The first of these three days started out quietly with us sailing on the Magellan Strait with no scheduled landings on the South American Coast. Since we had no excursions scheduled for today, we started out the day with a workout in the gym after a leisurely breakfast. We spent the day wandering the ship and capped off the day watching the Tom Hanks movie, “In the neighborhood.”
The second Friday of Lent dawned and it was dark, gray and very, very stormy. The day started out with us eagerly getting up, showering, and hurriedly eating breakfast in order to be out the door by 9 am for our excursion to Fort Bulnes and Magellan Park. In due course, the disembodied voice from over the loud speaker informed us there would be no tenders to shore today. Due to the high waves, the port in Chile would not allow us to tender over to the mainland, which, of course, meant another day of NOTHING! Well, almost nothing…okay maybe more than nothing. Now what?????
We were showered and fed, so what now? A stroll around the deck as the wind buffeted us from side to side made a fun workout and we, like others, took pictures of us with our hair being swept sideways as the wind tried to carry us away. That soon grew old, or was it cold? Coming inside Dave, Kyle and Henry got involved with a rousing game of dominos while Kathy braved the outside. She did a few laps while listening to her book and came in to periodically check the status of the game. The high score went to Dave, but apparently (much to his chagrin) high score is bad and he was thoroughly trounced on his first try at dominos. Dave and Kathy then visited the library where we picked up a game of Yahtzee. Dave managed to redeem himself and wrested out the best two out of three games from Kathy. Feeling victorious Dave decided three games was enough and we decided to head to dinner.
Dinner was its own adventure! We decided to go to the “Ginza”, a Chinese restaurant, assuming that would be a great place to get some meatless meals in observance of Friday in Lent. This ended up not being the wisest of courses. Taking every precaution, registering with NCL that Kathy is allergic to shellfish, informing the wait staff at each restaurant, and ordering the vegetarian fried rice, she still managed to test Dave’s EMT skills. Towards the middle of the meal Kathy started coughing. It became more of a chronic cough towards the end of her meal. Suddenly standing up, she said to Dave, “I have got to go.” Racing out of the restaurant she and Dave raced to the room to get to her EPI pen. Dave, calm as always, shoved some Benadryl down Kathy’s throat and primed the albuterol inhaler as she was now wheezing. Two puffs of the inhaler helped open up the airway and after a few minutes for the Benadryl to start working, she was on her way to recovery. No need for the EPI pen…..phew!! It took about thirty minutes for a resolution of the coughing and wheezing. A quick trip to the infirmary on board ship and a conversation with the restaurant manager ended the drama for the time being with the dreaded shellfish moment. Feeling drained but alive they decided to “chill” the rest of the evening and went to watch a show. Kathy, feeling nauseous, ordered a couple of Shirley Temples thinking that the Sprite in the alcohol-free drink would ease the rumblings of her stomach. To calm Dave’s nerves after having to perform EMS on his wife, he ordered a double (Diet Coke on the rocks, with a lemon twist!) Deciding that she was not fully recovered, Kathy beat a hasty retreat to the room and lay down. Sometime later during the night, the offending Oyster Sauce was summarily ejected from Kathy’s stomach and the nausea and vomiting came to its conclusion. She was now back to normal, hungry and energetic!!
It was perfect timing to start our day with the Walk in the Woods, not quite like the movie or the book, but still fun time tromping through the woods heading towards the end of the world. Kyle opted to stay on board and sleep in while Kathy, Dave, and Henry headed out to go on a tour of “Tierra del Fuego National Park,” near the farthest city in the Southern Hemisphere, Ushuaia, Argentina. We were delighted to see a variety of birds including parrot (originally thought to be a woodpecker), a Patagonia Finch, the national bird of Ushuaia , the Kelp goose, Chalked-bowed mockingbirds, a bunch of Chimanga Caracaras, and a Red fox. The day could not have been more perfect with a beautiful sunny sky, the winds calm, and the temperature perfect for a four mile walk through the woods. We were soon headed back to the pier where we strolled through the streets and Kathy bought her first souvenir, a hand carved woodpecker that she hopes she can adapt as a Christmas ornament.
Deciding to be safe, we decided upon a steak house for our dinner meal. Amused, Kathy was surprised to find that all of the appetizers were of the “no no” shellfish variety Fortunately, the staff and been “warned” ahead of time that Kathy had a reaction to the shellfish which required treatments and they took special care of Kathy – including plying her with two desserts!! She was on Cloud 9. While the rest of the group went to watch a game show in one of the theatres, Kathy opted for the tranquil feel of the bed being gently rocked by the waves of the ocean. Asleep at eight was a perfect end to the last three days. The next few days see us at sea heading to and spending time around Antarctica. We have high hopes of maybe seeing the Southern lights at night, or the Southern Cross, maybe a whale or two, and of course maybe a penguin. After Antarctica, we head towards the Falkland Islands to learn about the battles that took place there. We continue to get excited as we approach Antarctica (which means “no bears”- really! Arctica means “bears” and Antarctica means “no bears”) and are excited to experience our seventh, and final, continent in the last 3 years!