In May of 1999, USS REUBEN JAMES (FFG 57) set sail from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for a three-month deployment to South America.  The exercise, Teamwork South '99, was designed to build on a growing relationship between the United States Navy and the navies from various countries in South America.

    As I've said, we left in early May, 1999, and headed to San Diego, California.  After a few days there, we headed south to Acapulco, Mexico.  From there we went on to Manta, Ecuador, then to Callao, Peru (near Lima).  From Peru, we ventured further south to  Valparaiso, Chile.  We then headed north to Antofagasta.  From Antofagasta, we went to Iquique, then to Mejillones, and back to Antofagasta.  After all that, we finished up the trip by trekking east to Rapa Nui, better known as Isla de Pascua, or Easter Island.  Three months and thousands of miles later, we returned to Pearl Harbor in the first week of August, 1999.

    To learn more  about each of the ports I visited, just click on the place.  You'll be redirected to a new page with pictures and some narrative on what I did on my great adventure to South America.  For ease of viewing, the pictures are all in thumbnail format.  To see the pictures in full size, just click on the thumbnail.  Enjoy!