Antarctic Peninsula! Finally!!!

Yeah, I took a bit of a break from writing. I would appologize, but I bet you were glad to have the break too.

Picking up where I left off, we sailed to the Peninsula from the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. Mother Nature again smiled on us with wonderful weather.

The sun does not set in Antarctica in December and January. It also never really gets very high that far from the equator. This gives the ice a special glisten and the sky a different hue.

One of the special things we did on The Peninsula was to camp one night. Yes, we spent the night sleeping on the ice. Well, not really sleeping. It doesn’t get dark and ice is not terribly comfortable. I am very glad I experienced this but would not go out of my way to do it twice.

This picture was taken about 11pm.

Our penguin had a great time on the campout and I am still not quite sure what kind of mischief he got up to while I hunkered down in my bag.

Of course, we saw penguins on the pensinsula. The Adelie only lives on the Antarctic continent and is not fairing well with the rising temperatures. We were fortunate to see one (although we joked that our guides put it there earlier in the morning).

We saw more Gentoos here too. This time we saw them jumping and swimming.

And of course, we saw more seals…

The real highlight, however, was the day we saw the Orcas. They were doing what is called “spy-hopping” which is when they bob up and down looking at seals on ice. Kind of like opening and closing the fridge door…

So, we come to the end of the Antarctic story. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and some of the stories from this journey and all the other stops along the globe-trott.

The travels and the blog will continue, but with less frequent trips and posts. For 2019, I will be exploring a new place to live in the Emerald Isle and making a trip to Africa. Stay tuned and stay in touch.

Antarctica Journey – Falklands/Malvinas

After completing a tree week journey in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, I am at a loss of where to start.

We departed Ushuaia, Argentina and sailed for two days to get to the Falklands/Malvinas (note, I am not claiming political sides here), where we spent two days.

Our first day was at an island with a four, count’em FOUR different kinds of Penguins, and a colony of Albatross. An amazing introduction to bird live in the Southern Ocean.

First we saw Gentoos and Kings. Kings are like smaller versions of the Emperor. Gentoos are sneaky little trouble makers who like collecting and stealing rocks for their mate. They also pretty much look and act like all the cartoon penguins you have seen over the year. Yes, it was love at first site.

Kings always lootk so elegant – regal even. Probably how they got their name.
King Chicks are really fuzzy. Early explorers thought they were a different type of penguin and named them Wooly Penguins.

Where the King is distinguished, the Gentoo is just a goof. He always makes you smile.

The Gentoo always looks so happy and proud when it finds a rock.
And the babies are pretty cute too.

Magellenic Penguins can be seen all over South America, but in the Falklands they are everywhere.

And, Gentoos will hang out with them and lead them along…

Rockhoppers are fun and much different looking. And, they really do hop along the rocks.

They have cute babies too

In addition to penguins, the Falklands/Malvinas are home to many (thousands???) Albatross. I loved how majestic these birds look and how wise they seem.

In flight they are truly impressive.
They also like Rockhoppers
And, they have cute, fluffy chicks.

The Falklands/Malvinas also have a nice little town, Stanley, which is not a bad place to enjoy a cup of coffee and a walk around in something other than muck boots.

Penguin enjoyed his time here and managed to make a few friends. Joe even got in on some of the action, when he wasn’t complaining about the cold.

After a couple of days in the Falklands/Malvinas we set off to South Georgia. It was a couple of days sailing and we were so fortunate to have such wonderful weather.

I am making my way through the literally thousands of photos I took and will post more soon. In the meantime, thing of Penguin and his complete bliss being close to his homeland.