The South American and Antarctic experience on the Zaandam

[scubacruiserx2]

The sea was so bumpy at dinner that the ice bucket for our wine fell over spilling the uncorked half - full wine bottle . They gave us a new bottle which we took up to our room .

 

 

We weren't sure if we would be able to make port in the morning

 

 

but we went to bed dreaming of exotic animals .

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

It had been 9 days since we last walked on land in Punta Arenas so we were ready to come ashore.

 

 

It looked to be a nice day

 

 

 

Tenders away !

 

 

It's about 20-25 minutes to tender to shore

 

 

Welcome to the Falkland Islands

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After coming ashore we met our guide and driver , Kurt , from Estancia Excursions .

 

 

 

http://estancia-excursions.com/tour/volunteer-point/

 

It's about 2 1/2 hours over pavement , gravel and off road for abot 12 miles to see the penguins at Volunteer Point , so buckle in and hold on .

 

 

 

 

 

On the ranch and time to go off road

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

 

We can see the water , almost there

 

 

We made it ahead of the crowds .

 

 

 

 

[caneable]

Appreciate the video of the drive across the Falklands.  Two weeks yesterday we hope to be doing it with Estancia ourselves.

[scubacruiserx2]

The colony of King Penguins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A video clip of noisy king penguins :

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

14 minutes ago, caneable said:

Appreciate the video of the drive across the Falklands.  Two weeks yesterday we hope to be doing it with Estancia ourselves.

 

Great , it won't be long now ! Any questions that we can help you with ?

[scubacruiserx2]

The penguin's behavior was both amusing and amazing

 

Snoozing

 

 

 

Flapping

 

 

Scratching

 

 

Snuggling

 

 

Waiting for a bus

 

 

Crowing

 

And posing

 

 

Video clip of  a penguin pair waddling through the crowd  :

 

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We didn't see any King chicks but there is an adjacent colony of Gentoo with cute chicks 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gentoo penguins in the Falkland Islands video clip :

 

 

 

 

[PurpleTraveller]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful penguin photos and videos. It looks like you had good weather for your day. Volunteer Point is my all time favourite excursion I have been on. 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Don't cross the stones 

 

 

Molting 

 

 

 

Walk like a penguin

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

11 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

Thank you for sharing your wonderful penguin photos and videos. It looks like you had good weather for your day. Volunteer Point is my all time favourite excursion I have been on. 

 

You're welcome , we're glad that you like them . We had great light and a great day on our visit there and wished that we could have stayed longer .

[scubacruiserx2]

Sometimes you could see birds on prey circling 

 

 

So  keep moving

 

 

Measuring up

 

 

 

Ready for a selfie

 

 

and a close up

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Proud parent

 

 

It's hard not to crow when you're this happy

 

 

 

I don't know where junior gets it from

 

 

 

On the go

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We didn't bring our winter jackets and with the wind , chill and a little rain we decided to head back toward the car 

 

 

we took a little detour toward the beach

 

 

a few other birds near there

 

 

 

 

a pit stop

 

 

This was affixed to the ladies room . It says that King penguins can dive almost 1000' (300 M) deep

 

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

Loved the penguins walking through the crowd.  "Coming through here, make way, pardon me..."

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Loved the penguins walking through the crowd.  "Coming through here, make way, pardon me..."

 

That's funny 

[scubacruiserx2]

After warming in the car we had a bite to eat before paying Nyree our fee in British Pounds . There are no ATMs on the island so we brought it with us . We decided to return more scenic route with another vehicle along for safety .

 

 

We requested a photo stop here and the ground was a bit soft

 

 

This is a good reason not to DIY  , by yourself here

 

 

When the 2nd vehicle tried to pull the car out , he also became stuck . 

 

 

 

We threw a line to them and Kurt pulled them right out . Good job Kurt !

 

Another photo stop

 

 

It was beginning to look familiar now

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We return to Stanley about 3 pm and drove past a number of the sites like this whale gun and skeleton

 

 

We had about an hour before the last tender and wanted to walk a little so we thanked Kurt for a job well done and  said goodbye .

 

 

Christ Church Cathedral

 

 

and it's whalebone arch

 

 

We wanted to have a pint and some fish and chips but we didn't think that we would have time

 

 

We did pick up a few things for the grandsons and didn't realize that we gave Pounds Sterling and received Falkland Islands Pounds

 

 

You can see that Christ Church , King penguins and sheep appear on the currency

 

 

Both denominations photos are the same fore and aft but the color is different

 

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

43 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We return to Stanley about 3 pm and drove past a number of the sites like this whale gun and skeleton

 

 

We had about an hour before the last tender and wanted to walk a little so we thanked Kurt for a job well done and  said goodbye .

 

 

Christ Church Cathedral

 

 

and it's whalebone arch

 

 

We wanted to have a pint and some fish and chips but we didn't think that we would have time

 

 

We did pick up a few things for the grandsons and didn't realize that we gave Pounds Sterling and received Falkland Islands Pounds

 

 

You can see that Christ Church , King penguins and sheep appear on the currency

 

 

Both denominations photos are the same fore and aft but the color is different

 

 

 

In Scotland if you give British Pounds you get change in Scottish Pounds which are not traded or exchanged in England...only Scotland.

 

How many hours did you have on shore in the Falklands?  Was it worth the long drive to Volunteer Point.  Did you have four persons in your vehicle?   Was the driver also an informative guide?

 

Thanks so much.  I can't wait until we have pictures of our own in a year.

[scubacruiserx2]

27 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

In Scotland if you give British Pounds you get change in Scottish Pounds which are not traded or exchanged in England...only Scotland.

 

How many hours did you have on shore in the Falklands?  Was it worth the long drive to Volunteer Point.  Did you have four persons in your vehicle?   Was the driver also an informative guide?

 

Thanks so much.  I can't wait until we have pictures of our own in a year.

 

We haven't been to Scotland yet but we did visit some friends in the Isle Of Man and it was the same with their currency .

 

 

Almost 8 hours spent on the shore and we thought that it was worth the trip to VP where we spent about 2 hours . Yes , there was another couple that we met , 3 people in the rear seat and 2 up front . Yes , Kurt is native born and shared his recollection of when he was in school and the invasion occurred in 1982 . He and the other children were separated from their families for several months .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_invasion_of_the_Falkland_Islands

 

Yes there is nothing like actually being there . Our best photos and videos spur our memories and can be shared and used to try to help others .

[perfect match]

Joe and Pat, you have always done great photo reviews, but I think you've outdone yourselves with this one! I'm finally caught up with reading the narrative and seeing the stills. I have the videos saved to be viewed later because I couldn't stop reading long enough to watch the videos!  The penguins, the whales, the amazingly beautiful scenery all had me riveted to my tablet screen!

 

I couldn't believe all the cruise ship traffic you encountered! I never would have thought you'd have to jostle for position with other cruise ships in order to view penguin colonies or icebergs!

 

I can hardly wait to see more!

Edited February 18, 2019 by perfect match

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, perfect match said:

Joe and Pat, you have always done great photo reviews, but I think you've outdone yourselves with this one! I'm finally caught up with reading the narrative and seeing the stills. I have the videos saved to be viewed later because I couldn't stop reading long enough to watch the videos!  The penguins, the whales, the amazingly beautiful scenery all had me riveted to my tablet screen!

 

I couldn't believe all the cruise ship traffic you encountered! I never would have thought you'd have to jostle for position with other cruise ships in order to view penguin colonies or icebergs!

 

I can hardly wait to see more!

 

Well hello Nancy and Barry , it's always nice to hear from you . We also looked at the Seabourne Quest where we could make landings . It would have cost about the same but some knee issues came up , so we were thrilled to go on HAL . To surprise Pat for Valentines Day , we booked a last minute aft balcony on the Nieuw Statendam going on Sunday , so we're excited .

[scubacruiserx2]

As we went to the loading area we noticed another boarding area behind ours

 

 

 

 

 

 

They we heading out to the Resolute

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Here comes our  ride 

 

 

Back on board 

 

 

A couple of RAF Typhoons made their presence felt

 

 

 

The last tender got back around 5:30 PM

 

 

And we soon followed the Resolute out to sea

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Our day at sea was fairly routine but we noticed that it was getting warmer and the sea was a different color

 

 

The highlight of the day was the Cellar Masters Dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pretty afternoon at sea with Punta Tombo on the brain