Argentina

• Buenos Aires is the capital city of Argentina. With but a couple of days, we were only able to get a sampler of the city, including the Recoleta cemetery, Plaza de Mayo and the "Casa Rosado" (officially, the Casa de Gobierno or Government House).
• La Boca is a neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is known for it's colorful buildings and the artists who live there. And it is known among futbol fans as the home of the world-renowned Boca Juniors football club.
• The El Calafate is a town located on the southern shore of Lake Argentino in Patagonia. The name comes from the Calafate Bush with its yellow flowers and blue berries. The terrain looks a lot like northern New Mexico.
• The Perito Moreno Glacier is located in the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentinean Patagonia near Calafate. It is fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. It was named for Francisco Moreno who played an important role in defining the border between Chile and Argentina.

Chile

• Patagonia. Driving between Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine National, we saw many sights including rheas, guanacos, condors and gauchos.
• Torres del Paine National Park is a large national park in Chilean Patagonia. The name is a mixture of Spanish and the native Tehuelche language and means "blue towers".
• Chilean Fjords. We took a six day cruise from Punta Arenas to Cape Horn and back. Along the way, we landed at several locations to see glaciers and the native flora and fauna.
  • We left from Punta Arenas aboard the ship, Ventus Australis.
  • Parry Fjord was our first excursion from the ship. We did not land but saw the Dalla Vedova Glacier from the water.
  • Ainsworth Bay was our first shore excursion where we hiked up onto the headland to see the glacial morraine left by the receding glacier.
  • After a rough night in the Pacific as we moved from the Magellen Strait to the Beagle Channel we stopped to see the Pia Glacier.
  • Glacier Alley is a section of the Beagle Channel renowned for its many glaciers.
  • Cape Horn. We were very lucky to land here as the winds were blowing steadily at 50 knots. But the direction was good and the landing cove was sheltered.
  • Black-browed Albatross. On our way north from Cape Horn, there were many black-bowed albatrosses flying alongside our ship. I captured a few of them on camera.
  • Wulaia Bay is an archeological site associated with the Yahgan people and the site of a Chilean Navy radio station (now abandoned.)
  • Aguila Glacier.
  • D'Agostino Bay is the gateway to Aguila Glacier.
  • Magdalena Island near Punta Arenas is home to a large colony of Magellanic Penguins.
• Punta Arenas is the port city in the Magellan Strait from whence we started and finished our cruise to Cape Horn. While there, we visited the Nao Victoria Museum which has replicas of several sailing ships.
• Santiago is the capital city of Chile.
• Valparaiso is west of Santiago along the coast. It is the primary port city of Chile and is one of the most important ports in the South Pacific. It is built into the hills surrounding the harbor and geology significantly affects the look and culture of the city.
• The Atacama Desert, in nothern Chile is the driest place on the planet Earth. Most of the desert is composed of stony terrain, salt lakes (salares), sand, and felsic lava that flows towards the Andes.
  • San Pedro de Atacama grew around an oasis on the Atacama Plateau. It makes for a good central base from which to explore the Atacama region.
  • Laguna Tebanquiche is a mostly dry salt flat and lagoon.
  • El Tatio Geyser Field is a geothermal field with many geysers located in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile at 4,320 metres (14,170 ft) above mean sea level. It is the third-largest geyser field in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Tulor is an archaeological site located near San Pedro de Atacama. The site is a former village complex from the period 800 CE - 1200 CE.