Geo: -42.48, -73.77We've had two full days of fairly rough sea and foggy and rainy weather on Wednesday and Thursday before returning inland from the Pacific Ocean. Sometime during dinner yesterday, the ride smoothed out, and we could see mountains on both sides of the ship. On Wednesday, I went up to the Observation Lounge when the Expedition Crew members were there looking for wildlife. They spend several hours every day stationed at points around the ship to look for animals and to talk to guests. Rachel identified all of the animals that I had taken photos of but didn't recognize. A pamphlet with the most common animals seen in Antarctic and southern South America was distributed to each room near the beginning of the cruise. There were a few animals that just didn't look like ... read more

Geo: -54.79, -68.31This morning we had an early alarm set to be up and ready for our tour meeting on the dock at 7:45. Looking outside, we could see fresh snowfall on the nearby mountain. We have been warned that it will be cold and windy today, so we have layered up again. We took the "Train to the End of the World" tour. First stop was the Maritime Museum which is located in the old prison. Ushuaia was the location where Argentina sent its worst criminals. The city built up around the prison with only prisoners, guards, and the families of the guards living here for a long time. Prisoners were sent here before all the facilities were ready so the prisoners built their own prison. The conditions were difficult for everyone with the harsh ... read more

Geo: -59.6, -64.1999... read more

Geo: -63.3951, -56.7309Today started with an announcement from the "disembodied voice on the bridge" saying that we had made it to our stopping point for today much earlier than anticipated. It was 7:30 a.m. Yesterday, the captain said that we should arrive in Hope Bay on the Antarctic Sound about 10 and would start Zodiac tours of the bay at approximately 11. Since our group was the first group to go out today, we were happy to have the late start. When the captain, then later the expedition team leader, made the early announcements this morning, we just were not ready to get up and face the cold ride. We passed on the Zodiac tour and watched the Adelie penguins swimming and porpoising from our warm suite. A side note on the “disembodied voice from the ... read more

Geo: -64.7975, -63.4461We tried to sleep late again but were awakened when Iggy came on the public address system to talk about the day's activities. We went to sleep planning to have a scenic cruise in the Zodiac near Torgensen Island. Iggy says the weather there is not good so we have stopped in the Neumayer Channel and will have zodiac landings today on Wiencke Island at Damoy Point near several Gentoo penguin rookeries and a British research station hut. It snowed all morning, but the wind was very light. We watched large groups of penguins swimming and diving in the water by our ship. We also saw two other ships today. One was a tall-masted sailing ship, the Spirit of Sydney, very near the aft of our ship. The other was another cruise ship. It ... read more