Paradise Harbour

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Geo: -64.8407, -63.0662

This morning we woke up to the captain's voice over the intercom saying that we were not able to go to Cuverville Island after all because of bad weather there. We were in Paradise Harbour, but were not sure at that time if anyone would be able to get off the ship. As it turned out, they allowed the Zodiacs to take passengers out for a cruise, but would not make any landings. With snow falling and the sky overcast, Philip and I decided to forego the Zodiac tour and stay on the ship. The people we saw returning from the tour said it was fun but very cold. We took the opportunity to sleep late, enjoy lunch in the Colonnade, and listen to a lecture on how climate change is affecting the penguins of Antarctica. The Adelies, which survive only on pack ice, are dwindling since the ice is melting and shrinking in area. The population of the chinstraps is remaining fairly constant. The Gentoos are increasing in number since they are more adaptable and can survive with less ice surface.

We went outside several times during the day to watch the scenery as it changed with the weather conditions and to take photos. Shortly after 5 p.m., we received a phone call inviting us to have dinner with the classical guitarist on board. Phil accepted for us. We passed on an invitation to have dinner with two other crew members on Saturday. On our last Seabourn cruise, one of the other guests said that we would probably be invited to dine with crew members at some point during the trip. It never happened on that cruise. We have been invited four times on this cruise so far. They certainly have more crew this time with all the expedition team, but they have no more large tables. It is a nice gesture, but may be overdone his time.

Dinner with Dimitri and eight other guests was fun this evening. Jackie and Lucy, mother/daughter travelers from Brisbane, were there. We met them at another crew dinner. Joining in were a couple from Florida, a couple from England, and two single travelers, a woman from the Canary Islands and a man we had met before from Brisbane. During dinner and before, we had a scenic cruise on the way to the Neumayer Chanel. Iggy, the expedition team leader, did the daily recap and briefing over the intercom since it was too beautiful a view to sit in the auditorium at that time. It was after 10 p.m. before we broke up the dinner table. With the curtains open and daylight still flooding in, it was hard to tell how late it was. Tonight's sunset was at 10:32 and tomorrow's sunrise will be at 2:32 a.m. When we got back to our suite, we found a gorgeous view of the snow covered mountain out the window. Just beautiful!

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