January 23

We arrived back home yesterday after a fantastic trip. We got up at 5am (that’s 2am Houston time) in Puerto Williams to take our flight to Santiago (with a 20-minute stop in Puerta Arenas to refuel). Our flight to Houston left Santiago at 10:45pm and arrived in Houston at 5am Monday morning. After going through customs, we departed Houston for Washington DC at 7:45am, arriving in DC at 11:45am. It was an exhausting trip home, but all went well. We are thankful for safe travel throughout our journey.

We’ve had a video chat with Kate and the granddaughters (while son Norman was fixing dinner). We have been to the grocery store and are working through a gigantic pile of dirty clothes.

 

The Cruise

 

We gather in the hotel enjoying breakfast

Before a charter flight to catch the ship.

This is an expedition cruise so our ship is small;

We are a couple of hundred passengers and an equal number of crew.

Our number is small enough to begin friendships on this sixteen-day voyage;

Together, we are awestruck by thousands of magnificent creatures in places of stark beauty;

We attend lectures together; ride Zodiacs together; dine together;

We share stories of home, family, and past and future travel.

And then our time together ends as we disperse to go our separate ways.

We say good-bye; nice to meet you; we enjoyed visiting.

Have a safe trip home, (almost friend);

Have a good rest of your life.

 

 We had a beautiful day at sea. We were visited by hundreds of black browed albatross this afternoon, a good omen for our homeward journey. The sky has a bit of color tonight. One more sea day tomorrow.

 A fairly calm day at sea after a rolling night. The morning fog has given way to a bright evening.

 This morning we anchored off Stromness, South Georgia. This is where Shackelton found help after hiking across the island. We hiked to Shackelton Falls on a cold snowy morning with a cacophony of seals watching from the beach. In the afternoon, we took a Zodiac cruise in Jason Harbour. The snow was blowing sideways as we headed back to the Silver Wind. This evening we are headed back to Puerto Williams, Chile.

 We anchored off Grytviken, South Georgia and visited Sir Ernest Shackelton’s gravesite and the abandoned whaling station. In the museum, Norman measured himself against an albatross. We mailed postcards from the post office. In

the afternoon we anchored off Godthul and had a Zodiac cruise around the bay. The wildlife is abundant and the scenery beautiful. 

 Today was our first day at South Georgia. We took 2 Zodiac cruises and saw glaciers, waterfalls, icebergs, seals, birds, and lots of penguins (Gentoo, Chinstrap, Macaroni and King). And we got snowed on in the afternoon.

 We’ve spent another day at sea. The seas are calm as we approach South Georgia where we’ll explore for a few days. Last night’s sunset was lovely. Today we’ve seen more beautiful icebergs.

 It’s a sea day for us as we head toward South Georgia Island. The sky is overcast, but the sea is calm. The highlight of the day was sailing by the largest iceberg in the world. It’s about the size of Manhattan! We got a close up view and heard and saw some calving.

 This morning we arrived at Mikkelsen Harbor and took Zodiacs to shore. This was our first major penguin sighting with hundreds of Gentoos in the rookeries. We also saw a few seals and a Chilean emergency hut. The whale bones on the beach gave evidence of the area’s history. This afternoon we are headed to South Georgia. South Georgia was to have been our first stop on this trip, but the weather  changed those plans. In this part of the world, the weather trumps everything else. The ship’s crew has to ready to adjust at short notice. The sea is eerily calm as we cruise along, but that won’t last.

 Today we anchored off Wilhelmina Bay and took a Zodiac cruise. The clouds shrouded the mountains making them look like they were overlaid with white cotton candy. In the afternoon, we visited Recess Cove, a first for Silverseas. Norman and I were in the last group to go out and ended up in with a Zodiac to ourselves. Our driver was a very nice young man from Canada who has guided on more than 20 Antarctic cruises. The cove had a remarkable number of whales which were able to watch as the breached and rolled. It is impossible to aptly describe the scenery, the mountains, glaciers, icebergs. The range of color is unexpectedly broad. It is an otherworldly place.