Reflections on this trip

Feb 18 2015 At Sea: 62o25'S/064o26'W
Feb 19 2015 At Sea: 56o48'S/066o50'W
Feb 20 2015 Ushuaia: 54o48'S/068o18'W

This is my last blog from the Ocean Diamond – we’re now on track to pass Cape Horne at around 4-5pm this afternoon and then head to the entrance to the Beagle Channel. We’ll anchor just inside the entrance until around 1am when the Pilot will come on board and take us into Ushuaia.

It is always sad to leave the Antarctic. Thankfully the Drake Passage is still a “lake” today – just gentle swells, albatross flying around the ship, light winds and pleasant temperatures.

Some Reflections
The standout for me has been South Georgia – a truly glorious place, so isolated and yet impacted by humans in many ways. For example rat infestations, now being controlled, are responsible for declines in seabird chicks on a number of islands. The impact of changing climate is not as severe as on the Antarctic Peninsula, but is likely to be felt in time.

Many people have said “Why haven’t you seen South Georgia? You must go there.” They were right! I encourage anyone at all interested in seeing animals in their natural environment to visit this very special place.

We have seen many sides of the Antarctic – from sunshine and gentle seas, to rain, a little snow and raging 50-70 knot winds – but not a major blizzard. All our sea-days have been smooth and gentle. When I’m up on the Bridge, the ship’s Chief, Vladimir, keeps reminding me how lucky we have been – and we have! In fact this morning he told me that the trip that leaves Ushuaia tomorrow evening will be sailing into a Force 11 gale - having experienced this on previous trips, I know how uncomfortable this will be for passengers and crew.

Animals have been plentiful, gorgeously cute and breathtaking to watch – penguins (King, Gentoo, Rockhopper, Macaroni, Adelie, Magellanic & Chinstrap), albatross (Wandering, Grey, Black-browed), petrels (Giant, Cape, Antarctic, Wilson Storm), seals (Fur, Elephant, Weddell, Crab-Eater, Leopard) and of course, whales.

How amazing it was to see 3 Blue Whales – these are the largest mammal on earth and rarely seen by anyone. To see 3 in two days is incredible. Then there were Minke, Fin, Humpback and Orca (actually not a whale but a dolphin). These were all on my “list” and to see them so close-by, including from a zodiac, has been simply wonderful.

The penguins have been so cute to watch – I’m still amazed by their resilience in such a harsh environment, particularly the young chicks. So many of them have been curious and interested in these large yellow people (our Quark jackets are yellow & apparently this is a colour that they recognise). More than once a penguin has come up to me for a closer look – and then wandered off to hang out with its group.

The Captain has been very helpful for whale watching. Just this week, the end of day “recap” was cancelled 3 times because we’d spotted whales close by. He has slowed the ship and gradually turned it so that we could see them more closely – still maintaining a safe distance so as not to crowd them, but allowing us to see them power gracefully through the water. He’s also a photographer and is often seen shooting from the wings on the Bridge - I'm sure this helps!

The Quark crew have been fantastic – a very high standard of presentations, great in the zodiacs & on the land. Our only bad weather was when we were south of the Circle & unable to load into the zodiacs. The program was changed and this was all handled very well – Woody, Annie and all the crew are excellent.

I’ve met many people (and even this morning I saw a person that I’d not seen before …), and lots have been very interesting and fun to be with – new contacts to add to my contact list.

Packing is almost completed, final backing up of photos is also nearly done, and this time tomorrow I’ll be back in Ushuaia waiting for the flight to Buenos Aires, Dallas & LA. A night in LA will be a nice end to this wonderful journey. It has been loads of fun, with lots of new experiences, new information and great photo opportunities (I’m in phase 2 of working on those & hope to have a "taste" available soon).

A really incredible trip in so many, many ways - I expect that I’ll be back!