Puerto Montt, Chile a motley port 2/8/26 Day 36

Far from "Muerto Montt" " the slightly sarcastic nickname for Puerto Montt, Chile, which occasionally used to describe it as a sleepy or quiet town--it plays on the name of the city (named after President Manuel Montt) and the Spanish word for "dead" (muerto). I would call it a motley port referring to a diverse, heterogeneous, or mismatched collection of people or things, often implying a chaotic or clashing mixture.  We saw this mixture today on our shore excursion tour of Chile's Lake District where we visited gorgeous national parks of rapids and volcanoes, Petrohue Falls, encircled by towns of German heritage, Puerto Varas and Frutillar.

The national park forest bath at our first stop helped assuage the touristy look of Bavarian architecture in the midst of the Andes, not the Alps.  Strudel shops and beer taverns speckled the lakeside landscape of the towns originally settled by German colonists in the 1860s.  But assimilation has waged a flickering blow to the bicultural setting where the German flag flies alongside the Chilean, but only some of the old people speak German as their mother tongue and the German School, Colegio Alemán Puerto Varas, that formerly taught only students with German last names whose families spoke German in their homes, like our guide, Amelia Schaeffer, could attend, but now are open to anyone desiring a bilingual education and the necessary gelt to pay for it.  What's left of the German Club and cultural institutions is diluted as the rapids of modernity wash away decades of proud heritage--quite a parallel with the assimilation of North American Jewry where American Jews became Jewish Americans in just a couple of generations.  Reform and Conservative Judaism successfully helped integrate their constituents into mainstream society and now suffer the consequences with declining memberships and hapless mergers.  Intermarriage rates sky rocketed from a tiny percentage to the vast majority where non Jews are eager to marry Jewish spouses to embrace our rich heritage.  Will we end up with a spiritual Jerusalem in the goldena medina, Golden Land, or just another touristy caricature?  Time will tell, but Puerto Varas and Frutillar are ominous omens.

Sara's Sheep at the Fin del Mundo, Magellenes Pantagonia, Punta Arenas, Chile 2/5/26 Day 33

 

Such a gorgeous town with early 20th century neo classical mansions around the Plaza de Armas.

What was the secret to the boom?  Sara's sheep.  Sara, born in Latvia in a working famly where her dad was a tinsmith, fled the antisemtisim of Russian pograms to come to the last frontier at the end of the earth.  As a remarkable businesswoman and gregarias philanthropist, she transformed Punta Arenas into Pantagonia's fasted growing town as a wool baron.  Using hardy sheep from the Falklands and generous land grants to entice immiggrants, she delt directly with English wholesalers with voluminous exports.  She managed vast commercial, shipping, and livestock interests, notably consolidating 1.3 million hectares in land grants. She built her signature "palace" on the town square, but didn't stop with her economic success.  She helped establish the first hospitals, schools, Red Cross, firestations and toher benevolent organizations.

 

                                       Parents:  Sofía Hamburger and Elías Braun

Sarah Braun Municipal Cemetery, rated one of the top ten cemteries in the world!  She donated the gorgeous portico and has an imppressive copper colored tomb.

We found the Jewish "section" by the Hebrew writings,  ת.נ.צ.ב.ה (May their soul be bound in the bundle of life) QDEP (que descanse en paz) and tell-tale stones left on the tombstones.  After placing a stone on their monuments, I brought a stone to our Synagogue at Sea at Shabbat services and said kaddish for all those who no longer have anyone to say kaddish for them--may their memories be for a blessing!  

El Fin del Mundo: Ushuaia, Argentina 2/5/26 Day 32

At the end of the world, in the world's most Southern city of Ushuaia, where the Pan American highway, a 19,000-mile network of roads from Alaska to Argentina ends.

one finds a glorious national park, Tierra del Fuego, a busy touristy port,  

and mixed monuments to lost causes, such as the desaparecidos (disappeared) [The desaparecidos (disappeared) in Argentina refers to an estimated 30,000 people abducted, tortured, and killed by the state during the last civic-military dictatorship (1976–1983) and preceding years. Victims were held in secret detention centers, often killed via "death flights," as part of a systematic campaign against perceived political opponents] and the Falklands Islands debacle in 1982.

We've seen the "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" banners issued by the goverment in each port, but here in the epic center of the war, we saw the monument to the hapless fallen heroes. 

Memory, Truth and Justice  indeed!

We need a waterfall of reality gushing from the five alpine glaciers in the Chilean "Glacier Alley" to wash away these pariotic distortions

Go with the [Ice] Flow Antarctic Experience 1/29-2/1 2026 Days 26-29

 

I wasn't sure what to expect at the bottom of the world.  All we had was the goofy photo taken from a travel show where I grabbed a can of bear repellant.  Little did I know that there were bears in the Arctic (Ursua Major and Minor), but no bears in the Antarctic, just a plethora of penguins, whales, seals and birds!  While the Arctic is mostly ocean, the Antartctic is a massive continent of rock and ice,  1 1/2 times the size of the United States, with 90 per cent of the world's ice and 70 per cent of the world's  fresh water.

Our first day od the Antarctic Experience was fog and sleet, but we manged to see a few penguins porporsing and a humpback whale breaching between breaks in the mist, but the rest of our adventures had to be postponed, or as our Cruise Director, Erin, said, "Go with the [ice] flow"

The next day brought fabulous sights of thousands of gentoo penguins at the rookery at Caverville Island and "Titantic Moments"

Highlights included passing by the abandoned Argentinan researach station Melchoir studded with Penguins, sea lions and albarossess.  And dining in the Lido while watching penguins swim like dolphins and whales working together utitilizing bubble tactics to round up krill. And taking an eveing stroll at 11 pm to watch the slow sunset in the long summer of daylight afte experiencing rain, sleet, fog and snow--all in one day.

Another titantic moment after stunning Paradise Bay with a plethora of marine life with a glassy reflective cruise amidst bergy bits.

And in the midst of our Tu B'shvat t (Jewish arbor Day) mini seder, having to pause for a photo opp of the Palmer US Antarctic station between our four cups of wine--just another go with the [ice] flow as ice conditions delayed our visit until evening.

Flexiblity, patience, and persistence are keys to Antarctic adventures.  Originally, I was diaappointed not to have boots on the ground on my seventh continuent, but now appreciate the majesty and fragility and the lesser impact of our Antarctic experience experience of sailing the Antarctic Peninusla.  I am pround to be inducted into the order of the Red Nose and swimming [in the Lido pool] in the Antarctic Ocean.

As Ernest Shakleton opined,  "Better to be a live donkey than a dead lion." In 2022 The Edurance was found by a submersable drone https://endurance22.org/.  They went with the flow, just as Skakletone did as we retraced their epic steps!

"Long live the King Penguin" or "The King Penguin and I" Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands 1/27/26 Day 24

 

In this isolated and windswept archipelago of the Falkland Islands at the tip of the Southern Ocean, we spent the day marching with king penguins with their newly hatched chicks, gentle gentoos, and burrowing magellanic penguins.  We wondered in awe and tears as we watched these majestic birds stand together against the harsh elements and hungry Turkey vultures waiting on their wings.  In numbers there is safety.  

During the two hour 4X4 convoy ride over the peat moss, our driver, Toni, shared how we drive together just in case one vehicle gets stuck--the others can help them out with a tow rope.  Similarly if one gets sick or has a tragedy, everyone comes together to help out with a charity event.  We need in the one another.  Truly birds of a feather flock together!

Moving to Montevideo, Uruguay 1/24/26 Day 21

 

Uruguay as the Switzerland of South America?  You bet!  Whether it was 97% of energy derived from renewables, a progressive social welfare state with free health care and education, low crime, clean streets, and since 1919 -- the separation of church and state where Christmas is "Family Day" and Easter Week is "Tourism Week"  No wonder the third largest Jewish community in South America is thriving with Jews making up about one per cent of the population and are mostly secular like the general population.  Instead of Catholicism, the thirty thousand Jews are cultural Zionists belonging to a myriad of youth movements which foster deep connections with Israel.

The "Meeting of Peoples" (or El Abrazo de los Pueblos) is a sculpture in the old Jewish neighborhood in Montevideo created by artist Nora Kimelman who cried when her monument was faced on October 10th 2023 by leftist anarchists in support of Palestine.  The sculpture represents the embrace between the Uruguayan people and Jewish immigrants, highlighting themes of integration and community.  It is part of the broader, rich Jewish cultural landscape in Montevideo, often explored alongside other landmarks like the Memorial al Holocausto del Pueblo Judio (Holocaust Memorial of the Jewish People) located in Punta Carretas n the Rambla overlooking the River Platte.

Ellie Wiesel wrote that we must move beyond sadness to hope.  I hope I never have to move as a refugee as my ancestors did from Eastern Europe, but if I did have to move from North America, I'm moving to Montevideo!

All you need is love 1/23/26 Day 19 Buenos Aries

Heart rendering.  The twin sites of Buenos Aries suicide truck bombings by Hezbollah in 1990s: the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing, killing 29, and the devastating 1994 AMIA Jewish Community Center bombing, killing 85 and injuring over 300, making it the deadliest terror attack in Argentine history.  Now I understand in my gut the obsession with security at South American Jewish institutions. 

And all this on the Australian National day of Mourning commemorating the 15 victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack. The Prime Minister’s office has named the commemoration: Light will win – a gathering of unity and remembrance. There will be a nationwide minute of silence at 7:01 PM. Australia commemorates the terrible day of 14 December, the first night of Hanukkah, while knowing that antisemitism is not new and unlikely to go away.  The recent burning of the oldest synagogue in Mississippi in Jackson is another reminder that hate against Jews grows beyond words to actions. 

I wish all you need was love is enough to end these antisemitic horrors.