Friday, 25 January 2008

As I was walking to the dining room, my luggage was being moved to the airport. After breakfast , we loaded on to buses to see the museum in Ushuaia, which had been a prison until it was closed by Juan Peron. I did a quick run through and got out because it was just too crowded. They then dropped us near the main street where we could buy more souvenirs. Fortunately or unfortunately I couldn’t figure out where I could put more things so I didn’t do any more shopping. After lunch at a nice restaurant in the hills above the city, we were taken to the airport for our chartered flight to Santiago. The flight was about three or four hours and now I am waiting to board the flight to Miami, which is scheduled to leave in about an hour and a quarter.

Fortunately my suitcase has not fallen apart yet and I’m praying that it makes it to New York.

Saturday, 26 January 2008

The flight to Miami left a bit late with the result that the plane arrived a bit late in Miami. I was concerned that I would miss my flight to La Guardia, but fortunately I made it. There was a problem with the cab driver finding me. Eventually I made it home.

Thursday 24 January 2008

I actually made it to breakfast this morning where I took a slice of bread with tea. I’m in the lounge now waiting for the mornings lecture to begin. I need to get down to my cabin later to post my blog entries and check my e-mail.

There were two lectures this morning. One was on the worst journey to collect Emperor Penguin eggs. The second was on the Shackleton voyage in which they were stranded on the ice for 15 months and then left some men on a island while Shackleton and a few men headed to South Georgia Island seeking help from a whaling station.

I was actually able to eat lunch and keep it down. We are coming in view of Cape Horn.

The lecture of the afternoon was on Global warming. The only issue that surprised me was the statement that burning of the Amazon forest had no impact on global warming.

I took some pictures as we were coming into the Beagle Channel which led into Ushaia. There was a loud cocktail party before dinner and a very pleasant dinner. I finally came down to the cabin to perform my least desired chore; namely packing my suitcase. Since just about everything needs to be washed, I just stuffed things in as best I could. I hope the shampoo,etc don’t break through the plastic bags. Tomorrow after breakfast, we will do some touring of Ushaia and then off to the the airport.

All in all this has been a great vacation. I’m not looking forward to going home because of the state of the suitcase. I discovered that the handle had broken off! I kept the duct tape out in case I need to use it!

Wednesday, 23 January 2008

We are in the Southern Ocean and we are rocking and rolling. I remained in bed in my cabin until about 3:00 PM when I came up to the lounge to hear the lecture on whales, which proved interesting. I remained in the lounge until dinner time. I had a cup of soup and then made a mad dash to my cabin, where I crawled into bed.

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

After breakfast, the keeper of the Port Lockroy museum came on board and spoke about Port Lockroy. He spoke well and then discussed the gift shop they helped to maintain the stations.

I wound up on a zodiac that took us to Wiencke Island first. The big attractions are whale bones that someone put together in a close approximation of what the whale skeleton would look like. There were a lot of Gentoo Penguins nesting with the chicks. The Gentoo penguin chick behave in a much more sedate fashion than the Adelie penguin chicks that are always running after the parent demanding to be fed.

Next I went to Port Lockroy where I helped support the historic site. They have restore the original cabin and created a gift shop. After wandering around for a while, I returned to the ship to get out of my long johns and relax a little.

After lunch, someone whose name escapes me spoke about kayaking around the shores of Antartica. As usually I had trouble staying awake, so I came down to my cabin for a short nap. When we get to the Gerlach (sp?) straights, we might see whales.

After nap time, I went to the library which is in the front of the ship and high. I watched the ice bergs go by. I even saw a sailing ship. I don’t envy them going thru Drake’s passage. At four tea time was announced. They are serving hot dogs and beer on the pool deck. Some of the people thought they were joking, but they weren’t.

Once we got out of the lee of the island, I made a mad dash for my cabin and lay flat on my back.

Monday, 21 January 2008

Breakfast was announced for 7:30 so I got out of bed. The plans for today are not definitive. We’re at the end of the Penola Straight and the captain indicated that we may go ashore on an island and just take the zodiacs for a ride around the island.

Well we actually landed on Pleneau (plen-O) Island. It was on rock which meant that I had to be practically carried away from the landing site. I attempted a climb to the high point on the island, but at a certain point our guide indicated that unless you were sure to turn back. At that point I acknowledged that I would practically have to be carried, which would be unfair to the others. Consequently I turned back. One of the naturalist was explaining how they count Penguins. Apparently in the November /December time frame, they count nests. This time of year they count chicks. If the chicks have crèched, counting is extremely difficult because they don’t stay still. It was explained to me that they use a regular handheld counter and walk a straight line next to the area and count. They do it at least three times. The idea is to get three counts that are within eight percent of each other.

I came back relatively early because it was raining and cloudy and there wasn’t much more to do on the Island. I guess if the weather had been better I might have found a rock to sit on and watch the elephant seals.

I am in the group heading to Palmer Station on Amvers Island. We are anc hored in Arthur Harb or. Next is Torgeson Island.

Palmer Station on Amvers Island was my first top. A very nice young man took us around and showed us some of the research being carried out. He described the living conditions as being quite comfortable. They have internet access to the rest of the world as well as phone access. There was a gift shop where I was able to buy some things for my little Muffin. They served us coffee and brownies. Apparently this is a tradition at Palmer Station. Of course, personnel from the station are invited onto the ship for dinner and drinks.

Our next stop was Torgeson Island. As usual I had trouble getting off the zodiac onto the shore. There were a batch of rocks to be navigated over which I practically had to be carried. We were not permitted on half the island. There is a study which has been going on for about 25 years. They were trying to determine what effect people visiting this island has on the penguins. The penguins were the Adelie Penguins. There were quite a few chicks, which are brown balls of fluff. I didn’t see much of the chick chasing a parent for food behavior.

After we got back to the ship, I showered and went up to the lounge where they showed part of the DVD of the trip that they will be selling. It was interesting that the video ended at the point where we were swimming at Deception Island. Fortunately I wasn’t in the video.

Tonight Palmer Station Personnel will be hanging out on the ship. Apparently the staff on the ship has worked hard to establish rapport with the Palmer Station people so that Endeavor passengers are more likely to be permitted to see the station. In theory, only twelve ships are permitted to send passengers ashore to Palmer Station.

Tomorrow we head for Port Lockroy where our post cards will be mailed. They should reach their destinations within the next two to three weeks. Unfortunately, tomorrow night we will be heading north back to Ushuia.