Recap (just like every day on the ship)

Lessons learned:

Even if you skip crossing the potentially tumultuous Drakes Passage, visiting Antarctica can still be filled with a lot of ups and downs. Flight delays but hopefully not cancellations. Itinerary changes due to weather, sea conditions and unfortunately sometimes injuries (hopefully not your own). It says all of that in the disclosures, but you never think it will happen to you. So you have to be able to roll with it all (pun intended).

And regarding the weather, if you are blessed with a sunny day full of gorgeous, colorful icebergs and stunning glaciers, go ahead and take 600 pictures. They are digital after all. Don’t cost you a dime. And you may never see anything like that again. 

And every day, a picture of the view from your suite…our last

Finally, life is short. So no matter what…when an opportunity arises to experience something new, don’t hesitate….just jump right in.

Happy t(r)ails!

Winter is Coming

 Or Be Careful What You Wish For

Feb 16th we were, indeed, blessed with going ashore on excursions. But woo hoo it felt colder.  The guides are well-schooled on spinning circumstances.  The expedition leader was eager to point out that he hadn’t seen the weather turn so wintry quite so early in February before. And according to our zodiac driver, it was apparently our good fortune to not be cursed with any more blindingly bright sunny days.  Cloudy, snowy days provide much better lighting for appreciating the finer details of glaciers. Yeah, us!  

In all fairness, this is Antarctica….that’s the whole point.

The morning excursion was a one hour ride around looking at said glaciers and icebergs

and then some time on a rocky beach seeing more gentoos and several elephant seals.

The afternoon landing was billed as being a bit tricky. Some strong swells out onto big round rocks on an incline up to the flat part. It might have been good to have been in a later group. The folks returning as we were heading out were drenched. But it wasn’t bad at all. And there were half a dozen or so chinstrap penguins to be seen in amongst all the gentoos and fur seals. 

And the view

Hope Springs Eternal

 Just received an update that the medivac plane has taken off from Punta Arena. The local folks had to de-ice the runway. If all goes according to plan now we will move on somewhere later this evening for excursions tomorrow. And our view will change. But meanwhile, this is still how it looks at 6:30p our time.

Ship’s log Day Five…We Soldier Nowhere

 We made it back to King George Island overnight (passing through some snow storms at least at 2a when I looked out). Unfortunately, the medivac plane was not able to fly. So here we sit. Looking at this view for who knows how long.

Right now the day has been “filled” with lectures to try to occupy our time. There is no news for when or if the plane will fly. Or more importantly if it will land. Tomorrow is our last day here. Fingers crossed that we won’t still be exactly here but that the transport will happen and we will be able to go somewhere to have other experiences before we leave.

To review…. “Traveling to (in) Antarctica is similar to having cosmetic surgery.” Sometimes it goes well but on occasion not so well. 

Valentine’s Day in Antarctica.

 Still overcast.  A few snowflakes.  But again, a surprisingly tolerable trip over to a Gentoo penguin rookery.  That meant that now both of us have legitimately stepped foot on the continent.  Our seventh and final one to check off the list. 

These are the same penguins we see everywhere swimming and porpoising in the water. But here with fur seals. The youngest chicks are already pretty big.  The adolescent ones are going through their few week molting period to get their waterproof feathers …hopefully before their parents head back to the sea for the winter coz the adults are leaving when they leave with no regard to the maturity/readiness if their offspring. 

Unfortunately, someone took a bad enough fall at the landing site, hit his head and needs to be put on a medical transport somewhere else. 

Our afternoon visit to see chinstrap penguins (☹️) and the Antarctic plunge ( gosh darn it…where is that sarcasm emoji?) are canceled as we motor back to King George Island. Hopefully, he will be ok. And we will still get to somewhere todo something starting up again tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, I will search for whales… where are you orcas? And keep my fingers crossed for still more to come. 

Ship’s log Day Three…We Soldier On

 Today was not exactly sunny with a bit more breeze so it felt a good bit cooler. Yet, still quite stunning.

And this little Adélie penguin was simply too adorable!

This world is flush with humpbacks and minke whales and Gentoo penguins. These little guys were with a bunch of mates outside the Ukrainian research outpost.  Not a black and white photo. Just black and white penguins on black rocks and white snow.

Midday we were supposed to head on to Port Charcot, but as can always happen here…the ice stopped us. The passage had filled with icebergs so we had to move on to a plan B.  No penguin rookery today. 

Michael stayed on board this afternoon while I kayaked again. Even with the change in the weather, it was still surprisingly comfortable. And very different from yesterday. Paddling through a LOT of ice. Lots of Gentoo penguins and even one minke whale that came up a few times right in front of us.

A very good day in the end. 

To Life!

 Our butler asked us today if we had received all of our luggage last night. I said yes, we are all good. And then I realized that they actually tidy up our closet.  So I said, oh, if you were wondering…that is all the clothes we packed. He seemed both relieved and amused. 

Excursions were only planned for this afternoon. So we spent the morning watching  Gentoo penguins and humpback whales swimming alongside the boat.

This afternoon Michael took the shore excursion/zodiac tour and I went out kayaking,…in three layers plus a dry suit! Some of which, I think was unnecessary coz the sun was shining brightly, temps about 30, no wind and water like glass. Saw a leopard seal, some petrels, another seal from farther off, and a whole lot of ice…from a closer perspective. (Of course, if I cut back on layers next time the weather will change and I will freeze to death.)

On the way back to the ship, it occurred to me… when Michael and I started traveling 35+ years ago, we marveled (aka took great personal satisfaction) in the realization  that everywhere we went we were the younger/youngest in the crowd. But today I was clearly the old matron of the kayaking group! Sure, at least I was kayaking not playing shuffleboard. But still…it was a sad awakening. 

Meanwhile, a couple of guys in the group brought chunks of ice back into the zodiac.  And then left a couple of smaller bits when they got out.   So I brought them back to our suite, asked the same butler for a couple glasses of vodka neat and added our Antarctic ice chunks. Waste not, want not. Cheers! To life!