Elephant Island - December 31, 2010

Happy New Year's Eve! We arrived at Elephant Island where Shackleton landed at about 10 am this morning in the fog. But it was clear enough to get in the zodiacs and get close to shore....a bit too rough to disembark. We had penguins swimming around us. A huge chunk of glacier calved off so the water was full of ice as it broke apart. We saw the memorial to Shackleton. Even saw a rare siting of a leopard seal on a rock with two penguins nearby. Since leopard seals eat penguins, it is unique to find them so close to each other which probably means the leopard seal wasn't doing too well. The seas were rough in the zodiac but well worth it. So glad I brought a camcorder along as well! This afternoon we are sailing around Elephant Island before heading west to arrive at Deception Island for New Year's Day. We will probably do one more zodiac outing before dinner.

Drake Passage - December 30, 2010

We have had great weather to cross the Drake Passage. It is sometimes sunny, sometimes overcast with rolling waves - certainly manageable. I slept well. After breakfast, they had a talk on photography. We have a National Geographic photography veteran on board (30 years). I then took a nap until lunch (luxurious). In the afternoon, I worked on uploading pictures until the 3 pm talk on penguins and the 5 pm talk on Shackleton. We are heading to Elephant Island first which they don't do on every trip. It's a nice group of people - wide range of ages from 9 to over 70, families, singles, etc. We have Peter Hillary on board and well as, yes, Alex Trebek and his family. Looking forward to dinner with two staff members and New Year's tomorrow at Antarctica!

Ushuaia, Argentina - December 29, 2010

After a bit of a sleepless night, I got up at 5:30 am and started the process - shuttle to the airport, find my bags, check-in, go to the gate, wait for the charter flight to Ushuaia. We departed at 9 am and arrived at 12:30 pm. The views out the window were spectacular, particularly the conical volcano with smoke coming out the top that we flew right over! Once in Ushuaia, we hopped on busses for a drive through town and then boarded catamarans for an afternoon on the water while they readied the boat for us. The last trip ended this morning and was at the airport ready to board the charter flight back to Santiago. While it had apparently rained in the morning, we ended up with a beautiful afternoon - warm and sunny - and saw sea lions and cormorants. We boarded the boat at 5pm and set sail by 6 pm. I have a nice room with a single bed, bathroom, desk, chair and large window. I'm in the middle of the boat which I chose on purpose. We had a nice dinner under smooth sail since we were in the channel until after midnight.

Santiago, Chile - December 28, 2010

After checking into the Grand Hyatt on the east side of town, I took a two hour nap, ordered lunch and got ready for the afternoon city tour. We drove by bus to the downtown area and got out at the Pre-Colombia Museum to spend an hour walking through. We also got out at the presidential palace for a few quick pictures. Back at the hotel, we were invited to a welcome cocktail reception followed by dinner. Our group is about 150 people and I haven't heard about anyone not making it. Suitcases didn't arrive but people did! We had to have our bags outside our room by 10 pm and received wakeup calls at 5:45 am.

Miami - December 27, 2010

With a day to spare in Miami before departing for Santiago, I took the opportunity to drive down to Biscayne Bay National Park. It was a bit windy and cold (in the high 40's/low 50's) but beautiful afternoon with a fabulous view looking back to Miami. I returned to the airport and flew out on LAN Chile overnight to Santiago.

Miami - December 26, 2010

A blizzard approaching the NY area almost derailed the start of my trip to Antarctica. Since my 4:35 pm flight to Miami was cancelled, I decided to drive to LaGuardia airport in the morning and cross my fingers that I could get on an earlier flight. As I returned the car, the snowflakes started swirling in the wind. I walked into the terminal, got on line, and just as I got to the agent, he told me that there had been a cancellation on the 11:30 am flight (in 40 minutes) and he was able to work magic to snag the seat for me! Racing through security and the terminal, I got on the plane, looked out the window and saw the blizzard forming out the window. We took off right away and the best surprise was that my checked bag made the flight too! Now I'm in sunny Miami for the night where it is downright cold. Next leg is the flight to Santiago, Chile tomorrow night. Sweet dreams!