Journey to S. America Falklands and Antarctica

  Wednesday, November 1 st Rusting relic of the whale ship Petrel, Grytviken, South Georgia Once again, we were blessed with an incredible morning weather-wise.   Our ship moored in Cumberland Bay just off Grytviken, which was placid and peaceful with a gentle breeze.   The water was like glass and the skies were a deep blue, speckled with only a few clouds.   A large herd of elephant seals lined the beach, barking and moaning sleepily.   Behind them was a small huddle of king penguins standing at attention. Elephant seal pup It was a perfect morning for our team of sea kayakers to practice our skills.   We were shuttled out to the middle of the bay on a Zodiac that towed the kayaks off the stern.   It was a bit tricky to transfer into the sleek boat, but Henry and I picked it up quickly and easily began plying the waters.   We cruised the shoreline coming within 20 yards of elephant seals.   There were several large bulls (some exceeding 1...

  Wednesday, November 1 st I did not think I would have much to write about during our journey from the Falklands down to South Georgia, but there are a few things to note.   As we made our way southeast, we came within sight of our first icebergs somewhere around the 51 st parallel.   The drop in air temperature was quite evident.   As we steamed ahead at about 15 knots it seemed as though we were traveling along an ocean highway lined with huge icebergs on each side of the ship guiding the way.   I am comforted by the fact that our ship is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, especially radar so we could easily steer clear of the bergs! Our first iceberg, shaped like the base of a giant sequoia tree The captain also drew our attention to Shag Rocks as we passed them. The small, pinnacle shaped islands in the middle of the Southern Ocean serve as a rookery for Blue-eyed shags.   It was comforting to see some sort of land after passing though ...

  Saturday, October 28 th –  Sunday, October 29. 2023 After procuring provisions and souvenirs, Henry and I taxied to our ship, the M/V Sea Spirit from Poseidon Expeditions, which was docked just outside of Stanley proper.  We were the first passengers to arrive and were greeted by some of the crew who happily took our large bags to our cabin.  Once inside and settled, we enjoyed a small dram of Darwin Gin produced by Falkland Island Distilleries to toast our departure and the final leg of our journey. Heavy northerly winds threated to pin us to the dock, but as soon as the last passenger climbed aboard the captain ordered ropes off and took us south. We made our way overnight towards Bleaker Island, located at the bottom of the East Island.  Sleep was challenging as the ship rocked through 10-12-foot seas and we constantly rolled back and forth in our small twin beds.    Sunday, October 29, 2023 We awoke to yet another bea...

  Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Heading out for a day of fishing Our guide, Adrian (Adie) Lowe, picked us up at the Malvina House a little before 9:00 AM. Adie is probably the most well-known citizen of the Falkland Islands.  He was born in England, moved to Australia at the age of two where his father was a dairy farmer. After seven years, his family relocated to the Falklands where Adie eventually established a massive sheep farm of 10,000 acres (3,000 head) along the Murrell River just northwest of Stanley. After loading all our gear into his small pickup truck, he drove us well over an hour to the San Pedro River. This is another beautiful area on the northwest coast of East Falkland Island that consists of a broad, brackish estuary, narrowing into its fresh water source just off the road.   We lucked out with another day of fair weather– partly cloudy with those ever-present Falkland winds out of the west, rising steadily throughout the day.   After throwing var...

 Friday 10/27/23 Henry and I are starting to figure out how to download photos from our various devices to minimize having to use the painfully slow wifi on the Falklands.  I thought I would just post a few photos from our initial couple of days on the islands before I provide a blog update on our most recent explorations. But keep in mind it takes at least 15 minutes to upload one photo.  Video is totally impossible. They will have to wait until we return to civilization. Henry hiking past the wreckage of an Argentinian fighter jet downed by an   RAF pilot during the Falklands War Our French pilot Mary Lou at the controls of the twin engine Islander as we prepare for takeoff to Port Howard on the West Island A Beautiful morning on Port Howard Inlet Henry fishing the Blackburn Port Howard Ferry Dock prior to our departure back to Stanley on Tuesday morning Weir Creek Inlet With our guide Adie, a local sheep farmer and renowned Falklands historian Eugene casting a fly...

  Friday October 20, 2023 So much for my grand idea to post a blog every day.   The cellular service at the bottom of the world is non-existent, and Wifi is very sketchy, unreliable and expensive – only available via a slow satellite uplink and downlink – so here is a summary of our last few days.   I hope this comes through.   It is so painful to try and post anything. I still am unable to upload any photos from the Falklands. In the morning Henry and I made our way over to the Pablo Neruda house, Las Chascona.  Along the way we bumped into Sarah Montgomery and her daughter Vivian from Baltimore whom I met the night before at the hotel.  We had a nice chat on the walk.  The Neruda house and its history was quite moving; a beautiful oasis in the bustling city.  From there, it was a short walk over to the San Cristobal Park where we rode the funicular to the summit.  The grounds were well manicured with bright blooming spring flowers in ...

  We knew coming in that there was rampant crime in Santiago, Chile so we were on guard from the moment we landed.  But it did not take long before we were the victims of a classic crime.  We tried to do all the things right in securing our taxi.  We went to the official airport kiosk an received a formal voucher for the standard Black and Yellow cab company.  We were greeted by representatives (or so we thought) right outside the terminal.  We were led to a minivan and our driver, Ferdinand, seemed very pleasant and spoke decent English.  But shortly after leaving the airport he stopped on the side of the road and one of his colleagues opened the front passenger door to process the payment.  He insisted that credit card payment was mandatory, even though Henry pleaded to pay in cash (with a substantial tip).  Our Spidey senses went on high alert immediately.  Henry insisted to see the amount ...