14-night South American Passage Cruise

Santiago, like Chile in general, has enjoyed a renaissance of cultural, intellectual and especially commercial activity for more than two consecutive decades. The Andes Mountains overlook Santiago's eastern edge, and their snowy peaks provide good hiking, skiing, rafting and kayaking—and the beach is only a short drive away. Small wonder it is the country's capital and largest city, as well as one of the continent's largest metropolises.

Centro (downtown Santiago) is still dotted with Spanish colonial buildings and old churches, as well as many sparkling new modern buildings. Other neighborhoods house international restaurants, upscale boutiques and lively nightlife. Tourist areas are compact, and the resident Santiaguinos are pleasantly helpful. The city has a certain efficiency not found elsewhere in Latin America, and an obvious prosperous feel to it. The major drawback is that ongoing development and traffic congestion have created air pollution and smog, and the shanty towns on the outskirts appear to be growing (albeit in a controlled state).

Evocative of Switzerland, Chile's lake district is noted for its pristine, almost Alpine scenery and bracing climate. Visit Lake Llanquihue (pronounced "Yankee-way"), and explore the rugged coastline leading to Ensenada. Marvel at a Fuji-like volcano, Mount Osorno, which rises to a height of 8,500 feet. View the rushing falls and turbulent rapids of Petrohue and cruise the blue-green waters of placid Lake Todos Los Santos. Taste Chilean country specialties and enjoy folklore entertainment at a rustic hosteria.

With sculptured icebergs, soaring fjords and Andean peaks, Chilean Patagonia is spectacular. The bird species include black-necked swans and the nearly extinct giant condor. From the fishing village of Puerto Chacabuco, you can visit the area capital, Coihaique, and beautiful Reserva Nacional Rio Simpson.

The Chilean Fjords offer some of the most awe-inspiring sights of your journey. Simply look to the sky to see graceful Andean condors floating on the wind. Bring a camera to capture sights of incredible jagged walls of glacier ice rising up from the sea. And for pure enjoyment, watch the antics of the flightless, tuxedoed Magellanic penguins.

The west side of the Sarmiento Canal is flanked by Madre de Dios Island, with towering limstone peaks that fall precipitously into the channel. The east side is interspersed with islands and eventually meets the Chilean mainland. Stunning Amaila Glacier is a marvelous splash of blue and white in a country that ancient explorers described as "where the soil is swampy, cold, and unfit for cultivation, and whose climate is thoroughly cheerless." Oh, if they had only looked around to see that penguins, seabirds and mighty whales find it all quite agreeable.

The Strait of Magellan is the passage immediately south of mainland South America. Located between the continent and Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn to the south, the strait is the biggest and most important natural passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.

Punta Arenas is the southernmost city on Earth, overlooking the Straits of Magellan. Situated astride one of the world's historic trade routes, its prosperity has risen and fallen with that trade. Punta Arenas enjoyed its first great boom during the California Gold Rush, when it served as a haven for great clipper ships. Although the port's importance diminished after the opening of the Panama Canal, the city reached even greater prosperity early in this century as the center of Chile's international wool trade. Today, Punta Arenas reflects a great mix of cultures, from English sheep ranchers to Portuguese sailors, and it remains an utterly fascinating testament to the Chile's rich history. Punta Arenas is also the starting point for excursions to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

Cattle stations and small frontier towns are the only signs of human habitation on the remote Beagle and Cockburn Channels. The waters however, are alive with fish and fauna, including sealions and comical Magellan and Humboldt penguins.

Beagle Channel flows to the south of Tierra del Fuego, South America and is named after the ship of Charles Darwin’s voyage. Three islands at its eastern end, with krill and oil reserves within their 200 mi territorial waters, and the dependent sector of the Antarctic with its resources, were disputed between Argentina and Chile and awarded to Chile in 1985.

The world's southernmost city, Ushuaia overlooks Beagle Channel, named after the ship that took Charles Darwin to the bottom of the world. Founded just over one hundred years ago, this rustic town is situated amidst incredible snowcapped mountains, dramatic waterfalls, massive glaciers, and a forest known for its red foliage. Tierra del Fuego, the "Land of Fire," twelve miles to the west of Ushuaia, is known for its glacial landscape and its national park, which is a bird-watcher's paradise.

Rounding the extreme southern tip of South America, you'll be awestruck by the rugged beauty and imposing vision of Cape Horn, a craggy, massive rocky point that was the bane of early explorers.

Port Stanley is the only town on the Falkland Islands, and though it has little more than 1,200 residents, it contains half of the islands' population. There are 700,000 sheep, and a wonderful assortment of sea birds and elephant seals.

Slightly threadbare and charmingly out of date, Montevideo harks back to pre-war days when it was the "Switzerland of South America." Art deco and art nouveau façades reflect this flourishing past, while the impressive Plaza Independencia, with its colonnades and open-air cafés, is a perfect place to savor the present.

Dynamic and bustling, a city which seems never to sleep, Buenos Aires is one of the most exciting cities in Latin America. Tango was born here, restaurants serve an all manner of world cuisine, bars play the latest music, cafés spill on to the streets and nightclubs allow dancing throughout the night. Cultural hub of a society which traces its roots to European immigration, it is famous throughout South America for its theatres, museums and galleries. Gucci, Armani, Prada, to name a few, line the boulevards catering for the fashion conscious porteños, their offerings as stylish as anything found in the cities in Europe or North America.

Dynamic and bustling, a city which seems never to sleep, Buenos Aires is one of the most exciting cities in Latin America. Tango was born here, restaurants serve an all manner of world cuisine, bars play the latest music, cafés spill on to the streets and nightclubs allow dancing throughout the night. Cultural hub of a society which traces its roots to European immigration, it is famous throughout South America for its theatres, museums and galleries. Gucci, Armani, Prada, to name a few, line the boulevards catering for the fashion conscious porteños, their offerings as stylish as anything found in the cities in Europe or North America.