I am Bruce Good, Seabourn’s director of public relations. I am currently sailing aboard Seabourn Sojourn on a Patagonian Passage East from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s a region I’ve always wanted to visit, and I thought I’d blog from here to let you know what it’s like. Hope you enjoy it.

I awoke on Thursday, November 10 and pulled aside my drapes to reveal a panorama of tall, heavily forested granite islands gliding by just outside. The forest was dense and multicolored, with a wind-whipped, wiry character very different from the tropics. But beneath the ceiling of fog and ragged clouds it was beautiful, and mesmerizing to watch. Now and then we passed the corral of orange buoys and metal frames that marked a salmon farm near the shore of a distant island, the only signs of mankind in the panorama. Shortly before noon we came to Puerto Chacabuco, the port for the Aysén region of Chile south of Puerto Montt and Chiloé. It has the look of an outpost in the mostly wild surroundings, but clearly busy and focused on commerce. I had selected a five-hour excursion called “Patagonian Nature in Depth” which took us to a privately owned nature reserve near the town. Other choices included excursions over the nearby Andes passes to the Simpson River valley and even a horseback ride in the Simpson Valley. After a short tender ride to the dock, where we were met by a basking harbor seal, we boarded coaches for a short 15-minute ride to the park. The Aikén del Sur Park is owned and operated by a private company that specializes in eco-tourism in this region. They maintain the trails and facilities and employ the rangers and guides, who are excellent. A brief orientation alerted us to the fact that while it’s easy to think of the surrounding forest as “virgin,” because it is virtually unmarked by human endeavor, it really is second-growth that replaced the climax forest that once towered to an average height of over a hundred feet here. The interim was a result of a government policy in the 1930s that allowed clear-burning for agricultural purposes. This idea resulted in catastrophic wildfires that decimated over 50 percent of the native forest in Patagonia. This huge region still supports fewer than .8 people per square kilometer, so the forest is still untamed even though not truly untouched. Our guides led us in small groups along a two-kilometer trail through the forest, criss-crossing clear streams and pausing occasionally to learn about the trees and other plants, their characteristics and in some cases medicinal uses. Many of the trees were in full bloom, and the meadows were dusted with buttercups that attracted bumblebees the size of small birds. Out-sized rhubarb plants with leaves several feet across likewise had sprouted conical towers of reddish blossoms. We came to a 65-foot waterfall called “The Old Man’s Beard,” and paused for photographs. Finally we climbed to a saddleback overlooking a lovely lake between looming forested headlands. A steady, chill wind swept blowing showers down from the mountains behind us and sent us scurrying into the warmth of the nearby lodge, where fragrant, spit-roasted lamb and Chilean wine awaited, along with a festive folkloric show. Sated by the feast and entertained, and invigorated by our afternoon in the Patagonian wild, we returned to Chacabuco, the tenders and our waiting Seabourn Sojourn. That evening’s departure was even more dramatic than the morning’s entry had been, with steep granite slopes rising from the pewter-tinted fjord into veils of soft grey clouds, tracked on their lower slopes by silvery waterfalls and on their upper shoulders by trailing ermine-tails of snow.

Exciting news! We’ve just announced a great line-up of distinguished guest speakers joining segments of the new Seabourn Quest’s 109-day maiden world cruise in 2012. They include award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch, Jazz legend Arturo Sandoval, former U.S. Senator Bob Graham and CNN Correspondent Richard Roth. The voyage departs January 5, 2012, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and ends in Venice, Italy on April 23, 2012.

From world-renowned musicians and chefs to politicians, historians and international relations experts, the diverse group of personalities will share their expert insights with guests during various segments of the voyage. Space is available for guests wishing to book segments.

Seabourn Quest’s World Cruise will host guest speakers on the following segments:

Jan. 5 –Feb. 2, 2012  Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Town

Marvin Hamlisch - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award-Winning Composer

Jon Bailey – Musicologist

Daniel Silke – Political Analyst

February 2 – 27, 2012  Cape Town to Singapore

Dr. Robert Copaken – International Affairs Expert

John Doherty - Waldorf Astoria Executive Chef

Bob Graham – Former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor

Feb. 27 – Mar. 13, 2012 Singapore to Hong Kong

Denise Heywood – Southeast Asia Expert

Richard Roth – CNN’s senior U.N. correspondent

Mar. 13 – Apr. 2, 2012 Hong Kong to Dubai

Chef Oliver Reschrieter - Princess Diana’s former personal chef

Paul du Quenoy,  professor of World and European History at the American University of Beirut.

The Honourable Ronald Sampson, former Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands Government.

April 2 – 23, 2012 Dubai to Venice

Arturo Sandoval – Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter

Major General John Hartley – International Relations Expert

Glenn Robinson - Middle East Security and Political Expert

We look forward to welcoming these speakers onboard Seabourn Quest!

Bruce Good, Seabourn’s director of public relations, is currently sailing on a 14-day Patagonian Passage voyage aboard Seabourn Sojourn. He will be blogging throughout his cruise and sharing his experiences as he explores the beauty of South America.  Here is his latest post; stay tuned for more updates!

We anchored at Puerto Montt about 7 AM today. The day was gray and threatening, but oddly perfect for this location. The town appears to be a real workaday port. They do ship a lot of fish our of here, but quite a lot of it is trout and salmon from the nearby lakes, notably Llanquihue,(pronounced roughly Yankee-way) which is South America’s largest at 877 square kilometers. Puerto Montt was founded by an arranged immigration of 200 German families in 1856. The Chilean Catholic church arranged for the president, Manuel Montt, to invite the Germans from Kiel, because the local population was made up mainly of fishermen who were not clearing or planting the land. Once here, however, they discovered that the volcanic soil and poor drainage made agriculture unproductive on the coast. They did begin industriously clearing the virgin forests of the huge alerce trees, the same as the sequoias of North America. This straight-grained, durable wood leant itself to the split-shake shingle industry and thus the predominant building style with typical German-style shingle facades which are seen everywhere. Harvest of alerce is now forbidden by law. I took a tour which climbed from the port to the higher plateau, which was handsomely cultivated for agriculture and dairy grazing, and elsewhere covered with golden swaths of blooming gorse (also imported by the Germans.) We visited Puerto Varas, on the shores of Llanquihue, a resort town that has on occasion views of snow-capped Osorno volcano across the lake. That’s the rumor, anyway. I may have glimpsed its big toe under the drifting clouds. Nevertheless the town is charming, and I did take pictures of its red-roofed cathedral, built out of the alerce wood, and an early harvest of cherries, strawberries, lettuce and English peas that some enterprising gardeners were hawking in the street. Then we continued up the lakeshore to Frutillar, another atmospheric little German settlement, with a colonial museum showing a working watermill and gardens. Below is a picture of a Seabourn guest sheltering under a huge leaf in the garden, looking like an elfin queen. Back on board, we were entertained by a spirited folkloric troupe of young people dedicated to preserving the local music and dance.

Puerto Varas' cathedral

garden fresh

Frutillar waterwheel

Elfin Queen

Bruce Good, Seabourn’s director of public relations, is currently sailing on a 14-day Patagonian Passage voyage aboard Seabourn Sojourn. He’ll be blogging throughout his cruise and sharing his experiences as he explores the beauty of South America.  Here is his first post; stay tuned for more updates!

My entry to Chile began with a flight that was changed from simply long to slightly cruel by mechanical delays. It also pruned my adventure by half a day, leaving a Sunday afternoon and Monday morning to explore Valparaiso. I did so under the expert care and guidance of Doctora Juanita Fernandez-Alamos, a practicing pediatrician and passionate advocate for the cultural life of her cities.

After a rudimentary once-over of Santiago (the city deserves much better from visitors) we turned for the coast and navigated two tunnels and two fertile valleys green with orchards and vineyards to the beach resort town of Viña del Mar. On this spring Sunday, families were basking and relaxing along the strand, the children braving the chilly surf in the warm sun. After a delicious luncheon overlooking the sea, we followed the curve of the bay to the sprawling city of Valparaiso occupying an amphitheater of steep hills over the shore.

Juanita gave me an excellent introduction, including a visit to the home of the Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda, which she knew intimately from her childhood, when her parents were friends of the poet. I won’t go into the details of the city, which are many and interesting. Rather I want to tell you why I was smitten by the place. It is not so much a city as it is an assemblage. It is a great communal work of art that is seemingly ever underway. As I walked around the arts district on Monday morning, it revealed itself, or rather its citizens, as endlessly ingenious, expressive and slightly anarchic, romantic and impetuous, as well as immensely skilled. The architecture is a jumble of periods and styles that has been piled and stacked and inserted and gerry-rigged into a massive collection of found objects. The walls of the steep canyons are lined with structures fitted like a Chinese puzzle amongst each other. And everywhere, on walls and steps and sidewalks and doorways, there are works of art. From a tiny image fitted on a curbstone to a massive mural on a wall, there are expressive, emotive visual messages everywhere. Without doubt there are academic arts endeavors In Valparaiso, schools of music and literature and the plastic arts. But the streets are a heady ferment of expression that is as delicious and complex as the finest Chilean wine.

When pilgrims came to the bay, having survived the arduous rounding of the Horn in sailing ships, they found a Mediterranean climate, sweetened by six fresh streams and bounded by fertile ground, and many quite naturally determined never to set foot again on the deck of a ship. They named it Paradise Valley, and they stayed. It’s easy to understand why. Here are some examples of the street art, both painting and architectural.

People who have never sailed on an intimate ship such as one of Seabourn’s may ask: “Why sail on a small ship when you can sail on a big ship?” There are lots of answers to that question. And of course it’s true that there are people who will prefer a larger ship. But there are some advantages that are just as clear as the Aegean Sea once you get the picture. Captain Sean Whalley captured the evidence for us on a recent call of Seabourn Pride at the Greek isle of Patmos. His picture says it all. Seabourn Pride guests stroll down the gangway, cross the street and they are in the heart of this welcoming, fascinating town. They don’t overwhelm the streets with their numbers. They are free to experience the authentic life of the people living there. Itinerary planning for Seabourn is an exercise in this sort of balance – finding the right place for the right ship at the right time. On this day, in this place, it looks like we got it just right.