Cape Horn

Sunday, 01 Jan 2012 – Sally didn’t make it up from her nap last night in time for us to attend the “balloon drop” and party last night.  (At our dinner table tonight, the other four said they had not attended either, but heard that the passengers were “shoulder-to-shoulder.”  That didn’t sound too appealing, anyway.)  Oh, well!  So, instead of wild celebrating last night, we started our New Year’s morning with Catholic Mass at 10:00 – which was followed by breakfast, then some Spanish instruction, and finally dance class.

Passengers were advised to be on the top deck between 5:00 and 6:00 P.M. if they wanted good views as the ship sailed round Cape Horn.  We donned our warmest clothes to stand in the cold wind.  In spite of freezing drizzle that collected on eyeglasses, we had wonderful views of rocks, cliffs, a mountain with visible snow, and the world’s southernmost lighthouse.  The treacherous Cape was notorious among sailors worldwide (before the Panama Canal), as numerous ships were lost as they traveled between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Cape Horn is not actually on the mainland, but is part of the Islas Del Cabo de Hornos or Islas Hermite as they are also known.  The most well known is Isla Hornos famed for the cape which bears its name.  The island is named for its twin peaks which resemble towers or horns.  Because of the cold, Jesse soon remarked that he had already seen too much of Cape Horn, so we headed back to our cabin.

The Buenos Aires Quartet was not scheduled to begin playing until 9:15 tonight, so after dinner, we returned to our cabin to rest up for tomorrow’s shore excursion in Ushuaia, Argentina.