May 8, 2025
COSTA RICA - PUNTA ARENAS
Last time I was in Punta Arenas, I swore I would not come back, as it was the hottest freaking country I had ever been too! I sweated so much that a cyst formed on my scalp and ruptured. So I was not excited at all to return. But we had a mandatory day for every residents and crew member to get off the Ship from 9 to 4 pm, for preliminary USCG testing and inspection. I spent the day poolside at a nice quiet hotel in the Punta Arenas Marina area with my good friend Bosco.
In Port with us was a historic Coast Guard Schooner Ship, which was in South America for the first time in some 88 years. It was a gorgeous ship and they had a big dignitary party that evening where local performers did a show for both Ships.
I really enjoyed my first trip to Thailand! On our final morning here we went to try breakfast at this spot, down the road, we had been hearing rave reviews on, King Of Bread . The hype was correct, the breakfast was delicious and they had some unique choices. I had eggs benedict on a croissant, in lieu of the standard english muffin and Bosco had it on Milk Bread, which was equally tasty.
We love having authentic experiences with locals to really get a chance to see how they live and thrive in the Ports we visit. So when I found a cooking class, by a local woman offered in her home, we were excited to book. Um ( our teacher) picked us and brought us back to our hotel along with the family of 4 from Sydney, Australia, that had also signed up for this afternoon class. Um's house, which has a lovely open air kitchen, garden and dining area, was about a 30 minute drive and turned out to be on the beach, right next to the Grandparent Rocks.
The nightlife scene doesn't really get going till after 11pm and goes till 5 am in the Chaweng section of Koh Samui . We made our way over to the club district, and one of the hot spots called the ArkBar a little past 10pm to have some dinner, while watching the beach fire shows.