Saturday, November 23 - Yesterday we drove from the little fishing town of Camarones where we saw the whales and seals, to our present location, Isla Leones eco-camp. Our very new camp, I’ll explain that in a minute, consists of 6 small huts about 30 metres above high water mark on the beach. The only power is provided by solar panels so each hut, like a very clean and comfortable monk’s cell has one small bedside reading lamp, a pair of single beds and no heating. The wind blows ceaselessly and at this time of year the temperature is in the mid-teens C during the day so not warm when the sun goes down or indeed behind a cloud, but I can attest to the fact that the duvet is very warm and my night’s sleep was most pleasant despite the lack of heating…

Another long drive yesterday from our parrot beach location to a little fishing village, Camarones, 8 hour’s drive south. We are here for two nights and today we were out in boat seeking out marine animal and bird life. Spectacular day, high blue sky with the ever-present ocean wind taking the heat out of the air. The sea was turquoise and as flat as it ever gets, no white caps but a pleasant little swell, a fabulous day to be out on the water. Coated ourselves with sunblock and headed out in a 16 foot RIB, with two 115hp Yamaha outboards. There were 5 of us aboard, the boat captain, Leo, , a helper/guide and the three of us.

Some spectacular sightings…

Arrived in BA on Saturday Nov 16. Met up with Robert, shared dinner and then I collapsed in bed at 9:30, having had very little sleep the previous couple of nights, Toby and then an overnight flight. Awake at 9am and although a solid 11+ hours of sleep, still not feeling very rested.

I always love coming to BA, a city I really enjoy, but there was steady drizzle all day so R and I passed the afternoon away chatting in the coffee shop awaiting our pickup from Hugh, the owner of MacDermott’s Argentina. Hugh has prepared trips for me/us in the past, most recently in 2023, when he organized the trip that R and I took to Chile when we drove the Carretera Austral. I cannot recommend Hugh and his company highly enough. He is a very interesting man, has lived a truly adventurous life….

A strange title, I know. I’m on my way to Buenos Aires to meet Robert my very good friend and travelling companion in Chile last year, now off on a new adventure in Argentina. But first a short digression.

2024 was and is a year book-marked by painful moments of loss. Is there a scale to measure loss and its impact? Should it be constrained because its source is not human?

How to describe two and a half weeks in the Serengeti and in Zambia? Not easily done.

Why did I wait so long to file dispatches? We were off the grid for virtually all of that time and although we were nominally able to access wifi at intervals during that period, the signal was so fragile and we were so tired from our expeditions that mustering the patience to deal with a ragged wifi connection required more than we could manage. Hence my reporting dilemma. So, rather than a documentary, I’ll try to capture some, a very few, of the many bright spots that immediately rise to the top of the memory heap…

As has become depressingly normal, we now begin a new travel adventure without having competed documenting the last one. When last heard from we were leaving our ship in Hokkaido and on our way to a week in Tokyo, which turned out to be the highlight of our trip. In fact, we enjoyed Tokyo so well that we are planning to go back next year. We had added it on to our boat trip around Japan in a classic ‘since we’re there we might as well..’ moment but unfortunately that was as far as our thinking took us, the boat trip captured the majority of our attention. Fortunately we had sufficient forethought to make a hotel booking but our, or at least V’s, normal research and planning for our week’s Tokyo sojourn was conspicuous by its absence. Nonetheless we had a fabulous time and unhindered as we were by any commitments, with the exception of a couple of restaurant reservations, we wandered, discovered and thoroughly enjoyed…

A quick word before I begin, apologies for my rambling discursions in my last two posts, I’m well aware of my tendency to drift rapidly off course at any given opportunity so to get back on course let me tell you a little about the nature of this trip. This is the second time we have travelled with Abercrombie & Kent, who charter Ponant ships for their expeditions, although I also travelled with Ponant on my Antartica trip in 2022. It’s unlikely that we will do another one of these trips, not because of any shortcomings of the voyages but simply because of our primary reason for taking them has been met to our satisfaction.

We are not cruisers by nature but we have taken these trips for two reasons; they allow us to access places and events that we would not ordinarily be able to access by any other means and they are created as expedition trips, not cruises. We have travelled with A&K to Greenland and the Arctic and now on this trip, to small ports and cities around the coast of Japan. In both instances, the ports and sites we visit would either be completely inaccessible or at the least, very difficult to reach. And because they are built as expeditions, they dive deeply into local culture, arts, music and history and require active participation…

Overnight from Hiroshima on April 1, we sailed to Uwajima, a very small town on a very small bay at the southernmost point on Shikoku Island and one of the most important locations for the Japanese pearl industry.

Before I talk about this, an aside. As you may have noticed, I have described a couple of the ports as being small towns, small ports. Because of the relatively small size of the ship we are able to travel to and dock in ports that see cargo ships but very few passenger boats since most cruise ships would not be able to be accommodated, simply too large. One of the benefits of this is that our ship is treated as a very big deal by the towns that we visit and we are often greeted by townspeople coming down to the dock to look at the ship along with delegates from the town and local school bands playing a welcome. When we leave there is always a farewell event on dockside, bands and dancers and everyone quite literally waving until the ship disappears from view. As a courtesy we are asked to reciprocate, so everyone crowds their balconies on departure and waves in return.

Now Uwajima, which in addition to pearls also has a local and very prized potato growing agricultural presence. Who knew, but apparently potatoes do feature in some parts of Japanese cuisine…