Adventure of the month

Before ever stepping foot in Punta Arenas, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to get to Isla Magdalena, home to 150,000 Magellanic penguins. Then again, who couldn't want to do that? The problem was that there are only two ways to get to the island. The first is via a ferry that goes out there every day, which would have been great, but for the fact that the cruise ships reserve the entire ferry, making it impossible for the independent traveller to get on board. The second was via zodiac boats, which although colder and wetter are also much faster and can get you there way before the ferry arrives. With that in mind, back in early November, I called Solo Expeditions, who were the only outfit running zodiac boats at that time, and was told that all the outings were sold out. I called again right before getting on the ship, hoping for cancellations, but to no avail. Yet, having seen the median age of my fellow passengers (let's be generous and go with 60-ish) I was s...

Pto Chacabuco's man in the mountain. Our second port of call, Puerto Chacabuco, was touted as a place of majestic open spaces to be appreciated mainly for its solitude and remoteness. All codes words for 'don't expect much 'cuz there ain't nothing there'. This explained why, try as I might, I was not able to pre-book any sort of tour prior to the cruise. Not only were there no tour operators, I suspect that computers with an Internet connection were in short supply as well. But not to worry, the cab drivers of Chacabuco and its neighboring "city", Aysen were more than happy to fill this gap. As soon as we got off the boat, a small army of drivers awaited us with identical signs promising a tour of all the area's highlights. They all offered the same circuit for the same price ($120 for up to 4 people versus $99 per person on NCL) so the only question was which driver we would choose. I'm not sure if there had ever been any English-speaking gui...

In my PC days (pre-cruise), I had assumed that one of the benefits of going on these things was not having to plan anything. You buy your ticket, show up when you are supposed to and everything else is taken care of. And this is, to an extent, true...as long as you don't mind paying crackhead prices (as in they must have been on crack when they priced these things) for the shore excursions. The amount of money that they ask for something as simple as a city walking tour is mind-boggling, not to mention the fact that by joining this walking tour, you will be amassed with a slow-moving horde, guaranteeing minimum enjoyment of the outing for all. Anticipating this problem, not wanting to blow the savings of the cheapo cruise on shore excursions, and let's face it, because I can't help it...I'm a planner, I did some research and found local operators in most of the ports of call willing to do the same tours at a fraction of the price and with much smaller groups, to boot. I...

A recent listing on Travelzoo's top 20 caught my eye for a number of reasons. The days of the advertised deal corresponded nicely with my vacation. It was cheap. The itinerary would take me to three countries I had yet to visit. There would be penguins involved. It was really, really cheap. There would be chance to see glaciers. It required minimal planning and I was running out of time to make a decision. But principally, it was the penguins and the cheapness which won me over! Of course, there is always a trade-off. In contrast to all these appealing pluses was the fact that this was a cruise. A 14-day South American cruise, to be exact. I have never regarded myself as a cruise person, preferring independent travel to being stuck on a floating hotel with bad lounge acts and bland food. However, $399 (before taxes) for 14 days accommodations, meals and transportation through some amazing (and very hard to reach) landscape tipped the balance way too much for me to pass ...