course the navigation around the cape. We finally decided to take the plunge when our friends from Massachusetts decided to come along. Wow, what a trip! We had beautiful weather and absolutely spectacular scenery.

We started off with 3 days in Santiago Chile which was a great introduction into South America. We then traveled through the produce belt to the port of Valpraiso to pick up out ship, the M/S Insignia. After spending a rough first day at sea, our first port of call was Puerto Montt, gateway to the Lake district of Chile. Our next port of call was a forgettable port called Chacabuco. We left the place wondering why on earth we stopped there in the first place. The following morning we anchored near the Laguna San Rafael Glacier on the northwestern end of the northern snow field. We then spent two full days in and out of the Chilean Fjords headed to our final port of call in Chile, Puenta Arenas. This was our stopping off point for the Torres del Paine National Park...the highlight of the trip for me.

The next day was spent sailing the Beagle Channel and then venturing south 100 miles to circumnavigate Cape Horn. What an experience!

Our next port of call was Ushuaia (pronounced "Use Why Ah"), the southern most city in the world. Not much going for it but a very beautiful setting.

Our tour then headed for Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands. I guess you have to live there to get excited about a bunch of barren rock.

Another day's sail brought us to Puerto Madryn and Penguins! Twenty thousand of them! Montevideo was our next port of call but unfortunately we got there on Fat Tuesday...a holiday and all the stores were closed. Nothing left to do but pack for our disembarkation in the morning in Buenos Aires in the morning.

Buenos Aires was just great but of course we tried to do too much and had very little time to explore the city on foot. During our three day stay, we took a side trip to the Iguazu Falls, another spectacular site.

We truly enjoyed this trip and hope you enjoy the journey with us through these pictures.