November 27, 2024 – Wednesday                           Day 63 of this journey 

Explore Antarctica – Day 2 – Damoy Point 

We didn’t have to move the ship very far last night. We are scheduled to have landings today. The landing site is near a large penguin rookery. Normally, these penguins would not be nesting yet. But eggs have been reported. 

There are groups that go out starting about 8:00 am. We can see the people on shore. Then the wind came up and continued to build. Around 9:30, when the gusts were 30-35 knots, operations were put on hold, hoping the wind would calm down. At about 10:20, the decision was made to hold operations until afternoon. It took quite a bit of time for all the guests that had gone ashore to be retrieved, but it did look a bit nasty out there. 

At 12:30 pm, Pablo (Expedition Leader) was on the PA saying that weather conditions were not improving, and the afternoon activities will not be going forward. We are a little bummed that we won’t get to see the penguins on their nests, but we also weren’t looking forward to being in a zodiac with 30 knot winds blowing spray into our faces. They will try to move the ship into a more protected area. 

This type of event doesn’t just happen in the Antarctic. We had it happen on several occasions on other cruises as well. 

We attended the lecture at 2:00 pm. One of the general naturalists on board loves whales. She talked to us about blue whales, then orcas, then finally a little on humpbacks. Very interesting. And she is a hoot. 

5:15 pm brought the evening briefing. Weather for tomorrow doesn’t look much better in this area, so the plan has changed. We are going to Paradise Harbor where it is very protected, and we will have a landing. A landing on the “continent” of Antarctica. So far, we’ve been visiting islands just off the coast. And we haven’t “landed” anywhere. 

Just before heading to bed, it begins to snow. Enough to accumulate. 

And here are a few photos to document the day.

Damoy Point. This is the landing area

Snow accumulating on Deck 4

November 26, 2024 - Tuesday - Fournier Bay

November 26, 2024 – Tuesday                       Day 62 of this journey 

Explore Antarctica – Day 1 – Fournier Bay 

We are still rocking and rolling today, but not as bad as it was at dinner last night. We hope to be at our first stop around 1:00 pm. About 4 hours before that, we will be in a region that has reduced speed of 10Knots. 

About 7:30 am, we saw a chunk of ice. A chunk bigger than our ship.

 

Then, around 9:00 am, we could see mountains on the horizon. White mountains. Huge white mountains. Oh my gosh.

Finally, we were allowed outside, but only on Port side and the Bow. We went out to take a look. The wind is still at 40 knots. And the temperature is at 30 degrees Fahrenheit. I can’t imagine what the wind chill was, but we only lasted a couple of minutes before we were headed back indoors. 

I know they call this the “White Continent”, but pictures certainly don’t come anywhere near doing it justice. Our minds aren’t capable of taking it all in. 

We reach Fournier Bay which was our goal. The water is like glass. Icebergs float by. Gentoo penguins swim by. Now we realize we are here. The sun is shining, mostly. 

For some reason, we were not scheduled for any excursions today, so we talked to Guest Services. They were able to find us a spot on the 5:00 pm Zodiac ride. That necessitated moving our dinner reservation back by an hour and Guest Services took care of that as well. 

We show up on Deck A a little too early so find a spot to sit in the corner. Since we’ve got many layers on, we really didn’t want to go back up to the heated area of the ship. Our zodiac arrives and we are loaded. We are with Babz again, which we are very pleased about.

Ice sculpted by water and wind

A small mountain floating by

This is the strangest looking piece of ice.

It is beautiful out. The sun is shining, there is no wind, so no swells. There are some clouds as well, but nothing looks threatening. We started with a small colony of penguins on some rocks with a large Skua (a natural predator of the penguins) hanging out on the rocks with them. The penguins we see here are Gentoo penguins. They are one of the larger penguins in this area. Their super-power (as Babz puts it) is their speed. Most penguins swim underwater at about 8 MPH. The Gentoo can swim underwater at 22 MPH. They can also dive to about 650 feet.

The bird on top of the rock is a Skua, natural predator of penguins

Whales were seen in the area earlier in the day, so we keep our eyes peeled for them. We see a couple of humpbacks just ahead of us and watch for a few minutes until we see them dive. We keep looking at the area where they went down hoping they would return when we hear a WHOOSH from behind us. There they are about 100 feet from our boat. They play around for a bit before diving again. Then we see a couple more in the distance. Then the two we had been watching are up again, when we see two more just a few hundred yards away. Oh my gosh.

We are over our allotted time for this ride, but Babz is done for the day, and the zodiac we are in will be put away when she gets back, so she has been given permission to stay out a little bit more. We stop by an iceberg that has quite a few Gentoos on it. The sun is glittering off the ice. It’s just beautiful. 

Heading back to the ship we see more whales. 

It is Day One in Antarctica and we’ve seen ice sculptures, Gentoo Penguins galore, a lot of humpback whales and other birds as well.

 

I don’t think it could have been any better.

 

November 25, 2024 – Monday                        Day 61 of this journey 

The Drake Passage 

We actually entered the Drake Passage during the night and had quite a bit of rock and roll. We did take a seasick pill before going to bed. That is the first time on this journey and we did it just to be cautious. 

The Captain tells us that what we are experiencing is the Drake Lake. This is a “good” passage. On Cruisemapper, it says we have 2-3meter seas. So the waves we are plowing through are 6-10 feet. All exterior doors are locked. And at lunch, we could see ice accumulating outside.

 

There was a mandatory meeting during the morning to go over the rules and regulations of visiting Antarctica. Pablo (our Expedition Leader) did a great job explaining the history and the whys of the regulations. He has the ability to inject levity into his talks that keeps people listening. 

When we go ashore, we can walk on the snow, but we cannot sit or lie on the snow. No food is allowed. You cannot bring anything back with you. You can pick it up and look at it, but you have to put it back. No loud noises. You have to stay a certain distance away from the animals. Different animals have different tolerances. This is serious stuff. 

Later in the day, we had to have a biosecurity check. We took all of our outer layers of clothing and our boots to Deck A where they were examined, vacuumed, Velcro was cleaned. Very interesting. We will have our boots sanitized every time we get off and on the ship. 

In the late afternoon, we had our last gathering for cocktails with “The 38”. “The 38” are the 38 of us that started this journey in Duluth. We have developed quite a bit of camaraderie. It feels almost like family. The Captain informed us that as of about 4:00 pm, we were officially in Antarctica. Antarctica is defined as everything below 60 degrees south latitude. 

Then the Captain and senior officers were introduced to the new passengers and of course champagne was flowing freely.

 

A lot going on for a day where we were rocking and rolling. 

But . . . 

We should see land tomorrow.

                   We should see Antarctica tomorrow.

 

November 24, 2024 - Sunday - Ushuaia, Argentina

November 24, 2024 – Sunday                        Day 60 of this journey 

Ushuaia, Argentina 

As this is a transition day for the ship (passengers getting off the ship in the morning, and passengers getting on the ship in the afternoon) things are more than a little hectic this morning. Passengers departing, must be out of their rooms by 8:00 am (I think). The World Café started serving breakfast at 6:00 am. The Living Room on Deck 5 is the gathering area for each group waiting to disembark. 

We signed up to take an “included” tour today that will have us away from the ship for 6 ½ hours. It is described as a drive-around, crossing the Andes mountains to look at a couple of lakes. We aren’t real sure we want to sit on a bus for that long, but we may see some nice scenery. It also includes lunch, and the meals on these excursions are usually good.

Morning views of the Andes

Our local guide today is Norberto. Like so many local guides that we have had, he loves his community and thoroughly enjoys sharing the information with guests. He also has a very pleasant sense of humor and adds a lot of levity to his dialog. 

We briefly drive through downtown Ushuaia and make a brief stop in front of the ubiquitous city sign so people can have their picture taken. We don’t particularly care about the sign, but there is a nice view of the Octantis from there as well as an excellent shot of the mountains behind the city.

Our ship framed by the "U"

A bit of a better shot

Looking toward the Atlantic through the Beagle Channel

Stunning

Ushuaia is a city of about 100,000 people. It has doubled in the last 10-15 years. We’ve been watching “Cruisemapper.com” and the number of expedition boats utilizing the dock in Ushuaia is startling. And this is the very beginning of the Antarctica tourism season. 

Our excursion continues up into the Andes, making another photo stop at a look-out that has been built. The views are very dramatic with mountain peaks towering over a rather flat valley. We learn that peat moss is common here and is even harvested for use as a garden supplement.

The tree line in this region is at about 1,500 feet
That gives you a little perspective

The highway is the Pan American. It starts in Alaska
and finishes here in Ushuaia.

The next stop we make is a comfort stop at the lodge where we will be having lunch. In fact, they have already started cooking our lunch. Barbecued lamb. It smells great!

Barbecued lamb. It cooks like this for 3 - 4 hours.

Our next photo op is at another overlook. It is quite cool and windy, so we are happy to take a couple of shots of Escondido (Hidden) Lake in the foreground with Fagnano Lake in the background. Fagnano Lake is the largest lake in Patagonia. It is over 100 k long and 5 k wide. Scientists have been unable to measure the depth. It sits on top of where two tectonic plates meet. After getting back on the bus, a beautiful chimanga caracara landed on a rock just a few feet from the bus.

 

Chimanga Caracara

Escondido (Hidden) Lake in the foreground, Fagnano Lake
in the background

The photo stop at Fagnano Lake didn’t look all that interesting so we stayed on the bus. And we are ready for lunch. It is about 35-40 minutes’ drive back to our lunch stop. 

Lunch started with a small salad bar. While we were getting our salads, the waiters brought trays of barbecued lamb. A tray was shared by every 4 people. The lamb continued to sizzle as the tray was over a brazier of hot charcoal. Really good! We chose red wine. It was an excellent Malbec. Then ice cream for dessert, a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of Calafate. Calafate is the local blueberry. 

The cherry on top of this excellent meal was their version of mountain coffee. WOW! They had a sign that listed most of the ingredients. Including: Sugar, Cognac, Whisky, Gin, Crème de Cacao, Pisco, Rum, Grappa (60-year-old), orange peel and cinnamon. They had a big copper kettle sitting next to a roaring fire and the coffee cups were too.

The Patagonian Blueberry - Calafate

It was so hot; we had to wait awhile before we could taste it. Oh my, it was really good. As long as it had been sitting near that fire, I’m sure there wasn’t much alcohol left, but all the flavors blended to something exceptional. 

After lunch, some of the guests took a short walk through the woods, then it was about 45 minutes back to the dock. When we left the ship this morning, we had our reservations about this tour. We are so glad we took the tour. The views were awe inspiring. 

We cancelled our dinner plans as we were still quite content with our lunch.

In the Beagle Channel heading for the Drake Passage