Friday 21 November

Our second full day at sea again after leaving South Georgia and after
the excitment of our landings and the scenery there, life is a bit
monotonous on board at the moment. The only down side to going to the
Antarctic is the length of time it takes to get there ! I think
everyone underestimated the amount of days we would spend at sea in open
water, with very little to do .. but we are coping.. just.

I’m on my second seasickness patch, and it’s knock on effect of
drowsiness is helping me to sleep most of the voyage away ! Today we
still had our german leaders voice over the speaker at 7am calling us
all for breakfast.. the bemused look on most peoples faces said ’ why ?’
Lie ins and afternoon siestas are the new landings.. and once we’re all
up again the conversation revolves around how much sleep you’ve just
had.

During this afternoon’s post lunch sleep the captain announced there
were whales outside, there wasn’t the same rush as yesterday but all the
same most appeared on deck, braving the freezing cold to view a
spectacular show by some large groups of Fin Whales very close to the
ship. I’ve been whale watching before, but being able to hear them
breach and spout was amazing. After we all retreat inside for our 5
o’clock feeding snack, they’re still outside in huge numbers and the
horizon is dotted with spout blows from surfacing adults and calves.

Tomorrow we are expected to reach Elephant Island , and fingers, toes
and walking poles are all crossed that the northerly winds and swell
will be kind to us, and permit us to land at Point Wilde, where
Shackleton and his men finally stepped on solid ground after 16 months
on the ice. Unlike a lot of historic explorers bases or huts in
Antarctica , there is absolutely no trace of the improvised camp his men
lived in , due to the severe weather that pounds the small beach.

After that, we have our brief itinerary for the Antarctic Peninsula
itself, which consists of 3 days starting off with a visit to Esperansa
Base, inhabited by Argentinian’s and remarkably up to 16 children! We
then have a 13 hour sail around the horn of the peninsula to the
Gerlache Strait, where we are apparently going to go swimming ! and the
lucky ones will get to spend a night on the ice itself.

Soon after we will head north and sail for two days back to Ushuaia
along the dreaded Drake Passage.. something tells me our luck with
relative calm seas won’t hold out for much longer!