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Earlier this year, I took the January cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso with my sister-in-law Mimi. We left the guys at home and had the senior citizen equivalent of "Girls Run Wild." I wrote a travelogue for my friends as we sailed along, emailing out each chapter with relevant photos along the way [No significant problems with Internet even in Antarctica].

 

Some of my friends have suggested I share the travelogue on Cruise Critic. It is pretty long and covers the few days we spent in Buenos Aires before the cruise, shipboard life, food, and excursions rather extensively. I will post the various segments separately. Sorry, but I'm not great at uploading photos to Cruise Critic.

 

Hope you enjoy reading about our adventures.

 

Linda

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 1:Tuesday to Thursday in BuenosAires, "The Paris of South America"

Preparing for the triphad been very difficult, but I ultimately stopped obsessing, decided to checktwo suitcases, and eventually got everything packed before my airport rideshowed up. The overnight flight was pleasant. Things started looking upwhen the flight attendant brought us pajamas and champagne. We sleptwell and woke at a civilized hour, feeling reasonably refreshed. There was somelovely scenery out the window; stark rose-hued mountains contrasting withverdant fields.

We had no clue how to fill out the immigration cards, but no onelooked at/stamped/collected the ones we messed up, so it turned out it didn'tmatter.

I had made arrangements for a guide to meet us at the Buenos Airesairport and take us on a tour of the city. Two young men, Juan and Nestor,waited patiently for us to clear immigration, then took care of ourluggage and discussed the culture and history of Argentina while we drovethrough the Buenos Aires traffic into the city center.

Most people in Argentina are exclusively of Europeanancestry. Unlike other areas of South America, there are very few NativeAmericans in Buenos Aires. Also unusual is that mixed race children areconsidered Caucasian. According to the guides, African women prefer tohave children with white men so their children will be considered white. There is also a (relatively) large Jewish population, with Buenos Airesboasting of having the only kosher McDonald's outside of Israel.

We started out in La Boca, a very charming part of town, repletewith street art, colorful buildings, interesting architecture, and tango clubs.La Boca was the Ellis Island of Buenos Aires, with 19th century immigrantspassing through the old port on the road to becoming assimilatedPorteños. The immigrants' struggle is represented by painted murals andbas reliefs of workers toiling at various trades. There are also numerousmurals representing the anguish of the mothers whose children had been"disappeared" under the fascist regimes of the 70's. Othermurals depict the fight against sexual exploitation.

Next stop was eclectic San Telmo. We stopped for empanadas and icecream and then walked around the picturesque streets. A lot of poorpeople live in this neighborhood and thus cannot maintain the lovely beaux artsbuildings. Throughout the neighborhood, elaborate architectural details aredeteriorating and some of the buildings are falling down completely. The soccerstadium still looks good, though. Soccer stars are reportedly more importantthan JC in Buenos Aires. Diego Maradona is a national hero, referred to as the"Hand of God."

Next, we found our way to the city's main square and learned morethan we probably wanted to know about Juan Peron as well as the variousrevolutions and coups that monopolized the history of the latter half of 20thcentury Argentina. This square is the site of all major demonstrations inBuenos Aires. Police are always nearby, ready to erect barricades. The mothersstill march in the square every Thursday afternoon to honor the"disappeared." However, after 40+years of protesting, there aren'tthat many ambulatory mothers left.

The beauty of the architecturally diverse buildings surroundingthe square was a surprise. We saw the president's palace, Evita's balcony andthe church where Father Jorge, now Pope Francis, hung out. According to theguides, nobody thought he was all that special before being elected pope. Wealso saw the obelisk and a massive building decorated with a very large imageof Evita's profile. From far, it looked to us like Benjamin Franklin wasadorning the facade - our guides agreed it looked like the image they werefamiliar with from our $100 bill.

By the time we got to our boutique hotel in the Retiro section oftown, we were beat. We had a little time to clean up and ogle the complimentarybottle of champagne the hotel had left for us, and then it was time to go outfor dinner. Our Uber driver was great. We communicated with him viagoogle translate and shared information about our families. We alsolearned that there is a major war going on between Uber and regular taxis inBuenos Aires. To avoid trouble, the Uber drivers have a passenger sit inthe front seat so it looks like a group of friends driving around.

Dinner was at a highly-recommended parilla, described as hip andvery expensive for Buenos Aires. We were clearly too old for the place,but fortunately, we persevered. We had a very unusual gin and tonic (theirspecialty) and excellent wine. We shared fried smoked cheese andhoney-glazed sweetbread appetizers followed by a large grilled rib eyesteak. Everything was wonderful and cost under $50 with tip for the twoof us. When we got back to the hotel, we cracked open the bottle ofchampagne and ate M&M's for dessert.

The next morning, we met a very nice couple in the breakfast roomwho will be joining us on the cruise. The included breakfast was great,with unusual but exquisitely tasty pastries.

We hiked over to the opera house to meet a walking tour, whichconsisted of nearly four hours of torture in the blazing sun. We saw alot of beautiful buildings and parks, and listened to a jumble of historicalfacts, but after a while, it all ran together and we stopped listening. Thetour ended in the Recoleta, the town cemetery for the rich and famous. Five thousand or so of the dear departed - including Evita - are languishing inelaborate mausoleums there, some of which are in ruins because the familieshave died out, can't afford the upkeep or have lost interest.

After a late lunch of empanadas and beer, followed by moreM&M's for dessert, we waddled over to the fine arts museum to escape thesun. One floor was devoted to European paintings from the 14th to the20th centuries, with some lovely impressionist paintings as well as canvases byRembrandt and Rubens, furniture, bronzes, and porcelain pieces. There wasa lot more to the collection than the European artists, but we didn't have theenergy to hike up the stairs and view works by the Argentinian painters orvisit the sculpture garden. Next time...

Back to the hotel to shower and collapse before dinner. Theobjective for tonight was a private home where the host serves champagne withthe appetizers followed by a 4-course dinner with wine pairings.

When the Uber driver dropped us off at the host's apartment, wewere a little nervous, because the neighborhood was deserted and looked rathersketchy. We rang the bell and waited longer than we felt comfortable standingoutside in that neighborhood. Fortunately, before we got too scared, acouple joined us and after a short wait, we were admitted to the apartment. Weclimbed marble stairs to the living room and had a spectacular sparkling winewith so-so hors d'oeuvres. Two other couples were part of the dinner party; onefrom Copenhagen and the other from somewhere in the north of Belgium. Weenjoyed talking to them.

Then we climbed up to the dining floor, and started with anexcellent Chardonnay accompanying the salad course: pear and blue cheese withfancy lettuce, tasty tomatoes, and a surprising mint-flavored vinaigrette. Nexta rosé paired with a mushroom risotto and curried chicken followed by some kindof pork shoulder in a sweet red wine reduction that was so tender, a knife wassuperfluous. This course came with a young Malbec. Finally,strawberry cheesecake was paired with a rich, aged Malbec - the outstandingwine of the evening. The host told us that we had each consumed about abottle of wine during dinner, which explained why it was all I could do not toput my head down on the table and go to sleep by the end of the meal.

After dinner, the host's partner played the piano while we settledour bill. We got another Uber back to our hotel. When the Uber driverpicked us up, he expressed concern that we were waiting by ourselves in such adeserted neighborhood. Safely back at the hotel, we packed a little andthen passed out.

Thursday morning we had another great breakfast and then went onthe tour of the performing arts center that we had booked the day before. TheTeatro Colon was designed by French and Italian architects in the style of 19thcentury European opera houses. The carvings, chandeliers, and mirrors gave it aVersailles kind of feel. Symphony concerts, ballets, and operas areperformed from March to December. Acoustics are "perfect" withno need for microphones for the singers. There is a place on top of the ceilingthat accommodates 15 musicians; when the story line suggests birds or heavenlyintervention, the musicians and singers perform out of sight in the theater'saerie and the music wafts down on the audience from above.

The stage is the same size as the seating areas and accommodatesall sorts of large-scale productions. Staging Aida is apparently amazingin this venue.

After we finished in the Teatro Colon, we walked around theneighborhood and visited a local mall with amazing skylights.

Then, it was time to leave for the port and embark the SeabournQuest, a process fraught with drama to be revealed in chapter 2. We wereparticularly pleased that we had taken exactly the correct number ofArgentinian Pesos out of the ATM.

 

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Antarctica Odyssey onthe Seabourn Quest: Part 2. On the road to the South Atlantic: Thursday -Monday

Unlike the usual Seabourn embarkation procedure, getting on theship was not the zipless process we have come to expect. The Buenos Airesport workers were pleasant, but inefficient. Mimi and I were pretty chillabout that until we saw that we had been placed in the wrong cabin. Following hours of obsessing before and after booking, we had settled on acabin smack in the middle of the ship on the lowest passenger deck, electing toforgo a balcony in the service of minimizing the effects of unfriendlyseas. When we got to check-in, we had been "upgraded" to abalcony cabin, higher up and in the prow, which was exactly what we didn'twant.

A lot of discussion with appropriate staff ensued. Initially, we were told that the ship was full and there was nothing they coulddo. I told them we had paid more for our cabin than we would have paid bookinga veranda guarantee. If we had gone the guarantee route to save money,and taken a chance on a balcony cabin assignment, we would expect to have norecourse if we were unhappy with our lot, but that had not been the case thistime.

As we worked our way up the complaint food chain, after about anhour we were told we might be moved to a penthouse suite, because thepassengers who had booked that cabin might not make it to the ship because of aBritish Airways flight delay. Hard to believe that people who had paid ~$30,000per person for a cabin would have flown in the same day the cruise wasstarting. Unfortunately, those people did make it to the ship just before sail away.

I continued my song and dance and they finally discovered they hadone more open suite, an almost mid-ship balcony on a deck that is near most ofthe action. This top-category balcony cabin, although not a penthouse suite,would have cost thousands more apiece than what we paid for our cabin if we hadlost our minds and booked it initially. We tried to look only slightlymollified and then skipped down the hall giggling over our good fortune.

Dinner was at the Thomas Keller Grill. We had an outstandingCaesar salad prepared tableside followed by a prawn cocktail. For the maincourse, we split Lobster Thermidor, a rib eye steak with béarnaise, sautéedcrimini mushrooms, and wilted spinach. A wonderful hot fudge, salted-caramelice cream sundae with meringue, toasted nuts, whipped cream and a cherry camenext. Finally, we washed it all down with terrific chocolate chipcookies. And excellent wines. We have two more nights reserved in that specialdining venue in the weeks to come as well as walk-in possibilities. Next time,I think I'll go for the Dover sole.

 

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Antarctica Odyssey onthe Seabourn Quest: Part 2. On the road to the South Atlantic: Thursday -Monday [continued]

Friday morning we docked in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Tobe charitable, the city can best be described as a dump. With a few exceptions,the buildings were falling apart. Nonetheless, we had a very enjoyable walkingtour (even during the parts when it was pouring down rain) with an animatedlocal guide who talked about the buildings and monuments and discussed thehistory and laissez fair culture of the Uruguayans. The latter may explain inpart why the city was so dirty and the buildings were disintegrating.

It seemed like Montevideo's social life is organized around mate, a homemade hot drink made with herbs that thepeople carry around in thermoses, pour into a specially designed bowl thatincludes a combination spoon/straw, and sip on all day. We saw many peoplecarrying around these vessels, which look like smooth coconut shells with thetop lopped off, a metal stem sticking out and herbal greenery crusted aroundthe edges. Gift shops had many variations on offer.

People are very proud of their unique mate recipes, so refusing to accept someone'soffer to share mate can be interpretedas a grave insult. Our guide, who spoke almost as quickly as that guy inthe early FedEx commercials, proudly shared that he uses a special combinationof herbs in his mate that are supposedto slow him down. We had to laugh when he expressed chagrin that somerain drops had fallen into his bowl and contaminated his mate, adulterating the elixir of Uruguayan life.Before, during, and after the rain, his mate looked absolutely gross.

By the time we got back to the ship, the sun had come out. We had lunch on deck and forgot that we were supposed to eat saladsexclusively. After lunch, we floated around the ship a bit and waited fora scheduled meeting with the 20-person expedition team. Then, we had aphotography class and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was a festive affair with interesting company, excellentfood (especially the white tomato cappuccino, pea agnolotti, and rack of lamb),and good wines. After dinner, we went to the magic show with ourtablemates. I laughed like I haven't laughed in years over Mimi's antics as themagician's lovely assistant. Despite knowing her for over 40 years, Inever realized she had such comic talent. People were howling over herperformance. In addition to community acclaim for her efforts, she was given alarge chocolate bar the magician materialized out of an iPad. I am hoping shewill share it with me.

Saturday was the first sea day. Although it's lovely having abalcony, it's already appreciably colder than it was in Montevideo, so I don'tknow how much use we will get out of it. We had a busy day with bridgelessons, photography and whale lectures, food, sunbathing, and team trivia. Myteam, the "Pregnant Penguins," is in the top 3. Mimi'steam, "Smarter than Shackleton," is lagging a littlebehind. Although no one has asked for an autograph, Mimi issomething of a minor celebrity because of her outstanding performance as themagician's assistant last night.

 

Fortunately, we didn't have to go to the great parka exchange, becausewe had preordered the correct sizes. Although the sizes are right, theseamber unisex monstrosities plastered with the Seabourn logo fit horribly - toobig in the shoulders, chest, and sleeves yet tight in the hips. I will probablygo to tomorrow's boot exchange, because the size I got won't accommodate twopairs of heavy socks without crushing my toes.

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Antarctica Odyssey onthe Seabourn Quest: Part 2. On the road to the South Atlantic: Thursday -Monday [continued]

We met up with our fellow Volunteer Point travelers before dinnerto plan our tender strategy. Ships can't dock in the Falklands/Islas Malvinas, sowe have to ride a tender to shore for around 25 minutes once the Quest dropsanchor, planned for around 7AM. Our guide had told us it is essentialthat we get off the ship ASAP, so we got together to figure out where and whento meet to insure we would be on the first boat going ashore. We agreed to beon line at 6:30. The word is that Seabourn has cancelled its excursions toVolunteer Point, because of flooding in Stanley, capital of the Falklands, butour private tour is still supposed to be going.

The first formal night dinner was fantastic. We were invited to atable hosted by the guest services manager (the person I tortured to get anacceptable cabin) and her assistant. According to the assistant, thecruise a few years ago when my carryon suitcase got left behind in Istanbul hasbecome a customer service legend.

Our tablemates were interesting, pleasant people. The foodwas delicious: potato cake with caviar, poached pear and blue cheesesalad, lobster with a creamy risotto and white and green asparagus, a berry andcream Napoleon for me (some people got pistachio soufflés), and ice creampralines.

After dinner, we went to the show consisting of aGershwin-inspired oboist and pianist. We were pretty tired so we left theshow early, returning to our room to think about what we could eat tomorrow.

 

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 2. On the road to the South Atlantic: Thursday -Monday [continued]

Sea day number two started with a discussion about how we shouldgo to the gym for the early morning classes. Instead, we dithered aboutwhich activities to go to, as there was so much to choose from. Afterbreakfast, I whined about my boots at the exchange and finally got fitted withsomething reasonably comfortable in a men's 12. My amour-propre was decimated.

Although my various partners would undoubtedly have preferred thatI go to the bridge lesson this morning, it was in conflict with the binocularclinic, the kayak Q&A, the bridge tour, and a lecture on plate tectonicsand the geology of Antarctica.

I picked the "Keeping Track of Antarctica in a RestlessPlanet" talk. It was essentially an introductory lecture in a "Rocksfor Jocks" class. For those who never took one of these classes: theearth consists of the crust, the mantle, and a solid and liquid core. Ifthe earth were an apple, the crust would be thinner than the skin. The mantlecan move and is composed of beautifully colored, slowly moving/floating rocksthat only very few people ever see (i.e., geologists) because the mantle islargely hidden under the crust. Pieces of the mantle can be found in oceanridges where it is moving up and forming new crust. I got a little confusedabout the effect of movements in the core on seismic and volcanic activity, butlearned that the external part of the liquid core is magnetic and deflectssolar radiation.

250 million years ago, the earth consisted of a bunch (?15) ofmajor tectonic plates merged into one super continent, Pangea. The platesstarted moving very, very slowly, into separate land areas. Sometimes,the plates collided. Mountain ranges like the Himalayas and the Andesarose from collisions between continental plates. The Indian plate movedmuch faster than the Asian plate, creating a very violent collision, andthereby resulting in exceptionally high mountains.

40 million years ago, Antarctica was still connected to Australiaand South America. There were lush forests and dinosaurs roamed freely. But then, somehow Antarctica got free and migrated to the South Pole about 35million years ago. The resultant land mass was larger than that of theUnited States.

Different from the Arctic, which is water/ice surrounded by land,Antarctica is land surrounded by water. The sea current around Antarctica isthe only one that circumnavigates the earth, connecting the Atlantic, Pacific,and Indian Oceans and is crucial to the life forms populating thecontinent. A major concern is that in the last 100 years, the temperatureof the continent has increased more than it has varied in several millions ofyears. Environmental changes of this velocity were unexpected, likely upsettingmillions of years of gradual atmospheric changes that have created perfectconditions for the region's life forms.

Following this interesting but depressing talk, I cheered up atTeam Trivia as my Pregnant Penguins eased into second place, only slightlybehind the first place Bird Brains. Our elevation in status was largelyowing to my being the only one of the 100+ trivia players who knew the names ofCinderella's hideous stepsisters, giving us double points. Too bad none of usknew how Aeschylus died. (An eagle dropped a tortoise on his head. Whoknew?)

Then there was lunch at the pool, once again, a winner. Theafternoon schedule included two lectures on the Falklands and another aboutwhales, all of which conflicted with the one-on-one photo tutorial andduplicate bridge.

I partnered with a Frenchman at bridge who, surprisingly, didnot speak English. We did pretty well together and will play together on thenext sea day. (Note to bridge partners: I finally understand thepoint of a Texas transfer).

After playing bridge, I spent time on deck, trying to takepictures of petrels and albatrosses. I managed to get one that was notaltogether awful, throwing out about 100 other abortive attempts. I talked toone of the expedition staff at length, a graduate student at Stony Brook whoseresearch involves counting penguins. Amazing what'll get you a doctorate thesedays. Amazing what got me my Stony Brook degree in the early 70's.

 

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 2. On the road to the South Atlantic: Thursday -Monday [continued - The Falklands]

For dinner, we were invited to sit with another expedition staffmember, a very warm and interesting man who gave us a lot of information. At first it seemed like he was trying to frighten us about the possibility thata private excursion might not get us back to the ship on time. One of theafternoon's bridge players was at our table as well. I'm sure it was areal struggle for her to remain upright, given the weight of the diamonds herears had to support. Of course, she was balanced.

On Monday, we were very fortunate that we were able to tender intothe Falklands, as often it is too windy for ships to drop anchor and launch thesmall boats that bring passengers ashore. We were doubly fortunate that ourprivate tour was still on for Volunteer Point, home to thousands and thousandsof Gentoo, Magellanic, and King Penguins. The ship's excursions werecancelled, because the track had still been too muddy when ship personnel hadto decide whether or not to run the tours. Many people were disappointed, asthis excursion is supposed to be the highlight of the trip.

Only 24 Seabourn passengers (out of ~450) climbed into 4x4's andset out on the off-road adventure to the penguin colonies. It took us 21/2 teeth jarring hours along winding, unpaved roads and across endless fieldsto get to the penguins. The convoy drivers had many very unsettlingwalkie-talkie conversations along the way. On numerous occasions, we heard"We've got a bogging" or "I found a hole," signifying oneof the vehicles had to be pulled out of the mud. Perhaps my favorite was,"The tide's too high. We have to find another route."

Bridges had to be jerry-rigged along the way. We had no ideahow the drivers knew where to go, as there was only occasionally a faint trackto follow across the rocky fields. Often, the lead car had to make a newtrack among the rocks, moss, grasses, sorrel, diddledee bushes (bitter redberries used for jam), wild strawberries, and ferns. It also had a"snorkel" sticking up on one side, to protect the engine if the watergot too deep.

The scenery looked a lot like the more remote areas ofIreland. The land is rocky with grass, scrub brush, sorrel, andmosses. There are no indigenous trees and very few flowers, although the seacabbage along the beach is quite lovely. During the Ice Age, the glacier fromthe South Pole left huge, dramatic piles of "creeping" stone goingdown the mountains, which from far away, looked like flowing lava. There wereopen cattle grids across roads that the cattle - naked sheep, horses, and cows (includingsome belted Galloways, my personal favorite) - will not traverse.

The driver shared quite a bit about the Falkland Islands' historyand culture along the way. There are under 3,000 inhabitants who are citizensof the UK. The natives are up in arms about the recent Chilean and Filipinoimmigrants coming to the island. Before the immigrants came, the people feltsafe, never feeling a need to lock their doors. Everyone knew everybody elseand most people were related. Now, they worry about the newcomers and lamentabout how their lifestyle has changed as a consequence of the strangers. Theyaren't that crazy about "intruders" of a different kind either andhave adopted a take-no-prisoners approach. Annoyed by a native fox thatwas carrying off lambs, they killed them all off such that the species of foxis extinct. No word about whether they have a similar solution in mindfor the Chilean and Filipino invaders.

Another concern is climate change. The Falklands no longer getappreciable snowfall and temperatures are higher than usual.

The Islands are quite isolated. There is one flight a weekfrom Chile plus a military flight that accommodates civilian passengers andbrings in produce if there is room. If people get really sick, they areairlifted to Montevideo, Uruguay for medical treatment. There are no widespreadproblems with illicit drug on the islands, but lots of people have problemswith alcohol. There are no organized activities for youths, so drinkingis a big pastime in that age group. The best students are sent to theU.K. for college at government expense. The problem becomes "How yougonna keep them down on the farm, after they've seen Paree?"

The Falklands rely primarily on wind power; on calm days, therecan be no electricity. Peat is still used by some for heating. Internetis available only in the capital of Stanley. It is very expensive andvery slow. Our driver told us it took her 3 weeks to download a movie. Forgetcell phone reception.

It beats me why the Argentinians fought over the Falklands in the80's. Of course, oil has recently been discovered off shore, with anestimated billion barrels waiting to be pumped out, but no one knew about thatbonanza 30+ years ago. British troops, including a number of Royals,marched over the mountains from Port San Carlos to Stanley after theArgentinians occupied the country, took over the capital, and set mines allover the countryside. Of the 130 different minefields, only a few havebeen cleared over the past 30+ years. There are many areas you can't walkin because of the unexploded mines.

Back to Volunteer Point...

Yes, it's true that penguins, as cute as they are, smell very badif you're downwind. Most of them hang around close to one another, with birdsof a feather tending to flock together. Gentoo penguins have orange beaks andfeet and build nests out of rocks. Sometimes fights will break out whenone penguin tries to steal another's rock. King penguins are rather largewith yellow markings. They don't build nests; rather, they hold theireggs against their body near their feet in a pouch that is covered by a skinflap. Magellenic penguins are black and white with a white stripe around theirheads. They lay their eggs and raise their young in burrows.

A problem all the penguins face are skua birds, formerlyscavengers who have expanded their repertoire to include taking livingchicks. Hawks and turkey vultures are also a problem. The parents, whomate for life, take turns guarding the nest and searching for food for thebabies. The petrels, oystercatchers and albatrosses in the area usually don'tbother the chicks.

The penguins are inquisitive and generally not afraid ofhumans. If you sit quietly, eventually some of them will approachyou. They look so soft and smooth, I had a nearly irresistible urge topet one. I mentioned this in passing to one of the penguin wardens whotold me very politely that I would be "pecked very severely" for mytrouble.

I saw a Magellanic penguin hanging out on the beach, standingaround looking stupid/bored. As I approached to take a picture, I saw it had afuzzy chick in its burrow. It immediately puffed itself up and sat down infront of the opening, apparently trying to hide its baby. I walked awayand it stood up again. Whenever anyone got too close for the penguin'staste, the process was repeated.

 

After we survived the ride back from Volunteer Point, we had timefor a brief visit in Stanley, essentially a one-horse town. The MainStreet has the island's only public school, the post office, a policestation, two souvenir shops, two churches, a grocery store, and a memorial tothe Falkland Islanders and British troops who perished in the war that featureda bust of Margaret Thatcher. We saw a similar memorial in Buenos Aires,listing the Argentinians who perished and sans Maggie.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 2. On the road to the South Atlantic: Thursday -Monday [continued]

After our tour, we caught the last tender back to the ship. The captain greeted us with the unwelcome news that there was a storm near the area we would be sailing through. 40 - 50 mph winds and 20-foot seas were expected in the Drake Passage, an area of the South Atlantic between the tip of Argentina and Antarctica where the ocean currents are not impeded by land and are therefore quite strong.

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Antarctica Odyssey onthe Seabourn Quest: Part 3 - "Adventure is just bad planning"(Amundsen)

Tuesday - Sunday: Nanookof the South

Unpredictable, inhospitable and potentially dangerous, Antarcticais the world's largest wilderness. Approximately 40,000 people visit the areaeach year, including numerous scientists who study the wildlife and weatherconditions among other things. Various countries maintain outpostsscattered about the continent. Global warming affects the Antarctic Peninsulamore than any other place on earth.

Ships carrying more than 500 passengers are not permitted to landin Antarctica. In addition, no more than 100 people can go ashore at any time,so the 400+ passengers on the Quest have been divided into 5 groups. Mimiand I are in the purple group.

Once we left the Falklands Monday afternoon, unfriendly seas andmandatory lectures started. Many of the multinational expedition team havedoctorates or are in graduate school, studying geology, marine biology,ecology, etc. A lot of team members have worked at the research stations fornumerous seasons. In addition to being very knowledgeable, team members arealways approachable.

The team gave us instructions on zodiac safety, behavior ashore,animal contact, and bio-contamination. We were told repeatedly that it isparticularly important not to introduce nonnative plants or organisms to thecontinent or interfere with animal behavior (e.g., penguin highways). No livepoultry is allowed on Antarctica because fowl could give indigenous birds avianflu. Dogs are not allowed because canine distemper can be transmitted toseals. Later in the day, kayaking procedures were reviewed and equipment wasinspected.

Monday night, we had dinner with two of the expedition leaders,Rachel the whale girl and Alex the Stony Brook penguin counter. The seasbecame more and more noticeable throughout the meal, but we managed to make itback to our cabin without incident.

There were so many mandatory lectures and briefings scheduled thatduplicate bridge was cancelled on Tuesday. One interesting talkfocused on defining the boundaries of Antarctica, set by internationaltreaty at latitude below 60 degrees south. Scientists, however, talk about"convergence," the area where the relatively warmer South Pacific andSouth Atlantic meet up with the colder waters surrounding Antarctica. Around 55degrees south, the ocean temperature drops off precipitously by about 10degrees to 33 degrees Fahrenheit. The lighter, warmer water sliding over thedenser, colder water creates a band of thick fog at the convergence zone, whichdissipates when you get to the other side; impressive to sail through, but notas intense as the boundary breaching in "2001."

In the morning, Mimi was really under the weather, but perked upafter Dramamine and a nap. Around lunchtime, I started feeling awful, butwe figured out later that I wasn't seasick but had had a migraine. Bydinnertime, we were both OK and went to eat in a less formal setting where theywere serving a marvelous lobster and tenderloin dinner. The sun was juststarting to set around 11PM and as the evening wore on, it still looked morelike dusk than nighttime. Around 3AM, the sea was a surreal pale greencolor. By 7AM, the sea consisted of multiple shades of blue.

 

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 3 - "Adventure is just bad planning" (Amundsen) [Continued]

On Wednesday, we had our first landing and saw ourfirst iceberg. Before it was the purple group's turn to get off theship, we had a hilarious lecture on penguins. The speaker has been studyingpenguins since the 70's and has spent over 30 seasons in Antarctic. Hepunctuated his talk with species- and situationally-appropriate penguincalls.

Penguins spend the winter at sea, returning to land in the summerto breed. Punctual birds, they have about 3 1/2 months to get back to wherethey were born, court, build a nest, fatten up, mate, lay eggs, hatch the eggs,take care of chicks, molt to prepare for winter, and fledge (get rid of) thechicks. This is very hard, time-sensitive work.

Males arrive about 10 days before the females. They may notbe the smartest birds, but they apparently have a great internal GPS system.They can generally find last year's nest, even under 4 feet of snow. Faced withsnow-covered breeding areas, the males will stand on the spot where they"know" the nests are until the snow melts underneath them from theirbody heat and the nests are available to re-use.

The males build up old nests with additional pebbles, searchingaround the breeding area for just the right size rocks, carrying them back tothe nest in their beaks, and placing them carefully in just the rightspot. There is also a lot of pebble stealing from others in the flock.Angry calls and pecking ensue when some birds take this shortcut.

The point of the pebbles is to keep the nest dry when the snowmelts. Global warming is presenting a significant problem for the penguins, agroup adapted to a cold, dry environment. As it's getting warmer, thereis more water runoff from melting snow. Nests collapse and eggs are lost.

When the females arrive, the males try to get the same mate theyhad the year before. They identify each other through head movements andcalls, the subtleties of the mating dance apparently being unique to eachbird. If the male can't find last year's mate, he courts a younger female -what a surprise.

The birds mate several times a day for a week, stopping after thefemale lays 2 eggs. They share parenting duties; the male keeps the eggswarm while the female searches for food and then they switch assignments. Bothbirds need to fatten up so they will have the energy to molt in preparation forwinter. They also need to store up food to feed the constantly starvinghatchlings.

The eggs have to be protected at all times from skuas, brown birdswho work in pairs to steal eggs and chicks. Part of the skuas' courtshipritual is to steal an egg and share it. Essentially, skuas are the Bonnieand Clyde of the bird world.

On day 36, the chicks peck out of their eggs and hide under theirparents. Little balls of fuzz who demand to be fed constantly, the chicksgrow quickly. At 21 days post hatching, the parents leave the chicks alonewhile both of them go out to hunt for krill, a small pink worm-like fish thatis their preferred food. In terms of numbers, krill are believed to bethe most numerous residents of our planet.

The temporarily abandoned chicks huddle together on the beach andcry for their parents. When the parents return, many chicks chase afterthem demanding to be fed. The parents know which chicks are theirs andwill not feed anyone else's chicks. The parents keep regurgitating krill intothe chicks until the babies lose their down 40 days after emerging from theegg.

At this point, the parents leave the breeding area. The chicksstay on the beach for a few days until they figure out that they need to getinto the water and start fishing for themselves. The chicks stay out at sea,spending their time out of water on the sea ice, and do not return to thecolony until they are 3 years old.

At age 4, the penguins come back to their birthplace to look for amate and start breeding. They breed until they are 14 years old and live untilthey are 18 or 20. Once the eggs and chicks survive the skuas, other predatorsthey face include killer whales (more on those later) and leopard seals.Penguins fight off elephant seals by biting them on the nose.

Although they are awkward on land, and can't fly, penguins areexcellent swimmers. Different types have different swimming styles;Gentoo penguins porpoise along the surface. Chinstrap penguins might swimas far as 100 miles in search of lunch.

When they get out of the water, penguins need to moisturize theirfeathers. They repeatedly stick their beaks into an oil gland above theirtails and spread the oil over their feathers to keep their coats in tiptopcondition. To oil their head feathers, they rub extra oil on theirflippers and then use their flippers to rub the oil into their heads.

 

Scientists identify the birds by putting ID tags and trackingdevices on their flippers - red for females and blue for males. Bands areplaced on the left flipper for adults and on the right flipper for penguins whoare tagged as babies. The birds are then followed throughout their lives andtheir activities are documented. Some of the data retrieved include wherethe birds go on the pack ice in the winter and how deep they dive in theirsearch for food. The scientists make the penguins barf and examine their poopto study their diet - a true glamor career. In the interests of fulldisclosure, pink/red poop shows they've been eating krill, white poop indicatesthey've been eating fish, yellow poop signifies alga, and green poop means theyare malnourished.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 3 - "Adventure is just bad planning" (Amundsen) [Continued]

After lunch, we got into full expedition gear - fleece pants,waterproof pants, long underwear, thermal top, 2 pairs of socks, down jacket,waterproof parka, glove liners, ski gloves, hat, sunglasses, waterproof boots -and grabbed our backpacks and cameras. We put on a flotation device andwaddled into the zodiacs.

The sea and sky were gorgeous. After a short ride, we got off atHalf Moon Island in the South Shetlands and cavorted with the chinstrappenguins for about an hour and a half. We saw an old whaling boat, whalebonesincluding an immense jaw bone of a blue whale, and a sleeping Weddell Seal justa few feet away from us. The expedition staff was scattered around thelanding site, providing helpful information. We had a great time and tookway too many pictures. While we were on shore, we missed the seal (pinniped)lecture.

After everyone had a chance to visit the shore, the mother shipsailed off to Deception Island for a sightseeing tour. Then, it was time fordinner with the ship's magician. Great food, interesting dining companions, anda few tricks.

Thursday's destinationwas Cuverville Island in the Errera Channel. The island is home to 12000breeding pairs of Gentoo Penguins and their chicks. And skuas.

The Gentoo are a mellow bunch and very funny to watch. Afterwe spent time with them, we were taken on a zodiac tour of the island, sailingright next to an ice floe with about 10 sea lions sunbathing in theunusually balmy (for Antarctica) weather. Our penguin expert told usthat yesterday and today were the two warmest days he had experienced in nearly40 seasons in Antarctica. More important, there was almost no wind.

We returned to the ship in time for the seafood lunch. Weenjoyed mussels, crab bisque, bay scallops in cream, shrimp in garlic sauce,shrimp cocktail and pasta Alfredo with mixed seafood.

 

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 3 - "Adventure is just bad planning" (Amundsen) [Continued]

Then, there was a great lecture on killer whales, aka, orcas.Scientists identify them by nicks and scars on their dorsal fins and theirsaddle patches. Their population is increasing now that seals and sea lions arebeing protected and there is more food available. However, underwater noisepollution interferes with the hunt for food because it gets in the way ofecholocation, the means by which orcas find their prey.

Orcas are one of the most widely distributed mammals on earth,just behind humans and the Norwegian rat. They live in complex societies, avoidwhales that are not a part of their group unless they want to breed with them,and appear intelligent to the scientists who study them. They are the apexpredator on earth, meaning they can eat anything they want, including salmon, bluewhales, penguins, deer, and moose. However, they are also specializedpredators, with different types of orcas generally confining themselves toparticular food groups, e.g, Chinook salmon versus sea and/or land mammals. Some types of orcas particularly enjoy shark liver, which composes 30%of a shark's body (Who knew?), but ruin their teeth chewing through sharkskinbecause it has "denticles," or little teeth.

Some orcas kill their prey with tail swats or ram their victimswith their heads. They can throw a 250 pound seal in the air and leapquite high out of water as they chase smaller sea mammals. Deer and mooseswimming between islands are bludgeoned to death. Mission accomplished, theorcas share their kills with the other members of their pod

Orcas live in family groups of 10-20. Whale songs ordialects vary widely among pods. These songs encode kin identity and are passedon from generation to generation.

Females rule the pod, which might have five generations alive atone time. The females on average live to age 50; some live into their90's. They begin reproducing at age 14 and enter menopause in their40's. Gestation usually lasts 16-17 months. Over a lifetime, theytypically have 5 calves.

Males live on average to age 30, but can live into their70's. They reach sexual maturity at age 14 and keep growing until 20.They tend to be mama's boys, maintaining an unbreakable bond with their mothersthroughout their lives, practicing philopatry but not incest. Different podssometimes travel together and breed, but the males always go back to theirmothers. Often daughters leave the group, starting their own pods.

 

When the ship pulled away from Cuverville late that afternoon,Mimi and I were lounging on deck, wrapped in wool plaid blankets. Mimisaid goodbye to our favorite icebergs as we steamed through Lemaire channel.Then it was time to get ready for dinner at the Thomas Keller Grill. Onceagain, we had the Caesar Salad, which was super and the ice cream sundae fordessert. We switched up the main course a little, sharing the filet andthe Dover sole this time. The second magic show was postponed to the next nightso passengers could spend time outside on deck to take advantage of the naturalbeauty all around us.

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Friday was probably ourbest day so far. The ship was hanging out in the waters around Palmerstation and landings were planned for Torgersen island. It wasappreciably colder than the previous two days and the wind had kicked up.

After breakfast, which we ate outside on the fantail, we went to alecture on explorers and were reminded that just about everything we learned inschool about who discovered what was a lie. For example, Magellan did notgo around the world and Drake "discovered" but did not sail throughthe Drake Passage.

Early Antarctica explorers used seals and penguins for both foodand fuel. Two obviously crazy men spent a year there in the early 1920's,conducting weather, tide, and penguin research while living in an overturned,abandoned whaleboat. Icicles in the boat would melt from the warmth of theirbreath while they slept and drip on their heads. Their food froze while theywere eating it. I can't remember who said "Exploration is the physicalexpression of intellectual passion," but it is clearly not always anexpression of common sense.

We also learned that the name Antarctica comes from the AncientGreeks who theorized there must be a land area on the "bottom" of theworld to balance out the arctic on the "top." The arctic hadbeen named for the great bear constellation Ursa Major, or arktos (bear) in Greek, hence, ant-arktos for its southern counterpart. That thearctic has polar bears and Antarctica does not is apparently a coincidence.

Then, it was time to get ready for kayaking: 3 pairs of socks, 3layers on the bottom, and 4 on top. At the assembly point, we were crammed intowet suits and special soft waterproof booties. We were also given specializedlife preservers. We could still move around, but we looked very funny.

We took a beautiful zodiac ride to the beach and were thrilledthat the wind had dropped off and the sun had come out. The first kayakinggroup that day hadn't been able to go out because of the wind, so we were verylucky that the sea had calmed down when it was our turn.

We got yet another safety briefing and then climbed into thedouble kayaks. Mimi had never kayaked before and I had had one ridiculousexperience in Croatia, so it soon became apparent to the guides that we neededto be placed in the Intensity V special education program with a personalassistant specified on our IEP.

That intervention was highly effective and by the end of theafternoon we had improved our kayaking skills tremendously. Owing to theseverity of our disability, we essentially got a private tour with a lovelyyoung woman who coached us through the fundamentals of kayaking and pointed outinteresting sites along the shore. There were lots of penguins, othershore birds, and elephant seals. The most exciting part of the afternoon: ahuge iceberg broke apart, creating a mini tsunami that passed harmlessly underour kayak after we maneuvered the craft into the correct orientation. The smashof the waves against the shore was impressive, given the distance between theshore and the iceberg.

We had an absolutely beautiful time kayaking around the bay andwere sorry when the experience came to an end. After beaching the kayaks,we got back in the zodiac to return to the ship. All of a sudden, thewind had picked up and it was a lot colder and rougher. There was suddenly alot more ice around the bay and we were told that in the winter, sea ice canform at the rate of 80 miles a week.

After we got back on board, we had to hurry to get out of ourwetsuits and get ready for our official "landing" for the day. We had15 minutes to change into expedition gear, grab something to eat and hurry backto the boot station. The plan for Friday's group excursions was a zodiac touraround the island. We really enjoyed our narrated ride and it was kind of funbouncing around when the zodiac had to break through ice to proceed.

Our daily pre-dinner recap featured a prolonged discussion ofpenguin poop along with information about tomorrow's activities. Mimi andI were really excited when we found out that the purple group was going ashoremidmorning, so we could sleep in.

For dinner, we went to the casual restaurant for the Thomas Kellerfamily style dinner. Little gems salad with green goddessdressing, ribs, corn muffin, baked beans, and potted blueberrycheesecake. It looked good, but was not up to par with our previousdinners and lunches. Oh well, you live and learn. We decided that we arenot going to go to any more Thomas Keller nights in the casual venue.

 

After dinner was another outing with Matthew the magician. Last time, his show had a lot of production values. This time, it wasprimarily straightforward magic and card tricks, which we both enjoyed verymuch. Mimi was not his assistant for this show, although Matthew threatened hewould come to our seats and drag her up on stage. Even though she was not apart of Matthew's second performance, she is still recognized around the shipby people who remember her from the first show.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 3 - "Adventure is just bad planning" (Amundsen) [Continued]

Saturday. Today the sky was grayand the sea was silvery. It snowed off and on and the temperature wasdefinitely getting lower and lower, but we still ate breakfast outside. Thescenery remains spectacular. And the Internet is still working!

We got our passports stamped with "Antarctica," electingto have the stamp placed on the last page to correspond with being at the endof the earth. Passengers had to request directly to have their passportsstamped. I joked with Mimi that this policy was probably in force toprotect guys who told their wives they were on a business trip in Buenos Aires,but were really taking their girlfriends to Antarctica. Later, Imentioned this hypothetical scenario to the cruise director and sheacknowledged that this possibility factored into Seabourn's policy. Also,she explained that some people are running out of passport pages, a subject mychildren know I can bore on about for hours.

Our landing was on the rocks surrounding Waterboat Point, home ofa Chilean naval station. We were able to tour the station, home to 9 sailors,who offered us cookies, and thousands of Gentoo penguins. We were able to getvery up close and personal with the birds and saw many adorable chicks. We particularly liked following one psychopathic adult who went fromneighborhood to neighborhood, stealing rocks. It was fun watching her beingchased away from the nests by shrieking birds who were trying to peck her todeath. We also liked seeing the pole listing distances from the station tomajor world cities (à la M.A.S.H). Everything is really far away fromhere!

The zodiac ride back to the Quest was pretty chilly. When we gotback to the ship, the crew used a power washer on us to clean off the penguinpoop. We went to lunch in the dining room and then took a long nap. Unfortunately, we missed the ice lecture, but we can always watch it on the TVin our stateroom - if we can figure out how to do that.

At the evening's recap, we got more information about penguins aswell as snowy white sheathbills, the only land-based birds in Antarctica. We had seen many of them around the Chilean station. The sheathbills, alsofondly referred to as "sh@t bills," will eat anything, including theregurgitated food penguin parents are trying to feed to their babies, mammals'after births, and penguin poop. They in turn seem to like to poop onzodiacs in particular.

The sheathbills have to travel about 800 miles to their breedinggrounds, an amazing feat given their inability to swim because they lack webbedfeet. Often, they hitch a ride on passing ships, perching for hours onthe railing to rest. And of course, pooping all over the deck.

 

At the recap, the expedition staff always lays out the plan forthe next day as well as reviewing that day's activities. Mimi and I foundout the purple group was going first on Sunday, an eventuality we had beendreading. Being ready to get off the ship before 8AM sounded like anightmare as well as the likelihood it would be much colder that early in themorning as opposed to the relatively balmy mid-afternoon temperatures we havebeen experiencing. Still, the plan for the day to sail into Neko Harbor andvisit Andvord Island which features 1000 foot high fjords and an active glacierwith calving ice that leads to mini tsunamis when a large block hits the watersounded amazing. For the first time, we were going to have to walkthrough deep snow, and we were excited about using trekking poles.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 3 - "Adventure is just bad planning" (Amundsen) [Continued]

A little later that evening, the captain announced that due to amedical emergency, we were not going to have this experience but were divertingto the South Shetlands so that two seriously ill patients could be flownsomewhere reasonable for medical treatment. There was a lot ofspeculation about the identity of the patients. One man said that the nightbefore, he had had dinner with a fellow who is 92 and wondered if he were theperson in distress. Later, we found out that one of the emergency casesinvolved a woman who was traveling with her "children." Ofcourse, her children were probably around my age.

We were very disappointed, but cheered up a little when werealized we would not have to get suited up and arrive at the boot station(boots are kept in cages for disinfecting between landings on an aft deck) by7:45 the next morning. Also, they will have bridge lessons in the morning, asthey expect we will not be able to have any landings (once they figure outwhere to take us) until the afternoon. So it's true: every cloud does have a silver lining.

We were still pretty sated from lunch so we sat in the ObservationBar and looked at the falling snow. Sometimes the snow is so intense thecrew has to shovel the decks. I almost wish I had seen that. Almost...

I tried to talk Mimi into eating outside in the snow at the patiogrill, but we ate inside at the casual restaurant instead. Our Caesarsalads were good, but not as good as they are at the specialtyrestaurant. I had macadamia-crusted rack of lamb and garlic mashedpotatoes, both of which I enjoyed very much. Mimi was not quite as thrilledwith her pasta and wild mushroom dish. We both tried the raspberrypavlova for dessert. It was good, but not something I would beinterested in having again.

After dinner we waddled down to the show. It was thecomedian's turn to perform again and he was great. Quite a few times, Ilaughed until there were tears in my eyes.

The wind had picked up during the show and the boat was reallyrocking as we lurched back to our cabin. We weren't tired, because of theafternoon's long nap, so we watched "Sully" (the in-suiteentertainment system has about 1000 different programs available). The rockingof the ship didn't bother us. Maybe we're getting our "sea legs."

 

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Sunday morning thecaptain got on the PA and said that the ambulance plane coming from PuntaArenas was delayed because of bad weather. We were going to be stuck on boardtoday in the South Shetlands until they figure out what's what. We will not beallowed to go ashore, because if the plane can't get here today, we will haveto start off for Ushuaia later this afternoon. So, we have missed 2 ofour 6 days in Antarctica. We are expecting/hoping for some form ofcompensation from Seabourn, but would rather have had two more days in the mostgorgeous place on earth.

In the morning, we cruised around King George Island and AdmiraltyBay; scenic, but not as dramatic as the scenery in Antarctica. In theafternoon, we sailed around Nelson Island, waiting for word about the arrivalof the evacuation plane.

We had another wacky penguin lecture, focusing on the effects ofglobal warming on the diminishing numbers of Adelie penguins on the AntarcticPeninsula. The average temperature in the peninsula has risen 5 degrees in thelast 40 years, affecting the supply of krill, the Adelie's preferred food. Onthe other hand, Gentoo penguins are taking over the planet because they willeat fish.

Further complicating the Adelie's life is increased snowfall inthe peninsula. As temperatures rise, there is more moisture in the air ofwhat was formerly a polar desert area, resulting in increased precipitation.Because it is still cold on the peninsula, more precipitation often means moresnow. As temperatures rise, there is just too much melting snow, caused by theincreased temperatures. Despite diligent pebble build up, the nests getflooded and pre-emergent chicks can drown in their eggs.

We also learned more than we needed to know about ice. Sea ice isdifferent from glacier ice and different from icebergs. Icebergs in the areacome about when pieces break off the Weddell Sea ice shelf. Icebreakersbreak sea ice but it reforms behind them almost immediately. This is howicebreakers sometimes ironically get stuck in the ice.

In the early spring, pack ice breaks up, reforms, and freezesup. This process is repeated over and over throughout the season. Packice doesn't freeze flat, like lake water. Instead, it freezes in ajumbled mess, with thousands of times of surface area that ice has on afreshwater surface. Antarctica pack ice has plant material embedded in it thatis the main food source for krill. In turn, krill are the main foodsource for a wide variety of seabirds and sea mammals, including 15million seals, as well as the Adelie penguins. There has been a 30%decrease in the amount of pack or sea ice, so there is less available foodfor the krill in the peninsula and their numbers are decreasing. Adelie chicks arestarting to weigh less because the parents have to swim further to get lessfood.

Following this information overload was team trivia. One ofour team members had a relative who was one of the passengers who was beingevacuated from the ship. He was staying on, as apparently he was part of agroup of 8 family members traveling together and not everyone could be takenoff the ship, even if they wanted to go. No one asked him what the storywas, but we were all curious.

Trivia turned a little nasty early on. There was an argumentover the correct term for a group of giraffes. "Tower" was theaccepted answer, but people from South Africa protested that giraffes are a"tower" when they are standing still, but a "journey" whenthey are moving. Our team's guess was a "rubberneck." Notsurprising, the Pregnant Penguins did not distinguish ourselves today. We areback in 3rd place, but only 60 points behind the leader, so there is hope.

After lunch, which featured outstanding spring rolls, I played duplicatebridge with the ship's comedian as my partner. His bidding was evenfunnier than his routine was last night. I'm guessing we came in last.

Next was the "Caviar on Ice" reception at the pool,accompanied by champagne and at least 10 different kinds of vodka. Ireally wish I liked caviar, and I learned my lesson with vodka on September 15,1969, but we had a lot of fun talking to otherpassengers, especially Nancy whohappens to live in Arlington. I hope I will get together with her after the cruise.

 

Then the Captain came on the PA to announce that the medicalevacuation plane would not make it to the South Shetlands today, but might getthere tomorrow morning. We are all beyond pissed. The Captain has been tryingto do damage control, explaining the Chilean air force is in charge of themedical flight. He has now made the decision to leave the area andhead back across the Drake Passage tonight to get to Ushuaia Tuesday morning.So, that's it for Antarctica.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 4 - Leaving Antarctica and Sailing North [Continued]

Tuesday we landed in Ushuaia. One ofthe emergency patients was sent to the local hospital for treatment and will beflown home when her condition stabilizes. The other, who had beenresiding in the ship's morgue for a couple of days, was transferred to afuneral home. There was NO point waiting toretire, was there?

Ushuaia, separated from the South Americanmainland by the Straits of Magellan, is not a particularly excitingstop. Somewhat like Georgia and Australia, it started out as apenal colony. The prisoners' main occupation was cutting down treesfor firewood. Our excursion started in the prison, one section of which hasbeen preserved as it was when the entire building was used as ajail. The rest of the building has been repurposed as a combinationmaritime museum and art gallery. Art is on display in the tiny cellsin two of the wings, with each cell featuring the works of a differentartist. Artistic merit is of course highly subjective, but some passengers werebuying pictures.

Next we took off for Tierra del Fuego NationalPark, a vast forest on the Argentina/Chile border. It backs up tothe Beagle Channel, where we saw some of the most beautiful (non-icebergrelated) scenery of the trip. We enjoyed exploring thepark. Then, we boarded a train pulled by an old time steamlocomotive and followed the narrow gauge railroad track the prisoners rode tothe forest to harvest firewood in the late 19th century. Vaststretches of the forest have been reduced to petrified tree stumps as a resultof the prisoners' efforts. The train ride is something I would neverdo again, but you really don't know for sure if something is worth doing untilyou do it. Other people went hiking or rode horses in the park and those mighthave been better options for our port day.

When we got back to the dock, we walked aroundUshuaia a little and didn't see anything of particular interest. We went backto the ship for lunch. The casual restaurant was having theIndonesian buffet (just about every day and most nights the cuisine from adifferent country is the theme for meals in the Colonnade, a primarily buffetrestaurant at lunch and breakfast but a full service casual restaurant fordinner). The Balinese shrimp fritters were spectacular and arguablya reason in and of themselves to sail again on the Quest. I'm also waiting forthe French Market dinner to return.

For dinner in the formal dining room, we were ata table hosted by one of the singers. To continue the small-worldtheme: you may recall that Penguin Boy is in graduate school where Iwas an undergraduate; the singer was an undergraduate where I was a graduatestudent - only about 40 years later.

Tonight's show was Liar's Club, featuring theship's comedian/aka/my bridge partner Tony, the hotel director who has beenmore of a (fun) presence on this sailing than is usually the case, one of thespecial guest musical performers, and the assistant cruise director. They wereall very funny and we enjoyed the show very much, even though we got only oneout of five words correct.

Wednesday. On our way to our next stop inChile, we sailed along the Beagle Channel to Cape Horn, the north edge of theDrake Passage where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. Cape Hornis infamous for being a seamen's graveyard because of high winds, crazy waves,strong currents, and icebergs. The Captain was quite emotional aboutsailing around the Horn, woke us at 6AM (!) for the experience, providednarration during the passage, and sailed the ship back and forth to make sureeveryone could see the albatross sculpture on the promontory. It wasreally cold on deck so I popped over to the coffee bar for a hot chocolate,which the barista made by putting a chocolate lollipop in a cup of foaming milkand waiting for it to melt.

We had another breakfast on deck "thatcouldn't be beat" and pursued our usual sea day amusements. We went to aninteresting lecture on baleen/humpback whales by Rachel the Whale Girl, Alexthe Penguin Boy's girlfriend.

We learned that some birds (I forgot which)migrate 25,000 miles on the breeding to feeding to breeding groundsodyssey. Other animals that migrate long distances include Adeliepenguins, some butterflies, and leatherneck turtles. Humpbacks come next in theyearly migration sweepstakes, swimming over 6,000 miles between theirequatorial breeding grounds to the polar feeding grounds where schools of krillcan be miles long and several yards wide. Some males, unburdened by calves, canswim up to 1,000 miles a day if they're in a hurry. I guess they don't have tostop to use the restroom...

Scientists identify individual whales by theunique markings on their flukes, consisting of lines and spots as well asnicks, cuts, and rake marks sustained when they eluded orcas who attempted toeat them. About 1/4 of the humpback whale population shows evidence of orcaattacks on their flukes.

Despite the orcas' best efforts, most humpbackslive until they're 40-50 years old (orcas experience greater success whenpreying on gray whales). The oldest humpback whale autopsied was estimated tobe 96 years old. The whales have a waxy plug in their ears thatfeatures rings similar to a tree trunk's. An additional ring is added to theplug each year of life. So, 96 rings = 96 yearsold. Another glamor career - analyzing whale earwax.

Other researchers implant satellite-trackingdevices under the whales' hides. Acoustic recorders on the oceanfloor also track the whales' progress. So far, no one has figured out how thewhales "know" how to swim from Antarctica to Iceland in essentially astraight line. One hypothesis has to do with the earth's magnetic fields.

Adult humpback whales are 40-50 feet long andweigh around a ton per foot. Baleen whale babies are about 11-12feet long at birth and weigh about 1100 pounds. Babies swim in theirmother's slipstream or rest on her back when they get tired of swimming. Killerwhales try to take calves for a snack, but the mothers can often successfullyfight them off. I am still wondering what the orcas do with theantlers when they eat a moose.

Whale children leave their mothers when they area year old. Calves are nursed for I forget how long, but I do recall that themother loses 1/3 of her body mass during the lactation period. It should havehappened to me.

Humpback whales hunt for food in the same groupsyear after year. They typically spend six months in the feeding grounds to storeup energy reserves they can access during the breeding season, building up alayer of blubber about 6" thick. Each day, they can eat up to a ton ofplankton, a class of organisms defined by their being at the mercy of oceancurrents for movement. Whales tend to feed more at night when their prey iscloser to the surface. They also have the ability to herd their preyinto more compact groups so that each mouthful counts.

We continued to sail through the Beagle Channel.At one point, Chile and the U.K. almost went to war over the islands inthe Channel. Finally, maps from the 1820's were consulted andindicated that these islands rightfully belonged to Chile. Thesemaps also eventually "proved" that the Falklands belonged to the U.K.There has been peace in the area since 1984.

The next highlight was a narrated ride throughGlacier Alley in the Beagle Channel. As a result of global warming, theglaciers are receding, affecting the water supply in the area. They arereportedly not as impressive to see as they were 10 years ago, but we werenonetheless amazed by the natural beauty of the blue and white glaciers thatstill cover part of the mountains.

Next came a lecture on the wildlife ofPatagonia. The puma is the largest carnivore, the red fox is thelargest omnivore, and the guanaco is the largest herbivore. There are morebirds than can be imagined. We have also been given a pictorial guide to thevarious birds we may be meeting - some up close and personal (see below).

Dinner was at the Thomas KellerGrill. We hosted Rachel the Whale Girl and Victoria, another memberof the expedition team who typically drives the zodiacs. We had originallyextended the invitation to the Whale Girl and her boyfriend Alex the PenguinBoy, but he had to leave the ship earlier than planned because we got toUshuaia, his disembarkation point, two days early. We had awonderful time with the girls and dinner was, once again amazing, particularlythe Dover sole.

 

 

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 4- Leaving Antarctica and Sailing North [Continued]

Thursday brought a stop in Punta Arenas,Chile. We took a speedboat along the Straits of Magellan toMagdalena Island to see the Magellan penguins and onward to Marta Island to seethe sea lions and cormorants. Unlike the other penguins we have seen, theMagellan penguins eat squid and sardines instead of having a diet consistingprimarily of krill. They make their burrows in themud. The males arrive in the nesting spots before the females, digout the nests/burrows, and wait to get lucky. After the eggs arelaid, the females sit on the nest for 20 days while the males go fishing. Then,the males return and sit on the nest while the females go fishing for 20days. Eggs hatch a few days after the females return.

After this spectacular excursion, we had lunch on the ship and then tooka shuttle into town. We walked around for a while with the daughterand son-in-law (an erstwhile member of the Pregnant Penguins) of the woman whois languishing in the hospital in Ushuaia. She is 84, had been toAntarctica 20 years ago, and wanted to go back with her children so they couldenjoy the experience. She treated 8 family members to the cruise. One of herkids is with her in Ushuaia; the others stayed on board.

Punta Arenas seemed like a realdud. Of course that it was raining and so many places were closedfor siesta did not help. We stayed about an hour and went back tothe ship to continue binge watching Downton Abbey.

When we were getting ready to pull out of PuntaArenas, we had a word from the captain about how to proceed if we gotdive-bombed by a giant petrel. We will be sailing through an area with tons ofnests, and sometimes the birds get confused by the lights on the ship and landon the open decks or the balconies. Most of the ship's outside lights will beturned off, but sometimes the birds still drop in for a visit. What a photo op!

We had dinner with Jan, the cruise director,which was a lot of fun. Also, the porcini ravioli appetizer and nectarine whiskeysundae were particularly good. The filet with béarnaise was outstanding asusual. We asked Jan how come she doesn't weigh 500 pounds and looks so good.She mentioned that she wears a lot of shawls and ponchos.

Jan talked about the problems caused by the deviation in itinerary,especially with respect to getting the new entertainers on board (only 1 out of3 made it). Her husband, who she met about 30 years ago when they both workedon a ship (she was a singer and he played sax in the band), is going to appearin tomorrow's show. I asked Jan what the best cruise is (other thanAntarctica) and she said the Copenhagen - Arctic Circle - Copenhagen route,which just happens to be on my list of trips that have to happen.

Instead of going to the show, which featured thesingers and dancers in some sort of revue, we decided it was time formore Downton Abbey. When we got back to our room, the balconydrapes were pinned together with a note attached reminding us about thesuicidal petrels. We also got detailed written instructions aboutwhat to do if a petrel lands on our balcony. Hope one does.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 4- Leaving Antarctica and Sailing North [Continued]

Friday was another sea day. It probably was agood thing no confused giant petrel decided to visit our cabin last night (seebelow; taken from our kayak)

As we sailed through the Chilean Fjords early inthe morning, we passed the wreck of the USS Riverside, a World War II troopcarrier that was ultimately wrecked in the 60's by an encounter with the rocksin the Patagonian Channel due to "pilot error." Like the CostaConcordia did for a number of years, it's still lying on its side, with halfthe keel sticking out of the water.

We had a hard time getting out of the cabin inthe morning, largely because of the continuing Downton Abbey problem. Asa result, we missed the lecture on "Encountering Marine Birds in theSouthern Pacific Ocean," not that big a disappointment, because we are alittle birdied-out.

I learned something valuable about signally atthe bridge lesson and then it was time for team trivia and popcorn. Wedefinitely have not had all of our points counted and are still in ahumiliating 3rd place. My demands for a recount or to be allowed to examine thespreadsheet were politely ignored.

For the last day of trivia on our final sea day,we have been informed that we are expected to come in a costume representingour team name. I figured the pajamas I got on the airplane -probably the only thing that will fit me by the end of the cruise - with apillow under the top and the beanie with the penguin on it the ship gave uswould do it. However, one of our team members has put herself in charge ofwardrobe and is OUT OF CONTROL. She has planned to take up thestick-on penguin feet that were placed on the deck and hall carpets to guide usthrough the club, to the boot station, and to the zodiacs for landings and thenback to our suites. We're to stick them on our shoes. Shehas borrowed rocks for a "nest" from the planters and eggs from therestaurant. My assignment is to "steal" 10 napkins fromthe Thomas Keller Grill, the only venue that has pure white linen napkins, topin onto dark shirt fronts. I expect her to supply dark eyebrow pencil anddemand chinstraps. Wait until she finds out I induced our darlingcabin attendant to get me orange balloons so I can come as a Gentoo.

All this planning made us late for lunch, sothere was time for only one glass of rosé before duplicatebridge. Tony the comedian left the ship in Punta Arenas, so I had toget a new partner. I enjoyed playing with her, even though we camein last.

After bridge there was a lecture on cetaceansocial behavior. The argument is that cetaceans have culture becausethey transmit learned patterns of behavior to their offspring and to oneanother via social learning rather than exhibiting purely instinctive behavior.Patterns transmitted across members and through generations include feedingmethods, songs, and protection of the young. This talk evoked some unhappymemories of certain graduate school classes, but I persevered. Somewhere Ithink I still have a copy of the paper I wrote on the evolution of sensorysystems in benthic creatures.

Glad I stayed for the lecture, because I learneda great new way to insult people - disparage their encephalization quotient(brain size to body mass ratio). This quotient varies wildly amongmembers of the cetacean family. For example, in sperm whales, the largest ofthe whales who have teeth, a third of their body mass consists of the head. Notsure how big their brains are, as their heads are fundamentally massive soundgenerating structures.

Different family groups have different languagespassed down through the generations. In humpbacks, the males are the only oneswho sing. Their songs can evolve when they meet whales from other areas. Unlikeother cetaceans, sperm whales don't sing; they click. Differentclans teach their youngsters different clicking patterns. Dolphinsalso learn their unique identifying whistle from their social group.

Another example of learned behavior that isculturally transmitted is displayed in the methods whales use to fend off orcaattacks on their young. Some sperm whale clans make a circle around theircalves with their heads facing out to fight the orcas. Other clans getinto a circular formation with their tail ends sticking out to battle thekiller whales.

Bottle-nosed dolphins make a fishing"net" out of mud to catch their prey and have been observed to fishcooperatively with humans since the mid-1800s. They herd mulletstowards fisherman and when the nets are cast, the fish panic, breakingformation. It becomes easier for the dolphins to catch and eat fishthat have left the school. It's kind of a win/win scenario, that is, if you'renot a mullet.

Humpback whales have been adding differentmethods of feeding to their repertoires. They have been passingalong a trap feeding technique to their compadres of late.

Another example of learned behavior is tailwalking, a behavior seen only in captivity. Dolphins who are not explicitlytrained to tail walk learn and exhibit this behavior by observing other membersof the group being rewarded for it, somehow internalizing the concept of"will work for food."

Although there is a lot of hype about how smartdolphins are, scientists believe the orcas areeven smarter. Groups of orcas use a wave wash technique, "jumping" upand down in the water around an ice floe in concert to tip the floe over andknock the seals off the ice and into the water so they can eat them. Somewhales have come to enjoy the pleasures of "beach rubbing," anunusual behavior spreading across groups via observationallearning. Some killer whales adopt odd behaviors that last only onesummer.

After the lecture we spent some time on decktalking to expedition staff members. We didn't see any wildlife, butwe did see a most amazing double rainbow. The colors were archedacross the sky and were also reflected in the ocean water. Snap, snap, snap.

Then we looked around the ship's shops and spenttime looking at the fine jewelry. The salesman told us he typicallysells at least 25 pieces of jewelry a cruise, amazing in that there are only amaximum of 450 people on board and at most 250 women (Mimi and I are not theonly old bats traveling together). Uh oh! "Old bats" justtriggered a flashback of other memories related to a paper I wrote in graduateschool about echolocation in bats and other land animals as well as traumaticRorschach responses.

 

The jeweler told us people buy on board becausehis prices are about $400 cheaper than ashore and there is no tax. Iwouldn't be interested in having the majority of the pieces in the shop, evenif they fell out of the sky and I had the top down.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 4- Leaving Antarctica and Sailing North [Continued]

At dinner we were hosted by one of thesingers. Another great dinner, although the featured Thomas Kellerdessert was so-so, even though it looked beautiful. After dinner,there was a spectacular classical piano concert. Then it was time for anotherepisode of Downton Abbey, before we passed out - I mean fellasleep.

Saturday was another sea day. As usual, I draggedMimi outside to have breakfast on the fantail. Later, there were reports ofwhale sightings, so we hung out with the expedition team ondeck. Occasionally, they would point out a waterspout, which Icouldn't see, but others said they could. This began to remind me ofan Emperor's New Clothes scheme. Or maybe SteveMartin's old "What the hell is that?" SNL routine.

Again, we forgot to go to the dance lesson. Mimiwent to some educational lecture, but didn't feel good because of the motion ofthe ship and went back to the cabin to rest. I went to the bridgelesson and finally understood why to bid 1 no trump with 5 hearts. Then I wentto Team Trivia, where once again the scoring seemed to be a little shady andthe costume organizer was a little too intense. Mimi still wasn't feeling thatgood so I went to the outdoor casual restaurant for lunch by myself and foundnew friends to sit with.

 

There are 3 options for lunch: the formal diningroom, which takes forever; the pool grill which is mainly burgers and fries(excellent), pizza (v.good), and a Thomas Keller "haute" dog, whichwe have yet to try; and the combination buffet and full service, indoor andoutdoor, casual restaurant.

Here is an example of the offerings at lunch onthe buffet in the casual restaurant on "Pacific Rim" day:

Two daily specials, ordered at your table, onepasta, one fish; soup with chicken and vegetables; shrimp and crab clawcocktails; smoked salmon with all the trimmings; mussels; assorted cheeses(Stilton, cowgirl creamery, sandwich slices) with crackers, homemade breads,and fabulous breadsticks; potato salad (Mimi's favorite); tossed salad; Caesarsalad made to order; European-style cold cuts; sliced ham and roast beef; Thaistyle red duck curry; Mongolian beef stir fry, shrimp in Asian BBQ sauce,grilled turkey medallions with fresh papaya/mango salsa; vegetable fried rice;roasted butternut squash; vegetable fritters with creamy aioli sauce (myfavorite); flank steak carving station; stir fried vegetables; glazed sweetpotatoes; roasted chicken breast with papaya; Parma ham and melon; Asian noodlevegetable salad (my other favorite); Asian shrimp salad; fruit salad; pre-madesandwiches; 6 different pastries; and 4 different ice creams withassorted toppings.

 

After lunch, it was time for duplicate bridgewith the French guy I played with a few weeks ago. I did my best tospeak to him in French, as he doesn't speak much English, and managed OK. Wealso played pretty well together.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 4- Leaving Antarctica and Sailing North [Continued]

Later, Mimi and I went to a talk about theexpedition tours in Alaska Seabourn is starting this season. It wasan excellent presentation and the tours sounded fabulous, but the base price iscrazily expensive and the fare does not include any of the expeditionactivities, which this cruise did. Two weeks in Alaska could easilycost more than our 3 weeks on this cruise, and this was ANTARCTICA!

After we recovered from our hilarity overthe price of going to Alaska with Seabourn, we started on our way to a Q&Awith the captain. Somehow, we went to the bar with the best view fora preprandial beverage and hors d'oeuvres instead.

That evening's dinner with a member of theexpedition staff, Mr. Kayak, was very pleasant. He told us about hisfascinating encounters with bears in Alaska and weather-related harrowingexperiences in Antarctica. In addition to Seabourn, he has workedfor National Geographic, Silversea, and Linblad. He has also ledexpedition trips for "The World," a ship where people buy condosranging from around 700-4200 square feet. This is nota variation of the "Man Without a Country"scenario. People who buy them generally have multiple homes andtypically do not spend all that much time at sea. Condo feesare ~$300,000 a year and residents are not allowed to rent out their apartmentswhen they are ashore. Resales are virtually nonexistent and there is talk ofbuilding a second ship. "The World" is currently sailingin Antarctica with only about 30 out of 450 owners on board

We decided not to go to the post-dinner show,which was another ensemble song and dance affaire. When we got back to ourcabin, there was a letter informing us we were each getting a $1000 combinationshipboard and future cruise credit for the inconvenience caused by the sickpassengers. I would rather have had 2 more days in Antarctica than the credits,but at least it's some compensation.

Sunday we sailed into Puerto Chacabuco, theadd-on port. We took a "Beauty of Patagonia" excursionwhich consisted of a rather lame walk in the forest, a folkloric danceperformance, typical snacks of the area, and pisco sours. We have noticed thatjust about the only flowers people bother to grow in southern Argentina andsouthern Chile are lupines. These seem to grow much better here than theyever did in my perennial garden when I actually worked on it.

 

Mimi and I didn't want to get dressed fordinner, so we finally had supper at the pool grill. We sharedlobster mac 'n' cheese, a fabulous pepperoni pizza, and a very tasty sirloinsteak with fries. If I haven't already mentioned this, it isimportant to understand that fries on Seabourn could be easily classified alongwith other examples of accomplishments representing the height of westerncivilization. The most amazing part of the dinner was that I talked Mimi intoeating outside in the pouring rain. It was cold, but we were wrappedin wool blankets and there were heaters, so with lots of layers and copiousamounts of antifreeze, we were fine.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 4- Leaving Antarctica and Sailing North [Continued]

Monday we got to Castro in the Chiloéarchipelago, a group of 180 islands. The sail in was beautiful. Thecountryside looked like what you see on river cruises along the Danube andRhine.

Unlike a lot of the ports we visited, Castro wasnot a complete dump. There was even some sort of Mercedesdealership.

We had a tour of the UNESCO heritage churchesscheduled for the early afternoon, so we got off the ship early and walkedaround Castro for a while, visiting a non-touristic market. The best thingthere was beautiful sheep's wool that was sold in a variety ofcolors. Also interesting were the massive areas of floats and netsin the water, which defined salmon and mussel farms.

Our formal excursion was led by an Englishteacher who was pleasant but a little too frenetic, offering more informationthan anyone cared to hear. Our guide had to come to Castro fromPuerto Montt, a 3-hour bus tour, which cost ~$5, and then had to ride back toPuerto Montt at the end of the day to lead tours there the next day.

Our guide told us about the isolated existenceof the people who live around Castro, describing the people as self-centeredand passive aggressive. They do what they want to do when they wantto do it and that's that. In particular, they tend to ignore governmentdirectives/intervention or go on strike for months if the government importunesthem. The strangest thing he told us was that Moby Dick wasinspired by life in Patagonia.

The early churches were established by Jesuitswho went from island to island spreading the good word, establishing a"circle of churches." The churches were wooden, builtwithout nails. We visited the Jesuit's earliest church in the town of Nerconand finished the day at the main church in Puerto Montt. This churchwas established by the Franciscans.

The tour took in only three of the 16 heritagechurches (we were disappointed), 2 crappy touristic markets, and a restauranton the island of Achao for a snack, pisco sours, and another folkloricperformance. This time, for our cultural experience, we had afamily group, which included their children dancing and relatives playing inthe band. One musician played the jawbone of a horse and anotherplayed the accordion. The music had a polka flavor to it.

Then it was time to return to Puerto Montt.There are no bridges among the islands and we were delayed coming back on themob-controlled ferry from Achao to Puerto Montt because the operators wouldn't letthe bus get on the ferry for a few cycles.

We also went to see the colorful Palifitohouses, built on stilts. Originally, they were the typical homesinhabited by the poor. Now, they house fashionable art galleries andrestaurants.

On the way back, we got a quick overview ofCastro and saw a lot of corrugated tin houses. Other houses werefinished with interesting-shaped shingles, cut from the Chilean equivalent ofredwood trees. The shingles, which last forever, are painted in a variety of cheerfulcolors.

We didn't get to the pier until past the timefor the last scheduled tender. We decided afterwards that we shouldhave just walked around the town and visited the Franciscan church on our own,but again, you never know.

 

We were really tired when we got back, butmanaged to work up the energy to have cocktails and then dinner with thepianist. A number of my trivia teammates were with us at dinner, so we hadquite a discussion about our costumes. There was talk of looking for false eyelashesin order to resemble rockhopper penguins.

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Tuesday was Puerto Montt. We had to meet at 6:00AMfor our excursion, so we got eggs Benedict and sausages for breakfast fromroom service - yum! Our guide was terrific and we enjoyed his company on a veryscenic tour around the countryside. He explained that salmon farmingwas the main industry in this part of Patagonia, with Chile's being the topsalmon producer in the world, farming about a million tons of salmon ayear. Norway is in second place. I lost him when he started talkingabout artificial insemination of the salmon population, as I felt that cameunder the heading of TMI. One problem the industry has faced isoveruse of antibiotics, which in turn increases the survival rates of harmfulorganisms. Global warming is also jeopardizing the industry. Both theseproblems have led to contamination of the marine food supply, killing a lot ofsalmon as well as many sea lions and Humbolt penguins that live in the area.

We took a beautiful cruise on an emerald greenlake, saw the Petrohue ("place of smoke") falls/rapids that arereportedly more exciting in winter when there is more rain, hiked in the woods,saw and learned about the glaciers on the volcanoes, heard about theearthquakes that have disrupted Chilean life over the past 50+ years, andvisited a great town with a terrific artists' market. After wefinished touring, we went to a lovely hotel and had a very tasty salmon lunchfeaturing pisco sours and wine.

It was a nice, sunny day and for once we didn'tneed a million layers to keep warm. We all had to laugh at the Chileans inshort shorts and tank tops in response to temperatures in the high50's. Of course, they probably thought we were nuts in our quilted jacketsand sweaters.

 

Again, we got back to the pier after thescheduled departure of the last tender. After 9 hours of touring, we wereexhausted and decided to skip formal night in the main diningroom. We liked the menu better in the Colonnade anyway and werehappy to be seated with the people we met during our flight to Buenos Aires.They live in St. Thomas and were a lot of fun to dine with.

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Antarctica Odyssey on the Seabourn Quest: Part 5- The End

Wednesday was our last day on board. It finally waswarm on deck and we spent a lot of time just hanging out. Thehighlight of the day for me was the final trivia match. I must say Ilooked fetching as a pregnant Gentoo, with a black pajama suit, blackbalaclava, black and white penguin beanie, white bib, and the orange balloonsfor feet and beak. Our team captain suggested I order "tonic and gin,too" when the waiter came by to take our drink order.

The judges got a good laugh out of myoutfit. Unfortunately, the Bird Brains did a whole tableau, completewith spraying silly string to represent poop, laying eggs, and having one oftheir members dress like a skua who terrorized them as they milledabout. They were definitely the best ones and no one begrudged theirteam's victory lap.

Our team didn't do great in the trivia part ofthe event. However, I must say I am proud that I was the only one inthe entire competition who knew that the Dixie Cups sang "Chapel ofLove," giving us double points for that answer. One of our Canadianteammates insisted that Canada was the answer to a question when the rest of usthought it was the US. He enforced his will, was wrong, and I threwpopcorn at him. The gin, too made me do it.

After too much lunch, I ran into Nancy, someoneI've made friends with who lives in Arlington. We made plans to gettogether after the cruise. We saw the Captain and thanked him for awonderful trip. He apologized for the shortened stay in Antarcticaand suggested we include on our comment card ways the itinerary could beimproved.

Dinner, which we absolutely didn't need to eat,was with the assistant cruise director. It's going to be really sadwhen there's nobody hovering over me with a menu and granting my everywish. On the other hand, it will be nice when my clothing fitsagain.

The comedian did a great job at the after dinnershow. He is English and I enjoyed the different approach to humor.

I got back to our cabin just in time to put thesuitcases out. Tomorrow we dock in Valparaiso and have to get offthe Quest at 8:30. Mimi is ready to get off the ship - sort of - butI would be happy to stay on forever.

 

We have a private tour planned with anothercouple that will show us around Valparaiso, take us to the wine country, andthen drop us off at the airport in the evening in time to catch the red eyeback to the US. Mimi is fortunate in that she has a direct flight toDallas. I have a stop in Miami, have to change terminals, and thenwill eventually make it to National.

To summarize: This was the best cruise ever. The memories will last forever. For those of you who persevered to the end, I hope you enjoyed it. For those of you going to Antarctica this season, Have the time of your life.

Linda

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Linda,

 

Thank you very much for all of your hard work in putting together this daily travelogue! We will be in the cruise in reverse order this December and so are getting more and more excited! And then there is the academic content as well. Where else in the world? No wonder this was your best cruise ever!

 

And I am grateful for reminding me of the clothing basics and timings for the landings so that I can assure myself that we will be prepared.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

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