South American sojourn: exploring the West Coast of South America aboard the Marco Polo - Cruise of the Month - Orient Lines cruise

Cruise Travel, July-August, 2002 by Theodore W. Scull

South America's Pacific Coast has always seemed to be more exotic and remote than the Atlantic side with its well known Brazilian and Argentinean cities and sites. Four countries front the West Coast--Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile--while a fifth, Bolivia, just misses access to the sea by a scant 80 miles.

In the waning era of ocean-liner travel, the largest U.S.-flag ships plying the West Coast run were the smaller Grace Line "Santas," while from Europe, the Italian Line's "Three Musicians" traded as far south as Valparaiso in Chili. To reach the West Coast capital of Santiago, the quickest sea route from the U.S. was not via the Panama Canal to Valparaiso but a Moore-McCormack or Argentine State Line ship to Buenos Aires then an express train west across the pampas and up over the Andes, a rail journey of just 24 hours (the mountain railway pass was so high, trains carried emergency oxygen tanks).

Now most sea travel is for pleasure, and South America has developed into a middling major destination, largely because independent land and air travel can be a hugely intimidating experience. Ships provide the best way to explore the Amazon basin, Strait of Magellan, Chilean fjords, and colonial European-style cities such as Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Salvador de Bahia, Lima, and Rio de Janeiro. However, several must-see sights are inland, so be prepared to spend big bucks to fly inland to visit Angel Falls, Iguassu Falls, Ecuador's high-altitude capital of Quito, and Peru's ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu.

Having successfully cruised South America's East Coast, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn, and Chile's fjords, I wanted to sail the considerably less traveled West Coast to visit northern Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. Several cruise lines offer this itinerary, and in the end I chose Orient Lines' 848-passenger Marco Polo sailing north from Valparaiso, Chile, through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean, a two-week voyage rhythmically alternating between port visits and soothing days at sea.

The Marco Polo, originally completed in 1965 as the trans-Atlantic liner Alexandr Pushkin, had entirely new passenger accommodations installed in 1993, yet happily she retains her traditional ocean-liner profile and graceful sheer. Along with running-mate Crown Odyssey, the pair sail worldwide itineraries, drawing considerable repeat business.

Orient Lines often brackets its cruises with a land package, and in this case the cruise-tour began in Chile's sophisticated capital of Santiago. The stylish high-rise Hyatt Regency we booked into was located in an upscale residential district, and the clean and comfortable French-designed Metro provided reliable access to the pedestrianized central business district, attractive urban parks, sprawling produce markets, and two great restaurant neighborhoods.

The seas off Chile are particularly rich in fish and shellfish. I never thought barnacles to be edible--the Chilean variety is not the size of your thumbnail, rather that of a fist--so testing decidedly unfamiliar waters one evening, the barnacle entree arrived swimming in a delicious butter and cream sauce. To carry the exploratory taste test into the next course, I ordered grilled eel in a mushroom and shrimp sauce. For Chileans, typical fare; for this novice, seconds please.

Santiago's port of Valparaiso, two hours east by road, seems frozen in the late 19th century. The hillside residential districts are accessed from the colonial business district by a dozen rickety incline railways laid down more than a century ago by European engineers. Creaky rides up two funiculars rewarded us with terrific city and harbor views, including the very handsome ship we were soon to join. Sunday sightseers gathered along the waterfront to ogle a ship that was making a maiden call here.

More than half the Marco Polo's passengers had embarked two weeks earlier in Buenos Aires to call at Montevideo, the Falklands, and Patagonia, pass close to Cape Horn, and nudge up to calving glaciers in the spectacularly beautiful Chilean fjords. The passenger list was more British than American, with some Australians and a few English-speaking Europeans--an international English-speaking union.

Our route took advantage of the northerly flowing cold Humboldt Current and southerly trade winds resulting in most pleasant conditions over the open decks right up to the equator and a bit beyond. Shoreside, the temperatures became increasingly hot and humid, but with welcome respites at high inland elevations.

We occupied a moderate-size cabin with two large windows and plenty of storage space. The Marco Polo's public rooms are attractively decorated in sea and sky colors. An English tea was provided in the Palm Court, a pianist before dinner in the Polo Lounge, and a small dance band after 9 p.m. in the Charleston Club. Show lounge evenings included music and dancing from the "Cotton Club" era, a couple of colorful folkloric groups, and the more routine song & dance ensembles. Two excellent enrichment lecturers, one a political expert and the other a geographer, provided much needed insights into the complexities of a woefully misunderstood continent.