Grytviken and Drygalski Fijord

After getting blown out of a few landings we were treated to some amazing weather, blue skies and flat calm!

Hiking above Grytviken and Shackleton's grave

Watching out for the elephant seals wallowing beside the pathways completely unconcerned with the human visitors...

And in for a closer view, lichens and mosses growing on an aged whale vertebra

Then to Drygalski... staff who have been working these waters for 15-20 years have never seen this place so calm let alone put zodiacs in the water... incredible.

Triumphant after a stunning afternoon

Back to the Ice

I love Antarctica.  That's all there is to it. South Georgia is great with the abundance of wildlife and even lots of lichens and plants...but really, I love ice.  And that means Antarctica.

On to South Georgia...

Uneventful days at sea brought us to the shores of South Georgia... full of wildlife as usual.  Getting from ship to shore involves the use of zodiacs (rubberized inflated boats with an outboard motor); here's a view from a drivers perspective just before pulling up to the stem of the ship to load passengers...

And here's one shore we headed to... St. Andrews Bay, king penguin colony 500,000 penguins strong...

Falkland Islands!

Here we are again on the Sea Explorer!

A few pics from our first landings of this trip... Saunders Island with its white sand beaches and 'sea cabbage' eaten by sailors to stave off scurvy

Our first King penguins!

And some sort of sea algae/lichen growing above the tide zone but certainly getting sprayed... always more to investigate!

On to West Point Island... And the black browed albatross and rockhopper penguin colony... all thru the gravelly slope in the foreground...

Stunning weather, we lucked out.  Stanley was next... a bit more grim it was there.  Stay tuned!

Test post from the ship!

Just trying to see if this will work from the ship... a teaser... more to come!

It Begins Again! ...adventures down south....

Haha, this was the first post i tried to make a few months ago but apparently it never went out.  So here's a blast from the past! 

------

Well, I'm off again.  Headed out at the end of January to the uttermost part of the earth as its called, the port of Ushuaia, Argentina to ship out for a few trips as an expedition guide on board the Sea Explorer I... adventures in the southern ocean.

All is good just busy. Gmail is fine but what's app is quicker!  Hope you are good, missing our time on board together. I am living in cabin 430.  I still remember that night falling asleep holding each other tight then miko coming in late and waking us up then I went home.... good memories.
:)
All is good just busy. Gmail is fine but what's app is quicker!  Hope you are good, missing our time on board together. I am living in cabin 430.  I still remember that night falling asleep holding each other tight then miko coming in late and waking us up then I went home.... good memories.
:)
First stop is the Falkland Islands.  Beautiful white sand beaches (funnily enough this land used to belong to South Africa instead of being punched up volcánically or other sea floor tectonic business) marred only by the fact that they're off limits due to unexploded ordinance left over from  the Falklands War... and this time a rather dreary day.

But I thoroughly enjoyed a few walks around the town, an excursion with guests and along the harbor from town to ship, having some quiet time before getting back on board.

Will enjoy some gingerbeer tonight, bought at the Stanley provision company (everything comes in by ship from the UK... Argentina won't trade with them funnily enough...) and see what the sea has in store for us the next two days.

Would prefer a few days of toss and turn in exchange for clear and calm, or even cloudy and normal winds, for our landing days along the South Georgia coast.

Wish us luck!
Cheers from the Patagonia shelf...
:) jos

Falkland islands and lichens!

The mtns behind Ushuaia as we flew in

Me in my ship uniform!