January 12

Days 17-18  At Sea

As we sail towards the Falklands-Malvinas, there is plenty to keep you occupied on board.

Our expedition team will continue to share their wealth of knowledge about the wildlife, history, and natural world as part of the onboard lecture series.  You will have ample time to enjoy observing seabirds from the stern of the ship, keeping a close watch for whales and other marine wildlife, or simply enjoy the many facilities available to you on the ship.

Well, apparently I lied yesterday about leaving South Georgia.  The day that we were originally due to arrive in the Falkland Islands coincides with a predicted storm that will likely close the port of Stanley (where we need to go first).  So..... we're going to spend an extra day in South Georgia and try to make a couple of landings at more Shackleton sites - Cape Rosa and Peggotty Bluff - in King Haakon Bay.

Cape Rosa (called Cave Cove in Shackleton's day) - marks the entrance to King Haakon Bay on the south side.  It is historically significant because this was Shackleton's first landing site on South Georgia.  I have to say that our weather conditions were much more favourable than his!  You can certainly understand his concern about wrecking his little wooden boat on all the rocks about.  It's just a small site, so we just landed 2 zodiacs at a time.  We shared the little beach with some elephant seals, but saw the cave where Ernest and his men sheltered for a few days.  I'm very happy that we got to land here.



We followed the brief landing with a longish zodiac cruise.  Not a lot of penguins around.  I think they were all gentoos.  Lots of seals - both elephant and fur - as well as a lot of bird life.  The hills around the bay are filled with glaciers; some coming right down to the ocean.  A very nice little tour.  


Back to the boat shortly after 8:30.  We'll have brunch and then head in to Peggotty Bluff - Shackleton's final landing site and the start of his overland trip to Stromness.  The weather gods continue to be with us.

We did a zodiac cruise for a bit, checking out various glaciers.  It's nice to have other zodiacs in the water to add perspective to the immense size of the glaciers. Cruising through this bay it reminds me of Alaska, with all the glaciers coming down to (or near) the water.

So cool to be at yet another Shackleton site!  And - a few king penguins and fur seals to say our 'good-byes' to.



We're now heading back out to open seas and into the wind for a change.  Can't recall if it takes 2 or 3 days to get to the Falklands, but lots of reading and lecture time.  Oh - and maybe a few naps.  Just a quick note before publishing (pictures to be added later).  A quick recap of where we've been on South Georgia.  




And - we're definitely back on the high seas; the boat has a lot of motion going on tonight.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

Image
The outing that I've chosen is called "Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctic Peninsula".   "This epic voyage takes you on an incomparable journey, visiting enigmatic Subantarctic Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula...... discover the fascinating history of the islands and encounter the spectacular birdlife found here.  Feel awed in the presence of the king penguin colonies in South Georgia, some of the largest on Earth.  Immerse yourself in the serene grandeur of the Antarctic Peninsula as you embrace the true spirit of exploration and adventure."     There are lots of providers running expedition cruises to the Antarctic these days.  As I started looking at this in the summer I came across a website with a fairly comprehensive "Cruise Comparison" chart.  It listed no fewer than 42 ships representing 22 different companies, ranging from Ultra Luxury to Budget.  I'm in the "Premium" category, just above "Budget".  I'm goin...
Read more

January 16

Days 19-21  Falklands-Malvinas (Cont'd) After three days at sea we pulled into Stanley Harbour just before breakfast this morning.  It's a Falklands requirement that we go to Stanley before we land anywhere else, so given that we want to be back at sea by mid-afternoon that kind of limits our options for seeing much of the islands.  Oh well - we've been lucky with the weather up until now.  We probably missed out on seeing nesting albatrosses and rockhopper penguins but we've seen albatrosses in the air and, lord knows, we've seen hundreds of thousands of other penguins.   I see my phone automatically updated to a new IOS overnight.  What I didn't realize right away was that when it did that it took my phone off airplane mode and dropped the wifi.  So - I can't wait to see my bill for roaming charges; ugh.......... We started ferrying guests to land shortly after 8.  They had arranged for a big bus to take us out to Gypsy Cove.  I signed...
Read more

January 17

Day 22  At Sea With lectures and film presentations to complete our Antarctic experience, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the magic of the South Atlantic Ocean and the life that calls it home.  There is time for reflection and discussion about what we have seen and experienced.  We hope you become ambassadors for the Antarctic region, telling your family, friends, and colleagues about your journey to this magical part of the planet, advocating for its conservation and preservation so that they might one day visit the region to experience what you have been lucky to see and do here. As we approach the tip of South America, our Captain may sail close to legendary Cape Horn, weather and time permitting.     Well, this was pretty much a wind-down day.  A session on procedures for tomorrow.  A last trip to the gym.  A hilarious and very successful auction run by Gaby to raise money for two charities  - South Georgia Heritage Trust and ...
Read more