Blogs from Antarctica, Antarctica - page 4

Saturday. Looking for sea ice, we headed south but none nearby in the early morning. No sea birds in sight when we joined the ornithologist on deck 10 after breakfast. I was beginning to feel that maybe this trip was a mistake, no entertainment, nothing to see. But after we crossed the Antarctic Circle, we began to see huge icebergs in the distance between us and some islands. As we sailed along, we saw more icebergs, closer up. The water became filled with ice, flat surface ice and small icebergs in fantastic shapes, some with beautiful blue and green color. A few of the flat floes had seals reclined on them. Some bobbed up and down. We passed rather close to one of the huge glaciers. The ship broke through a shallow layer of ice to ... read more

Tuesday. We prepared to go ashore on Cape Horn and were given instructions on what to wear and how to board the zodiacs. I was very sleepy and relieved that our group was to disembark at 10:00 rather than 8. But the wind picked up again and the seas were rough enough that it became unsafe to go ashore, so we stayed on board and instead circumnavigated the Horn, which is an island. It was gray and the landscape not exciting so I was happy to sleep. As we headed toward Antarctica and sailed into the open ocean of Drake Passage, it became very rough with large swells. I usually love it when the ship is moving, but on this, my 31st cruise, I became seasick for the first time. I managed to eat dinner and ... read more

There is no doubt that in our minds, Antarctica makes travel dreams come true. Antarctica is the coldest continent. Antarctica is the driest continent. Antarctica is the windiest continent and we were constantly reminded of that on our trip. Antarctica has a rich history full of brave explorers navigating these waters in days past. Voyages were made by men that seemingly no one in their right mind would attempt. It is the only continent not permanently inhabited. It is all this and so much more....The Antarctic Treaty System was created in 1959 to establish Antarctica as a zone of peace and science. Today, the area is protected, and a great deal of valuable scientific research occurs. People will always question and debate whether visitors should be allowed to visit these areas. Our experience with Quark is ... read more

In the beginning: Our most recent blog was an example of how we just could not wait to share our experiences. We simply could not help ourselves and wanted to jump into our trip to tell you about the breath-taking Falkland Islands and show you some penguins, which are so amazingly cute. It was also an attempt to capture your interest so that you will continue to read along. Okay…mission accomplished (or so we think). At this point, we will take a quick step back now and tell you about the beginning of our trip and our orientation to life at sea. All told, we were gone a little over three weeks. Three weeks on a ship might seem lengthy, but we would let you know it went by blazingly fast. Included in our journey were ... read more

We have just returned from Antarctica which is our 7th and last continent. (Also my 104th country as per Century Club classifications) Our trip was supposed to start from Salt Spring on Jan 3d but projected wind conditions on the Georgia Strait give us pause about the ferry so we left on the 2nd and did a few touristy things in Vancouver. As usual it was raining and our visit to Granville Island and Gastown included umbrellas. Our Air Canada flight departed YVR at 1030 AM on the 4th, putting us into Toronto at 1802. The big news is that Air Canada got two more best airline/good service awards (they have their own awards department filled with imaginative people who probably trained with Sarah Huckabee Sanders) It was a five hour flight from Vancouver and the ... read more