The Voyage on the Polar Pioneer

On Saturday morning we got up early 04:00 to catch from Santiago to the flight to the Falklands. There was bit of apprehension about getting to the Airport on time. We had reserved a taxi at 05:00 which we figured would be enough time to check in, pass security, etc. The flight was scheduled for 07:50. The taxi did not arrive until almost 06:00 and Surilda was getting really nervous. I was getting a little anxious also. We finally got to the airport and found our airline check-in counter. Masses of people were lined up and we only had an hour and a half to flight time.

Surilda told me to get in line and she would try electronic check in. I started in to the line and an attendant asked me for my ticket. The Falklands check in was at a different area so we hurried down to it and to our relief there were only a few people in line ahead of us. We were soon checked in, past security and to our gate. We had an hour to wait. So much for getting upset.

The flight to the Falklands was uneventful. We first had a stop a Punta Arenas, a Chilean city at the tip of South America and our exit from Chile. We were required to get off the airplane, go through immigration to have our passports stamped and then back onto the airplane. The flight from Punta Arenas was only about an hour in duration, so we were soon landing in the Falklands.

Our airplane landed on a British Air Force Base, where all incoming aircraft land (an artifact of the 1983 Falklands War between Britain and Argentina) we gathered our bags and went through immigration. We were met by a guide service and were taken into Stanley, the capitol and only town of the islands. We were treated to a wonderful tour of landmarks and information about the history, culture and the workings of the island. The Falklands are a British Protectorate Territory with their own government and even their own currency which is mostly symbolic and even sold in packets as souvenirs, the main currencies used are the British Pound and the US dollar. The entire permanent population of the islands is around 2,400 with about 2,000 living in Stanley.

The main industry is sheep, for both wool and meat. The wool is much renowned throughout the world. All of the land is in private ownership, primarily by the sheep farmers but they allow visitors to trek mostly where they want to go. Some of the farms have been split up to accommodate private homes and hostels so there is a budding tourist industry coming to the islands. Trekkers have to be mindful of the minefields laid down by the Argentinians during the war. They are all over but have all been located and are well marked and are in the process of being cleared.

It took us about and hour to drive to Stanley on the only main road on the islands. It connects the airfield to the town. The Airfield was built by the British after the war with Argentina to protect the islands against another invasion by Argentina and hence the road. The islanders are very grateful to the British for liberating the islands after a short occupation by the Argentinians during the war. During our tour we visited a wonderful memorial to the men and women that were killed during this war and to the British military units who served in it.

There are two main islands. East and West Falkland and many, many smaller islands all along the coasts. There are no native trees but some conifers have been introduced. The landscape is covered by grasses and some small flowering shrubs. The east island, where the airfield and Stanley are located is quite flat with a few hills, the west island has some high hills but nothing I would call mountains.  Unfortunately I had left my camera in my duffel bag and was not able to take any pictures of the Falklands.  

We just about saw everything there is to see in Stanley and finally bordered the ship at about 7:30 PM. We were welcomed aboard by the expedition leader, Gary Miller an American Ecologist and polar expert. We had to have a mandatory briefing about what to do if someone falls overboard and a mandatory lifeboat drill before we could get underway. We finally left port about 9:00 PM although it was still very much light.

We steamed through the harbor and out into the open sea passing the headlands and a colony of Gentoo Penguins along a beach. The adventure of a lifetime begins. We ate a nice dinner about 9:30 and then enjoyed meeting some of the 52 passengers. Very nice people of all different backgrounds. Most of them our age with a few younger people. The majority of the passengers were Aussies, but Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, Norway, Hong Kong and the US were also represented. I went up on deck to bid goodby to solid land for a few days and see the Falklands fall away. It was very nice to be on deck in the brisk sea air. I had not been to sea like this since I was fifteen and went out to sea on my dad's fishing boat for 21 days. We had three days of steaming on the open ocean before reaching our first destination, South Georgia Island.

I was up and about at 06:30 the next morning. I did not see anyone else was moving about so I got a cup of coffee (instant, to my chagrin) and read till breakfast at 08:00. We had a staff introduction and on board they had a naturalist/biologist, a historian, a kayak guide, the ship/guest manager, and the chefs, all Aurora employees and except for the expedition leader and the biologist they were all Aussies. The ship's crew, about 24, are Russian but we did not meet any of them.

The naturalist gave a lecture on the types and kinds of animals we might expect to see on the expedition, including whales, seals, penguins, and birds. Later on the historian gave the initial lecture on the Shackleton expedition and his efforts to save his crew after their ship was crushed by ice off Antarctica. I spent a some time up on the bridge with a number of others watching for birds and hopefully a sighting of whales. No whales but did see several species of Albatross including the Wandering Albatross (supposedly the largest bird in the world), Giant Northern Petrels, Southern Giant Petrels, several species Skuas, Antarctic Prions, and several other species of sea birds.

We then all gathered at the bar for a fortified punch, hors d'oevres and an introduction to the Russian Captain, Yury, who else. We all intermingled and met some more of our fellow passengers. We had another lovely dinner of chicken breast wrapped in bacon, roasted potatoes, and mixed vegetables. Several of us went back up to the bar where we all swapped lies about ourselves. THE OLDER I GET THE BETTER I WAS. All in all a great bunch of people with diverse backgrounds. This is going to be a wonderful trip.

We steamed a day and a half more before reaching South Georgia Island. As we got closer we began to see more and more wildlife. Lots of birds, penguins, and fur seals. We also were able to see several “blows” from whales. Our naturalist identified them as Blue or Fin Whales due to the size and shape of the blow. We anchored in a small bay named Elsehul at about 16:00 for our first excursion in the inflatable boats called Zodiacs. It was not all that cold temperature wise it felt much colder due to a stiff wind. We boarded the Zodiacs down a gangway where we were helped on by two of the crew. It looked kind of forbidding as the sea was quite choppy but it was no problem. We toured around the bay seeing a lot of Fur Seals, some, in fact quite a few coming out to greet us. They seemed quite curious. Saw a rookery of Wandering Albatross high on one of the cliffs.

There were hundreds of both King and Gentoo Penguins, the second and third largest species of penguins respectively, only the Emperor Penguin is larger. We will not see any of them as they will not be on our route of travel. Many, many albatross, and skuas. These large birds prey on both penguin chicks and small seal pups. Some of the King penguins were going through their molt to get ready for the coming winter.

After touring the bay, we landed for about an hour and were able to walk among the penguins and seals. We had been warned that the Fur Seals could act aggressive and come at us but we were instructed to just hold ground, shout at them and point. They would them back down like a scolded child and look meekly away. It was all quite fun. There were several “blubber sausages” the elephant seal. The are quite large, even though these were young males. They move about quite awkwardly on land as most true seals do but are fantastic swimmers and divers in the sea. They dive several thousand feet for a meal of squid.

On the way back to the boat, we went by a colony of Macaroni Penguins. We could not get among them at this stop as they like to nest on rocky shores with crashing waves. We were back on board the Polar Pioneer by 21:00. I was very cold, especially my feet and hands. I had learned a lesson. Next time on sure I would dress properly. I was not alone as most everybody else was cold.

We had a happy hour before dinner, then dinner and we all turned in early as we were to be woken at 05:30 for another excursion, the first of three scheduled for the next day. We pulled anchor and steamed two hours to Right Whale Bay where again we dropped anchor and spent the night.

Five thirty came way too early. I had some coffee and then scrambled to get dressed for our next excursion. We took the Zodiacs into a sandy beach, just covered with Fur Seals, some small wallows of Elephant Seals, and thousands and thousands of King Penguins. They were all over the place and I could not imagine how many there really were. The naturalist said that it was in fact a small colony by South Georgia standards.

We were allowed several hours to walk in among the wildlife, again consisting of Fur and Elephant Seals, and the thousands of King Penguins. It was quite a dramatic landscape. High mountains in the interior, all covered with snow. A wonderful water fall and along the low hills Tussock Grass, the common native grass of the island. There are no trees on South Georgia so when Surilda and I saw what looked like tree stumps, we were puzzled. On closer examination we found that they were whale vertebrae. Wow!! We also saw the jaw bone of a whale. The naturalist speculated that it was a Right Whale carcass. I wandered around fending off aggressive Fur Seals, which was still fun and took a lot of pictures. Back on the ship around 09:00 we had breakfast, weighed anchor, and headed for Prion Island.

Prion Island is a tiny speck off the mainland where the public is able to see nesting Wandering Albatrosses. South Georgia Island has had problems with invasive species both plant and animal. A major invasive species is the Norway Rat, brought in by the early mariners. It has devastated the native bird species by preying on the eggs and chicks and these species are all so vulnerable since they are all ground nesters due to the lack of trees. It was instrumental in bringing the Wandering Albatross to near extinction. A foundation mounted an extermination program and has been largely successful and although the island had not been completely purged of the rats, they hope to be in a few more years. Prion Island is now rat free and therefore we were allowed to land and view the Albatrosses. It was quite a sight. I have seen movies of these graceful birds flying but there take-offs and landings can be quite comical. I felt very privileged to be able to witness this.

From Prion Island we then sailed over to Salisbury Plain, to view a large colony of King Penguins, the second largest on the island. There were over 60,000 nesting pairs and with additional individuals bringing the total number of King Penguins on the Salisbury Plain to over 250,000. Another wow. It was unbelievable to see such numbers of animals, all squawking, whistling, and of course smelling. Some of the nesting pairs already had chicks hatched others were still incubating. Many thousands more were molting their feathers, which they do once a year. While molting they cannot swim so they just stand along a creek coming from a nearby glacier and wait till the molt is complete. It is funny to watch. They look like little men just standing around gabbing, probably complaining about the weather.

We climbed a rather steep hill were we were able to get an overlook on the nesting colony. Again, it was just an incredible sight to see. There were also large numbers of Fur and Elephant Seals all over the place. We had to continue to fend off some of the more aggressive Fur Seals but that is done easily. Back to the ship we sailed to Fortuna Bay and anchored for the night.

The next morning we all got ready for the Fortuna Bay to Stromness Shackleton walk. A hike over the mountains following the last seven km of Shackleton's trek to the Stromness Whaling station where he finally got help for his men.

We all came ashore in a light rain but upon gaining some altitude it changed to snow. We were socked in and therefore I could not get many pictures for which I was very disappointed. I could see that it would have been very beautiful had the sun been shining. We all got very wet but since it was not all that cold, I enjoyed it the hike very much and it somewhat brought to light what it must have been like for Shackleton and his men. We summited the pass and were faced with a very steep decent to the valley below. There was a fairly large snow field and our leaders decided that we could all “Bum Slide” down it. One by one we slid down the snowfield several hundred feet on our backsides like little children playing on the snow. It was all great fun. All was well. We finally reached Stromness, a collection of abandoned buildings from the whaling era. It was off limits to us as there is a lot of asbestosis in the buildings. We were soon back on the ship, soaking wet, but happy. We then steamed to Hercules Bay. Later in the day there was a Zodiac cruise around the bay. I did not participate due to my cold and my clothes and gloves still being wet. I did manage to get some pictures from the ship.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. We steamed into Grytviken, the original whaling station on South Georgia. Built in 1904 by a Norwegian named Larsen. It is now the seat of the South Georgia Government and the base for all activities on the island, with a museum, housing for government personal, research facilities, and a Post Office. I think the Post Office is mainly symbolic and a thing for the tourists. They have their own stamp and of course they sell postcards, etc. The mail goes out with the tourist ships, to the Falklands, on to England and then to its destination. They warn the it could take up to two months for the mail to reach its destination. I passed. There are no permanent residents on South Georgia.

We visited Shackleton's grave. He died of a heart attack while outfitting for another Antarctic Expedition in 1922. They were shipping his body back to England but his wife said that he would have wanted to be buried on South Georgia. Frank Wild's ( Shackleton's right hand man) ashes are buried just to the left of Shackleton's grave. The other graves were those of whalers and land crews from Grytviken and the ships that worked out of there.

Grytviken has been to some degree restored due to its being the seat of government. Still there are lots of decaying and rusted relics form the whaling and sealing industries around. We were treated to a tour by a young lady from England who is the seasonal curator of the museum. It was an intern position and she is working on a master's degree at some university in England. She described all aspects of the whaling industry that had taken place there. From the killing of the whales to the processing of the carcass. Every part of the whale was used but it was the whale oil that was the money maker. They could process up to 25 whales a day and worked 24/7. It was a hard, smelly, dirty job for the average worker but they stood to make enough in a season to be able to buy a small farm or get an education back in Norway. At one point there were six active whaling stations along the shores of South Georgia Island. Hundreds of thousands of whales were killed during the whaling years which ended about 1965. Grytviken is the only one that is opened for tourists to visit.

Later on we went ashore at Jason Harbour where I made some movies of penguins and seals to check out that function of my camera. Fending off Fur Seals, I took a long walk among the tussock grass mounds to do a little exploring. Back on the boat for happy hour, supper and bed. A real beautiful, sunny day the nicest day so far.

February 1^st dawned gray and misty. We were all up for an excursion into Gold Harbour and another chance to see the “usual suspects”, i.e. Elephant Seals, Fur Seals, and King Penguins, along with the other bird life of South Georgia. There was a hike up to a ridge to view nesting nesting Light-mantled Albatrosses. I chose not to go as the mist was pretty thick and did not think I would be able to see anything much. I was right and those that went were back in short order.

I contented myself along with the others that did not hike by just observing the animals. The Elephant Seals that are along the beach are immature males who get into mock battles in hopes for the day when they can become Beachmasters, or acquire a harem during the mating season. These battles can get serious though, as I saw some pretty deep scars on the necks of the youngsters and several had fresh wounds. I was told that these youngsters were about 6 to 8 years old and they have not developed the characteristic proboscis of the mature male. I asked how long they live and was told that the males do not generally live beyond 12 to 13 years because of the toll of constant fighting, wounds, and mating for a few seasons leaves them weak and vulnerable. The ultimate tax for sex.

I took some pictures of the King Penguin chicks molting and a few of them made real fashion statements. A lot of the adults were incubating eggs, which they do by placing the egg on their feet and covering them with a bulge of fur and fat to keep the proper temperature. It is late in the season and I was told that most of these chicks will not survive. But I guess you gotta try. I came upon a couple that were mating and as I approached the male jumped off the back of the female and both stood up and looked at me like “we were not doing anything”. Probably teenagers. I guess penguins do it for fun also.

Back to the ship for a late breakfast while we steamed to Cooper Bay for a look at a Macaroni Penguin Colony. We climbed a hill, again fending off the Fur Seals, to view the colony way up in the tussock grass mounds. We could not get real close but with my handy telephoto lens I did get a few good pictures. Macaronis are funny, with strands of gold feathers coming out of the tops of their heads. I was told that they were so named because the gold feathers on the head resembled a fad in London in the 18^th century of young men wearing colorful feathers, ribbons, etc in their hair. Since it was introduced to England by an Italian the derisive term macaroni was applied to this fad. I was a bit skeptical of this story but then I remembered the “Yankee Doodle” tune we learned as kids, “stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni”. Now you know the rest of the story.

These Penguins colonize way up in the hills at hard to get places. Not real sure why, defense I guess but as the other penguins colonize out in the open without many problems that does not fit. One of life's mysteries I guess. It was not a large colony and it consisted mostly of chicks with some adults there. Most of the adults were out feeding as the chicks were old enough to self thermoregulate and were large enough to not be prey for Petrels and Skuas. The bulk of the adults were “gone fishin”. Gathering large quantities of Krill, small crustaceans, that is one of the mainstays of life here in the Antarctic. The adults will then come back and feed their chicks.

After viewing the Macaroni's, we took a Zodiac tour of the Cooper Bay where we saw our first up close Chin-strap Penguin colony. They are cute little guys and I think my favorite. They look like they have a bicycle helmet on the top of their heads held on by a chin-strap. They are a bit smaller than the King, Gentoo, and Macaroni Penguins with no other colors except black and white, not counting the pink feet. They seemed to greet us and escort the Zodiacs in toward the shore.

We were not allowed to land because there was a disease that devastated the colony a few years back and they are not sure what caused it. We were content to view from the Zodiacs and I got some nice pictures. There were a lot of Macaronis mixed in with them and a few Kings. They all seem to get along with out squabbling. In fact all of the animals seem to get along nicely. Probably a lot different during the birthing season when Skuas and Petrels are trying to make a meal out of penguin chicks and seal pups.

Back on the ship for lunch and we steamed to Drygalski Fjord for a ships tour of the many glaciers that are along the steep cliffs of the narrow fjord. It was breathtaking. There were about ten or twelve of them along the way. We steamed close to the main glacier at the end of the fjord, the Wristing Glacier. Again magnificent. We stayed there for a while, had a group picture taken and hoped to see a “calving”, part of the glacier breaking off to form an iceberg. No luck this time. This was the last stop for South Georgia Island. We then headed out to open Scotia Sea for our two and a half day steam to Elephant Island. We were getting a little more rock and roll on the open sea and several of the group were beginning to feel a little woozy.

We entertained ourselves by catching up on sleep, relaxing, sorting pictures and writing journals. Visiting was also a popular activity. We are continually telling each our storied, where we come from, what we do or did, bragging of children and grandchildren. Every one is pretty much open and fun to get to know. The staff also kept us busy with several lectures on the wildlife we should expect to see and the histories of Antarctic exploration. Gary the leader gave two excellent lectures on ice. One on fresh water ice and the other on sea ice. Explaining the different forms of each, how they form, and what their impact is on the environment, ocean currents, wildlife, and of course shipping. We also had several DVD's on Shackleton, a “Frozen Planet” series by the BBC and some movies. We also visited the bridge and topside to get fresh air and look for whales.

There was a contest to guess the latitude/longitude and the date and time of the first iceberg sighting. Fabulous prizes were promised. Happy hour every night before a wonderful dinner. All were happy and content. The evening of the 3^rd we had our “Rat Eradication Auction”. We had, had a nice briefing on the efforts to rid South Georgia Island of the introduced rats. They had asked up to “Adopt a Hectare”, $145 which is about the cost of the eradication for a hectare, approximately 1.5 acres. In addition to that the staff on board conducted an auction where we could bid on various items, shirts, charts, books, and other mementos, the proceeds going towards the program.

It was quite fun. Aurora provided free beer and sangria to help lubricate the crowd and the bidding began. We figured that it cost about $10 to eradicate one rat so the bidding was conducted in rats. It went on for about two hours with a lot of laughs and a lot of beer and sangria drank. They raised about $3000 total. Really a good time.

The next morning we arrived a Elephant Island and Point Wild where the bulk of Shackleton's men spent four months before being rescued. Named after Frank Wild, Shackleton's right hand man, whom is credited for having kept the men alive during their ordeal. We boarded the Zodiacs in hopes of landing on the small spit of land where these men spent the four months in a makeshift camp of two small lifeboats turned upside down. We could not make a landing as the seas were two rough and there was a lot of “brash” ice. We were content to motor in as close as our pilots dared to get an idea of what the conditions were like for these men. It must have been awful. Just a tiny spit of beach at the base of towering cliffs and small islands to the seaward. A noisy, smelly, colony of Chin-straps nearby and a snowfield to their backs. I was very disappointed on not being able to land, which would have really put a focus on what the endured. Our pilot said that they are able to make a landing only about ten percent of the time.

We did a Zodiac cruse of the bay, watching the penguins and taking pictures of the ice and rough seas. We came close to a large glacier (the source of the ice in the bay) and watched for a while. Two minor calving events came about while we were there. A crackling noise followed by a tremendous roar and and the sound of splashing water. It was a very wonderful thing to witness. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture it on camera.

After about two hours we headed back to the Polar Pioneer. The swell was so large that it was an adventure just getting on and off the ship to the Zodiacs. The Zodiacs are loosely connected to the gangway by ropes to allow for the rise and fall of the Zodiacs relative to the gangway platform. They were dropping as much a six feet so we had to time our stepping on and off the Zodiacs with the rise and fall of the swell. We had to wait till the Zodiac and the gangway platform were aligned and when the Zodiac pilot gave the word and his arm, we had to step lively. It was a little scary and several people fell but no one was hurt. Part of the adventure.

We steamed away from Elephant Island toward the Antarctic Peninsular over night. Several times during the night we felt the bumps of the ship hitting ice flows. I awoke about 05:30 and immediately headed to the bridge. The ship's decks were covered with a coating of snow. We were in the middle of pack ice, a really exciting moment for me. I felt I was truly in the Antarctic. We slowly pushed our way through, seeing several pods of Southern Right Whales, some penguins, and several Leopard Seals, a first for me. We watched a Leopard Seal sleeping on an ice flow next to two Adele Penguins. I guess he was not hungry.

We were supposed to have a three stop day, starting with a place called Brown Bluff early in the morning. I would be our first actual stepping on the Antarctic Continent but alas it was not to be. We were to approach Brown Bluff through a strait called Antarctic Sound at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsular. Pack ice drifted up through this strait from the Weddell Sea making it impossible for the ship to pass through. Plan B. The ship's captain and Gary decided to backtrack a little to get away from the ice and head west along the north coast of the peninsular where they hoped we could land at Astrolabe Island. Our three landing day may be only one or even none. All of the planed outings are at the mercy of the weather and conditions.

We finally got to go for a Zodiac cruise around Astrolabe Island, named for an early explorer's ship. We first chased some Right Whales that were in the area and we actually got quite close. Hard to get a picture of one but I tried with some minor success. It was a fluke. We then motored in and about the local icebergs trying to get some good pictures of the color variations of the ice. In some places it is creamy, others a deep blue and all shades in between. It all a function of the type of ice, the bluer the less oxygen contained in the ice and somewhat an indication of the age of the ice. Icebergs are all glacial in origin and the deeper the blue means that the oxygen contained in the original snowfall has been “pressured out” by the compaction of the snow over the millions of years, hence an indication of the age. The pictures I took do not do any justice to the wonderful coloring of these icebergs.

We motored in and out of ice flows looking for wildlife and saw several Leopard Seals the main predator of penguins. They can be quite large and have a very reptilian head. They have been known to attack Zodiacs but not a real serious threat. We also saw Weddell and Crabeater Seals along with the usual Fir Seals and of course penguins, mainly Chin-strap. Chin-strap Penguins are the most numerous penguins on the planet. We were also fortunate enough to witness a feeding frenzy, on krill we assumed, of Great Petrels, cormorants, Cape Petrels, other birds and penguins. They came right up to the Zodiacs not bothering with us at all.

There was a light snow falling and although it was a gray day and most of us really got cold it was a great day. With the steaming through the pack ice, seeing the icebergs and all the glaciers, I felt we were truly in the Antarctic. All in all a wonderful day. Back on board for a hot toddy, swapping stories, dinner and a good night's sleep.

The next morning we were on the Zodiacs before breakfast and off to Hydruga Rocks where we finally were able to claim we set foot on the Antarctic Continent. Although the Rocks were really an island it is technically part of the continent. We were able to walk among the Chin-straps and view more seals.

We did have a minor tragedy as one of the women slipped on the snow and fell down on her ankle. The had to a stretcher and she was lifted back onto the ship in one of the Zodiacs. Later we learned that she did have a minor fracture so her ashore going is over for the remainder of the expedition. A tough break (pun intended) but it did bring out the professionalism of the staff and crew.

We were supposed to go ashore on the mainland at Portal Point after breakfast but there happened to be another tour ship there, due to some miss communications so Gary decided to move on to our third place of excursion at Foyn Harbour where they did a Zodiac cruise. I chose not to go as I was still trying to recover from my cold.

Later on we steamed back to Portal Point for our first step onto the Antarctic mainland. For a good portion of the people on the ship this was their seventh and final continent that they have visited. It has inspired me to add visiting all seven myself. That means I have only Africa and Asia to visit. Another two items added to my bucket list.

Finally setting foot on the continent was somewhat anti-climatic for me. Portal Point is really just a spit of land jutting out into the sea. Its called Portal Point because many expeditions have used it as a starting point into the interior of the continent. There were some cement footings at the landing site, the remnants of an explorer's hut from the turn of the 20^th century. As usual we were greeted by the “usual suspects”, seals and penguins. All of us congratulated each other for being there, took pictures and then did a short hike up a glacier to a wonderful vantage point. Although overcast it was a pretty clear day and I was taken aback by the enormity of all of the ice that covers the continent. All about us was white with a few rocks and bare cliffs showing here and there. We were told that about ninety percent of the worlds fresh water is locked up in the glaciers of Antarctica. That is a big wow.

It was fun taking pictures of us all. Everyone asking if someone else would take their picture. Several were doing “selfies”. After we were satiated with picture taking, we headed back to the Zodiacs for a motor tour of the area. Several whales, Humpbacks, were spotted. My Zodiac did not get all that close but it was a real thrill to see them. The wind had kicked up a bit making for large swell and we were treated to cold spray in the face on the way back to the ship. The swell also make for a tricky boarding of the ship at the gangway. All made it ok. We warmed up and had a nice supper and readied ourselves for our next adventure.

We woke up the next morning at Paradise Bay, and extremely picturesque bay, the site of an Argentine research base. Although it was occupied we did not see any of the inhabitants as it was early and they had not started their day yet. It was called Brown Station. Does not sound all that Argentinian but that is what its named. We climbed up a rather steep and slippery snow field to a point of rocks that afforded an incredible view of the bay and surrounding cliffs and glaciers. There was talk of doing another “bum slide” down the steep slope but our leader, Gary decided that it was so icy that it would be very dangerous to attempt it so we had to walk back down.

We then did a Zodiac tour of the bay which was covered with brash ice, pieces of broken glacier ice, some small some large that we had to push our way through. Some more whales were spotted although our Zodiac was not close to them. Back on board the ship for a late breakfast while the ship moved us to our last Antarctic outing. We cruised through a narrow channel, studded with huge ice bergs of incredible beauty. Mountainous islands covered with glaciers and the mainland showing the same. We saw several other much larger cruise ships in the area. These carry upwards of 1,000 passengers and because of a rule that says no more than 100 people ashore at a time, these people are not able to land. Part of the reason I chose the ship that we did.

Our final outing took place in Orne Harbour where a number of beautiful icebergs were on display along with several closeup encounters with Humpback whales. Some of the bergs wonderfully sculptured caves and grottoes, displaying the rich turquoise coloring of the ice. A truly wonderful day.

Back on ship we concluded the day with nine brave souls partaking in the Polar Plunge. The walked down the gangway to the platform in bathing suits and took a quick plunge into the approximately thirty two degree water. Some jumping off the deck. Needless to say I did not participate. After their plunge they hurried down to the ships sauna for a quick warmup. Good for them. We then moved on to our final leg of our voyage, up along the South Shetland Islands to the Drake Passage and on to Ushuaia, almost a three day steam north.

The seas got pretty rough going through the Drake Passage and a lot of the passengers got a little queezy, myself included. I went to just a light shade of green but some were looking like limes. There were quite a few empty seats in the galley for breakfast and lunch. The South Sea is probably the worst sea in the world because of the convergence of northern currents meeting the circular sea currents around Antarctica and due to the fact that there are no land masses to slow the winds down. As our expedition leader Gary said, “its a very confused sea”. Of course the Russian captain kind of chuckled at us and said it was not all that bad. And I though I was doing well to be just a little green.

The seas calmed down as we got closer to Ushuaia our debarkation port. We had a final dinner of fillet mignon with all the trimmings. All of us had overcome our sea sickness by then. After supper we all headed to the upper deck to view Tierra de l Fuego, with its lovely hills and the high peaks of the tip of the Andes, all covered with trees (I had not seen a tree since I left Santiago) and snow at the higher elevations. It was a lovely sight.

After that it was “Party Time” at the bar. Dancing, drinking, and all that carrying on. Another great time. We woke for breakfast and got our things together and went through some sort of customs. Not much really and all Argentinian really wanted was our reciprocal tax of $160 to enter the country. I had paid it on line before I left. Its kind of a tit for tat thing. Certain countries charge people to enter and others do it in retaliation. Citizens of the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and get this Albania have to pay going into both Chile and Argentina. We all said goodbys, with hugs and handshakes. Promises to keep in touch and visit when we are in the others neighborhoods. I have plenty of places to stay in Australia now. Guess I gotta make a trip there again.

Surilda and I found our B&B, left our bags and set out to explore the area. Ushuaia is a beautiful town built on slopes of the foothills of the Andes. Its main industry is tourism and there were a lot of tour ships in the harbor, some really huge, accommodating several thousand people. It is a really nice area with plenty of hiking and exploring in the area. Some people were staying several days, some leaving right away. We kept bumping into our shipmates all along the city streets.

Surilda and I took a bus out to Tierra del Fuego National Park and did a little hiking, sightseeing, and picture taking. Back in Ushuaia we found a wonderful seafood restaurant that specialized in locally caught King Crab. We had some and it was delicious. If I had known what it was like there I would have scheduled more time in the area but as it was my adventure ended the next morning and I caught a flight to Buenos Aires and then an overnight flight to Dallas and on to Denver. What an exciting time I had. Put it on your bucket lists. Adieu.