FUN-photos: Buenos Aires to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise 2013

April 19, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Buenos Aires to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise 2013 

The third part of our trip had us flying from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, Argentina on March 2nd to board the Silversea Expedition for a 22 day cruise. We had three expeditions in the Falkland Islands and six in South Georgia. We were a bit disappointed when we unable to land on Tristan Da Cunha do to rough seas. It is the most remote inhabited island in the world, with Easter Island a close second.

We never planned the trip around seeing some of the most remote islands in the world, it just turned out that way. We loved Antarctica and wanted to see South Georgia without going back to the continent. The Seabourn cruise just happened to include several islands as well.

We arrived in Cape Town on March 22nd for two nights and three days. After eleven straight sea days we were all ready to get off and enjoy land!

If you click on the first picture it will allow you to create a slide show. And it turns out they are in ascending order (in other words, the first is actually the last) Enjoy!

FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 10 – South Georgia

March 14, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 10 – South Georgia 

The ABC’s of Islands
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration

Gold Harbor, South Georgia 16

Gold Harbor, South Georgia

Day 41 –Monday, March 11 – South Georgia Islands – Parked in Bay of Isles – stormy, snowing – high 33

  • B – 7:30 – wakeup call over PA
  • B – big storm coming in – all expeditions cancelled
  • A – parked in the Bay of Isles – best harbor to weather the storm
  • 8:00 – typical morning routine
  • 11:30 – wine tasting

#1 – Sauvignon Blanc – Loire Valley, France – 2011 La Petite Perrier
#2 – Sauvignon Blanc – Valley de Bio-Bio, Chile – 2011 Eco
#3 – Sauvignon Blanc – Napa Valley, CA – Lail Vineyards
#4 – Champagne – Monopole Heidsich

  • 12:30 – lunch – typical buffet
  • 2:00 – School: Shackleton history – where the money came from to finance 4 expeditions – how he selected his unusual & effective team – reputation for ensuring the survival of his crew @ the expense of his own ambitions
  • 3:00 – room R & R
  • 5:00 – School: Whaling in the Southern Ocean – history of South Georgia operations
  • 6:45 – final recap of South Georgia
  • 7:30 – happy hour w/Alfredo
  • 8:00 – dinner w/Daniil expedition asst team leader
  • 9:30 – get front row seats in panorama lounge for Cabaret show (have only had Alfredo until now)
Gold Harbor, South Georgia 1

Gold Harbor

  • 10:00 – Milly Johnson’s final show
  • C – first ever for me on a ship – Drag Queen show! AAA rating!
  • A –4 songs complete w/different costumes
  • A – great FUN!
  • 12:00 – close the bar & go night night

FF – (FUN-fact) – Penguins seek the highest ground because they get the first sun in morning and the last sun at night.
More FF – Milly Johnson is Fred the Maître’D who had a 25 year career working both solo and with groups as a drag queen. This was his first and last appearance on the Silversea Explorer. He is being promoted and will be changing jobs.

Godthul, South Georgia 2

Godthul Iceberg

 

FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 9 – South Georgia

March 13, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 9 – South Georgia 

The ABC’s of Islands
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration

Day 40 –Sunday, March 10 – South Georgia Islands – heavy cloud cover w/patches of blue sky & sun turning to snow – high 38 – sunrise 6:08 – sunset 7:02 

Godthul, South Georgia 7

Godthul

Grytviken, South Georgia 34

Grytviken Church

  • 8:00 – wakeup call over PA
  • 8:15 – typical cappuccino/ breakfast
  • A – no wind
  • 1st expedition – 9:00 to 12:00 – Godthul – a bay about one mile long
  • 9:30 – in no hurry, depart on last Zodiac
  • 9:40 – arrive & stay in zodiac for iceberg tour in bay
  • 10:10 – start hike up hill – big clumps of tussock grass very hard to maneuver for first 10 mins
  • A – fur seals & molting gentoos perched on grass & hill
  • 10:40 – arrive top for view of huge lake & small pond – stark rocky terrain w/low grass, mushrooms, some flowers
  • 11:30 – arrive back to zodiac & light snow
  • 12:00 – typical lunch
  • 2nd expedition – 2:30 to 4:00 – Grytviken – only “town” on South Georgia – has church, museum, gift shop & post office – settlement was founded in 1904 as a whaling station & closed in 1962 –175,250 whales were processed @ whaling stations on South Georgia
  • Ernest Shackleton buried here in small cemetery
  • 6:30 – happy hour
  • C – special on board guests from British Antarctic Survey (they have research station here) – meet Rod, Hugh, Paula & have dinner with both Rod & Hugh – Rod is the postman & Hugh is the director in charge of operations

FF – (FUN-fact) – Tussock grass forms a stool with a dense crown of leaves growing to 3 ft in diameter and over 6 feet high.
More FF – South Georgia is about 100 miles long and (1 to 24 miles) wide with no permanent residents. It has over 160 glaciers and half of the island is covered with ice and permanent snow.

Godthul, South Georgia 15

FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 8 – South Georgia

March 12, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 8 – South Georgia 

The ABC’s of Islands
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration

Gold Harbor, South Georgia 28

Gold Harbor, South Georgia

  • B – 6:00 – wakeup call over PA
  • 6:25 – cappuccino & yogurt w/granola – need more than fruit
  • 7:45 – in no hurry, depart on last Zodiac
  • 1st expedition –7:00 to 10:30 – St. Andrews Bay – largest king penguin colony in South Georgia (over 200,000) & largest elephant seal beach
  • A – mountain tops covered w/glaciers peaking through fog shrouded base @ waterline
  • B – 2 rivers to cross w/no bridge to get to edge of colony – expedition team forms a human rope to help us maneuver the slippery rocks & fast moving water
  • C – my feet stay dry
  • A – penguins line the beach & glacier rivers
  • A – they are very inquisitive, not skittish around people
  • A – there are reindeer (but since they are non-native are being killed, as are the rats)
  • 12:00 – typical lunch
  • 1:00 – take nap
  • 2nd expedition – 2:00 to 6:00 – Gold Harbor – one of South Georgia’s most beautiful sites – ice fields & glaciers run into valleys – backdrop of towering snow covered peaks
Gold Harbor, South Georgia 14

Elephant Seal

  • A – amphitheatre of hanging glaciers & vertical cliffs rise straight out of sea
  • A – impressive white cliffs on the bay w/exceptional abundance of seabirds & seals
  • A – kings, gentoos & elephant seals jostle for space on beach

    St. Andrew's Bay, South Georgia 12

    Reindeer on St. Andrew’s Bay

  • C – 10++ AAA rating for day!
  • 4:00 – tea
  • 6:15 – happy hour
  • 6:45 – recap & briefing from expedition team
  • 8:00 – dinner w/7 shipmates – mostly Brits – great conversation of religion & politics
  • 9:45 – more Alfredo music & songs

FF – (FUN-fact) – The wandering albatross has the biggest wing span of any bird at 10 to 12 feet.
More FF – The huge icebergs have drifted from Antarctica and often are grounded in the shallow waters near shore.

Gold Harbor, South Georgia 24

Gold Harbor

FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 7 – South Georgia

March 11, 2013 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Ushuaia, Argentina to Cape Town, South Africa – Silversea Cruise – Day 7 – South Georgia 

The ABC’s of Islands
A = Awesome
B = Bummer
C = Celebration

Hercules Bay, South Georgia 20

Hercules Bay

Day 38 – Friday, March 8 – South Georgia Islands – foggy, rainy morning followed by clearing skies – high 41 – sunrise 6:08 – sunset 7:11

  • B – 5:30 – wakeup call over PA (need to start early because high winds are common @ 10 am)
  • 1st expedition – 6:30 to 9:30 – Salisbury Plain – filled w/birds & seals as far as the eye can see – 2nd largest king penguin colony @ 80,000 – see lots of baby chicks sitting on the parents feet under a fold of skin – hundreds of fur seals & pups frolicking on the beach and in the glacier streams coming from the mountains – 10 ++ AAA rating
  • B – load in the zodiac & huge wave soaks us as we are taking off
  • 2nd expedition –10:30 to 11:30 – Prion Island – walk up planking surrounded by thick tufts of tussoc grass & rocks w/fur seals perched everywhere you look that match the rocks – top platform has view of nesting albatross – beach landing has Gentoos & 2 King Penguins (site limited to only 50 people at any time, so 2nd group comes @ 11:30)
  • 3rd expedition – 4:00 to 5:15 – Hercules Bay – zodiac only tour – see icebergs, Macaroni penguins, waterfall, birds
Salisbury Plain, South Georgia 44

Salisbury Plain

  • 5:30 – happy hour
  • 6:45 – recap & briefing from expedition team
  • 7:15 – more happy hour before typical dinner
  • 9:30 – more good music & songs in Panorama lounge

FF – (FUN-fact) – King penguins stand at 2 to 3 feet high and take over a year to raise their chicks. There are over 450,000 breeding pairs.
More FF – Our ship was hit by a rogue wave on January 12th that blew out the bridge window. Captain Adam has a huge scar over his right eye. He said, “It came out of nowhere from an odd position” when I asked him if he saw it coming. Hopefully that will be the only one. The weather had been very nice, even sun, no wind and calm seas.  But there is a storm a brewing so we’re told for Monday.

Prion Island, South Georgia 2

Prion Island Seal Pups