Sunrise at 5:00am

We had to take a tender in

Captain Ahab

Our friend , Toni Arenson, from Kansas City just happened to be on a Holland America ship and was docked at the same port! \240We were able to arrange a brief meeting. What are the chances?

Inside Tierra del Fuego National Park

Tom arranged for a tour guide to take us on a tour of the park. It was great having our own guide. We were able to avoid the buses and we got out to walk frequently. The park had beautiful forests, and was surrounded by mountains, lakes, rivers and the Beagle Channel. \240It was in the 60’s and sunny-a heat wave for them! We were very fortunate with the good weather.

Beavers were brought over in the 1940s for their furs. They have no known predators and the population has gotten out of control. The beavers have killed many trees and affected the rivers by building dams.

Our tour guide, Innes

Beagle channel

The city of Ushuaia

Ships in port

Our ship in the background

Ushuaia

Sunset at 9:30pm

Sunset in Ushuaia

View from our balcony

View from front of ship

It was a little cold. Probably in the 30s, but the wind made it feel much colder.

On our balcony

We arrived at Cape Horn very early so we had some nice view of the sunrise.

View from our balcony

Rough seas

It was very rough in Drakes passage and the captain was informed by the Chilean government last night that we would have to go about 40 miles back towards Ushuaia to drop off our pilot in calmer waters. That put us about 5 hours behind schedule in getting to Antarctica.

Tom enjoyed following the weather in Drakes Passage. These show the wave heights and surface pressure where we were. It was pretty rough at times, making it difficult to walk around the ship, but we didn’t get sick.

First view of Antarctica

We arrived in Schollart Channel and it was beautiful. The sun began breaking through the clouds. We could see mountains and glaciers from our balcony and we also walked out on the ship’s decks. We saw several glaciers floating by that had penguins on them. There were also many humpback whale sightings.

View from our balcony

Views from around the deck

When we arrived in Paradise Bay it began getting foggy and even started snowing. The temperature was probably around 35, but with the wind blowing on deck it felt much colder.

Sitting on our balcony

View from our room

They let people out on the helipad, but then had to close it when it started to snow.

Penguins on the ice

Humpback whales

Sunset was at 10:58, but unfortunately we couldn’t see the sun.

A few facts we’ve learned about Antarctica from the naturalist on board, Celia Garland.

Ice that has broken off of a glacier is considered an iceberg if it is at least 16 ft across and 16 ft high. We only see about 10% of it.

A smaller piece of ice is called a growler.

Brash ice is the very small ice pieces that a ship can sail through.

The ship has an Ice pilot that helps the captain navigate through the ice

Antarctica has many mountains and most have some relation to the other ranges around the world, except the younger ones. The highest mountain is 16,050 ft high.

People can’t go onto Antarctica unless their ship is under 500 people. They have to take small boats ashore and it can be very treacherous. Smaller expedition ships that let you go ashore start at about $17,000 a person!

This is the size of an \240Antarctic explorer ship

Antarctica is the loneliest, highest and driest place in world.

The lowest temperature recorded was -111 in 1982. The highest was 64 in 2020.

There are no permanent settlements on Antarctica.

Captain James Cook tried 4 times to reach Antarctica between 1773-74. He called the conditions Inexpressively horrid

John Davis was the first to set foot on the continent in 1821.

As we arrived at Elephant Island, the sun came out, the fog began to lift and the clouds gave us some magnificent views! The winds were 30-40 mph out on deck making it very cold and difficult to move around.

Some people are just crazy!

We were about to blow away!

The sky lounge in the front of the ship

Our cabin steward decorated his door

Birthday dinner in Tuscan Grille

After 5 days at sea cruising around Antarctica, we are finally on land again. The Faukland \240Islands have a population of just 3500 people.

We took a 4x4 about 45 miles out to Volunteer point. It was a 2 hour trip and most off the drive was off road.

There are 17 varieties of penguins and at volunteer point there were King penguins, Magellanic Penguins and Gentoo.

Some facts we learned from our naturalist on board:

Penguins are native to Southern Hemisphere

Some fair weather penguins live on warm beaches

Penguins are flightless birds that have solid bones for diving. They can dive up to 700 feet below the surface.

Their feathers are 3 1/2 inches thick and repel water.

In the water a group is called a raft. On land they are called waddles.

Their tongues are like Velcro to help them carry food to the surface to eat. They eat fish, squid and krill.

King penguins

King penguins are one of largest and can reach 3 feet tall. They have orange and yellow markings on their head and neck.

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Mother feeding her chick

Adolescent penguin that hasn’t molted

Adolescent king penguin

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\240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 Magellanic penguins

Magellanic penguins have a white stripe around their stomach, a little pink on the face, and have black bills. They usually build their nests along rocky sandy beaches.

Chicks

Gentoo penguins

Gentoo penguins are medium size. \240They have a white eye patch, black and red bills,and bright orange feet. They are the \240fastest swimmers at up to. 22 mph.

Map of our drive

We first stopped at the visitor’s center which gave information about historical events, the ecosystems of the area, and the regional flora and fauna.

Whale skeleton

We then continued on gravel roads to Caleta Valdes, a 21 mile stretch of protected land. \240Along the drive we saw many guanacos, which are similar to llamas.

\240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240 \240Guanacos

When we arrived at Caleta Valdes we saw many Magellanic penguins. There are 137 colonies of Magellanic penguins which come back to the same colony and same nest to mate in September-April. \240The females lay 2 eggs which have a 42 day \240incubation period. One penguin stays with the egg and one goes out for food.

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We dove a little further to see some Elephant seals. \240Male elephant seals can hold their breath for longer than almost any other mammal, diving beneath the waves for up to two hours without surfacing for air. Elephant seals live for just two months of the year on land. They spend the rest of their time mostly underwater, hunting squids and fishes. We must have seen them resting during their two months on land!

Elephant seals are quieter than sea lions and use growls and moans to communicate, but do t bark like sea lions.

We drove a little further to a place where there were thousands of sea lions.

Sea lions use barks, growls and groans to help them recognize each other, establish and defend territories, and engage in other social interactions.

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Views of the port.

A ship graveyard?

Tom arranged for a tour with a local guide. It was another great excursion with just the 4 of us.

Main square

Entrance into the market. Iron was brought over from Liverpool.

Original source of water

Inside market. Lots of meat cooking.

The average person eats about 101 pounds of meat a year. There are 13 million cows and only 3 million people in Uraguay.

Historic clock

More meat cooking.

Catholic church

Original post office. Built on 1925. Uraguay didn’t become a country until 1928.

Inside post office

Symbol of Uraguay

View of Montevideo

View of cruise ships in port

Office of the president

Old gate into city

Pedestrian street

Old medical building

Inside medical building now a book store

First FIFA soccer stadium built in 1930. Took 6 months to build. Uraguay played in first FIFA championship there and won.

We went to a family run winery that has been making wine since 1928. The most used grape in Uraguay wines is the tannet grape. It comes from France and was first planted in 1938. There are over 300 wineries in Uraguay.

The original wine cellar from 1928

A wonderful wine tasting with Laura who has been making wine there for 33 years.

The president’s offices

Balcony Eva Paron spoke from

Catholic church

National courts

Opera house and theater

Inside the market

Cooking food

Lots of meat

Breads

Boca district

Original color of homes

Colorful homes

Soccer stadium

View from our room at the Marriott

Our dinner of steak and lamb