Going on a Cruise Photo Commentary Comments and activities to accompany the slides taken by Mr. Phil Swartz, Owner of Cruise Holidays, a travel agency in Tallahassee, Florida. Our plane flight from Miami International Airport in Miami took us to the capital of Chile, Santiago. The capital is a very large city of over six million people. Over one-half of Chile’s manufacturing is located here. Look at a map of the physical characteristics of the country and notice the long, narrow character of its shape. The Pacific Ocean is its western boundary and its eastern boundary is located along the spine of the Andes, one of the great mountain ranges of the globe. As a generalization, it can be stated that Northern Chile is desert where valuable copper mining is the chief activity, while the middle region is Mediterranean vegetation and the southern section is forest. On the flatter coastal plains, mainly in the center of the country, mixed agriculture is successful while further south, the farming is centered on sheep raising. While Santiago is in an active zone for earthquakes, the city is very modern, with universities, museums, large churches, a metro and other characteristics of a North American or European city. As our bus leaves the Santiago airport to go about 60 miles to the port at Valparaiso, we descend over two thousand feet through forest and farmland. (Caption 1) Valparaiso Valparaiso is Chile’s main port, a large commercial center and a city of nearly 350,000 people. (Many large ships from around the world load and unload goods in this busy port on the Pacific Rim trade route). Puerto Montt In the beautiful “Lake District” Puerto Montt is the southern terminus of both the Chilean railway system and the continental portion of the Pan American Highway, a string of national scenic highways that stretches more than 16,000 miles from Alaska to the southern tip of Chiloe Island, just south of Puerto Montt. The city has a beautiful inland volcanic backdrop of Mt. Osorono, one of several majestic volcanoes (8,500ft.) in the area. It is usually snow covered and in the winter provides excellent ski slopes. (Caption 2) Puerto Montt (Caption 3) is the southernmost city of any size for the 7-800 miles south to Punta Arenas. South of Puerto Montt to Ushuaia an interesting phenomena in the coastal mountains and hills are glaciers. These large, usually slow moving, masses of ice formed in high mountains or high latitudes where snowfall exceeds the melting rate of snow are a common sight in this part of the world. Glaciers near the seacoast break into slabs of ice, called calving. When large, these slabs of ice become icebergs in the ocean. (Captions 4, 5, and 6) Punta Arenas
The most southerly city in Chile, it is located on a peninsula facing the Straits of Magellan. The city of 150,000 people is located at 53 degrees south of the equator and is the center of the sheep farming industry and has a resort for tourists who come to ski. In addition to port functions, an important naval base is located there and some oil and natural gas activity provides an economic base for this city at the southern most point of Chile. Overlooking the Strait of Magellan, the city commands the historic route found in 1520 by the sea captain for whom it is named. Local prosperity has risen and fallen with the trade that has passed through it. The port flourished during the 1850’s during the California Gold Rush when it was a haven for steamers rounding the cape. Vegetation is sparse on the hills but grows next to the shore where there is a bit more warmth. (Caption 7) Fauna is also unique from Punta Arenas south. Here are found the flightless seabirds, penguins and seals (Caption 8). The plaza has a monument honoring Ferdinand. (Caption 9) Ushuaia In 2008, Ushuaia had over 40,000 residents. The city is located at 55 degrees south latitude and its residents claim to live in the world’s southernmost city. Notice the Ushuaia picture that has the sign “End of the world, the beginning of everything”. Interestingly, there is a small Chilean village (Puerto Williams) across the Beagle Channel, south of Ushuaia, which claims to be the southernmost city. The argument is not going to be solved easily. The Beagle Channel is named for the ship on which Charles Darwin sailed on his way to the Galapagos Islands where he made his observations from which he wrote his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859). Ushiaia, Argentina, is located south of the Strait of Magellan on the island named Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) so named because the first European visitors were impressed by the large number of campfires kept by the natives. The population is growing because the Argentine government is encouraging new citizens to help that country strengthen its claims against Chile, to ownership of these southern lands. Environmental tourism is being encouraged and one source notes that “The small community has all the vibrance of a college town”. Rounding Cape Horn The whole idea of navigation changed completely. Falkland Islands About 400 miles east of the Magellan Strait a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean is called Falkland Islands. That is, unless you are Argentine and call them the Malvinas. This group of about 200 small, hilly islands has a total population of just over 2000 residents. They consider themselves British and were very disturbed, in fact some were killed, in 1982 when Argentina invaded the islands. The invasion was short lived because a large and strong force of British military defeated the Argentines, but not before the invading forces (Argentine) planted a very large number of land mines on the
beautiful Falkland beaches. Still, in 2008, those beaches cannot be used because the mines were plastic and are dangerous and difficult to find. The economy consists of agriculture, including some grains and many sheep. In addition, there is a very minimum of tourism and some service industries which meet the needs of the military forces The United Kingdom left after the war. Here some seals are sunbathing (Caption 10). While there are 100 times more sheep than people on the Falklands, this healthy penguin (Caption 11) represents thousands of such creatures. (Caption 12) The general house types in the islands resemble those in rural England except that many are painted in pastel colors. It is said that the colors are used to brighten the dull, long winter days. (Caption 13) The memorial sculpture outside the church is in memory of those who lost their lives in the 1982 war. (Caption 14) Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is located on the south bank of the Rio de la Plata in west-central Argentina. (Caption 18) The city, now with nearly 3.5 million people, was first settled in about 1535, later to be destroyed by the indigenous people. Iberian settlers resettled the city just before 1600. Of interest is the fact that the Europeans did not realize the fact that the seasons were reversed from what they expected and they arrived at the beginning of winter rather than early spring. That first winter they existed by eating fish and they almost starved to death. Early Europeans came here, as to much of the new world, to mine gold and silver and they placed many of the native people into slavery. The city is now filled with beautiful buildings due to the fact that many of the later immigrants were from northern Europe. The city was planned well and it has been compared to Paris. It has the large central plaza, city hall (now a museum), cathedral, monuments and sculptures, fort, and attractive Presidential Palace as well as a busy international seaport and airfield. It has a very diversified economy but is probably best known for Argentine beef grown on the Pampa, an area of very productive soils south of the city. (Caption 15, 16 and 17) Montevideo A relatively new city, Montevideo was settled in1726. It is the capital of Uruguay and a modern city. Many North American and European nationals have second homes in Montevideo. Some have moved there permanently because of the low cost of living. Located across the Rio de la Plate from Buenos Aires, it has developed a modern economy, but it still emphasizes agriculture, especially sheep and cattle products. (Caption 19, 20 and 21) Ro-ro stands for roll on, roll off, because the containers of goods are rolled on to the ship from rail or truck and then rolled off, again by truck or railway. The city gives a close background for the port area. Rio de Janeiro Over 7 million people make Rio their home. On the eastern shore of Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean the city has been a prize fought over by natives, Portuguese, French and Spanish forces since 1502, when it was found by Portuguese navigators. They saw a
large bay (Guanabara) and thought it was the mouth of a large river, hence the name Rio. The harbor is called by many “The world’s most beautiful harbor”. Today, the city occupies a 12 mile long strip of land between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean (Caption 22). All of the normal characteristics of a modern city are there: airports, museums, universities, great churches and libraries, a metro, etc. Rio is famous as a carnival, or party town, especially related to the pre lent carnival atmosphere of parades, entertainment and nightlife. A part of the city is the world-class beaches that are just across the road from the main downtown/business area (Caption 23). Rio along with the nation of Brazil has suffered from the poor administration of the country by the army at different periods of time. Since 1985, when a series of reforms were installed, the country has begun to gain new hope. The next picture shows Favelas (slums) that are still a part of the city but the economy has begun to improve and it is very diversified and growing more wealthy. A distinctive sight in Rio is the Christ the Redeemer statue on Mt. Corcovado that overlooks the urban area (Caption 24). A sightseeing tour of the area was arranged by the cruise ship for Rio as it was for each port of call.