We're baaaack!!!!
We were quite pleased to see that SPOT was able to get out a few hits just off the Antarctic Peninsula-- in a area that SPOT's website says there is no coverage!! We could probably write a small book about our experiences on and off the Polar Star and the narrative will be forthcoming. Suffice it to say we had the experience of a lifetime and were the first this season to make every planned Zodiac landing, TEN of them!
What follows is a series of words and phrases that will answer/raise some questions: Beagle Channel, relatively calm Drake Passage, Polish, Ukrainian, Argentinian and British rresearch stations, shots of homemade vodka, Crabeater, Leopard, and Weddell seals, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie penguins, penguin poop, Orca and Humpback whales, whale bones, research station ruins, hills to climb on scree and snow, sliding down a steep snowy slope on our backs, designer Roberto Cavalli on board, 96 passengers, 44 staff and crew, 17 nationalities, albatross, skuas, petrels and other birds, icebergs of every size and shape imaginable, berg ice in our drinks, penguin highways, penguins swimming, diving, waddling along, and stealing rocks from nearby nests, penguin eggs and chicks, 2 hours and 35 minutes from sunset to sunrise, plenty of seminars and presentations to keep us busy, good food, open bridge policy, cabin upgrade, daily international, US, and British news printouts, Dramamine and "the patch", engine room tour, many, many conversations with other passengers, expedition staff as experienced and professional as they come, daily temps 3-8 C, snow, rain, some sunshine, Antarctic Convergence, krill, talent show and sing-alongs, no tipping, entering and exiting Zodiacs with sit and swing technique, Force 8 winds on the Drake for our return with chairs tipping and plenty of cutlery and dinnerware hitting the floor, etc.,etc.
So, we are back in our cabin and will be off towards the Chilean border in the morning, but not before meeting some of our new friends for dinner this evening.
Part II is complete; Part III will take us north into Brazil and then ??????
We were quite pleased to see that SPOT was able to get out a few hits just off the Antarctic Peninsula-- in a area that SPOT's website says there is no coverage!! We could probably write a small book about our experiences on and off the Polar Star and the narrative will be forthcoming. Suffice it to say we had the experience of a lifetime and were the first this season to make every planned Zodiac landing, TEN of them!
What follows is a series of words and phrases that will answer/raise some questions: Beagle Channel, relatively calm Drake Passage, Polish, Ukrainian, Argentinian and British rresearch stations, shots of homemade vodka, Crabeater, Leopard, and Weddell seals, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie penguins, penguin poop, Orca and Humpback whales, whale bones, research station ruins, hills to climb on scree and snow, sliding down a steep snowy slope on our backs, designer Roberto Cavalli on board, 96 passengers, 44 staff and crew, 17 nationalities, albatross, skuas, petrels and other birds, icebergs of every size and shape imaginable, berg ice in our drinks, penguin highways, penguins swimming, diving, waddling along, and stealing rocks from nearby nests, penguin eggs and chicks, 2 hours and 35 minutes from sunset to sunrise, plenty of seminars and presentations to keep us busy, good food, open bridge policy, cabin upgrade, daily international, US, and British news printouts, Dramamine and "the patch", engine room tour, many, many conversations with other passengers, expedition staff as experienced and professional as they come, daily temps 3-8 C, snow, rain, some sunshine, Antarctic Convergence, krill, talent show and sing-alongs, no tipping, entering and exiting Zodiacs with sit and swing technique, Force 8 winds on the Drake for our return with chairs tipping and plenty of cutlery and dinnerware hitting the floor, etc.,etc.
So, we are back in our cabin and will be off towards the Chilean border in the morning, but not before meeting some of our new friends for dinner this evening.
Part II is complete; Part III will take us north into Brazil and then ??????
Two things
ReplyDelete1. - how are you ever going to top this
2. - I see you're on the road again -- not even a week-end off to rest up. I gess you have to wear off all that cruise ship food
ride safe