Charlotte Bay , where we try the landing climb again and are rewarded with success!

This morning we are again in the “A” deck waiting for our turn at cruising in the Zodiacs. It’s set up well, the crew check you out and in after each activity.

The zodiacs always travel in pairs near each other. 

Our zodiac driver Daniel from SoCal! 

Leaving the ship

Lots of sea ice today

More amazing coastline 

A small iceberg 

With three resting penguins! And when you see penguins you must take at least 1,000 pictures of them😁

After our zodiac we headed to lunch and then the ship moved across the bay and we will prepare for our landing on the continent… so far the sun has remained bright and the winds calm. I’m hoping my energy and desire stay high for the landing. The steep slope of the last time just about did me in. The view from our room as we sail into the next bay. Here is where we will do a landing on the actual continent.

On the zodiac heading to shore

We found a Waddel sea lion taking a nap not far from our path

Looking out from a hill at our ship

My new best friends

Still sleeping

Passengers walking on the crest. We made it a ways up the hill but walking in fresh,moist,icy snow just didn’t suit either of us so we headed back to the landing site to catch a zodiac back to the ship. When we got off, there was room on a SOB so we took a quick ride through the icebergs and sea ice. Im going to. Just post pictures with no narrative and just comment now that pictures do not do justice to the Antarctic.. and there aren’t enough superlatives to describe what we experience

 here.

 

Sailing past the other Special Ops boat

Another seal napping

 

I just cant believe how special this place is!

Albert repeats his adventure from under Antarctica

 A few days ago( not the snow day) Al had another chance to get into the submarine and explore the sea bed of Antarctica! It was a great da for him and the water was very clear.. Ill just post a few of his pictures for you to enjoy

The sea bed

Bubbles as the sub goes down

You have the nicest friends joining you when you dive!

 

 

More friends! Most of these passengers were on since Milwaukee so they really have become friends. 

Al felt like the viewing was much better here in Antarctica and there was more sea life to observe. Mostly sea sponges and other invertebrates,sea stars and starfish.

Albert has a great time. 

Snow,sleet and ice…No thank You

 This morning we woke up to gray skies (go figure)and very brisk air.. the wind has picked up and it reminds me of Wisconsin in winter… Our goal today is to view a rock formation called Edinburgh hill, named after the Scottish city.  Coming up out of nowhere we see this big dark rock. 

It just stands like some sort of beacon…

I was watching through the windows while playing majhong and knew we were to arrive at something we had been told was a surprise, but didn’t think we were there yet.. then Poof! This big old rock arrives.

Looking close it looks a lot like the rocks in Iceland . I imagine it is basalt in some form. Next up this afternoon there will be a landing for us to look at chin strap penguins after lunch. 

Today’s lunch was a Caesar salad bar with amazing salmon filets, grilled shrimp or grilled chicken plus all the cheeses… it was quite nice! Our afternoon landing is looking worse and worse for Al and I… cold freezing wind and water doesn’t sound appealing at all so we make the decision to skip our landing and our SOB ride. There is a reason I live in the desert… I hate cold and snow!!

We sat inside at the bow and watched the zodiacs head into waves that splashed across the zodiac and drenched those inside. Part of me felt guilty for not going, after all there were chinstrap penguins to see, and part of me just wanted to stay warm. So dear friends, I’ve reached the realization that I’m not much of an explorer and would have been absolutely worthless if I’d gone with Shackleton, Amundsen or any other polar explorer. 

Around 5 o’clock the clouds and snow started to depart and the sun shone brightly on this iceberg! Hoping tomorrow is a sunny  day.. my spirit needs the sun and yet I can appreciate the raw beauty that is Antarctica- just don’t make me go outside in a snowstorm!