Ushuaia to Home, Thursday to Friday, 13-14 March 2025

We woke up early and got our luggage out and had a final quick breakfast. We took a bus into central Ushuaia, had a tour of the local museum. The museum had been a prison when Ushuaia was a British prison colony (rather like Australia), to the museum has small wings radiating out from a central area which were, for the most part, the actual cells that prisoners were housed in. In addition to maritime history, local history, and of course prison history and various wars etc., it also had a small contemporary art exhibition. he bus brought us back downtown, where most of us got Ushuaia stamps in our passports and walked around the main street of town. After much searching I finally found a nice Antarctica baseball hat for Larry! We went to the hotel that was our gathering place, where a light buffet was available, and then we were called in groups to the buses to head to the airport. Off we went on the charter flight to Buenos Aires, arriving around dinner time. At that point there were more goodbyes as folks either went to transfer to connections, or for some, into Buenos Aires to stay the night and wait for connections the next day.  

We headed to our flight to Houston, which went smoothly, and then customs in Houston, and then transfer to San Francisco. Arriving in SFO we reclaimed our luggage - hooray - and took BART home, giving us a little time to re-acclimate. It was a 28-hour journey for the three flights, but I was glad to be home, midday. We did a little grocery shopping (we had tried to eat everything perishable before we left), started doing laundry (8 loads eventually) and opened a giant bag of mail. It had been rather nice to be away from daily life, cooking, cleaning, email, errands, for these past three weeks. And what an adventure it was! Truly the trip of a lifetime.

Falklands to Ushuaia, Wednesday, 12 March 2025

We had some wonderful final lectures for the naturalists, and did the packing. Our final dinner with the gang was so much fun, we are so lucky to ahve made these wonderful new friends who helped mkae this trip such a blast. 

Three weeks in this room passed quickly! We managed to get our parkas and jackets in the suitcases - just barely. Luckily we did not buy much beyond pins and yarn and baseball hats, so that all packed fine. We will have to have our bags out at 6:00am and leave soon after.

The seas were relatively calm and we headed to bed early for the early wakeup.

Falkland Islands, Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Today was our final day in the Falklands, and it has been an adventure. Last night remained very windy and choppy, but we were able to sleep and get up ready to go on our final day of being ashore. The morning expedition took us to West Point Island with large number of Gentoos and Rockhoppers ... I will never tire of seeing their amusing walking style on land. By now the Base Camp suit up and zodiac routine is second nature. It is hard to believe that soon we will be leaving the Falklands and heading to Ushuaia and home. We went to the spectacular Devil's Nose area, which involved a very long hike from a boggy landing through high tufted grass to a rocky descent to a large beach. The tall grasses were filled with Gentoo penguins nearby and in the distance. We finally arrived at the albatross colony, a real thrill after seeing them fly by the ship on their enormous wings (8' wingspan), and got to see many chicks ready to fledge, occasionally being fed by parents. The fledglings are quite large, about the size of a 4-5 pound chicken at the butcher. The penguins and albatross were mixed together, and we were able to get fairly close (still 2-3m away) because we were in the tall grass. Seeing the albatross adults soar over us was amazing. 

After lunch, we went out for our final expedition, landing at Marie-Paul and Luc's land called Grave Cove, which they allow National Geo folks to cross. We hiked to the beach, down a rocky slope, where I almost fell, for the third time on this hike, but managed to catch myself, it would have been a nasty fall on the rocks. The hiking sticks have been hugely helpful. The Rockhoppers and Gentoos were deep into their molting stage and looked kind of miserable. There was a sea lion in the shallow water attacking penguins one after the other, Reuben called him the serial killer - as he would attack a penguin and kind of toss it away without even eating it. A bit gruesome. The stunning black and white bird called Johnny Rooks (striated caracara) were flying close overhead. Hiking back seemed a lot easier.

It was a little bittersweet at dinner with our group, knowing that this was our last expedition together. As everyone on board was invited to submit 4-6 photos, the combined slide show of about 20 minutes was spectacular, some incredible photos, places and wildlife I didn't see, it was wonderful to see this.

 

Falkland Islands, Monday, 10 March 2025

 Today was an adventurous day. A rainstorm came in during the night, and it was rain a lot this morning. We were scheduled to land at Saunders Island Settlement and go to the sheep farm. This is where we are to meet Linda’s friend. After a wet ride to shore during which we were greeted by dogs on the bow of the incoming zodiacs, we walked up a rocky hillside to the farm, which had various barns and houses. There was a little store, really a table, set up in the barn, and we found Linda’s friend Susan, who gave us a bag with the gift that Linda mentioned. We also met Biffa, Ross’s mother, and asked if we cold go to the gravestone of Tracy to lay a flower there for Linda, and we arranged to go up after the demonstration. David did a sheep-shearing demonstration, expertly removing the wool in one large piece. Susan, Linda’s friend, then shook it out on a table in one motion, almost like rolling out a rug. We could feel the lanolin inn the wool, and David showed us the various grades of wool. Then outside (still in the rain) to see the sheepdogs at work. One of the other women (can’t recall her name) sent the dog out, and she Sadie the dog) ran Upp the hillside, expertly rounded up the sheep and nudged them down the hill and into the paddock. There she kept watch to make sure none o fate sheep tried to get out the open gate. Finally, Sadie was released, and the sheep ran out of the pen and back up the hill to almost the same spot they were before. Sadie and Lassie (the other dog) were soaking wet but were oblivious to the rain.

We then went with Biffa to the gravesite. It was a largish enclosure with about 8 graves, including Biffa’s father. She had planted up Tracy’s grave with multi-colored carnations, Tracy’s favorite flower, and we put the plastic flowers we brought from Stanley there among a few other plastic flowers, and I said a short prayer. We took photos of Biffa and the gravesite to send to Linda. We had a real sense of the loneliness of this site, and how hard it must be to live there. We headed back i the Land Rover to the barn, and worked our way back to the ship, with Lassie at the bow once again, barking all the way to the ship.

After lunch the rain continued and the winds picked up. Ross announced that we would go to the site of the albatross nesting area. We were in the first group off the ship, and there were large waves, we were rocking and rolling and getting drenched all the way to shore. Some folks took the option of walking to the nesting site, we decided to take the 4x4s, which the folks from the sheep farm had driven over. On the way out, we drive with David the sheep-shearer, and I realized I had never been in that sort of 4x4 backcountry drive. We bounced through holes filled with water, over rocks, and up and down hills I never thought a vehicle could get up, or down. A few times we listed strongly to one side or another, with 9 of us packed in the car it seemed not entirely stable. we got to the albatross nesting site, an it incredible windy, we later learned about 40 mph winds. We were standing on a fairly slick hillside in the pouring rain, and I could imagine that it would not be hard to lose your footing and fall down. We managed to get a few photos of the beautiful black-browned albatross, which are mostly white, sitting on their cylindrical nests. A few empty nests were filled with water. Suddenly the naturalists were telling us to move back and go to the cars, it turned out that Conor, one the naturalists, had actually been blown over and they decided it was too dangerous to be out there. we hustled back to the 4x4s and packed in for the bumpy ride back with Typhanie, who noted about halfway through that she was a bit short to be driving that particular car (being a short person I understand having to lean forward to see the road), but she was experienced so we got back fine. Then it became clear that the waves at the landing sit were way too high, and Ross took off running to another site farther down the beach while the zodiacs held in the water, which mats have been a bit nerve-wracking for the driver. He settled on another location, and we lined up to pile into the zodiacs, in water up to out knees, but we were already soaked. The zodiac was struggling against the wind and waves, and someone on board the ship directed Boris, the naturalist and driver, to take a different route back to the ship, it was that difficult. We finally made it back, and we could tell it had been a difficult task. Some zodiacs had turned back before even landing, the walkers were turned and brought back, and other groups were told in base camp that they would not be going. Everyone got back OK but the staff were clearly both excited by the challenge but slightly rattled too.

Stanley, Falkland Islands, Sunday, 9 March 2025

 Early morning the city of Stanley comes into view, with its brightly-colored roofs reminiscent of Norway. It is Sunday morning, so things are quiet. Ross announces that there was a mixup in the bus order for this morning, so not everyone who signed up for the morning farm tour will get to go, and we missed the cutoff by quite a bit. So on to Plan B.

As with other group tours that we’ve done, it is nice to have some time to ourselves without a schedule. So we decide to remain in Stanley for the day. We did a short (like 3 blocks) history tour with naturalist Eric along the Main Street at the waterfront, then headed for the museum. He assured us that they would be open for us. The museum was actually a complex of some historic buildings and the main museum. We visited the blacksmith shop, the old printing shop where the newspaper was published among other things, a sample wash-house for laundry, and a stable as horses were the only means of transportation through the mid-20th century. We went to the main musuem building - we were the first ones there and two older women opened the door for us. We spent the next three hours there, see every exhibit and item on the two floors, covering the history of the Falklands, the many battles, here and nearby, life of the sea, the maritime history of many ships including wrecks we saw later in the day, natural history, and life on the islands. It was very well done, and really gave a sense of the isolation here (mail once a month if they were lucky), radio in the 30s which was very important when there was a German attack on the sea in 1939, and television much later, with intent fairly recently. We got a hat for Larry in the gift shop … always want to support museums.

It was a beautiful day, cool but sunny, so we walked farther out of town, past the 1982 Falklands War memorial, past the WWII memorial, to the large WWI memorial to the many lost from the islands. There was a major sea battle near here in 1914 also, with a fabled German ship. It was very windy, as we had been expecting, and we saw some cormorants and ducks along the shore as we walked past most of the houses. After the memorial we turned around to walk back toward town. There was a marathon underway - the farthest south marathon n the world, the signage said - and we saw runners begin to come in, cheered by friends and family. We went into the Catholic Church, a lovely little place with some nice stained glass. I decided to sing “Ave Maria” but for some reason started fumbling the words, luckily a hymn book was nearby and I could run it again! I lit candles for Mom and Dad, Cathy, and Jim. We went to a small cafe arrived about 1:00pm, and of course many folks from the ship were there. we hated a delicious fish and chips and a lamb pie and one Guinness (from a can). Then out to the main road again, to check out the supermarket which also was a gift shop and electronics store, groceries were from Waitrose, a British chain. We visited the Christ Church cathedral, the farthest south Anglican cathedral in the world, whose soaring roof looked like the inside of a ship, not surprisingly. There we went inland a block and walked to the other end of town, where we got to see the houses that folks lived in, ranging from fairly new to quite old and a few deserted with broken windows. Getting building materials must be a complex process here.

Near the end of the housing area we diverted to the 1982 War memorial grove, where an individual tree was planted and signed for each person who died in the war against Argentina. It was quite moving, as next to the each tree was a sign with the person’s name and rank and group, plus smaller crosses and poppies likely placed by family. We continued down the hill to the main cemetery, where many graves were covered with artificial flowers. I found one that had blown away form the graves for tomorrow. We walked back toward the main pier, stopped at a few gift shops to get some penguin socks, a magnet, and a tea towel. we returned to the ship about 4:3, having been in Stanley for about 8 hours!  Our feet were quite tired and we were glad to have a small snack and then to read for a while.

Dinner was a special Filipino theme, as all the waitstaff and many of the kitchen staff were Filipino, and they were wearing traditional embroidered shirts which were quite beautiful. Dinner included a whole roast suckling pig which was delicious, chicken adobo, a lovely flan, and lumpia. After dinner, a local band played in the lounge, led, it turned out, by expedition leader Ross’ stepfather! They played a few hits form the 70s but most were 90s nd later. A few we knew the words to but as with most pop songs, you can figure out the chorus by the second time around. Folks were really enjoying it, and I was wondering when the dancing would start, figuring that Reuben would be the first. AT one point, he got u and went to the rear of the Ice Lounge where a few folks were dancing. I told Barney we should get up and dance too, so we waited for the next song, and then the small group wound its way up to the front right by the band so we just joined in. Dancing in between the chairs and tables was a bit tight, but folks of all ages were really enjoying it. We danced a good bit, yelling and singing (Barney ended up with a sore throat the next morning), and had a great time. John took a lot of incriminating videos including one of Barney and me doing some turns, which was fun. We danced some more, and decided it was time to retire, though the party was still going strong upstairs. It had been quite a day!

Falkland Islands, Day 1, Saturday 8 March 2025

 The sea settled a bit overnight and we were headed for Barren Island, at the tip of East Falkland Island. After we landed, we had a brisk and very windy walk up a small rise and over to the beach where there were some Southern Sea Lions, very shy, who skittered away from us even though we were quite a distance away. There were so many birds! Steamer ducks, a tiny Prion, the Southern Giant Petrel and Wilson’s Petrel. We came across several installations of petrel nests with fluffy gray fledglings in them. Eric the naturalist cautioned us to stay a good distance away, as when they are disturbed they will projectile vomit about 9-10 feet away. Fortunately we did not witness this, but we could see some of the birds beginning to raise their wings a bit. Several times we stopped to examine skulls and ones of various birds, which the naturalists are allowed to pick up here as it is inhabited (not allowed in Antarctica and on South Georgia). A very windy walk back to the shore with some dirt and sand blowing in our faces, and we headed back to the ship on a wet zodiac ride.

Arriving Falkland Islands, Friday, 7 March 2025

 I was very tired from being up late the night before for the board meeting, so slept as late as possible before breakfast closed. We enjoyed the introduction to the Falklands by Typhanie May, an 8th-generation Islander, whose family lives and farms there. Besides being quite self-sufficient from fishing license fees and tourism, sheep are a major source of income. The second lecture was about the albatross, the “masters of the wind.” Spending most of their lives in the air, staying with their mates for a lifetime which can be up to 70 years, they are truly incredible birds. We are seeing them more now as we get closer to land, and there were a huge number of them by the A23A glacier a few days ago. In the afternoon, I had to take a nap - unusual for me - and then we read a bit.

At about 5pm, there was an interesting game up in the main gathering area, the Ice Lounge: Ruskin would ask “who here …” and the question could be anything from served in the Peace Core to spent the night in jail to been to Mongolia to been in a bar fight. As folks raised their hands, some of the answers were from the least likely folks. One question was “who has ever been in a movie” and I raised my hand as did another woman, often he’d ask for answers, she answered, and then I answered “Amadeus,” after which Michael, one of the naturalists, came over later to say how much he loved that film.

We had arranged with Carlos the maitre d’ to have the large table for 14, which had mostly been used by a Chinese group from an organization called something like Signa. Reuben Finch and I arranged the guest list and Carlos offered to issue printed invitations, which were lovely little notes on ship stationery. We had a grand time I made a toast to the group and the trip, and a good time was had by all. The folks from Australia all seem to be really fun people so far, and I sat with an American couple who had worked in the oil and gas industry and the husband was involved in car racing, so we had a nice chat about my recent interest in Formula I and the “Drive to Survive” series, I will make sure Barney gets a chance to chat with him tomorrow.

Some of the group moved upstairs to the bar but we retired to gt a good night’s sleep at last, since the ship was no longer tossing and turning. We expect to reach the Falklands in the morning.

At Sea Toward the Falkland Islands, Thursday, 6 March 2025

 The overnight in the igloo was disappointing. The stormy seas made the top deck a place of constant tossing with screaming winds, although the interior stayed warm. We got little sleep, and going to the bathroom in the dark to the wellness center was more than scary with the rain and wind and trying to hold on to something on the deck. Around 5:30am we began to pass the other large iceberg whihc had run aground near South Georgia, A23A. It was so big that it took about two hours to go by, and there were large numbers of petrels and albatross near two of the caves. We left the igloo about 7:00am, exhausted - I’m not sure why we stayed the whole night - and went to breakfast. The ship was tossing and turning and creaking, lots of folks were clearly unsettled. A morning lecture on the geology of the area was interesting, and we came back to the cabin to cleanup and I finished the Humboldt biography which was excellent. After lunch, we both crashed and slept for three hours. Late afternoon we were upstairs for Swedish pancakes (like tiny French crepes) and some talks on the birds of Antarctica and meeting up with the Aussie group. We had a delicious dinner (monkfish) and then I headed into my Fairyland board meeting, glad that the GoogleMeet worked. Past midnight headed to bed.

South Georgia Island, Day 4, 5 March 2025

 We woke up to a cloudy day, prediction was to be about 48 degrees. After breakfast, we got ready for the shorter hike at Stromness. Some of the more intrepid folks were dropped off this morning at 7:30am at Fortunately Bay for the Shakleton hike from Fortuna to Stromness, 4 miles with a 1,000 foot elevation gain and slippery loose rock, so we opted out of it. Our hike was about 2 miles through the long valley where Shakleton and his men finally reached help at the Stromness whaling station, now long-closed and slowly disintegrating. This hike was also mostly over rock but was fairly level, with a good bit of crossing meltwater streams. We ended up at a lovely waterfall, and met the hikers who had started two hours earlier, including our friends John and Reuben, who confirmed that it was indeed a rough hike. There were lots of fur seals all around us for the first 15 minutes or so. On the way back, I decided to sing to them. “Porgi amor” seemed to get some notice from them but alas these seals were not that into Mozart, though the assistant expedition leader Alex did video it, which was nice. A good lunch of salad cured gravlax and then the rain really started. It was coming down in sheets. Zodiac cruises were planned but given the heavy rain we opted out and relaxed in the cabin.

South Georgia Island, Day 3, Tuesday 4 March 2025

A beautiful morning, sunny with barely a cloud in the sky. We had been prepared for gray skies and even rain which are more normal for this area, so this has been truly fortunate. Temperature today about 58° so we only wore one layer for the zodiac trip to Gothul. We had a lovely vista of rock walls over to the shore, where we went to a fur seal “preschool” filled with pups and yearlings just playing and swimming and endlessly entertaining. We saw one pup still nursing, though our guide that was unusual for so late in the season. They played and poked, diver and rose up, sat picturesquely on the rocks, and swam quite close to the zodiac, very curious. We could see some tiny swimming creatures, and spotted briefly a jellyfish near 5e surface. A few Gentoo penguins were on a rock with a giant petrel and some fur seals, all happily co-existing. One the way back we saw a waterfall, much larger than the one yesterday, and deeply undercut rock overhang. One of the best parts was going through a whole forest of bull kelp which was undulating in the water … mesmerizing, this will be a new zoom background for sure. Watching a log burn and watching the kelp float and move are both meditative. On our return, one more bio-security check before we head to Grytviken this afternoon where the government staff will check everything that might be going onshore, Barney did the big cleanup while I updated the blog.

After a nice lunch of surprisingly good sushi, we headed to Grytviken, the former whaling site. This was built around 1904 and operated until 1964, at its peak it had about 400 people working there. A whaling site, it epitomized the factory period of whaling with explosive harpoons, mass whale deaths, and shipping out thousand maybe millions of gallons of whale oil from almost 2,000 whales they killed each season. We made the obligatory stop at Shakleton’s gravesite, and at another site a fur seal wa draped sadly over a gravestone. We walked through the remains of the giant equipment of the heyday of the place, stopped at the post office to purchase and send some postcards, and then visited the museum briefly before going on a historic walk with one of the staff. There were about 6 people who work here for the summer season. The guide took us around the site and shared some interesting information about life at Grytviken, where about 1/3 of the people were mechanics, cooks, and other professions supporting the whalers and processors who worked 12-15hour shifts. We visited the little Norwegian church and I sang Ave Maria Virgo Serena (The Joaquin), it did have beautiful acoustics. Back to the museum for about an hour, seeing a replica of Shakelton’s lifeboat in which he crossed from a elephant Island to South Georgia, and quite a nice collection of artifacts form the whaling days as well as natural history specimens. As usual, we closed down the museum and were the last to leave the area on the zodiacs. As the sky began to gray after a beautiful sunny day, we moved out into the open ocean to reposition for tomorrow’s adventures.

South Georgia Day 2, Monday, 3 March 2025

 Up early and ready to go as the second group to shore. The weather is very nice, 58 degrees so one less layer this morning. This morning’s hike was about 3km with a 150m elevation change. We head toward the Heany glacier, across mostly firm land but crossing several small streams. I was last in the group, and the guide kept looking back to check on me. I realized I do not have the stamina I used to have, and it was not easy to keep up. The faster hikers were far ahead of us. Barney mostly stayed with me, but I told him to go ahead. Another woman I brought up the rear. We made it to the glacier, entered around a quicksand area (where some folks apparently came out of their boots, what a mess), and went up onto the ice. I went about 15’ onto the ice and called it good, while Barney hiked up a bit farther. A few of us were ready to head back, and a guide took us back by a completely different route, with much more crossing of water in places that were wider and faster, so some folks were struggling with the crossings. It felt like a bit of a slog to get back to the beach and head back to the ship. We were both sweaty, as it was 20 degrees warmer than t was in Antarctica. One less layer this afternoon for sure.

After lunch, into the Zodiacs again to head to Ocean Harbor, and area with mostly fur seals and some history. As we landed on the rocky beach (all beaches here are rocky, no sand), there were many young fur seals all around us, and a few King penguins. The fur seals were all young pups or yearlings judging by their size. Some of them, usually the older ones, barked at us and stared to advance, but they quickly retreated when we use the “ack-ack” or clap. They are practicing defending their territory. I enjoyed watching them raise their heads and curl around to watch us or something else. Some were just laid out flat for a big nap, others were on the move. We hiked to a rusty equipment graveyard by an old whaling station, with huge pieces of abandoned equipment half-sunk in the marshy land. We went into a small cabin, about 15’x20’, with some reindeer antlers and a few artifacts of the former residents. It is hard to imagine living in such isolation during these nice summer months, much less during a brutal winter. Because of the warmth we put our black coats in the backpack and opened the orange parka to break the wind, eventually tying that around our waists as well. I have always overheated easily and this is quite an adjustment from the earlier weather. We hiked through some marshy grass areas, kind of like a bog, and I was very glad I brought my walking sticks to give me balance and stability, as it would have been easy to slip. Among the grasses there were a large number of fur seals … I wondered why they were so far inland, it seems odd to see them up against green grass instead of against the gray rocks. We hiked up over a ridge, along another soft path, and come to a pretty but small waterfall. One lone fur seal pup was watching us carefully, looking confused by this whole group of people focused on him, though we kept our distance of course. Returning back through more boggy areas, we stopped by a graveyard whose earliest resident was buried in about 1840, likely a sealer as the seal hunting came before the whale hunting. We headed back to the landing site, past more seals playing and prodding and poking at each other, they remind me of my brothers when they were kids. Even though the hike was not long, we are pretty tired because the marshiness of the land made walking that much harder.

We decided to try out the hot tub jacuzzi on the stern of the ship which has an infinity edge. As we were fairly early back, we could watch the zodiacs returning from the long hikes. It was incredibly windy and cold up on the 8th deck, and we had to tie our robes to an upright so they would not blow away. The water was warm and lovely, and we stayed about 15 minutes, and got a good dose of cold as we emerged and went to get our robes. Barney headed back to the room ad I went to try to sauna. They have two saunas, a tropic one with higher humidity, and a drier Nordic one. I tried both and liked the Nordic one better … someday it would be cool to have a sauna in our house. Time for showers, then Barney took a nap while I read the Alexander von Humboldt biography I brought, a fascinating story of man whose influence was truly global and far ahead of his time in the way that he looked at nature in a connected way, with the emotional effects being as important as the data. He profoundly influenced generations of scientists, writers including Thoreau, and especially Darwin.

We had a nice dinner, chatted with a couple we met the night before, he recently retired form the State  Department after many years of postings all over. He described what it was like in Kiev during the breakup of the Soviet Union, a truly tumultuous time. At the time, Ukraine has the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, imagine how things might be different today had they not agreed to give up the nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees from the US, Russia, the UK, and France. I think some people today imagine we gave weapons and support to Ukraine these past few years just because we were being nice, rather than recognize that we made an agreement for security which we needed to honor. Today, there is no honor among the thieves running the US government who are thinking only of their own power and wealth.

South Georgia Island, Sunday, 2 March 2025

 We woke up to brilliant sunshine on the blue water as we approached Gold Harbor, our first stop. After breakfast and suiting up, we were reminded of the bio-security measures and to remain 5m away rom wildlife. A quick Zodiac took us to the rocky beach, and there were what seemed like at least a million King penguins. Their trumpeting calls carried across the whole harbor area. As we landed some rushed up to us, and we had to pull back to stay a good distance away from them. As we realized how many there were, as far as the eye could see and certainly to hear, we were gradually surrounded by curious reddish-brown-eyed penguins. Nearby were some enormous elephant seals - no big mature males, but some young males and females and one young one, They lay over each other and somehow don’t seem to mind, then every so often one will decide to move and push the others away which involved much grunting, exhalations, and some grumbles as well as a bit of gritty sand flung on top of themselves. I stayed far back, mindful that they can move quite quickly on shore despite their enormous size.

We walked down the beach, waiting the varied behaviors of the larger King penguins and the much smaller Gentoo penguins, and both species still had a few that were molting who looked deeply uncomfortable. Everywhere they would raise their beaks vertically to trumpet to other penguins, and they moved along the beach, often in groups of 3-6, and seemed to walk rather than waddle. Several times we saw groups of four that looked like a barbershop quartet ready to break into song. There were lots of first-year pups and second-year seal as well, chasing each other and wrestling, so much like Marley and his buddies, just having fun, not trying to dominate or claim land. They would “walk” along the beach using their front flippers and a swing their black flippers to propel themselves quite quickly.We were on the beach for two hours, just walking the stretch we were able to go on (before the penguins became too dense to avoid). I decided this might be a god time to sing, so I moved to the far edge of the beach and tried a bit of “Must the Winter Come So Soon” by Samuel Barber, which I had thought would be appropriate. The penguins seemed to notice - at least some tuned toward me - so that seemed to be something they could hear. Next I sang “Piangero la sorte Mia” by Handel which definitely got their interest, and quite a few stopped and seemed to watch me, very cool. Finally, I sang “Porgi amor” by Mozart which they really seemed to like and they moved toward me and I really do think they were listening. You can always count on Mozart. It was time to head back to the embarkation point, so we slowly worked our way back through the crowds of penguins and active seals and past the barely moving elephant seals (except for the occasional enormous snorts). What an experience, to be surrounded by the sigh and sound of these amazing birds and animals.

Back to the ship for a burger lunch (I tried the soy burger, it was fine), and there were fresh donuts for dessert. Knowing Barney’s love of donuts, I offered to order one to get one for him so he could have two. After he ate his chocolate one, I gave him my raspberry-topped one which he also enjoyed. Reuben joked that he was like the leopard seals after they swallowed a tasty penguin and we all laughed heartily.

After going by some lovely small icebergs, one of which looked like a skyline, we arrived at Cooper Bay, our afternoon Zodiac area. Our group will be much later, so we came back to the cabin to read and rest a bit. What a day it has already been!

At Sea En Route to South Georgia Island, Saturday, 1 March 2025

 We sped along during the night at a good clip, with our balcony blacked out so that the large number of sea birds. I got up early and used the elliptical upstairs, looking out at the wake of the ship and the blue waters. Since we will be at sea all day en route to South Georgia Island, there are multiple lectures. The first one was about ice and glaciers with excellent graphics on the slides, a really good use of animation. The bridge spotted A23B, the large section of iceberg A23 that split off a while ago. Soon we were approaching it … and it took almost an hour to get to the edge of it. It was indeed a massive wall of ice several stories high, with some striations and crevasses. We know that is shape is roughly rectangular, so when we went on the bow of the ship we could see what we thought was the edge of A23B and the edge of a smaller (but still enormous) iceberg that had split off from it. The captain announced that we’d be going through the opening between the two, which initially looked very far off. It was so large it was not possible to get it all in one photo so I had to do a video. About halfway toward the opening there was a large inlet on the left, and as we came closer we could see an enormous cave in the ice at water level, an utterly deep, deep blue inside, so deep we could not see the back. It looked like the Antarctic Tunnel of Love. It took almost an hour to get to the leading edge, which we passed quite close, to, only to discover that it was, in fact, not the leading edge, there was more in front on it. We passed through the opening, with great views o both icebergs, and slowly, slowly, they began to recede.

After a lively lunch with the Aussies and some New Zealanders, we had a nap, and then went up for the lecture on polar diving. There was also a stunning lecture of Diatom art, breathtaking artworks made from mounted diatoms of brilliant colors and every possible shape. Apparently these became very popular in the 19th century, and are still done today. We had a quiet dinner with one of the Australian couple, Jose and Sam, and went to bed early. Somehow we both felt tired even though we had not been off the ship. Time for a little reading and rest up for the landing tomorrow.

Antarctica, Day 6, 28 February 2025, the South Orkney Islands

We awoke to cold gray skies, and soon it began to snow. Barney is feeling better but plans to stay in today, though perhaps go up for breakfast. We are approaching Monroe Island in the South Orkney Islands, where we’ll go on the Zodiacs to see some wildlife. We learned that these islands are called the South Orkneys because they mirror the latitude of the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland, and similarly with the South Shetlands Islands. I was on the second round of Zodiacs, and the first group went out when it was snowing and hailing, so they got soaking wet and quite cold. By the time I went out (Barney stayed in and took it easy as he continue to recover), the snow and hail had stopped. I suited up and boarded, and the Zodiacs was already bouncing all over. We cruised around the cove and saw huge arrays of chinstrap penguins on the rocky hillsides, which were dusted with fresh snow. Leopard seals were on the prowl, we saw many fur seals and even the less common Weddell seals. Many birds went overhead - giant petrels, Wilson’s petrels, lots of skuas with their blue eye rims, and snowy sheathbills. Some of the petrels flew quite close over the Zodiac, so fast I stopped trying to photograph them and just enjoyed seeing their massive wingspans of at least 5-6 feet. At one iceberg we saw about a dozen petrels mostly floating, and then spotted a leopard seal which had been eating a penguin. It turns out that the leopard seals do not want to eat the feathers and bones which do not have calories for them, so they leave the carcasses to float an then the petrels go at them. It was quite a site, the old circle of life, though somehow we all d feel sorry for the penguins.

Over lunch we went by some enormous tabular icebergs, some were huge and quite closet to the ship. This afternoon we are headed toward Signey Island, and we may have a landing as well as Zodiacs.

The afternoon was gray and cold, about 26° so quite a few people opted out, including Barney who was still recovering. After a short Zodiac ride, we came ashore on a rocky beach, hiked up the fairly fresh snow to an overlook, there were a whole set of young male fur seals play-fighting with each other, and a few young male (but still enormous) elephant seals just laying on the beach. I was a bit winded going up the hill and then remembered to think of it like cross-country skiing up a hill, just be consistent and have a good rhythm and breathe. We then went to another overlook, saw more elephant seals just piled on top of each other, and more active fur seals, and a huge view of the cove and the channel out to the open ocean. We went upstairs to meet our Aussie friends, and soon the was a call to see two blue whales, so Barney went up to do some photos. We had a lovely dinner, and now seem to be invited to southwestern France to Mike’s house under renovation, for the summer of 2027, which should be fun.

I have to attend a Fairyland Finance Committee meeting (4:00pm in California) and Barney is up at the photo feedback session, which should be fun. Tomorrow we will be at sea en route to South Georgia Island.

Antarctica, Day 5, 27 February 2025, At Sea

 Today we are at sea all day cruising away from the Peninsula toward South Georgia Island eventually. But we learn this morning that we will be stopping at the South Orkney Islands, about halfway between the tip of the Peninsula and South Georgia, and still considered part of Antarctica. On the way we passed Elephant Island, where Shackleton left most of his men while he and a few others sailed to South Georgia to get help.

I got up early and did the morning stretch in the yoga studio, whihc was packed. I was not a flexible as I normally am, and definitely having trouble with poses requiring kneeling, but it was good to stretch out. I ordered breakfast for Barney and went to eat a quick meal, then back to shower. Today there will be four lectures, which fortunately we can listen to on the screen in the room. Barney is still feverish, sore, coughing, and feeling wiped out. We watched a presentation on the Antarctica Treaty which was very informative, and one on Antarctica seals, of which we’ve seen several species so far. Brought him more of the nice ginger lemongrass tea which seems to be soothing for him. For some reason I still have a bit of a cough and some wheezing, not sure why. We will both take it easy today.

At lunch I met the couple across the hall, she is fro Boston, he from England, and we had a nice chat about skiing, as they are both downhill and cross-country, told us about skiing in Switzerland from when they lived in England. They now live not far from Wellesley, and ski at the nearby Mt. Washington, where the ski area of Massachusetts and Vermont start up through Maine. They are staying in the igloo tonight, I hope they have clear skies to see the stars.

After lunch I decided to do some walking while Barney slept. On deck 8 there is a 1/8 mile circuit, and it was about 38 degrees or so, not too cold, so I did eight laps around which was really nice. Several other women were doing the same, at different paces. Afterwards, I sat in the sun at one of the outdoor tables on a blanket and read my book about Alexander von Humboldt, which seems so appropriate here in Antarctica. It was really lovely, hardly any wind even though we were sailing along. At one point, a British fellow came over and asked if he could take a photo of me, as the sky was very dramatic behind me, and of course I said yes and he airdropped me the photo afterwards. It will be a nice memory. I was now about 1/3 of the way through the book, so went back to check n Barney and bring more tea. He was fast asleep and I woke him up to take his meds. He is still a bit feverish. We watched the lecture on the final Shackleton expedition, which was really great with some photos we had not seen before. We ordered his dinner, and I went up to the recap. At dinner we sat with one of the naturalists, Anna from Sweden who is a diver, and heard some interesting tales of her work below the ship. There was quite a conversation about bungee jumping, and she had done one which went 250 meters, almost unimaginable. Bungee jumping is something I have zero desire to do ever, but everyone else at the table had done it. Back to the room with more tea for Barney, a bit more reading and email, and then to bed as we sailed along.

Antarctica Day 4, 26 February 2025

 Well it just keeps getting better. Up early, to breakfast, suit up, and we’re the first ones out in the Zodiacs at Ciera Cove, south of Trinity Island n the Peninsula. Amazing ice floes in unbelievable shapes about. Earlier we saw a military ship which was confirmed as Argentine Navy going to a nearby outpost, probably taking folks back as the summer is ending. We saw a whole group of Gentoo penguins arrayed on a hillside, from a distance just black specks, then we got closer and we could hear and eventually smell them. A whole group was down at the shore, others were climbing up or down the rocky path to the upper, safer area. Some of the ones on the shore dove in swam around near us, they “porpoised” several times where they go quickly in and out of the water at the surface. They swam toward us, then away, Thena back again, then toward another location. we continued on, saw some icebergs with an amazing deep blue color in the crevices, maybe this is the real ultramarine. We then saw a leopard seal, alone on an ice floe that was curved like a hammock, who moved, stretched, raised her flippers, looked at us quite a bit as we went silent and stayed still, as they are sensitive to movement. The guide confirmed that this was a young female, as they are often solitary. She kept a close watch onus as we circled around at a distance. Once she yawned widely and we could see her fearsome teeth, capable of eating a penguin. The bullet-shaped, lizard-like head was so apparent. As we were called back to the ship, we saw a Minke whale a ways away, who then swam near us. The whale came by the side of the Zodiac and spouted, circled, and then went under the boat. Our guide, Georgia, had her GoPro under the water and was able to film the whale going by. I think I saw her eye under the water as she went by the side of the boat … it was thrilled to again be so close to these huge mammals.

Back to the ship, and tie for laundry. I manage to rig up a second clothesline and did underwear and socks in the sink and the shower. We’ll how long these take to dry! Another nice lunch, and then time to get ready for the afternoon activities. I ordered lunch up to the room for Barney.

Barney started feeling not at all well, so we went down to the doctor. He has a virus which is going around the ship, body aches, fever, congestion, coughing, temperature shifts, etc., but apparently not bacterial so no antibiotics, just Advil and Tylenol. His forehead was so hot, just burning up. I let him snuggled under the covers and went on the afternoon Zodiac and landing at …….  After a short ride, we landed on a rocky cove, and climbed the snowy hill, much easier than the icy hill of the day before. There were huge numbers of chinstrap penguins, in three different areas. I only went partway up the hill, some others went all the way to the top but they were slipping a sliding, and since I was solo I did not want to risk it. The penguins were a delight to watch … waddling around in that adorable way, jumping up and down the hillside, and then two of them seemed to have a dispute and were slapping each other with their flippers! These are all getting ready to go to sea soon (this is the last trip of the season) and most are born this past season, so they seem happy to stay on land for a while. There are big area of reddish guano on the rocky stops of the hills where the snow has already blown away. Some of the penguins did head for the water and we watched them swim out ahead of us for a bit.

Back to the room, Barney was asleep and still very hot to the touch. I brought him some tea and we chatted for a bit. The daily menus are published on a page on the iPad attached to the wall so we can figure out his room service order for meals. I went up to the recap and met up with the Aussies and two American brothers, enjoyed a nice dinner with them, then back to the room with more tea for Barney. Very glad I got to be out and about today, but sad that he missed a full day in Antarctica. We have turned north and are headed back toward the tip of the peninsula.

Antartica Day 3, 25 February 2025

 We arose early to get ready for the 8:00am call for Zodiacs. After a quick breakfast and suiting up, we got ready to kayak! The water was very clam, like glad, perfect day, sunny, and no wind. We kayaked around the part f the island, saw two shipwrecks and the remains of a hut, lots of underwater kelp and small fish, and penguins n Shags and Petrels galore. The kayaks were very stable so a lot of fun to guide through the ice field. We tracked a sea lion for a bit and got some good photos of him.

Back to the ship for the Polar Plunge! Barney was brave enough to do this, and I took photos. He tried to dive in and realized this wold put hi far beyond the Zodiac crews so ended up half-diving, and then quickly back up to the platform. He said it was amazingly cold, he could not even hold the cup of hot chocolate and the shot of vodka they offered afterwards, his hands were shaking so much. After getting back to the cabin and putting on some warm clothes we went off to lunch. Afterwards, I was trying a few arias to see if there was something I could do a cappella for the staff wedding, I settled on “Venus’ Birds” which I thought I could sing in my post-bronchitis state.

Time for our actual continental landing! We went to the …. Portal, and hiked up a the snow a bit, seeing some spectacular ice floes and mountains. We had an incredible 360 degree view over the snow fields, and we were glad to have the walking sticks to help navigate as it got rather slippery.  There were some incredible icebergs, including one that looked like the tower in a European cathedral, and we saw seals sunning themselves. We descended the peak, and then our Zodiac ride happened, and oh what a ride!  We saw two humpback whales in the distance, blowing and diving. They came closer, so we had to stop and stay put per the rules. The one humpback was very curious about us, swam very close and dived, swam around and even under our Zodiac. Three times he blew through his blowhole and we actually got whale spray on us! At one point he swam next to out Zodiac, turned on his side, and we could see how beautiful, intelligent eye looking at us. It was breathtaking. Hard to take good photos when such excitement is happening, but I will never forgot the look in his eye, just checking us out and playing with us. What an extraordinary experience!

We came back, warmed up, and while I prepared for a prospective client zoom meeting, Barney headed up to the bar to met with the Aussie gang. I joined them for dinner, and we had a great time … these are folks who really know how to enjoy life. What a day - kayaking, the polar plunge, the continental landing, the whale. It could not get better.

Antarctica, Day 2, 24 February 2025

Up early today at 6:30am for a quick breakfast and then getting ready for the early excursion which I feel well enough to go to (with my mask on of course). About 8:30 we went up to the bridge (which is open), and spotted a pod of orcas up ahead. There were probably 50 people on the bridge and we were all looking forward to see them. It was a pod of about 10, diving and surfacing, everyone was thrilled. This moved the start of the excursion back about an hour, as they stayed with us a while.

The original plan, Devils’s Island in the morning and James Ross Island in the afternoon, was changed because of the weather, especially the winds.we are headed toward the Bernardo O’Higgins base (Chilean). This was my first time suiting up and doing the while boot and waterproof pants and double jacket and hat and mittens routine. Our Zodiac driver, Typhanie, steered us toward a group of chinstrap penguins, covered most of a hilly snowy area. They are now in the middle or toward the end of their catastrophic molt, waiting for their full set of feathers so they can return to the sea to feed. Some had quite a bit of fluff on their backs, one had a Mohawk on the top of his head. Many were sunning themselves so we saw their black backs as they absorbed the sun’s warmth. We turned about 90° toward another small island, saw a group of Gentoo penguins, also molting, and a group of male sea lions, in that typical head up sea lion pose. The mating season is over, and during that time they do not eat as they are busy protecting their harem and their territory. Now they are feeding and regaining weight. We also saw some shags, a white bird called the Snowy Sheathbill, and some long-necked cormorants. At some point, I just want to watch them, as I know my photography is limited with the iPhone. Barney took some great photos. 

After a nice lunch, it was time for the afternoon excursion, which I decided to forego per the doctor’s suggestion and rest a bit, and Barney went with the group. I settled in the Library which has a lovely view off the bow, and started reading my new book. I also played the piano a bit, the accompaniment to “ Must the Winter Come So Soon?” from Vanessa, which I will want to sing at least once on this trip. Later I went back and took a very long nap.

Barney went on the Zodiac and hiking trip to Astrolabe Island. It was cold, windy, and snowing and the fog had come in, almost impossible to see the landing spot. The guide made a high speed transit across the bay to see a leopard seal, which was also going away from the wind. They saw some chinstrap penguins in a rookery, and then landed on a very rocky beach. Barney has to use the walking sticks and hike carefully. He walked toward a sleeping fur seal (keeping his distance and taking photos), then walked toward the other end of the beach where the fur seals were playing with each other, nipping and biting and chest-butting, most seemed to be yearlings. At one point, Barney and a few others were near the water, heard a sound from a seal who wanted to get out of the water where Barney and others were standing, then the seal went down the beach to another spot and went onto the beach, between where Barney needed to go to the Zodiac. Finally the guides had the group move en masse to the Zodiac, finally the seal moved, and they got back to the Zodiac and back to the ship.

We had dinner with the fun Aussie folks, such great conversationalists! We extended an invite to John and Owen to stay with us in the Bay Area some time. John told us the story of how he and Reuben met, and I told him the story of how Barney and I met, and we marveled at the ways that people can connect in the most unexpected ways. We have met some wonderful folks on this trip!

Antarctica, Day 1, 23 February 2025

 We woke up this morning to see  our first icebergs in the distance … very exciting, we did not know this would be our view for the next several days! Around noon we left the Drake Passage after a fairly calm crossing, and they announced that there would be an exclusion later this afternoon.

I am still sick, and went to see the doctor again this afternoon, as coughing is worse. Time for some heavy artillery, good old Prednisone. I hope this will help, as I am still isolating and taking meals in our room. Barney is out and about having fun, and he went on the zodiac this afternoon, where they saw a whale, some penguins, and some seals. From our balcony I saw a seal slip into the water from a “bergy bit” the name for small icebergs. Then the ship started crashing through floating ice, with the ship shuddering with every impact … it was awesome. I was out on our balcony and could see the bow of the ship hit the bergy bit. At one point we came upon a bergy bit with an Emperor Penguin on it, the ship stopped so we could watch, he seemed to stop, then start, then stop and start again for almost 30 minutes. Eventually he floated away from us and the ship restarted our journey. 

I may be able to go on an excursion tomorrow with my mask on, we’ll see how I feel. What a drag to have the Nelson-Smits Family Vacation Illness Curse rear its ugly head. I am so grateful that there is a doctor on  board, she has been super helpful. I did not even think of bringing antibiotics on board. Barney had dinner with a pharmacist who said we could call him for anything we needed, he had all kinds of prescription medications with him. Going out in the cold helped, shrinking the tracheal passage, just like when Madeleine had croup and we sat out with her all night on the porch where it was cold, to help reduce the inflammation. The cold is definitely helping me.

Meanwhile, Barney went on the afternoon excursion, which was a Zodiac trip but no landing. They saw quite a few of the Adeline penguins, named by a French explorer after his wife Adelie. They also saw a fur seal and maybe a leopard seal. Later on, they saw some humpback whales as they were reboarding the ship.

In the afternoon there was a presentation about ice in its many forms, and the hierarchy from phytoplankton to whales, which Barney attended and I watched online. Barney had dinner with some new friends and then hung out upstairs. I had dinner in the room, watched a Smithsonian video, and finished my Louise Penney book, luckily I have another for later in the trip. 

The excursion is at 8:30am so we’re going to bed early so we can get up at 6:30am.

At sea, from Ushuaia to Antarctica, 22 February 2025

 We slept quite late (for us) to 8:00am, probably in part because of the rolling of the ship on the Drake Passage across open ocean, and partly because I was coughing a lot. After a quick breakfast, I realized I was really not feeling well, with a painful cough and sore throat and swollen glands, not a good sign. I sent Barney off to the lecture on how we would do landings, and another one on whale-watching. Meanwhile I went to the doctor, who said she thought it was a bit of bronchitis and gave me some antibiotics, also tested for Covid which was thankfully negative. By this time I was exhausted and sleepy, and rested until Barney came back at lunchtime. He went off to lunch, I read for a while, and he brought me back some soup. The afternoon was more sleeping and reading for me, while Barney went to the lecture on bird-watching and photography hints and techniques, which he really enjoyed. He also went up to the bridge, which is open most of the time. The doctor called me back to her clinic as I was having some side-effects from the antibiotics, and told me to isolate. So, back to the room, time looking out to the sea, reading, and sleeping. As I write this Barney is off to the captain’s welcome reception and dinner, and air will have some soup in the room and read. Luckily I brought four books with me, and am now halfway through the first of two Louise Penney Inspector Gamache books.  

To Ushuaia on 21 February 2025

 We got up even before our alarms, showered and dressed for the day, which was expected to be Soler and rainy in Ushuaia. At the airport we sat next to a nice couple from Australia who we liked, and throughout the day we reconnected. It was still so warm in Buenos Aires, and the airport seemed oddly not air-conditioned, or at least not fully. Our three-hour flight took us out over the ocean for a long time,  and then back inland to land in Ushuaia. Our bus took us through the town, which reminded me a bit of Scandinavia - brightly-colored houses, multi-story wooden structures with lots of gables and angles, so unlike the stucco and concrete of homes in Buenos Aires.

We embarked on two catamarans for a tour of Ushuaia bay … not sure why I was expecting these to be  catamarans with sails rather than motorized. We did see our ship and a much larger Viking ship in the port, along with the Europa, a tall ship we had toured during a long-ago Tall Ships Festival in SF. Unfortunately there was no opportunity to say hello to the crew. The catamaran had a large seating area where we had a nice salad and soup for lunch. Then outside, where it was indeed mercifully cooler and windy, off to see a former lighthouse now a wildlife area. The rocky island was covered with cormorants and sea lions, the characteristic smell of guano wafting through the air with the barks and squeals of the sea lions all around us. The ship circled that island and another a few times so everyone could get a good view and photos. Of course there was a large bull sea lion vociferously fighting off every other male nearby, always a good show.

Back to the dock, and finally we boarded the ship, got our ID tags, and has a chance to explore the ship briefly. A briefing was held in the Ice Lounge, where the entire 130 people on the ship could gather at one for briefings and presentations. We again sat with the Australian couple and some other Aussies, all very nice, and went to dinner together. They were very funny and engaging, and a I hope we’ll see more of them on the trip. After dinner we explored some other levels, including the outdoors where there are the sleeping igloos and jacuzzis, and the library where a huge map on a screen let us see the exact location of the trip.

Back to our room, which was quite nice, well-designed and comfortable, to unpack a bit and go to bed. For some reason I am coughing a lot, even more than my usual post-eating cough. Maybe I’m just tired.

Buenos Aires 20 February 2025

 till a bit tired from our trip, we slept almost 9 hours. Breakfast was on the very top of the hotel, which it turns out is half hotel, half condos. Stunning views over the whole of the city were really beautiful, and we plotted out our day.

Still determined to add value to our Subte card, we walked to the Plaza de Mayo station, and once again failed. Without value on the card, we could not take the bus which went directly to the museum, alas. So off to the Catedral station, and a quick look around this Baroque-style cathedral, like so many we had seen in Europe. One major attraction was the tomb of Jose de San Martin, who liberated South America from Spanish colonial rule. The side chapel where he was buried was crowded with small tour groups all snapping selfies, and I wondered if they know who he was. Interestingly, there was no place to light a candle anywhere in the church, perhaps fear of fire? In any case, we went back to the Subte station and headed for our destination, which took only one transfer and a nice walk through a park to the Museum.

The Museo Nacional des Belles Artes is the main museum here, with historical collections ranging from pre-Hispanic to Impressionist (there are also two contemporary arts museums). We enjoyed the small but lovely collection of Impressionists and a post-Impressionists, a nice Medieval collection, and a number of works ranging from El Greco to Dutch still lifes to Bougereau, the collection had a lot of French pieces donated by wealthy Argentinians who were Francophiles, in reaction to their earlier Spanish colonial overlords. Our visit was fairly short as we had to back to the hotel, so we only scratched the surface.

At 2:00pm, the Nat Geo folks arranged for a short city tour and visits. We went to El Zanjan, a museum built over the former tunnels which culverted the main creeks in the early colony. The tunnels were about 10 feet high, and each family in what was then a wealthy area built their own tunnel underneath their homes, which kept the sewage and garbage from affecting their lives. Later the wealthy moved and the grand homes became tenements, with 24 families living in what was once the home of a single wealthy family. It was discovered by a man who bought an old building in the 1980s, found it wrecked inside and floors collapsing, revealing the former tunnels beneath. He spent two decades restoring it, and it became a major archaeological site of 18th and 19th century life. The we went to the Recoleta Cemetery, site of the grave of Eva Peron, whose embalmed remains were brought here decades after she died and after her husband returned to Argentina after exile. The narrow alley leading to her family mausoleum was jammed with tourists all taking the requisite photo. I enjoyed walking the other alleys between the monumental tombs, rather like the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, but with no greenery or tombstones, only mausoleums. Many had plaques describing the background of the person who first purchased a plot there.

The day was hot and humid, around 90°, it felt so much like Miami in summer, so we’re grateful to get back to the hotel and the air conditioning. We repacked out suitcases to be picked up that evening. A welcome reception was held in the downstairs of the hotel, and we met several nice shipmates, and learned about the plans for the next day. Probably half of the on board were American, maybe 60%, with the rest being Australian, German, Canadian, and a few other South Americans, so conversations and presentations were all in English.

Rather like the 5am flight to Abu Simbel in Egypt, we had to get up very early the next day for our flight to Ushuaia, so we headed to bed early with multiple alarms set.

The Antarctica Adventure Begins! 18 -19 February 2025, to Argentina

 After almost two years of waiting, we are off to Antarctica. Madeleine drives us to the airport, and our flight leaves on time. We managed to get quite a bit of gear into one checked bag each. A major storm in Texas delays our arrival in Houston … one minute we were flying through blue skies with puffy white clouds underneath, the next minute the sky was dark and the rain was pouring. We waited more than 30 minutes to deplane because no one could go in or out because of the storm. We finally deplaned and raced for our connection to Buenos Aires, go on board, and then we waited about 90 minutes to depart because of the storm.  Once we got through the storm, the flight was fine, we managed to sleep, Premium z plus was definitely worth it for an overnight flight. We got our reserved taxi and headed into town. The outskirts of the city look very much like any other city near the airport, some single family homes, some high rise apartments, and some commercial buildings. Out hotel is the one used by National Geographic, rather fancier than we would normally choose, on reclaimed land in what used to the the river, near a wetlands. 

After we check in, we head to the tourist center to get a transit card, and then to the Catedral station, only to find that 5ere was no way for us to add value with out credit cards and we did not bring Argentine pesos. Luckily the metro accepted Visa cards, so off we went. The Subte (the metro) was clean and air-conditioned, really nice as the temperature in Buenos Aires was about in the low 80s. We had a lovely lunch at Comte Corredor, which has a Michelin star, and renowned for their steaks. We split a huge kale salad, fries, and a flatiron steak … the only one that was in English, and it was plenty for two people. I never did figure out what ojo de bifa meant (eye of steak maybe?) but we enjoyed our lunch, which finished with a lovely flan. We headed toward the Museo Nacional des Artes Decoratives, sited in a huge home of a wealthy family from the late 19th-early 20th century, mostly done in French style. The family had an incredible art collection, from the time when Argentina was one of the wealthiest economies in the world, thanks to amazing natural resources and agriculture. After the museum, we headed back to the hotel to check in with the National Geographic folks, and had a very light dinner of empanadas and another flan and of course, Malbec which is everywhere. We managed to stay up until 9:00pm to stave off jet lag and we’re successful!