Antarctic Cruise
After a week in Chile we boarded the Seabourn Quest in San Antonio for a 24 day voyage as shown below.
NOTE:.....This is going to be a long blog so I've decided to put in these "Jump to day... things"
Jump straight to...
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Days 5 and 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12 New Years Eve
Day 13 New Years Day
Day 14
Day 15 and 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
Days 21, 22 and 23
What actually happened is shown in the following picture. Pretty much the same except some different stops in Antarctica. The Captain of the ship sometimes makes changes depending on a variety of thins: weather etc. The town of Stanley in the Falklands is shown on the map below. The trip we were on didn't stop in the Falklands. Other passengers on our cruise that we talked to said there's not that much there at any rate. We did stop at South Georgia Island instead. The cruise we were on - the Christmas / New Years cruise is the only one that stops at South Georgia Island - all others stop at Falkland instead and are three days shorter (21 days vs 24)
This was our sixth Seabourn voyage and our fourth on this ship.
The solid lines on the map are "guaranteed" ....the dotted lines are not and are dependent on the weather. As it turned out we had excellent weather without a single day canceled. We were told this had never happened before. Every previous Seabourn cruise to Antarctica had at least one day's activities canceled because of bad weather. And some cruises more than one day. My luck is still holding!
We were also told that a serious illness (or worse..a death) would cause the ship to be diverted to the nearest port. On one previous cruise a passenger became very ill just as the ship arrived at the first stop in Antarctica. The ship had to return to Ushuaia and it was a two day journey because of rough seas. And then another two days back and that was pretty much it for the Antarctic part of the trip. All the bitching and whining, threatening and complaining didn't help a bit. That was it for the Antarctic part of the trip.
Our room on the Quest. Small, efficient.
And a tiny balcony. We never spent even one hour sitting out here.
We're docked with a huge tourist ship - The Emerald Princess. It's a massive ship - over 3,000 guests and 1,200 crew members. When I'm old and decrepit and in a wheelchair this is how I'll cruise. Terri will have her own room and I'll have mine with my faithful 24 year old nurse and shower helper Trixie.
A refueling barge - we had to wait until the Emerald Princess left her berth and our ship move to it before we could be fueled. As a result we had a very late sail away.
One of the passengers chatting up some of the girls from the entertainment crew. I thought this guy was a hillbilly who struck it rich Jed Clampet style. Not quite. More on him later.
Day 2
The forgoing was day one even if I didn't say it was.
Day two was a "sea day". Sea days are days where you just sail to the next stop. I hate them! I drink too much on sea days.
Here's a list of how the voyage went.
Day 3
Day 3 we're in Puerto Montt, Chile
Our view of the city from the ship. It doesn't look like much. There's a quarter million people living here though.
The weather is looking kind of iffy.
We have selected a hike for today's activity. Because we were late leaving Santiago (refueling problem - remember?) we get into Peurto Montt later than planned. As a result when we get to the park (after a long bus ride) where we're supposed to go hiking it's just closing. The guy selling tickets says he'll give us half an hour.
So it was a short hike.
You can see from everyone's gear that there is a chance of rain.
The high light was this mangy little fox. Not a real good pic. Sorry!
Day 4
Day 4 we're in Castro on the island called Isla Chiloe and it's another bus ride to a hike in a nearby national park.
I wish they'd put these damn parks closer to the boat because what usually happens is you get back to town just in time to board the ship and sail away - you never get to check out the town.
A very wee video...
A couple shots of Castro as we are coming into the harbour.
This is the park. It's pretty flat. Not much of a hike.
Our guide Vicente. He's showing us this huge plant that the locals eat and have many uses for. Apparently they grow much bigger than these.
After the hike we go to this little restaurant for some local food mostly empanadas. They were very tasty.
Plus some local alcoholic beverages.
The garden where the restaurant owners grow most of the food they serve.
On the way back to the ship we get some pics of stilt buildings at low tide.
Zoomed a bit.
And a boat under construction.
On the way out of the harbour we see some fish farming operations.
Day 5 and 6
Day 5 and 6 are sea days again. Day 5 was rainy and pissy but day 6 was just overcast. The pics below are from day 6.
Day 6 was also Christmas Day and Santa and a few of his helpers came by to say hello.
The above pictures are just a few taken on Day 6. Click here to see them all in full size.
Day 7
Day 7 - Dec 26 and we're in Puenta Arenas, Chile
Punta Arenas is the southernmost Chilean city.
A bigger shot of the area in question. The area above Punta Arenas and to the lower right, marked with at dark line, is Argentina. This has been a contentious issue for some time As Argentina feel that some of the area under Chilean control rightly belongs to Argentina. I can see their point!
The significance of Punta Arenas can be seen on the map below. The red line is the path through the Strait of Magellan. It was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520.
A shot of the town as we enter the harbour. It's a pretty flat town.
Today's activity is pretty tame: a bus trip to look at some replicas of famous boats and then a trip to a museum.
This is a replica of one of the five ships used by Ferdinand Magellan on his historic first circumnavigation of the world
The backside.
These were not big ships. Of the five ships only one made the complete voyage - the other four ships were lost as was Magellan who was killed in a battle in the Philippines.
Another famous ship - The Beagle. I was aware of the Beagle and Charles Darwin's trip to the Galapagos. I was not aware of his continuing journey on the Beagle to the bottom of South America. Interesting stuff!
Apparently it's one guy who has done this - quite the accomplishment.
And they even had in-door toilets back n he day. I always thought they just went off the side of the ship.
After the visit to the ships we went to an interesting museum that showed how the the missionaries sent here by the catholic church really f%^$ed up the aboriginals who had lived in this area for centuries. We weren't allowed to take pictures so you have to take my word on this.
After that we went up to the highest point in town for a panoramic view.
That's the Quest in the distance.
All the vendors were here waiting for the buses to arrive. Mostly warm hats and cloaks and things like that.
Back in the main part of town it looks like anywhere else in the world.
Attractive buildings.
New hotels...
Sex stores...
Now who wouldn't want one of these...a male mono-kini.
A monument to Ferdinand Magellan.
At the bottom of the monument you get a chance for good luck if you kiss the toe of the indian. Boyd looks like he's about to but he chickened out in the end.
One thing I noticed in Chile is the dogs just drop and have a nap wherever they feel like it.
They must feel very safe to be able to do that. It made me think that perhaps the Chilean people are very kind to dogs. And maybe they're very kind to people as well. They seemed like a friendly lot!
All the above pics and more in full size here
Day 8
Day 8 and we're in Ushuaia, Argentina
This is the same glacier as the previous picture - you can see the water pouring out of the bottom.
Coming into Ushuaia we see this fantastic yacht passing us in the opposite direction. One of the guests says it looks like Rupert Murdoch's.
Check this out.
Ushuaia claims to be the southernmost city in the world.
There are two Chilean towns south of Ushuaia, Puerto Navarino and Cabo de Hornos, but they are not large enough to be called cities.
Today we're going on another bus ride. Just to see some scenery.
Beavers, imported from Canada in 1946 have made a real mess of certain areas. Below is some of their handiwork. It's one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" things. Read about it here.
We stopped at a dog sledding pace for lunch. Apparently it's really popular in he area in the winter.
Each dog has it's own house.
And each dog is kept chained to a post that allows him to move around a little bit but is short enough to prevent him (or her I guess) from having contact with the neighboring dogs.
Special coffee time on the Seabourn Quest - from time to time and for no particular reason they set up a coffee station on the pool deck. This is not regular coffee - it's boozey coffee. Kahlua, Grand Marnier, Brandy - you name it!
This is the Hot Tub Man - the guy in the light brown dress. He spent hours every day in the hot tub.
Some late afternoon shots.
All the pictures from Day 8 are here
Day 9
Another dreaded sea day. All day today we are crossing the Drake Passage BUT...the original itinerary said we would take two days to get across but the seas were so calm that we made it one one full day. This gave us an extra day in Antarctica.
I had hoped for some high seas to record but no such luck so the video below is from YouTube. Thanks to the original poster.
That's it for Day 9
Day 10
Day 10 and our first day in Antarctica. We're at Half Moon Island.
The worst weather we've seen yet and probably the worst weather we'll see.
Here's a small video. That's not feathers flying around either!
We, Terri and I, didn't get to go ashore today. Here's why: each ship is only allowed to have 100 persons on shore at a time. I'm sure the rules get broken a little. On our ship with 400 passengers they divided us into 5 groups of 80 persons per group. The other 20 persons would be the expedition staff - people helping you get in and out of the Zodiacs and people on shore making sure you didn't molest a bird or try to wrestle an elephant seal.
All the groups were colour coded and would typically leave at 1-1/2 hour intervals. Today, our group - the Green Group - was scheduled to go ashore last. They rotate day-to-day so you're not first every day and not last. Seems like a good system. We were scheduled to go about 3:30 PM.
The weather just get getting crappier and crappier as the day went on and ultimately the captain decided it was too dangerous to send any more ashore. So our group (and some of the previous group) were shit-outta-luck (as they say on the sea).
The problem is there were a some folks who had a problems getting in and out out of the Zodiacs. It wouldn't have been a problem for most of us. Anyway, the captain is alway obeyed and we didn't go ashore and that was that.
Here's what the shore looked like from the ship.
And here's what the Colonnade outdoor eating area looked like at lunch. Despite the heaters - not a soul.
And the pool deck was empty as well.
Luckily we met a good guy on the cruise, Boyd Howell - ex Newfie now a Yankee - who sent me a bunch of the shots he took while on shore. He's got a really good camera and I should have just left mine in its case and asked him for copies of all his. A lot less stressful for me trying to get some decent shots.
Now the significance of this island is it is home to Chinstrap Penguins. See if you can see why the are called that.
In the picture below you may say "What the hell is that penguin doing"
So I've blown it up and you can see a chick getting fed.
Figured out why they're called Chinstrap Penguins yet?
Their preferred mode of travel - sledding on their bellies.
Another mom and chick shot.
Thanks Boyd for the great shots.
Thats it for Day 10. All pics can be seen here.
Day 11
Day 11 and we're in Mikkelsen Harbour.
So you may recall we (the green group) didn't get to go ashore yesterday due to bad weather. So today we are rewarded by being the first group to go ashore. Woohoo!!! But what that means is getting up at 6:00 AM for an early breakfast and ready to go ashore at 7:00. And don't forget - this is an all inclusive cruise which means there's drinking going on the night before. Hangover city or what?
So the pics below might seem out of order but they are in order.
A fine looking bunch on our way to the island. I don't know what that old gal is looking at. Maybe the first time she's seen a camera.
The island we're visiting has a research station situated on it. Can't remember which country...maybe Norway. At any rate it's vacant today.
There's lots of Penguins here but nothing like we'll see later on.
A lonely pengiun.
A jumping penguin
There used to be some whaling activities on this island and what is shown below is whale bones that have been here for years.
Another penguin
The orange coats are provided free of charge by Seabourn. They're essentially just a windbreaker/rain coat. Underneath is a puffy jacket to provide warmth - also provided for free. Underneath the puffy jacket is up to three additional layers. We never felt cold on this trip.
Another penguin. There's lots of 'em!
And a penguin video.
Back on board some of the deck crew are having a little fun with the snow that fell yesterday and last night.
The finished product - more penguins!
Terri makes a frozen friend.
A Zodiac on the way to the island. It gives some scale to the icebergs in the background.
So after all the groups visit the island we set sail for our next stop. Hopefully they will not further reward us again by making us the first off the ship.
What follows is just some random shots of scenery.
Our ship against icebergs. Obviously we took this one while on the island.
Am iceberg off the bow
Our friend Boyd who gave us the Chinstrap penguin pix yesterday.
Another shot I took from the island. I used some software to change it a bit.
In the afternoon I was at the front of the ship and a whale swam right up to us and then went under the bow of the ship. Very cool!
This is a shot taken about midnight. Just as in the far north we have very long days in summer so it happens the same in the very far south during the southern summer.
This is a shot of the "Observation Bar" at the very front of the ship. Taken about the same time as the previous one. Lots of people still outside late at night enjoying the scenery.
All pictures from Day 11 can be seen here.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9iomaob5btteqg7/AAAAYgA64dA2VqJZqKQoQrpGa?dl=0
Day 12 New Years Eve
Day 12 we're visiting Torgerson Island.
The shot below shows he massive size of Antarctica. The outline of the continent is superimposed over an image of the USA.
Today we just have a zodiac trip to look at wildlife. The zodiacs are inflatable rubber boats that hold up to 16 people.
Our guide today was Brent...a funny guy. He's from Montana apparently. That old gal is staring at me again...wtf...!!!
Penguins again. I think these are called Adelie Penguins.
Can't remember what this bird was called but the guide (Brent) went crazy over it. Apparently white ones are rare. Or so he said...I sometimes wondered if his enthusiasm was only for our benefit.
More bloody penguins.
There is a year round research station here. Our guide Bent says he has spent a few winters here in his past.
Lots of iceberg chunk floating around.
Check out how clear he ice is on this one. The clarity indicates a very old piece of ice.
This guy bagged a small burgette from the water. It could be tens of thousands of years old. He took it back to the ship for cocktails later.
And we enjoyed a bloody mary with it at lunch that same day.
The remainder of the day is spent just cruising around and enjoying the fantastic scenery.
Its New Years Eve and after the evening meal there are many at the bow of the ship enjoying the scenery.
Here we are with a drinking buddy...Dr. William Von Braun of Australia. He would neither deny nor confirm that we was related to Werner Von Braun.
Some of the staff from the Observation Bar. All good folks. We've sailed with the guy in the middle (Juan Carlos) and the guy to his left (Nigel) before.
All pictures from day 12 can be seen here.
Day 13 New Years Day
New Years Day and we're at place called Waterboat Point. Who knows why its called that. The Argentinian government has a station here manned by Argentinian soldiers. There is also a small souvenir store / museum.
Closer
As you might have imagined there are lots of penguins. They make their nests out of small rocks. And there's a lot of rock poaching that goes on as there's a limited supply of small rocks.
And is seems as if they don't mind taking a dump on each other. It's not like there's a bathroom for them to use.
I don't know if this one's retarded and just thinks she's on a nest. Maybe she thinks she's laid the mother of all eggs.
Right in the middle and just above centre is an albino penguin.
A close up.
It seems that the Argentinian soldiers have a bit of a sense of humour.
A shot of the Seabourn Quest from shore.
Some scenery shots from back on the ship.
A zodiac pulling a string of kayaks to shore. This is how you go kayaking here - from the shore.
And a couple videos:
Some penguins (there's a lot of freaking penguins here)
And sailing around Waterboat Point. The music in the video is a test to see if Vimeo will strip it off so if there's no music it means they did (or your volume is down)
And a link to all Day 13 pictures:
Day 14
.Day 14 we're in Yankee Harbour. We get to go kayaking today.
We didn't initially reserve a kayaking spot thinking we'd just do it on the ship. Bad idea. Due to the greed of some people and due to Seabourn policy that allows a person to book a kayaking excursion on each and every day that it is offered by the time we decided to book a kayaking excursion there were none left. I heard one woman bragging that she had booked NINE excursions - that's one on each day that it was offered.
Anyway, due to a cancellation we got to go one day.
They make you wear these dry suits that will float you in the water and keep you from freezing to death.
The gals get a special suit that has a zippered trap door on the backside.
One of the expedition crew.
Docko Von Braun again.
The ship in the distance.
After the kayaking trip we got to go to shore for a wee hike. It wasn't much of a hike in reality - just a walk down a spit of land.
A sleepy sea lion.
And even in this environment there are still green things growing.
It looks like this guy is scolding the penguins.
But he's just trying to roll over on his back so he can scratch himself.
Check out the iceberg in the distance.
That evening we have dinner with two Australian couples, Russell and Ann and Doc. Von Braun and his wife Anastasia and their boy Max.
All photos from day 14 are here
Day 15 and 16
On day 15 we have left Antarctica and are sailing towards South Georgia Island. It will take two days to get there.
All we have to show for it is a bunch of iceberg pics.
South Georgia Island is the wee small dot dead centre in the picture below
Day 17
Day 17 finds us at Salisbury Plain on South Georgia Island. Anyone might wonder - why would anyone want to go to South Georgia Island.
Maybe for the scenery...
And the King Penguins...tens of thousands of them...perhaps hundreds of thousands...there was no time to count them all.
These guys stand up to 39 inches tall. They are not small birds.
King Penguins...as far as the eye can see. The brown covered guys are juvenile penguins called Oakum Boys.
Here's a explanation from another website
Oakum boys, juvenile king penguins at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia Island. Named 'oakum boys' by sailors for the resemblance of their brown fluffy plumage to the color of oakum used to caulk timbers on sailing ships, these year-old penguins will soon shed their fluffy brown plumage and adopt the colors of an adult.
In time their soft down is replaced by real feathers.
They (the penguins) must wonder what manner of creature are these orange and black things that are all over the beach today.
And there's lots of seal pups here too.
Penguins as far as the eye can see.
All pictures from day 17 available here.
Day 18
.Day 18 and we're in a place called Stromness. A bit info on it here.
It's a deserted whaling station and here's what it looks like from the ship.
A hundred people on the shore.
Some closer shots of the station. Everything is rusty.
A dead seal pup. Mother nature can be cruel
Lots of pups survive though.
A full grown sea lion. We are cautioned to steer clear of these guys because they can get pissed off at strangers.
And a full grown seal.
Note the differences.
Sea lions are brown, bark loudly, "walk" on land using their large flippers and have visible ear flaps. Seals have small flippers, wriggle on their bellies on land, and lack visible ear flaps
A gaggle of pups doing pup things
And a bunch of king penguins enjoying the hot tub.
The pups are curious and like to play just like all infant mammals.
A shot of the Seabourn Quest in the distance.
This sea lion has been caught in a net or something recently. Look at the mark on his neck. He is lucky to be alive.
This is a fairly long video.
All pics from day 18 are here.
Day 19
Day 19 we're in Grytviken. Some interesting stuff here.
Our first view of Grytviken from the ship.
A closer shot.
Apparently there are about 30 people living in Grytviken. All English subjects as South Georgia Island is a British controlled territory. Most of these people are scientists but there is a post master, a tour guide, and some support people.
Our first stop on the island is the graveyard wherein lies the remains of Sir Ernest Shackelton.
It's a small graveyard containing the remains of the whalers who died here.
There is one grave that contains not the remains of a whaler but instead the remains of a young Argentine soldier who died here in 1982 during Britain's war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
This island, and the Falkland Islands, were "claimed" for Britain in 1775 by Captain James Cook but they have been contested properties ever since. If you look at the map below it's easy to understand why Argentina feels that South Georgoia Island (and the Falkland Islands) rightly belong to Argentina. I gotta say I'm with Argentina on this one!
There are all the animals here we've seen before.
Mature sea lions
Sea lion pups
King penguins in the hot tub
And an omnivore duck. This duck, apparently, eats anything and everything.
And a bunch of gay bachelors. The one guy really wanted to get on top of his pals.
And he finally made it.
But they soon booted him off. He probably weighs two tons.
Grytviken's original purpose was a whaling station. It was founded in 1904 and operated for 52 years. Up to 40,000 whales would be killed in one year and by the time the whaling station was closed down the humpback whale was almost wiped out. Read about it here.
A remaining whaler boat.
The harpoon launcher. You can see from the picture above that it's a fairly large device. Some pics here.
Some pictures of the rusted equipment that was used in the processing of the whales. It's actually a refinery
The church, built in 1913, is the only original building still in service.
Thats an albatross above Terri. Freakin' huge wingspan.
Our guide is the young gal just right of centre in the black coat. Check out the bearded guy just left of centre - Steve Wozniak, one of the founders of Apple Computer.
Later that evening as we sail away the seas are getting rough.
A few short videos from Day 19
Some small guys
And some big guys.
So all pics and vids from Day 19 are here.
Day 20
Day 20 is a bonus day as was day 19. We made such good time getting to South Georgia Island from Antarctica that we got two extra days.
Today no one is going ashore. Only Zodiac rides. We decided to just stay on the ship. The weather is crappy and Terri has a blister on her foot from the poor fitting rubber boot she was given for all Zodiac rides and shore trips.
The two scenery shots below are mine taken from the ship.
The pictures below are from our new friend Bryan.
These are Macaroni penguins.
They live up in the rocks and climb down every day and dive into the water.
An albino Sea Lion
And two seals fighting
So that was pretty much it for the cold weather part of the trip.
Days 21, 22 and 23
.Day 21, 22 and 23 were sailing days. It's a long way between South Georgia Island and Uruguay - the last stop on this cruise.
I'm going to have a separate page for Uruguay so this is the end of this portion of the blog.