Anne and Jerry’s South American Adventure

From February 28 through March 17, 2020, Anne and Jerry (along with Anne’s cousin Charlie Sceia and his wife Marie) were on a Viking cruise around the southern part of South America.Charlie and Marie Sceia, Anne and Jerry Klein

It was a great experience, but we were saddened to watch the scary news on TV that the coronavirus had exploded from China to the U.S. and around the world. The last stop on our cruise was Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fortunately, only a handful of cases had been reported there; nevertheless, we were forced to return home a day ahead of schedule when the government announced plans to close the airport in Buenos Aires to all incoming and outgoing air traffic on Tuesday, the day we were supposed to fly home. Fortunately, Charlie and Marie were able to get a flight out on Sunday night.

After leaving the cruise ship on Sunday, we were staying at the Buenos Aires Hilton and had planned to spend a couple of days meeting and spending time with two brothers whose last name is Sceia – the same as Anne’s maiden name (but no known relation). Hernan and Esteban have been Anne’s Facebook friends for several years, but they had never met in person. They are wonderful, and their families had planned to show us around Buenos Aires and host a typical Italian Sunday dinner for us at their home.Hernan Sceia, Anne, Jerry, Maria Sceia and Esteban Sceia

We met Hernan, Esteban and Esteban’s wife Maria for lunch on Sunday, then went out for some sightseeing.  When we returned to the hotel late in the afternoon, there were numerous uniformed police guarding the door and we were told the hotel was locked down. That meant we could not go out again to have dinner with the Sceias, which saddened all of us greatly. Hernan even brought their mother to explain to the guards, but to no avail.

No one at the hotel had any answers about how long we would be confined or what we needed to do to get out again. Fortunately, by Monday morning, the police had gotten their act together and had a list of guests who could not leave the hotel. Fortunately, we were not on that list, so Hernan was able to pick us up and show us a beautiful section on the northern outskirts of the city called San Isidro, where his home is. After introducing us to his wife and son, Hernan got us back to the hotel in the afternoon in plenty of time for us to finish packing and get ready to head to the airport for our late evening flight back to the U.S.

We had originally been scheduled to fly from Buenos Aires to Houston, then on to Newark. Instead, Viking got us seats on a nonstop flight from Buenos Aires to JFK International in New York City. At Buenos Aires airport, you would never have known know there was any problem with Covid-19. The line going through passport control was about an hour long but moved well. The border agent looked at our passports, took our photos and had us provide our thumb prints.  We were a couple hours early so we were able to spend the time in the American Airlines lounge which had a great spread of food and drink. Our plane to JFK was full, but we did not hear any coughing.

We breezed thru customs at JFK; we have Global Entry so we had no problem. No medical screening anywhere. The U.S. Customs officer asked if we had been anywhere other than Chile, Argentina and the Falkland islands. We said no and that was it. Once we got home, though, we were quarantined to our house like almost everyone else.

Our cruise was on the Viking Jupiter, and for the most part it was great.Our cruise itinerary

We loved Argentina, Uruguay and the Falkland Islands.  We were not so much in love with Chile; the political unrest has taken a toll on the country, with graffiti on many of the buildings and walls in downtown Valpariso.Plaza Sotomayor, the main square in downtown Valparaiso

During a stop at Puerto Montt, Chile, we enjoyed a sightseeing cruise on fog-shrouded Lake Emerald, visited the Petrohue River waterfalls where melted glacier water empties from a 22,000 year old lava formation, then gazed in awe across the expansive Lake Llanquihue at the still-active, snow-capped Osorno and Calbuco Volcanoes.Lake Emerald

Petrohue River waterfall coursing through the volcanic lava

Gazing across Lake Llanquihue at the still-active Osorno volcano

We spent a day exploring the beautiful Chilean fjords, then cruised by the Amalia Glacier which originates in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. (Patagonia is the region encompassing the vast southernmost tip of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile.)Cruising through the Chilean fjordsThe Amalia Glacier

We had a nice walk through Punta Arenas, the populous capital city of Chile’s southernmost region. It is located on the Strait of Magellan which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.The central square in Punta Arenas

We loved Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world and the capital of Tierra del Fuego. It’s situated on the Beagle Channel, where Charles Darwin had explored in the late 1800s.Ushuaia

The next day, we cruised around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America. The weather was chilly but the seas were smooth. The Viking Staff Captain (whom we had met on a previous cruise on the Viking Star) said the water around Cape Horn was the most calm he had ever seen it.Looking north toward Cape Horn (the high peak at the left)

Our next stop was the Falkland Islands, object of the 10-week 1982 undeclared war between Argentina and Great Britain (the English won). We opted not to take the tours to see the penguins or sheep; instead we took the tour around the capital, Port Stanley, then had lunch at a charming British hotel.Anglican Christ Church Cathedral in Port Stanley. The arch in front of the cathedral is made of whale bones

Then it was four days at sea because our next port, Puerto Madryn, Argentina, was closed due to high winds. We finally arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, where we walked around the city. This is a beautiful city — in spots. As with most of South America, there is a big division between the rich and the poor.  We had our temperatures taken twice, once when we left the ship and again when we re-boarded.Plaza Independencia in Montevideo, with the Executive Office Building, offices of Uruguay’s president, in the background

The last stop was Buenos Aires. We LOVED Buenos Aires, Argentina’s expansive, cosmopolitan capital city. The metro area is home to almost 16 million people and spans 1,837 square miles. It poured rain on Saturday, but Sunday and Monday were perfect days. Unfortunately, we were only able to see highlights, and wish we could have stayed longer.Casa Rosada (“the Pink House”) is Argentina’s Government house and the place where many of the major historic events of this country took place. It is home to the balcony that Eva Peron often used to address throngs of poor laborers. It became iconic as the setting for “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” the signature song of the musical “Evita.”

Residents and tourists taking a Sunday afternoon walk in one of Buenos Aries’ large parks

Maria Sceia, Anne’s cousin’s wife, has posted more than 40 of her photos of the trip on Facebook. She tagged Anne (on Facebook as Anne Sceia Klein), so if you search for Anne, you should be able to see Marie’s photos on Anne’s timeline.

We hope everyone is staying well.  This is a scary time.  We are home and have no symptoms — fingers crossed.