Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to tell you that we're safely onboard the ship. At least 2,000 people were stranded in Machu Picchu right after we left because of a rock slide from all the rain, which went across the train track--the only "normal" way to get to the town near Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes. There are around 50 people who are supposed to be on board, who were still up there. Apparently, this has made some international news. As of yesterday, Regent wass looking into the use of helicopters to "rescue" them. They are actually fine, just in a difficult situation. We had dinner with the General Manager of the ship, Anthony Miller, and he was filling us in. We were very lucky as we left a couple of days earlier to spend time in Cusco.

As is, because of the weather the last morning, they canceled all the flights back to Lima from Cusco. We, too, were examining alternative scenarios. Apparently, one cannot even get from Cusco back to Lima easily. They told us it would take 25 hours for what is an 80-minute flight. Fortunately, things cleared enough so planes could land, and we were less than 3 hours late. Everything was taken care of fairly efficiently by the tour company, so we were onboard by about 4:00 PM on Sunday.

I'm working hard on the blog during these two sea days we have so I'm not going to go into anymore detail now. I hope to "publish" it tomorrow.

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Eugene (and Gail)

Wow, the situation at Machu Picchu looks terrible. Glad you made it out! I can certainly see how the train tracks could be compromised in the narrow canyons near the end of the trip from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. And the train is truly the only option of making that last bit of the trip. Hopefully the stranded passengers are safe and dry in hotels. Being stuck at the Sanctuary Lodge wouldn't be the worst fate, but it certainly would be frustrating when you're missing a cruise!

First time I have posted from Llama, lot going on since we boarded. I was so happy to hear my eight people had made it on board from Machu Picchu. That call from Doug the executive concierge was a great relief.

We had our Brown and Keene cocktail party and dinners last night. This is a great group of people and the ones I am meeting for the first time are really delightful. Going to be a wonderful trip.

First day at sea today and we will play our first game of pooch in Signatures at 2.00 pm.

Being aboard with Captain Felice Patruno is always a treat and he was very welcoming with his usual big smile.

Rushing off for lunch now, Ken is hungry.

Wow, poor people stranded at Machu Picchu. Having been on that trip, I can certainly see how the track could be easily blocked by a landslide. We stayed at the Sanctuary Lodge when we were there too. It's nice, but I would be very upset to be missing my cruise!
Have a great time everyone.

How many LCT's on board??

The ones that I know who post on LCT are Don and Carolyn Rodman, Jerry and Peggy Wolf, Ronald and Sally Harris, and Gail and me. In addition to Ngaire and Susan and their spouses, there are two single women and six other couples, who I don't think post. So there are 26 B&K people.

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Eugene

I hope everyone made it out of Machu Picchu. The reports now say that all access to the Sacred Valley is cut off due to loss of bridges at Pisac, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo. Essentially each town is now an island.

We haven't heard any update about the missing passengers today, so I am not sure where they are. We have another sea day tomorrow, so I know they weren't expected to meet the ship until the next day. As I said, I think about 50 people are involved. I believe they were on a transit excursion--as opposed to a pre-cruise--like the rest of us who made it. That is, they got off the ship and expected to meet it again after going to Machu Picchu, but were then trapped in Aguas Calientes.

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Eugene

Will be interesting to see the updates, Eugene. I'm glad Ngaire's BK pax are onboard and safe! For those others on the full SA cruise, this is an adventure they surely did not expect!

We're pretty happy we didn't decide to take the excursion to Machu Pichu--that's a little more adventure than I'd like. According to reports, Regent was able to get helicopters to remove all their passengers (plus some others who were on post cruise independent trips)from the area. They've put them up in a hotel (not sure where--but probably Lima) and they're expected back on the ship in Coquimbo where we dock tomorrow. Last night was the first "Formal Optional" night we've experienced. I'm happy to report that at least 99% of the passengers were dressed up in the same way they would have previously on formal night. I only saw two gentlemen who didn't have on a coat. At least half of the men had on tux's or dinner jackets. So nothing has really changed, at least on this cruise. We're looking forward to dinner in Signatures tonight with Don, Caroline, Eugene and Gail.

Hope the passengers get back to the ship soon. This area of Peru is prone to mud and rock slides .. more often in the wet period, but can happen at any time. It can affect trains, bridges, roads, etc. It will take a little - but not a long - while for the Peruvians to repair the transportation infrastructure.

Cheers, Anne

PHOTOS FROM LLAMA - Pisco, Peru:


Carolyn & Ngaire In Paracas National Reserve Outside Of Pisco, Peru.




The Changing Colors Of The Desert In Paracas National Reserve.


This Photo Was Taken To Show The Road Paved With Salt. The Color Is Black From the Rubber Of The Tires.


The Fossals Show That This Desert Was Once The Ocean Floor.


A Beautiful Red Sand Beach In Paracas National Reserve.


Captain Felice Cooks Pasta For The Guests Onboard The Mariner.

Lovely

Sure wish we on board...Looks like another "great one" :app:

What spectacular pictures. Thanks, Ken. Can't wait to do that cruise next year. I want to thank all the llamas for sharing their cruise with those of us that are home. Continue to enjoy your cruise.

Bravo!! Beautiful pictures Ken!

Ken, once again your pictures are breathtaking! Thank you!

Kathy

Love it - such gorgeous contrast in colors! Tks, Ken! Lookin' good, Ngaire & Carolyn!

Port of call - Coquimbo, Chile

What time is it in La Serena?

Decided to bypass the tour and take a taxi into the local tourist town of La Serena with Paul and Susan. We left the ship at 9.30 am, and started to walk the town. I noticed the town clock and a digital clock that showed 9.30 am when our watches showed 10.00 am. Okay – a 30 minute time difference between the ship and town times. Then we walked into another shop that sold clocks this store had the ship time. So then we decided it was probably just a problem with the digital and town clock. There is NOTHING in this town we walked into several churches and there were some markets that were not yet open. So wanting to find something of interest we decided to find out when the markets would open. We went into the tourist information office. We checked the time – they had ships time and said the markets would open in 30 minutes at 11.00 am. Only thirty minutes to wait so we decided to walk some more and give the markets time to open. Well the people in the markets had the same time as the town clock so it was an hour to opening. I do not think I have ever experienced a town that had a variance in the time. I guess you can have a 30 minute window and take a choice of what time you decide it really is depending on if you are running early or late. Amazing how confusing it is when the time is not clear.

One of the markets was local with clothing and miscellaneous goods that were of no interest to us at all. The other markets were for the tourist but nothing of interest here either. This small town is simply a gateway to the longer out of town tours that I am sure are of a lot more interest.

The highlight of the day was the communication with the locals we found them to be very friendly and even the market vendors did not bother you to look in their store.

The local tourist office had two women and neither could speak or understand much English. Ken wanted to find out if there was anything of interest if we went somewhere close to town by taxi. His question was long with reference to being on the cruise ship, sightseeing and then he ended up with the words “by taxi”. They looked at him blankly all along and then when he said “by taxi” their faces lit up and they bought out a map and showed us where the taxi stand was located. Ken thanked them as if that is what he wanted to find out and Susan and I decided we had to give Ken kudos for his optimism that they would understand him.

Coming back to the ship in the taxi our young taxi driver was trying VERY hard to talk to us and Paul was using his Spanish to communicate. It is a lot of fun to see two people trying to talk to each other and the joy at actually reaching some understanding.

So not a highly successful day, but it was not hot and pleasant to get out and do some walking. Be interesting to talk to the groups that went out into the countryside today.

Life is good on the Mariner and we are having a wonderful time. Prime 7 tonight looking forward to that!

Laughing at your time situation, Ngaire. Maybe there just anything so pressing in this town that it requires you to be on exact time.
In Punta Arenas, Chile, they still ring the church bell every hour on the hour from 7 am till 10 pm. We were in a hotel room directly across the street--no sleeping in for us.

Pictures look great!

Ngaire, you'd have a lot of fun at our house listening to Tom and I!

Love reading your seamail. The clock story is hilarious. We won't stop there on next year's SoAm trip so good to know we're not missing anything. Keep having a great time...Enjoy Prime 7 tonight, YUM!

Valparaiso

Beautiful sunny day with perfect temperature and no wind, it could not be better. Ken and I spent several days here pre-cruise on Koala and also have visited the port before. So we were lazy this morning and did not go on a tour.

We were amazed watching six huge and four smaller fully loaded containers were on the dock. They have been unloading these containers since early morning and are still working at 3.00 pm with still a lot of containers left to unload. What a chore it must be to store the supplies once they are all onboard. First time I have seen this much activity on loading a ship. Probably happens all the time just not seen it so clearly before. Ken swears he saw fresh berries being loaded – good news although they have been plentiful on the ship and available whenever I asked.

I realized I have not mentioned the food that has been really excellent so far. Prime 7 last night with Jan and Fred was wonderful and there is a great lobster dish in La Verandah with three tails. For the welcome aboard dinner in compass rose I had a lobster tail in a light sauce as an appetizer and beef wellington for a main, a fantastic dinner. The Signature’s menu has changed dramatically and I have not been yet but the reports back have been excellent. Tonight I see a Chilean Salmon and New Zealand Leg of Lamb on the menu we will be eating with Jerry and Peggy so good company too!

The wines too have been really good, far better than on my last few trips. I am now really only a red wine drinker so cannot comment on the white wines, Ken said they are good. The Peter Lehman Australian Shiraz was excellent and last night in Prime 7 I had a 2002 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon.

There are quite a few new crew members and still the service has been fine. I had a small issue the other day when I forgot to order a hollandaise sauce in Compass Rose at lunch. This was my fault that I did not think of it when I ordered initially. I asked another waiter if I could get some hollandaise sauce but it did not arrive. I was not worried about this the lemon on the fish was fantastic and I really totally forgot about it. Later that night a waiter came up to me in Prime 7 and apologized for not getting that back to me before I finished my fish. I would never have recognized him as the waiter that did not bring the sauce and he was so apologetic and honest about it I was quite touched. You could tell it upset him not to deliver that to me as asked.

After lunch we went into town to walk around but there was not much of interest. This is a great port but you really need to do a tour here. We did see Eugene and Gail downstairs and they said their morning tour was terrific and they were headed to Vina Del Mar this afternoon.

So going to work a little this afternoon and then see if we can do better at trivia today. If we had not changed answers yesterday we would have won – good news is Peggy’s group won so that made me happy.

Ngaire

Hey Ken,
Keep posting those beautiful pictures, I'm stealing them for my photo albums (lol)

Ngaire,
John and I had fun watching them load the ship too. It was particularly interesting to see the head sommelier, John, open a number of the wine boxes and take out a bottle of wine. We assume he was going to taste them before they loaded them on the ship as he disappeared and the shipment was finally loaded onto the ship within the hour. We notice that they have tied balloons to the railings, set up champagne and a welcome table out front now for the guests that are supposed to be returning from Cusco and Machu Picchu today. It will be interesting to hear their tales. There are now about 50 of the staff including officers out front awaiting the arrival. Also many of the guests are hanging out on their balconies to add to the welcome back.

Two buses arrived with our fellow cruisers returning from Cusco. There appeared to be about 60 of them and they seemed in good spirits. It has been a beautifully sunny day and fun to watch all the boats racing around the port.

Gee, I hope Ken or Eugene took pictures of the new arrivals. They should parade them in to the CR with a fanfare of trumpets.

Wishing I was aboard,playing POOCH and Trivia.

I just found some photos from the train tracks to Machu Picchu. In many areas the track is simply gone or dangling over river. It's going to be several months (at least) before there is access to Machu Picchu again. http://www.livinginperu.com/news/11314

It's such a sad situation there. I'm glad all of the LCTers and other Regent travelers got out safely!

Ken your pictures are amazing! Thanks for letting us landlubbers live vicariously through you and keep having a great time!

A Few More Photos:


Preparations For The Welcome Home Of The Machu Picchu Group.


A Little Glacial Calving.


Cute Kids.



Susan & Ngaire At The Petro Hue Waterfalls.


Jet Boating At Petro Hue.


Cruising Next To The Andes.




The Weather Changes Very Quickly In This Part Of The World.

Ken, your pictures never fail-----they are absolutely beautiful. Thank you again for sharing them with us.
Elaine

Ken, you bring it all back through your breathtaking images. Love this part of the world so much!

I'm enjoying the incredible scenery as we sail down the Beagle Channel towards Ushuaia. The glaciers are spectacular as you can see in Ken's pictures. We're having a wonderful time as usual--not only is this area great, so are the people on the ship. Last night there was a Texas get together called "Don't Mess With Texas"--we enjoyed meeting all the Texans onboard. One highlight was our dinner with the Captain a couple nights ago. It was fun visiting with the Captain again, but our other tablemate was Charlie Gibson, the recently retired ABC News anchor. We had a delightful conversation with him and his wife, Arlene. Ah, the joys of travel. Today in Ushuaia we'll head out to the Andes to enjoy the great scenery there. Then it's on to Antarctica.

Ken - the depth on the Andes picture is amazing. Thanks for posting.

Enjoy the remaining sail through Antarctica!

Cheers, Anne

Antarctica! Antarctica!

Can't wait til they get there! I'm sure Ken's photos will be amazing.

Rocking and rolling today but the good news is the wind is supposed to change and it will calm down a little. We have been looking at web sites with wind and wave heights. It is dead calm in Antartica where we are heading.

We had a fun excursion yesterday in Ushuaia. Probably we liked it more than others as we both love four wheel vehicles. The road was rough with huge pot holes full of water. We got stuck and had to be winched out. Fortunately we did not have to leave the vehicle because we were stuck in mud and water. Ken got some shots from the inside of the land rover and we will post them so you can see the conditions. There were some locals on some four wheelers also on the road. We have not had time to download and look at these pictures yet. They will not be high quality shots through mud streaked windows but I think you may enjoy these. I loved it.

So we will see how many show up for POOCH today in Signatures at 2.00 pm??

They are planning on showing the super bowl tonight so we hope the signal comes through. It will be around 8.30 pm our time so about perfect. Some quick steak and lobster with some good wine and then the football game.

The wine by the way has GREATLY improved from our last trip and the food has overall been excellent.

Glad to hear about the wine!! Could you see if they are carrying Australian Cabernet/Shiraz again along with an Argentinian Malbec?

Have fun in antarctica!

Hi all,

At 1:30 AM this morning, we received the call that Gail’s new grandsons were born. Mateo Joseph weighed 4 lb. 13 oz. and Oliver Lawrence weighed 6 lb. 9 oz. Believe it or not, they are identical—at least they’re supposed to be. Everyone seems to be doing well.

It was an exciting night, especially with our rocking and rolling. Earlier we had over 80 mph winds and 30 foot seas. It is still very rough, and we arrived in the Antarctica region at 7:46 PM this evening.

On top of everything, we lost heat in our cabin until this evening. At one point it was 62 degrees. Also the howling was amazing last night. They put all new weather stripping on the sliding door today.

Meanwhile, we’ve been in touch with neighbors and friends in Washington. Our neighborhoods had about 30 inches of snow, and friends lost power and were experiencing inside temperatures in the 40s. I guess our cabin didn’t sound too bad, especially since we could go elsewhere.

After dinner, many went to watch the Superbowl, which Regent arranged to receive by Satellite. We’re calling it a night after all this excitement.

Tomorrow, I’ll get back to the blog when we are scheduled to arrive at Deception Island.

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Eugene and Gail

Mateo and Oliver:

Congratulations they are beautiful babies!!

Great picture, Eugene! Congrats!