Adventure Bear Log - South America
Uruguay, Punta del Este and area, November 2008

We crossed the Atlantic Ocean. It didn't really take that long, only a couple of weeks. We stopped first in Brazil, but the computer ate the pictures. So you won't get to see what I did in Rio, maybe that's just as well. After Brazil we sailed down to Uruguay where the captain's sister and son came to visit us. Here I am snuggling in the salon with the new junior crew. We are both relaxing after finishing some hard work swabbing decks.

The captain rented a van and we went on a road trip to a nature preserve. We saw animals inside and outside of their cages. One of the places we found animals was through this cave. Bears like caves so I was happy to volunteer go in first. We passed a family of bats as we walked . It turned out that the cave was not a cave at all! It was a tunnel that led us to an empty bird exhibit. We walked down the path exploring. We didn't find any other animals in there. At the end of the path we found a bigger path that led to a covered lookout. We didn't find real birds there either, just this metal one.
Another day in the car Mrs. Captain took over and we went looking at museums and statues instead of animals. I tried to make this guy smile. It didn't work. The gaucho was better but his sheep were wiggly.
Our exploring made us hungry so we stopped to eat. Ice cream is good energy food. Junior crew shared his ice cream with me. He's a good guy. The captain's sister decided my two fuzzy, brown ears weren't enough, so she gave me a couple more shiny spoon-shaped ones. I said thank you even though I didn't really need them.
We had a family Thanksgiving Dinner on the boat. I was in charge of dessert. Bears like berries, so I got a berry pie.
Argentina, December 2008

Our first stop in Argentina was in Mar del Plata. We found a yacht club with other cruisers. Some of them are going to Patagonia too.

On our way south we stopped in Puerto Madryn. We walked around town. We didn't find any cannons, but the captain found an underwater mine for me to climb on. The captain said it was perfectly safe. I was still careful so it wouldn't explode. It was chilly in Puerto Madryn. We went to a cafe and I had a hot chocolate. It was called a submarino. They make hot chocolate differently in Argentina. I got a glass of hot milk and a chocolate bar to melt or sink in it. Delicious!
We were in Puerto Deseado for Christmas. Here I am on Christmas morning. Do you like the butterfly clip?
Chile, January - February 2009

Our first stop in Chile was in Punta Arenas. There were many things to do in Punta Arenas. In a park in the old town there is a statue of Magellan. Magellan was a sailor and adventurer like me. He found a "shortcut" around the bottom of South America. We are going to go the same way he did. The statue has Magellan on top and some other people around the sides. One of the other people is a guy called The Ona. You are supposed to kiss his foot for luck. I didn't kiss his foot, I sat on it instead.

Another thing to do in Punta Arenas is go and see a penguin colony. We took a tour boat to an island full of penguins. There were penguins in the water and penguins on the land and penguins in their holes and penguins on the trails and even penguins under the ranger station. I was as curious about them as they were about me. I don't think they get many bears visiting their island home.
It was big day when we got as far south as we are going to go on this trip. Here I am at Cabo Froward in the Straits of Magellan.
A good stop on our way north was Puerto Eden. Puerto Eden is a small village where about 700 people live. While we were here we met people on a boat from Canada. They invited us over. They had a piano built right into a bunk! I was very excited because they let me play it. I played and everyone sang.
I've seen a glacier!! Now I know what my Polar Bear cousins are talking about when they say they've been chasing bergy bits. Bergy bits are small pieces of iceberg that are floating around in the water. The crew and I went out in the dinghy and collected some very small bergy bits in a bucket. We took the pieces back to the boat and I helped chop them into ice cubes for our drinks.
We stopped at a marina on the island of Chiloe. I had a wonderful time there. I got to do a lot of things and met some great new people. When it was sunny I could play outside. It was fun to swing. William is the Boss at the marina. We talked about salmon farms and salmon and ceviche. Now he's my friend. One night we all got together and had a big dinner in the clubhouse. I got to taste paella. Even though it didn't have any salmon in it I liked it and had seconds. We played games too. I was a good guy and helped with the dishes.
We went into the big city of Castro on Chiloe and looked around. I found a statue of one of my favorite historical guys. I like his name, Bernardo O'Higgins.
In Puerto Montt we spent a lot of time getting the boat ready to go into the Pacific Ocean. I helped load up the food. I wanted to make sure we got enough honey and fish and berries.