20250211 Tuesday Ushuaia, Argentina
New country, territory, & city. Ushuaia is commonly called the southernmost city in the world. Its coordinates are 54.8*S, 68.3*W. With his North Pole background Owen has swung through 144.8* of latitude, with more to come. We arrived here from the west via the Beagle Channel, a channel at times only five miles wide.
Our tour here is USH-002, Sea Lion and Penguin Rookery. Hopefully we'll see some new birds and animals. The tour ends around 1315 and the ship doesn't leave until 2200 so we should have time for a trot around the town. We want to get a picture of the Fin Del Mundo (End of the Earth) sign.
Well, it didn't work that way. The wind is up; our catamaran trip to the rookery was cancelled. We picked a train trip instead. The bus took us 1/2 hour thru town to the little station on the two-foot gage railway built by convicts to run from the settlement to the prison. Ten km are used, the other four have gone. The right-of-way runs up a valley along Rio Pipo.
The engines are an assorted bunch of old steam engines the line used. It shut down in 1946, but people refurbished it for tourists once that market bloomed.
The coaches were custom-made for the RR. Doors are on both sides of small compartments set up to hold six persons. Cosy. More than cosy, downright restrictive. The bloody bus was spacious by comparison.
The ride went 7km to a stop for pictures, then 3km more to the end. Beautiful mountains when the clouds moved away, we grabbed pictures when we could. Our bus had moved to the end while we were "training", and took us back to the ship. Opportunity was given to get off and tour the town before going back to the ship, but the wind convinced us to go to the ship and drink wine (with lunch).
Photo Link
We did lunch in Patio, hoping the breeze wasn't bad. Temp 42*. Even the red wine was cold. Enough of that until we reach warmer places. Did laundry while dining. Back to the cabin to wait for 1600 Trivia.
The cruise traffic here is interesting. Many ships coming and going, including:
National Geographic Endurance
Crystal Serenity
World Explorer
Seabourne Venture
Azamara Journey (us)
Did common trivia 15/20. Sat thru music trivia on Queen 0/20 - wrong generation, I guess.
Chatted with submariner John for a bit - officer commanded Flying Fish, etc. Seems very nice.
Back to the cabin for a bit. Then we'll do dinner and Stephen's solo show.
At dinner, the gentleman next to us related that they had toured the US around to Galveston, where they boarded a cargo ship for Australia with another couple. Said it was wonderful but perhaps a little boring during the 30 days from the canal to oz. The chef would consult on their dinner preferences; wine was furnished with meals.
Stephen's show was excellent - he's very talented and loves to perform.
20250212 Wednesday At Sea Motoring across the Drake Passage
Click here for pop-up of Map
Having left Ushuaia and The End Of The Earth sign last night, and given it's about 550 miles to the nearest ice field, we should see it tomorrow morning.
So this will be a fine day to loaf. Also a good day to check out the camera and binoculars prior to their use.
Here are a few Weather Channel links. The farthest south we're likely to see will be at the same latitude as Rothera Station.
We officially "rounded Cape Horn" from Pacific to Atlantic at 0730. Seas are flat with small swells - great for us.
Progressive Trivia showed that we have moved from 12th to 5th. Felt rather weak today, tho.
Club trivia wasn't bad at 15/20. Music Trivia was dismal 19/40 despite Russel's help.
Spent some time looking at foreign news about Trump's tariffs. Waited till an appropriate time for dinner.
In the meantime, the swells are getting a little more noticeable, causing some rolling and increased pitching. Barf bags are in place at the staircases.
We dined next to a British couple with shared experiences. Good chatting and picked up an idea or two for future cruises (Mekong, Nile).
Then tomorrow's Insider arrived. Total change of itinerary - it seems we're going to Elephant Island first (tomorrow) rather than last before the Falklands.
Also, a number of changes will take place on board: Outdoor showers off, Blinds closed when not occupied, etc. Also - wifi may be intermittent since we're down where Starlink doesn't illuminate well.
20250213 thru 20250215, Thursday thru Saturday. Cruising the Antarctic waters ….
Antarctica blowup opens in a new page.
Since there was nothing to see, we loafed the morning away. Except O started a laundry cycle, during which he came up from under an open dryer door and hit is head against it. No damage done. D thinks O is coming down with a cold due to his harsh voice. O is iffy about it.
We're bearing down on Elephant Island to see it in the early afternoon. Seas still showing light swells. Ship almost stable. It's named for its shape - that of an elephant and for the elephant seals that rest here. A stop is not envisioned, just a slow pass to look for animals.
Weather Channel link.
Finished laundry, ran down to Progressive Trivia. We came up to fourth place as a result of yesterday's performance. Don't know about today's work. At the end, an iceberg came along. Of course everyone ran to port to take a picture - we ran to cabin to take it - much warmer there. Picture at Right.
Then we closed in on the island. We found schools of penguins hopping up to breathe. Some people saw medium-sized whales. It's very certain that wildlife exists where there's food.
Photo Link
After gazing a while, we went off to dinner, then some more watching. Then we watched from the cabin until bed-time.
Last night we came around the South Shetland Islands (string at top, right) and down to Esperanza Base on the tip of Cape Hope, Antarctica. We woke to see icebergs and vast ice floes. Called for breakfast in the cabin to avoid the crowds in Windows and other view areas.
At 0900 we're moving back out to the red dot that represents Half Moon Island, which is supposed to hold a large chinstrap penguin colony. Maybe whales.
We should get there around 1600. Then we'll go farther south in the South Shetlands to Deception Island, a volcanic caldera, arriving about 1900.
In starting toward Progressive Trivia O got his feet tangled up in D's overhanging coverlet and fell violently to the floor. He took a few minutes to regain normal breathing, and it took a few minutes to stop the dizziness. Then we went on to trivia, where we didn't do well.
As the things with less pain subsided, O is left with a strained muscle set under the right shoulder blade and a minor abrasion to one elbow.
The Captain changed his mind and announced during his noon update that we will be skipping Half Moon due to weather, instead going directly to Deception Island arriving there around 1530.
There we swiveled around so everyone had a good picture opportunity. Then three Spanish naval officers from the research station here boarded at the invitation of our captain to tell us what they do. They were fluent and eager to tell us.
After they left we went to dinner (done quickly) and then the singers-and-dancers show Wanderlust. Well done.
We stopped in the Den for our nightly drink and fell into conversation with a lady who is doing the Miami-to-Miami part of the cruise. She's Canadian from Edmonton, so we had several points to review with her.
Photo Link
Back home to bed.
Up early to see whales and penguins. Real feeding ground for these guys.
Another research station is located here manned by members of the Chilean Navy. The Captain brought several on board for Q&A. Nice people. We were filing in for Progressive Trivia as they were leaving. We were wearing self-designed masks as part of the Trivia thing. They took our pictures and laughed at/with us.
We tried lunch in Windows but it was filled with seers (those who eat early but stay to look at scenery). Came back about 1345 and found seating. Whales and whale-tails all over this place. Took numerous pictures so we can cull the not-so-good ones.
At 1400 we're moving onward toward Numayer Channel. O stretched out to rest and fell asleep for three hours - must be the cold he's fighting. He popped up in time to shoot the Channel, a narrow passage with sides many hundreds of feet high.
As we left the channel we passed a ship off to the side. CruiseMapper identified it as Ponant's "Le Lyrial", 264 passengers, an exploration type ship, probably putting adventurers ashore. Then we got into a real dense fog.
The Captain decided not to go into another fjord in the fog so he pulled out into the ocean to go somewhere else. He hasn't said where, which is a big peeve of mine. It may be he doesn't know where he will go until he gets more information. But we never learn until we get there.
Dinner was nice, the performer not to be watched. Back to the cabin to read, rest.
And thus ends our poking around in Antarctic waters.
