Chile and Antarctica cruise

[RooFlyer]

In the late afternoon we had a briefing about tomorrow's activities, at Fortuna Bay, and then the site where Shackleton's grave is and also the biosecurity bods at Grytviken.

The Captain made an unscheduled appearance to apologise for the situation at the last stop, with the zodiacs and later manoeuvring (no one thought this was necessary). But he did say, in as many words that, while his first duty was the safety of the ship, on this occasion he prioritised the safety of the passengers out in the zodiacs, and came closer to the shore than was comfortable for him. That's a bit of . I thought we were a bit close!!






The weather for tomorrow doesn't look great, but oddly, by own version of Windy has a more benign outlook. Plus its a pretty sheltered bay.



Soon, we entered Fortuna Bay. Weather a bit showery, but looks great for tomorrow.









Long range:






Christmas dinner was with a bunch of other solos organised by the Social Director. Great company and I wouldn't say the meal was spoiled, but it was affected by some clueless waiting again. I knew to avoid this guy already, but our table was reserved by the Social Director. Menu

 

[Seat0B]

Your photos of the wildlife and the icebergs are spectacular.

 

[RooFlyer]

Soon, we entered Fortuna Bay. Weather a bit showery, but looks great for tomorrow.

Famous last words. First zodiacs were off at 7am and light snow started shortly thereafter. I was on the last zodiac by this time and by that time, the snow and wind had set in.

A wet landing in moderate swell at Fortuna Bay beach and then a 1.5km round trip walk to see seals and penguins.

Lots of fur seals and King penguins.



Both seals and penguins are completely unafraid of humans - even big, roving red Michelin Men. The seals can be aggressive, so need to be treated with care and given a 2m wide birth.















About 1 in 8,000 pups are white (not albino)

 

[RooFlyer]

Away from the beach were the King penguins; again, unafraid and curious. Quite surreal that they would waddle over and walk amongst us.
















Youngsters a bit over a year old are hanging onto their childhood brown fluff.








the snow had given way to small hail and we were thoroughly soaked (on the outside) as we walked back to the zodiacs, then splashed even more as we motored back to the Silver Wind. Happy to report that the waterproof jackets and pants did their job very well.


Back on board to have some lunch and to put the hair dryer to work on my gloves, which got soaked.

 

[Port Power]

Ready to load passengers at Grytviken, South Georgia. 15:00.

I can finally just make out the buildings on shore.

 

[RooFlyer]

After all were in board, we motored towards the biggest settlement on South Georgia, Grytviken, site of a large former whaling station.

When we arrived, over lunch-time, it started snowing - quite a bit. Crew members from the sub continent especially found it a novelty. On the pool deck:





No takers today



As we looked down on this, someone asked a crew-members "This is a Class A ice-breaker, isn't it?".



The view from lunch



Most concerning of all were the zodiacs being prepared for landing - there's going to be a very chilly bottom for some people.

 

[RooFlyer]

They began loading zodiacs for the trip into Grytviken., I think there were a fair few no-takers, as it was still snowing. AT the moment, there are only 3 approved landing sites at Sth Georgia and today we had two of them. I was scheduled to be on the last zodiac of the day, which proved frustrating as it drew out to about an hour behind schedule and I was concerned about a repeat of the other day.

BUT - patience is a virtue, as they say. While waiting for my turn, the weather changed from this:



to this



to this



and by the time we shoved off, it was getting to be a lovely fine and sunny afternoon, about 2 degrees, but virtually no wind.









First landing was the graveyard, which is universally, and un-necessarily (I think) called 'Shackleton's grave'.



View from the graveyard

 

[RooFlyer]

At the graveyard, the iconoclast in me came out. Everyone made a beeline for Shackleton's grave, and the guides gave yet another recounting of his heroism (undoubted) as they crowded round, and there was a generous shot of Irish whiskey to toast the gent.





But as you can see there are many graves here and nary a word about them. When I asked they pointed out the grave of an Argentine soldier who died in the 1982 war and "the rest are mainly sealers".



Frank Wild was Shackleton's 'right hand man'. He died and was cremated in England (IIRC) EDIT: Sth Africa (see below) and then his ashes were lost for about 70 years. A book researcher re-discovered them and they were moved, about 10 years ago, to the graveyard here, where Wild asked them to be placed.





The grave of the Argentinian soldier.



South Georgia was where the Falklands War commenced. As Wikipedia tells us:

The invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken. Though outnumbered, the Royal Marines shot down a helicopter and hit the Argentine corvette ARA Guerrico several times before being forced to surrender. It was one of the first episodes of the Falklands War, immediately succeeding the invasion on the Falkland Islands the day before.

The operation had been prepared on 19 March, when a group of Argentine civilian scrap metal workers arrived at Leith Harbour on board the transport ship ARA Bahía Buen Suceso without the required landing clearance and then raised the Argentine flag. The scrap workers had been infiltrated by Argentine marines posing as civilian scientists.

Attribution: By Wee Curry Monster - Created in GIMP from scratch, CC BY 3.0, File:Overview of Battle of Grytviken 3rd April 1982.jpg - Wikipedia

Panorama from the graveyard.

 

[RooFlyer]

We then zodiac-ed a short distance to the other side of the settlement (transiting on foot not allowed) to view the former whaling station site, museum, post-office and Whaler's Church.





The museum was excellent.




Note the snow-and-boot friendly floor





The museum also had a gift shop - credit cards accepted, of course - and I bought a nice beanie (didn't bring my own) for UKP20

The whaler's church - you are welcome to ring the bell.







Post office



There is a great deal of machinery, tanks and other equipment remaining at Grytviken. This shows just a fraction.

 

[SuePa]

I think Frank Wild died in South Africa.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks @SuePa - you are correct; will edit.

The animals of course didn't care about the whaling station debris









I was waiting for this guy to show his head - but he was asleep!





Then back to the Silver Wind



A lonely grave up on a hillside over looking the bay. I couldn't find out whose it was.



The geology was stunning (not that any of the expedition crew - bar one - knew anything about it).



Back on board, I had my customary afternoon G&T admiring the scenery. It had been an amazing day.

 

[SuePa]

It all looks amazing with the snow cover and sunshine.

When you go ashore in your allocated zodiac, do you have to stay with that group or can you wander around on your own and then return to the ship on any available zodiac?

 

[RooFlyer]

When you go ashore in your allocated zodiac, do you have to stay with that group or can you wander around on your own and then return to the ship on any available zodiac?

We are allocated a zodiac group at the start. When it comes to load, they change the order every day (but am and pm excursions have the same order).

In the evenings, usually at 6:15 we have a briefing on the following day's activities and timings (always subject to change). This was for Grytviken







The graveyard top left; the museum etc at bottom; verboten zone in red.



There is a 'mud room' where boots are kept. We go down in some other footwear, change into boots in the mud room, then go out to our zodiac. On return, we go through a boot scrubber then a Virkon disinfectant tray then take out boots off in the mudroom & leave them there and proceed to our cabins via the hot chocolate and Kahlua/whiskeys etc stop . Here, the authorities boarded and wanted to inspect the gear, and chose one zodiac group for personal inspection of boots, Velcro etc. Of course the expedition team had power-washed all the boots beforehand



But to get to your question. We are called by zodiac group in turn from when our group of zodiacs is due to start boarding.



However, there is no checking of group when you get to the mud room. I take about 10 minutes to get parka on, life jacket on, second pair of socks on, neck gaiter, beanie on, check all bits and pieces (gloves etc) put in pockets, check camera. Some people take the PA calling their zodiac as a prompt to start getting their gear on; whereas you should be ready to go then. So I often find myself walking down the corridor in front of people from the group before me. So while you should stick to your group, no one seems to care. In the mud room, there are slow ones and quick ones, so when you exit the mud room to line up to board, the groups are well mixed. Final thing before boarding the zodiac is to scan your suite keycard, and you swipe it again when coming back.

At the evening briefing, we also get a weather forecast for out sites, from Windy app. This was for the firstr area today, where it snowed, hailed and was very windy and cold. Forecast correct.

 

[SuePa]

Is the 'red zone' verboten due to quarantine restrictions or ...? Just curious. When I was there in 2016, we were free to wander wherever we wanted.

 

[RooFlyer]

Is the 'red zone' verboten due to quarantine restrictions or ...? Just curious. When I was there in 2016, we were free to wander wherever we wanted.

I believe its bird flu, but it might also be a tightening of safety precautions, esp for large groups.

 

[Port Power]

It all looks amazing with the snow cover and sunshine.

When you go ashore in your allocated zodiac, do you have to stay with that group or can you wander around on your own and then return to the ship on any available zodiac?

Once ashore, we can wander around at will and then join any zodiac to return to the ship. There were expedition lecturers and some expedition team members stationed about to lead groups from the zodiacs and/or answer questions.

 

[Port Power]

Is the 'red zone' verboten due to quarantine restrictions or ...? Just curious. When I was there in 2016, we were free to wander wherever we wanted.

I believe it’s did confirm it bird flu, but it might also be a tightening of safety precautions, esp for large groups.

I did confirm the red area was quarantined due to bird flu. Silversea guests have previously been able to walk through the old town to the museum area. Red flags on poles to mark (or block) pathways were on the second zodiac out, along with the blue bins to hold life belts.

Avian influenza rules include: nothing is to be placed on the ground or on rocks; no lying on the ground; no kneeling on the ground. You get the drift. Dry bags or back pack stay on your back. Ask someone else to hold it if you need to juggle things to find your camera.

 

[tgh]

A young couple on our trip were married in the church, the place was packed with crew and passengers.
What a hoot!

 

[RooFlyer]

A young couple on our trip were married in the church, the place was packed with crew and passengers.
What a hoot!

The 'reception' back on board (with free premium booze) would have been a hoot !!

 

[Chalkie]

Great TR!

I'm envious you're getting to see South Georgia. I'm heading off on the Great Austral Loop with Ponant onboard L'Austral departing Ushuaia on 5 January, and we've been told South Georgia has been closed due to avian flu, so we're doing a detailed navigation of the Falklands instead before we head down to Antarctica.

This is my second expedition with Ponant to Antarctica, and while I'm fairly sanguine about the change, +1 isn't so happy as a new, big fancy lens was purchased specially to photograph King Penguins!