Godthul and Grytviken in South Georgia

Today was a busy day, starting in the early am with Pop Pop and yoga, then a kayak ride with both DeDe and Pop Pop in Godthul, Norwegian for “Good Cove.” South Georgia is different from Antarctica – in Antarctica there is only 2” of rainfall per year. Here in South Georgia, it rains or snows 300 days per year. We’ve been here two days, it snowed in both, and it is the dead of summer. The kayak ride was on clear water, with swells near the rocks by the shore. The elephant seal in the picture was lolling about until we must have gotten too close, when first the head came up, then the tail, and we decided that DeDe should “click” and we retreat.
Later that morning, we hiked up to the back of the bowl forming the cove with steep crags and scree all around us, where there was a mountain pond, and rushing streams.
We’re getting photog lessons, and the flower picture is an experiment by Pop Pop that seemed to work out. Bet in the winter, all those little flowers are buried in snow!

South Georgia blizzard

We’ve landed – well, not really. The day’s agenda said, “South Georgia is notorious for strong sudden winds.” We have them. Pop Pop went out for a Zodiac ride with snow coming down sideways as we drove up a fijord. It was very cold, but beautiful. This am, we were in front of a glacier when two “shooters” exploded the water. A shooter is a large chunk of ice that breaks off from the bottom of the glacier deep underwater. As the iceberg breaks water, there is a massive upheaval. On the bridge, the Captain said shooters are much more dangerous than calving – because the ice is much more compressed, and the size of the shooters is much larger.
DeDe is biking in the wellness area regularly because she is complaining that she now has more blubber than a Weddel seal (she doesn’t, but it makes a good story).

Chimping

The Orkney Islands are full of penguins and seals. We also learned a new word – chimping. That’s when traveling photographers look at the pictures they have just taken, saying, “Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.” Today's pics are DeDe's from yesterday.

All the islands have similar topography – sharp, peaked rocks, with glacial valleys, rocky coasts, and floating or grounded icebergs offshore.

Today we’re headed to South Georgia, and literally, millions of animals. In the meantime, however, Pop Pop has spent much of the morning laying in bed, with the seas rocking, pitching, and rolling the ship. “Ooh, ooh,” with a different tone.

Photo evaluation

We are sailing today to the South Orkney Islands. The Nat Geo and Lindblad photographers will critique our pics tonight. We've submitted these two from yesterday. This am we saw a Blue (very large) whale and her baby (quite rare to see both). A research scientist on board went out and took a blubber sample from a Zodiak with a crossbow and arrow - very exciting (and cold).

Shackelton's rescue

We went out again today, and saw the place where the crew on the Shackelton Expedition stayed in the winter of 1916. The expedition was stranded in pack ice from January to October, 1915, when their ship was crushed by ice. They hauled and then rowed life boats across the ice flow to Elephant Island where Shackelton and four others left the party in April, 1916, and rowed 800 miles during winter in the world’s worst seas to the island of South Georgia. After several failed rescue attempts, Shackelton and a Chilean sea captain rescued the men in August, 1916. The monument in the picture was erected by the Chileans to honor the rescuing captain. Some of the Brits on board seem put out that there is no monument to Sir Shackelton.
As an added bonus this pm, the glacier calved; we saw two leopard seals, and penguins jumping four feet out of the water onto wet rocks to escape the seal.

PICTURE

We have at least one pic thanks to Mozilla Firefox.

Elephant Island

We landed at Elephant Island, a place Sir Ernest Shackelton’s men landed and stayed the winter while a few men sailed to Georgia and returned to save the rest of the crew. We saw Gentoo, Chinstrap, and Macaroni penguins, fur and elephant seals, and petrals. We also saw a Right whale, a relatively rare species. Yesterday, we could not download a picture – we’ll try again today. The landscapes are beyond description ; everything is surreal.

Yuuck! No pictures again.

R&R following a hike up a mountain

Yesterday pm we walked up a snow-covered mountain about 900 ft high. We made it but were happy to slide part way rather than walking the whole way down. Today DeDe and Pop Pop had the chance to swim in the water off of Deception Island. We chickened out and watched the dozen or so swimmers from the ship’s sunny library.

We’re now headed for Elephant Island, part of the Shetland Islands.

P.S. comment to J&J - we are not bringing any penguins back - they share a trait with geese.

We're cold!

After two days of being almost too warm in layers of polartec clothing, we went out today a bit underdressed. Oops! It is a tad cloudy, and very windy, and we were feeling this is Antarctica (as it is). DeDe's bird aura continues here as she was approached by a little cuddly gentoo penguin.

This pm, we're hoping for another kyak ride.

Kyaking and travel in Antarctica

Today we went kyaking in the am, and walking on the beach looking at seals and penguins. In the pm, we traveled through the "Gullet," a steep channel shown in the picture. The scenes are breathtaking! We hope we can remember all the spectacular sights.

On Antarctic's shore

We went to shore on the Antarctic mainland. Seals, skuas, and lots of Adele penguins greeted us (the smell was not too bad). In the picture, the background is a glacier, not an iceberg. DeDe and Pop Pop say Hi! to all. Happy Valentine's Day.

Fog!

We're in Margarite Bay in Antarctica, well within the Antartic Circle. We're hoping to get to shore to see an Adele penguin colony.

The iceberg passed us by yesterday - very imosing as we looked out the port window!

We've arrived in Antarctica!

Orcas, fin whales, humpback, icebergs, and penguins – and we’ve crossed into Antarctica! We have not yet seen land yet, because we are headed further south than originally planned, due to the calm passage, and the chance to see a larger gathering of Adele penguins.

No Drake Lake at night

After a rock and roll night, the sea has calmed significantly today. Last night, the waves were high and the boat was really dipping, rising, and swaying (we were ok, thanks to sea-sick medicine). Today we had photo lessons from the Nat Geo photographers. Tomorrow, we sight land in the pm. We’re hoping for calm waters here on in.

Summer at the end of the world

We've arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina. Mountains and water are all around. We came to the south end of the Pan American Highway, 17,848 km. from Alaska.
We are on the boat and sailing to Antarctica. Forecast: It won't be Drake's Lake.
Dede has found eight barf bags in our cabin - not a good sign!

Santiago - city of parks

Santiago has the most beautiful, and comprehensive park system we have ever seen. Everything in the city is neat, and without any litter. Just around the corner from the hotel is what DeDe and I thought is the best park we've ever been in. Everything from bird sanctuaries with parrots and cockatoos, to rose gardens and mazes, to skate-board venues and toys for every age child. It is awesome.

Dede's Post

We had an amazing ride in the Andes today with our surefooted horses and our friendly guide, Daniel. Hi to our neighbors, Max, Chloe, and Nicholas who have joined our followers. It is mid 80's and sunny in Santiago and I am in heaven!

Horses in the Andes

DeDe, Pop Pop, and friends, Nona and another Pop Pop, all went horse back riding in the Andes. We went to 7500 ft, and saw a snow-covered peak over 15,000 ft, even though it was 90 degrees where we were. The Andes look like Arizona (dry desert) mixed with the Tetons (rocks that go straight up).

Wonderful start of the trip.

Beautiful Santiago

Santiago is a bustling, beautiful city. Here's a sketch of the (some snow-covered)mountains overlooking the city. We have "free" day today to recover from the trip. So here's a geography surprise (at least to me). The west coast of South America, where we are, is two time zones east of the east coast of North America.

Yeah Toyota!

Toyota has taken lots of grief recently. But we had a different experience. We hired a car to go to the airport. They were 45 min. late, getting stuck in the snow somewhere. So DeDe said, "Get the Toyota ready." Our driver came in a Lincoln Towncar. He could not get out of our driveway. So we drove our car to the airport (no problem getting out of the driveway), and the driver took the Toyota home. Whew.