The Sevillas, Chuck & Donna

Today has been misty, foggy, and gray.  We thought that our excursions would be ho hum since the weather had turned a bit more typical and after the excitement of the past few days.  But Baily Head, home to an enormous chinstrap penguin population was different than what we’d seen before and fascinating.  Penguins everywhere streamed to and from the sea.  They streamed down the mountain side and climbed over rocks.  One area looked like a super highway.  They were multiple lanes of penguins and those on the right were streaming towards the ocean and those on the left were rushing homeward with bellies full of krill.

After lunch we visited an abandoned whaling village in appropriately named Whaler’s Cove.  There were dilapidated buildings, a falling-down air hangar, and rusting huge cylinders which contained whale oil at one time.  It would be hard to imagine a more desolate place to earn a living.

Chuck rounded out the day with a bracing dip in the Antarctic at Port Foster.  Donna stayed on the ship to hear the captain announce, “those of you who were too pussy to go ashore can view the swimmers from the forward deck.”

This afternoon we set foot on the continent of Antarctica. We’ve been sailing through the Antarctic peninsula and stopping on various islands, but today was our first actual steps on the land mass of Antarctica. Our stop was at Brown’s Bluff where we saw, surprise, more gentoo and adelie penguins. We saw hundreds of them coming in from the ocean and jumping ashore and heading for the rookery to feed their chicks. These penguins were nice and fat with a couple of pounds of food in their bellies. This morning we saw much leaner penguins leaving and diving in the ocean.

An interesting diversion this afternoon was when the ship came upon hundreds of penguins and birds in the water feeding on a large mass of krill. The water was black with the animals. Along came a whale and the penguins took off as if shot from a cannon in what looked like a synchronized swimming maneuver. They were not eager to become whale food.

Maybe two posts today. This morning was so grand that there will probably be more photos later today. We went to Devil Island and thousands more penguins plus we got to hike to the peak on the island which provided some spectacular vistas. It was so warm that we shed our parkas, hats and gloves.

What an extraordinary day spent amidst tabular icebergs, in zodiacs in the Danger Islands, and landing on one of them–Heroina Island. There were a couple of hundred thousand Adelie penguins on Heroina Island according to our naturalist. Our captain spotted an Emperor Penguin on an iceberg and nosed the ship very close for the unusual sighting in this part of Antarctica. We stayed up for a spectacular sunset tonight between 10 and 11 pm (I’ll have to whip out a thesaurus for some new adjectives). One of the guides told us that as magnificent as sunset had been, we ought to get up at 3 am for sunrise which would be 100 times more beautiful. As he said, you can sleep when you’re returning through the Drake’s Passage.

Some pictures from today are below and more can be viewed by clicking under Photos in the column to the right. We’re limited in what we can upload from the ship.

Today’s thrill was a landing at Elephant’s Island where Shackelton’s men waited over four months to be rescued in 1916. We had our first zodiac ride and landed amidst thousands of penguins and hundreds of seals. Macaroni penguins, chinstrap penguins, gentoo penguins, southern elephant seals, antarctic fur seals… We now know the smell of penguin guano. Lots of orca and humpback whales as well as pintado petrels accompanied the ship today. The weather has been sunny and glorious, probably in the high 30’s.

This has been a day spent at sea. Fortunately, we’ve had a crossing of “Drake’s Lake” instead of the dreaded rough seas of Drake’s Passage. Off port and starboard were porpoises and whales. This afternoon we watched an inspirational slide show from a National Geographic photographer, Kim Heacox. His photos of Antarctica and of penguins, elephant seals, and albatross were gorgeous. He accompanied some of the pictures with music from the Moody Blues, “Your Wildest Dreams.” And he quoted a favorite poet: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” (From “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver.)

Chuck, Gary, and Chuey have their competitive juices flowing as they plan to enter a photography contest on each of the next seven days for the best photograph of the day.

Monday brings the promise of land and our first excursions by zodiac.

Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world, and where we boarded the National Geographic Endeavour, had an unusually hot day. We had been told to be ready for icy cold winds which would make us cold regardless of the temperature. But for us it was bright and sunny with little wind. Our guide said that they have perhaps 5 or 6 days a year like this. We heard from someone else that the temperature here broke records. Hello, Al Gore! Can anyone really doubt global warming?

Our ship left Ushuaia at about 7:15 pm tonight. Most people on the ship are worried about getting seasick as we enter Drake’s passage and potentially the worst seas in the world. We’re told that it can either be smooth as glass or … . We’re hoping for glass, but both Donna and Chuck have started wearing their Relief Bands which provide electrical stimulation at the wrist to ward off seasickness.

Santiago is a cosmopolitan city. The climate reminds us of San Diego. We had tours of the major monuments and sights, but the highlight of our visit was a lunch with a lovely young couple, Enrique, a native of Santiago, and his Swedish wife, Sofie. Enrique is a chef who trained in Chile and Europe. We met Enrique at a farmer’s market and picked out produce for our lunch which he prepared under our watchful eyes. Gary and Chuck tried pisco sours and two bottles of excellent Chilean wine, Montes Alpha. The food was splendid but even nicer was learning about their lives. They are expecting a boy in March. Martin and Noel are in the running as his name; Chuck lobbied hard for Martin which is his middle name.

The great adventure begins on Wed, Jan 17, with our flight to Santiago. We’ll be in Santiago one day early which will help us get over jetlag and travel fatigue and give us a chance to see the sights with Patty and Gary. Then on Saturday, Jan 20, it’s off to Ushuaia to board the National Geographic Endeavour.