After almost 24 hours sailing back north for the evacuation, we arrive at King George Island. During the trip north we are treated to many sighting of whales and my camera is entertained with breaches and blows and fluke dives! The evacuation occurs as planned and all is well, although we never see the evacuation as they wisely put us all in zodiacs and take us for a tour of the area while they load up the ill lady and get her to shore safely.
We cruise around the bay and see an iceberg the size of two city blocks. Yes, I said TWO CITY BLOCKS… This Iceberg was about 30 Meters tall out of the water (100 feet), which meant it was likely 60 Meters below water (200 feet). We rode around it, cameras happily clicking away, Blue, Grey and White Ice grabbing our senses and lenses as we were amazed at the enormity of this floating Berg.
We go back to the ship and enjoy the remainder of the evening in the bar where crew members regale us with stories of their adventures! Mind numbing concoctions are consumed and stories get more exciting. We finally turn in for the evening with the assurance that the ship is traveling back south in hopes of making up time.
Today becomes magical very quickly! First up after breakfast, we suit up for our first kayak trip. Pulling on wool socks and long johns. Fleece lined pants and insulated top. Throw on a sweater on top of that.
And
now to pull on the Dry Suit. A challenge that will improve as the trip
progresses. But this first time, it’s kind of like, step into it and pull the
footie parts up. Then pull the legs up your body. Follow that with finding the
armholes. Sounds simple, right? Not so much. Once the armholes are found, you
have to pull the neoprene stretch neck down over your head at the same time.
Easy! I lie. How the heck does this work? Oh. Ok. Here it is. Got it. But
there’s a huge gaping hole across the front from over my shoulder down across
the front to my waist. And a zipper. Wait, the zipper starts over my shoulder
behind me. I think I saw a pull strap, like a wetsuit of sorts. Got it. Give it
a tug. Not moving, hmmm. Maybe pull it this way. Hey, it moved. Pull again.
Here it goes. Yeah, I’ve got this! Pull it all the way around. I feel like a
contortionist. Ok, give it that last tug and make sure it’s sealed. There.
Oh wait, not done yet? Oh yeah, the life jacket. Well, at least this is the easy part. It’s just a couple of tubes and straps. Hmmm, I think it goes this way. No wait, pull that strap around this way. Ummm, I think that looks right. What’s that? My booties, I forgot my booties. Where are they? Oh, over there. Here, sit down and put them on. Gloves too? Ok, got them. Can we go to the kayaks now? Don’t forget the camera. Got it, ok, let’s go.
So we head out of the room and around the corner and down the stairs to the lounge where we have been told to meet. Walking in the dry suit feels like a penguin waddle. But not to worry, when we get to the lounge, we find 20 more dry suit penguins waddling around, looking quite like us. We mingle and swap waddling jokes as we start to overheat inside the ship. So we all head outside on the back deck and the stewards check us out onto the list of kayakers for the morning. Soon, we are instructed to step into the sanitizing foot bath and we all head down and board the zodiacs for our first trip into Antarctic waters.
The zodiacs take us away from the ship with the kayaks in tow like a mother duck and her ducklings. We arrive near a set of ice flows and now to learn how to get from the zodiac into the kayaks. Sit on the rail like this? Oh, okay, I can do that! now put your feet into the kayak. No, don’t tip it! Remember the lesson on the deck of the ship? Oh yeah, that’s the way. Now slide down in. Easy peasey! Wait, I’m not done? Oh yeah, the skirt. Okay, put it on like this. Hey, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Where’s my paddle? Oh, thanks, here it is! Push off now and I’m on my own in the Antarctic!
We’re in the kayaks and the excitement builds as we start to paddle. After several minutes, we come to a stop near a small iceberg. We have been cautioned against paddling close to the icebergs as they may calve without warning. And then, here we are! Kayaking in the Antarctic!
Life is good. Hands are cold. Views are wonderful. Hey, let’s paddle over there. Take a picture. Paddle some more. What’s that over there? Hey, that’s kind of cool, a shipwreck! Let’s get closer! This is fun, but I wonder why the shipwreck is 20-30 feet above the water? We never get an answer to that question but we continue to kayak through the frigid waters and enjoy our first kayak excursion in the Southern Ocean.
After a couple of magical hours kayaking through glacial waters and around ice flows, we reluctantly re-board the zodiacs and head back to the Ocean Diamond. Back on board, we go through the sanitizing process of stepping in disinfectant and then into the hallways and back to our room where we reverse the procedure of suiting up and figure out how to get our dry suits off. The challenge this time is doing it with cold hands and feet!
Back in the hallways of the ship, we chat with other passengers and swap stories as we head for the restaurant for a buffet lunch. The ship is underway to our next stop while we eat and share amazing stories with our fellow guests.
Then it’s back up on deck with our cameras to get shots of ice flows and frozen mountains as we near our afternoon stop.
Soon the ship drops anchor at Cuverville Island & Goudier Island (Port Lockroy), a British Port that has a working Post Office. We go ashore and are immediately greeted by hundreds of Gentoo Penguins that call this place home. Colorful signs and buildings, some of them built on stilts on the rocky shore assault our vision and we hike up the short trail to the Post Office. To save us time and give us more time to explore, a ships employee goes ashore with everybodies Passports and has them stamped for us!
Inside, we find not only the Post Office where our Post Cards are mailed home, but we find the building is pretty much a museum celebrating the early life of researchers that lived there studying the weather and wildlife. Researchers still live and work in the Port, however they have newer buildings and facilities and we never saw any people. I can only assume they avoid nosey tourists that would only disturb their way of life. So for the couple hours that we are there, they stay pretty much out of sight even though we can see their buildings. The paths to these buildings are roped off and signage tells us to stay away.
We get our fill of this wondrous place and board the zodiacs again. We take a zodiac ride while the second half of our ship visits the Port. For this day I have brought the big camera rig with the good glass and the long zoom lenses and start capturing Penguins and Seals from a distance, although we did get close at times. But the ride comes to a close after a couple more hours and we head back to the ship for the evening. Back on board, we disinfect and take our excursion gear off for the evening and head for the dinner hall.
At dinner, we are informed that we have a Medical Emergency on board and have to turn around and head back to King George Island where there is an air transport available to evacuate an elderly passenger that has already contracted pneumonia. So the ship heads back north tonight. We had been speculating that we would step foot on the actual Antarctic Continent today but our hopes for that have been dashed. (So far, we have only stepped foot on islands, not the actual Continent!) But everybody is in the right spirit as we all hope for the best for our shipmate and her safety and welfare. One has to wonder about the age of someone in their 80’s wanting to visit Antarctica. But I have to say that I would want to visit at any age, but we decided a few years ago that we didn’t want to be in our 80’s to go so that is why we are here now! I can’t tell you how bad I would feel if we were the reason a ship like ours had to turn back!
Today we traveled the remainder of the way across the Drake Passage. Seas were relatively calm and we get to relax for most of the day. Sea birds take up most of our sightseeing until dinner. They serve us an early dinner and announce an evening excursion to visit a place called “Bailey Head”. Everyone is intrigued to see our first land excursion of the trip.
I have to wonder about what we will get to see, after all it is evening after dinner and we probably won’t have daylight much longer. It hasn’t set in yet that it is Summer in the Antarctic and it doesn’t get dark until almost midnight in this part of the world. If we had come a couple months earlier, it wouldn’t get dark at all! It is the end of Summer down here heading into their Fall.
We all suit up in the excursion coats and boots they supplied us with and line up in cues as they prompt us over the ships intercom. We are assigned different groups for Land Excursions to streamline the loading and unloading of the Zodiacs. There are no Ports of Call in Antarctica and every day the itinerary changes with the weather. So all land excursions begin in the zodiac boats. They can be very fast (or slow, depending on whether they are taking you somewhere or trying not to scare the wildlife) and are quite efficient in getting you from the ship to land. We are instructed to step into a tray of disinfectant to make sure our boots are sanitized so we don’t bring anything onto land that shouldn’t be there!
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) does not allow more than 100 people to land from a single ship at any location, so the 187 passengers on the ship have to split up into different groups. That means that about half of us can go on land and the other half takes a zodiac tour of the area. Then the land group gets back in the zodiacs and takes a tour while the other half goes on land. A very nice way of doing it so everybody gets 2-3 hours off the ship at a time.
So off we go in zodiacs and we find groups of “Porpoising Penguins” as they are referred to for the interesting way they swim. For such chubby little creatures that waddle on land and are seemingly ungainly, they are graceful and speedy in the water!
When we finally make it to land, we are greeted by Fur Seals galore. Once the whole group is ashore, we walk inland among tens of thousands of “Chinstrap Penguins”, named for the coloration of their feathers that that make it appear they have a “Strap” under their chin.
We walk among them, amazed at their numbers and marvel at the antics and the cuteness they exhibit. As far as the eye can see, they cover the hills. And for the most part, they appear to be walking on snow and ice, but it is Summer here. Even though there is snow and ice on all the mountains, the white stuff they are walking on is a mix of their Guano and their molting feathers!
The circle of life is also evident as we walk by the not so uncommon penguin that met its demise!
We chat amicably with our ship’s Naturalist who is knowledgeable in all things living! Before we know it, the sun is beginning to set, a process that takes hours and bathes everything in magical hues of yellow and orange that makes all it touches glow as if painted.
Even though we have been off the ship for many hours, too soon comes the message to get back in the zodiacs for the trip back to the ship. When we board, we are led through an area where we have to step into disinfectant again to make sure we don’t bring something foreign back onto the ship and our boots are clean for the next excursion!
Back on the ship, we head for the lounge and happily swap critter stories with our shipmates. Then it’s off to bed to see what tomorrow will bring!
1st full day on the ship. Fun people, fun times. Halfway across the ‘Drake’ now. We walk about and mingle with other guests as we check out the ship and get used to the location of everything. We see random sea birds and the occasional whale in the distance. Walking around today is easier than we thought it would be and the seas are not horrible like we were told this passage could be. We’re told we will step on land in Antarctica tomorrow. We go to our scheduled meeting with the Kayak Group and meet everyone, including our two Kiwi Kayak Guides that are fun and playful, yet all business when it comes to safety. We get our Dry Suits for Kayaking and all the gear necessary for that. Then we go to the meeting for our Land Excursion Group and get our Land Excursion gear including boots and Life Vests. We walk around the ship and familiarize ourselves with the layout of the Ship and look out at the lonely Southern Ocean as we continue to cross the Drake Passage. The seas are moderate and we wonder what is really in store for us over the next two weeks. But we know where the food is served and where the bar is! We visit with other shipmates and start to get to know them. Some music plays in the lounge and drinks are poured to calm any nerves that may still be on edge.
We discuss the opportunities to send Postcards from Port Lockroy, the British Post Office Base, where ships like ours pick up and deliver mail every time they arrive and depart. Sometimes, we’re told, it takes up to 6 months to receive a Postcard and sometimes it takes as little as a month. Imagine that, a Postcard that takes a month to 6 months or more! Sounds like the 50’s! What an archaic system! But this is Antarctica! Nothing modern down here! Can’t wait to see this place!
But we know where the food is served and where the bar is! Progress on the ship is being made! We visit with other shipmates and start to get to know them. More music plays in the lounge and more nerve calming medicine is acquired from the bar. It is time to go to sleep. We will wake and see what tomorrow has in store for us!
With Just The Clothes On Our Back! (And our Fin del Mundo purchases)
DAY FIVE (Feb 20)
We wake and have breakfast and go over our lists of things we still need. We turn our luggage in to the hotel where the Expedition instructed us to. Hopefully, these bags make it onto the ship! It’s 9:30AM and we don’t board the ship until 5:00PM. Another glance out at our Ship awaiting us and we get our day started!
So off we go into town with our one last bag to try and get the final items. We check out of our hotel and stroll into town. We successfully find enough items to make us sure we can board the ship. A steady drizzle greets us but not so bad that we can’t make our way around town to finish our shopping spree. We find the last few items we need for the trip and we consign ourselves to the idea that our shopping is done. Never found hand warmers though, it seems they are not welcome products here because they are not discarded properly and are claimed to be toxic to the environment. Oh well, got to move on. We did find the sock liners and other items. Not as fully stocked as we had hoped, but it seems we CAN do this!
It is noon and we stop into “Bodegon Fueguino” Restaurant that has been closed when we have passed it several times in the last couple days. It was recommended to us by more than one local person. We get seated and I ask the waitress what dish she would eat if she were ordering and she points out a lamb dish and I order it. Elee gets Empanadas and Sopas. Delicious food that again does not disappoint! Bellies full once again, we head back to our hotel in the steady drizzly rain covered in sweatshirts and newly acquired rain gear. It seems the longer we stay in Ushuaia, the worse the weather gets. The rain in town is snow in the local mountains and the views, when we get one, are gorgeous!
On a side note, Ushuaia is the first place in South America that
has decent plumbing and you can actually flush toilet paper instead of having
to put it in a trash can! Not the case
in Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Central America, Cuba and more. A pleasant change from what we expected!
We show up at the docks and board the ‘dock bus’ to take us to the gangplank and we walk on. A bit nervous and queasy about not having the exact things we worked so hard to acquire, we settle into the ships lounge with the other 185 Passengers and 144 Crew Members for the introductory meeting and orientation. At least they open the bar and we all have intro drinks in hand. Ah, now things improve! The Crew tells us what to expect for the next 14 days and everybody is put at ease. Our Expedition Leader, Lori, introduces us to the crew and each Crew Member tells us a little bit about themselves. Jokes are shared and the mood is light as each Crew Member has fun at their own expense!
We learn that this trip differs from a normal Cruise in several
aspects. This is an Expedition Ship, not
a Cruise Ship. A Cruise Ship has a set
Itinerary and Ports of Call are scheduled and pretty much “Set in Stone”, so to
speak. Also, most Excursions on a Cruise
Ship are additional and participation usually costs extra. An Expedition Ship has an “Expedition Leader”
(as opposed to a Cruise Director) that works with the Captain and the trip and
Ports are designed Day by Day and are affected by Weather, Wind & Ocean
Currents, among other factors.
Excursions are included and no extra expense is incurred to participate. So our adventure begins and we will be
informed as we go of what we will experience!
This Expedition Ship has what is referred to as an “Open Bridge”. This means that passengers can go into the Bridge at almost any time they wish to. We are requested to be quiet on the Bridge so as to disturb the Captain and Crew and their navigation of the ship.
We are sailing through the “Beagle Channel”, at the southern tip of Tierra Del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina. A Lifeboat Drill is in our immediate future and we are given instructions for this. Anyone who has ever been on a ship, be it a Cruise Ship or an Excursion Ship, has to attend the Lifeboat Drill where we learn what to do in an emergency and we find our “Muster Stations”. We are told where to Smoke if we choose to. Unfortunately, Smoking is allowed on the ship, but only in one place. I find it interesting that the Smoking location is next to the Fuel Cabinets, what’s up with that???
At dinner, we sit with a group of other passengers that we will
get to know better as the trip progresses.
Camera discussions ensue along with anticipated wildlife sightings and
life stories are shared.
Okay, so we’re on the ship and still have an internet connection. Slow, but it’s there. So maybe I’ll be able to make random posts. We’re crossing the ominous “Drake Passage”, one of our Bucket List items. So far, it is much calmer than we anticipated and they are predicting relatively calm seas. At the moment we’re about 75 nautical miles south of South America with about 500 more to get to Antarctica. Seas are moderate and care is placed as we walk around the ship. This is nothing we haven’t experienced before and is milder than we anticipated. We should finish the Crossing tomorrow night. We’re seeing random sea birds at the moment. I’ll post a photo or two if I can.
Around the World in 80 Trips (Or Less) 