1982CruzStart

A sunset from last night and a rainbow tonight. It was too close to capture it all but so gorgeous and vibrant but photos can just not capture it.

A couple of photos from our tour out of Punta Arenas. We took a boat out to the penguin sanctuary with a stop beside another island to check out the sea lions and birds. Great cruise. Momma penguin and very grown chick. A small snippet from a beach packed with sea lions and a few penguins. This was taken from a boat in rolling waves as I tried to hang on as we sat on the top of the boat. A large glacier with a beautiful waterfall pouring out of the bottom. The picture doesn't do it justice but the best I could do thru a window in CR. This was last night on our way to a couple days at sea in the Chilean fjords.

I tried to edit post 90 for clarification purposes but it told me I was too late. Chartreuse dinner was our first night heading out of Antarctica where we hit the beginning of the terrible seas. Dinner was very good inspite of the unfortunate incidents. The 2nd night dinner was in CR and the seas were still a bit wild but with no unwanted accidents. Dinner was good though a little slow. For half of us, dinner was very good and once a steak was sent back and returned the 3rd person was also very happy but the 4th person was unhappy with her food and with wine service.

We were over an hour late getting into port which was a big improvement as at 1 point yesterday we were 2.5 hours behind but as the seas improved we were able to make up about an hour and a half. Our tour left 2 hours late. A few pictures from our bus tour. A lake shared by Argentina and Chile. An inlet from Beagle Channel where the TransAmerica Highway starts or ends depending on your perspective. Alaska being at the other end. A native bird.

The crossing back across the Drake Passage was once again very rocky with 15 to 18 foot waves. Managed to stay vertical and enjoy lunch and dinner. Dinner was in Chartreuse and we had some unwelcome excitement. There were a couple crashes just after we sat down, the cheese trolley didn't like where it was or was on it as it dumped some of its contents sending the staff scrambling. Not long after a tray with a few dishes feel over. Didn't hear the sound of breaking dishes. Sorry no pictures as we were busy visiting with our table mates and hanging onto our seats. There were 3 passenger falls. A husband and wife went down. He got up mostly on his own and she seemed okay though they took her away in a wheelchair to visit the med center. A more serious tumble happened by an older woman and she seemed dazed for awhile. They final got her up and into a wheelchair but she seemed to be favoring her one foot. I hope all 3 are okay. We decided to skip the show and get back to our suite as quickly as possible. We did a tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park. Quite a bit of time on a bus but we had 4 stops to get off and take pictures and walk around.

We were lucky enough to see 2 sets of orcas. A couple earlier in the cruise and then a pod on our last day. It was unreal to see them swimming by. The pod seemed mostly of juvenile orcas as they were smaller. My DH got all the pictures as I was too busy just watching them. Just a couple final pictures from 3 glorious days in Antarctica. As you may have guessed the internet has been very spotty so no real chance to post. We are in Ushuaia today so things are going well with the internet.

Cruiseej, I agree with you, anyway to get here is the best thing. We looked at expedition at one time but didn't work for us. I am so glad you were able to do the full experience. It sounds wonderful.

We have a spectacular expedition team onboard. A glacier expert, a climatologist, a historian, a biologist and a photographer. They have done 2.5 hours of very informative lectures per day. We didn't attend in person but have watched every one of them on TV. The expedition lead has given us detailed commentary during our cruising yesterday and today. It has been a wonderful experience.

Some photos from today. This one not so clear but you get a glimpse of one of the many humpback whales we were luck enough to see.

Thanks for your comments but for those of us that an expedition cruise doesn't work this is the next best thing. Maybe not as good as landing but pretty darn good. Photos are beautiful.

A volcano that last erupted in the 1970's.

Dinner tonight in CR. Crab summer roll. Full of delicious snow crab. Filet with truffle-madeira sauce Chicken Parmigiano Almond-lemon tart. Again everything was very tasty and cooked perfectly. We have ordered the lobster tempura from pacific rim for an appy tomorrow.

Some food porn. Duck confit spring rolls Smoked trout Pork sliders Salmon with artichokes and salsa All was quite good. This was lunch.

Not all snow and ice. I can unequivocally say that if you ever take this trip, to get the most out of the wildlife, you need to bring a very powerful telephoto lens for your camera or a pair of really strong binoculars. We have the ones Regent provided in our suite and though good they are just not powerful enough to see animals on land. We don't sail by that close so everything is a fair distance away.

Couple of photos from our cruise in Antarctica.

It is quite cool out. Glad we have our winter gear from home. Wearing a puffer jacket, toque and mitts as needed. It seems to be cooling off now. It was quite pleasant though still cool earlier when the sun was out.

Snippet of a long white sand beach for humans and penguins

Lovely Anglican church. Original pipe organ in above church. Only change has to convert the bellows to more modern mechanics as it took 2 men to operate them in the past. First brick homes built in PS. Blue whale bone monument. They are an ugly yellowish color has they tried to apply something to preserve them. They have an expert coming to recommend what to do to keep them from deteriorating as much as possible. A deteriorating shipwreck that won't be around much longer.

A little info from our time at Port Stanley. We took a 2 hour walking tour that lasted 3 hours. They are totally self- sufficient except for their defense which the UK provides. Their governor is from the UK and is appointed by the UK government and approved by the monarchy. They have there first women governor. Up until now most of the highest positions in government there were held by people from the UK but that is slowly changing. Education is 100% free up to and including university. They have a small college and if someone wants to go to University the tuition, living expenses, accommodation and travel to and from is paid for by the FI government with no requirement for the graduates to return though some are and starting to take over the higher positions once they gained the needed experience off island. Healthcare is all free but they still need to carry some health insurance because the hospital is not equipped for high level emergencies. Those people are airlifted to Chile and have to have insurance to pay for all those expenses. They continue to get periodic sabre-rattling from Argentina but nothing serious. Right now Argentina has enough of its own economic woes to not take on a group of islands. Maggie Thatcher is held in high regard here as the people all realize they would be under Argentinan rule if she had not sent the troops. They are very grateful. If and when the internet cooperates I will try and post a few pictures. Right now I can't get anything to upload.

Well the ocean and I had a disagreement yesterday and the ocean won as I spent the day mostly horizontal. It has started as an absolutely fabulous day here in Antarctica. Beautiful blue skies and calm seas. Between gawking at glaciers and watching penguins frolicking in the ocean beside the ship I will endeavor to catch up. Starting to get a bit cloudy but hopefully it stays calm. Be back soon as we sail between islands.

We are off on a 2 hour walking tour this morning. The ship was to anchor at 6:30 am but it was about 7 I think before it happened. I am guessing that has put some of the tours behind at least half hour. Our table mates from last night had a 7 am tour so hope it hasn't been disrupted too badly. The morning was looking hopeful with glimpses of blue skies but not so much now.

Yesterday was a lazy day . The weather continues to hold for us. Ate in CR last night at a shared table with 2 lovely ladies from Arizona. Once again got yakking and before I knew it once again no pictures. I had the beef capacious- delicious and the veal medallions with truffle - madiera sauce also great. This veal was tender and tasty. Woke in the middle of the night or early morning to the fog horn going off regularly. Looked putsidevto a bank of fog. However as we got closer to Port Stanley most of the fog disappeared and once again we had nice calm seas.

Woke up this morning to mostly blue skies and very gentle seas. It was wonderful. It was nice enough out to go to deck 12 and do 5000 steps. Another day at sea so the plan is to do a lot of reading out on the veranda. Hoping the weather holds so we can tender onto the Falkland Islands tomorrow.

Had a great dinner in P7 last night. Shared a table of 6 with a couple of fellow Canadians and a couple from Florida. Almost everyone we have met so far have been from Florida. Sorry no food porn. We were having so much fun i totally forgot to take pictures. I had the steak tartar, have to try it everywhere, and it was good but not as good as Chartreuse. Followed up by the surf and turf - filet & lobster tail, both cooked beautifully.

I looked today when I was up there and didn't see anything loCal or fat free, all just regular.