Antarctica, South Georgia and Falklands Cruise
The Greg Mortimer is a new X-Bow ship, designed to cut through choppy seas, and be laterally more stable with their retractable fins. Nothing can prepare you for the first sight of land, we were so lucky with weather with mostly bright blue skies, calm seas, and sparkling white landscape Jane and I had also signed up to do Kayaking on the visit. This meant for early starts as kayakers and snorkelers (yes people snorkelled) were usually first to start their excursions on any particular day.
Boarding the kayaks we all looked like mini Michelin men, we had to wear several layers of warm clothing topped of with a dry suit. I can honestly say even in a blizzard we were never really cold, and our hands we protected by neoprene mittens which kept them too warm if anything. Though not experts by any means, we soon got the hang of the tandem kayak, which gave us a completely different experience to those who just did dry land landings. In all we spent 5 days around the Antarctic, managing to weigh anchor in a harbour every day, and have completely different vistas to wake up to. There are only 100 people allowed to make shore on any day, and there were only 83 on our ship, so everyone was able make a landing if they wanted to. This is what made the Greg Mortimer cruise so very special, I have seen cruises to Antarctica where you just sail right on by, without ever setting foot on or getting up close to wildlife.
Speaking of wildlife, "please stay more than 5 meters away from penguins" they told us...try telling the penguins that, they were coming at you from all sides, we half expected to hear a David Attenborough type voice over every time we landed. There were literally 10's of thousands of penguins, numerous elephant seals, leopard seals, more birds, too many to count, and a highlight for me was to be on deck as 4, where we had a BBQ on deck, music played, drink flowed and right on cue 4 humpback whales performed a synchronised bubble feed right at the side of the ship. In a crystal blue bay with not a cloud in sight. I honestly could have ended the cruise right there.
The more north you cruise, the less snow and ice you see, even to the point of cruising past glaciers, which had receded so much in the past few years, a real sign of the effect of global warming.
The next stop north was South Georgia, which again completely took our breath away. To see some 40000 breeding pairs of penguins literally line the shore, as far as the eye can see. Then to land on Grytviken, Shackleton's place of burial, to shop in the local shop and meet the researchers who spend 8 months of the year on the island. What made this cruise special for us was the amount of knowledge shown by the expedition leaders. Every day we had a talk about some interesting aspect of the area, always informative, never boring For example, did you know Antarctica is land surrounded by water, and the Artic is water surrounded by land, fun little facts like that.
After South Georgia we made our way to the Falklands, I felt honoured to be able to have the opportunity to visit the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery to pay our respects, mainly as I used to work with someone who served and survived the sinking of HMS Sheffield, and at one point I thought i'd be conscripted, and many of those who served, never returned.
All the museums, large or small were very well kept and presented. The Falklands War Museums in Port Stanley is a must to visit, with many of the stories of the war told through the eyes and voiced of the children who lived through it. Was also very strange to go into a shop and hear, brummie or scouse accents, along with some Spanish.
After a very short landing we re-boarded the ship for the 2 day sail back to Ushuaia. We met the kayak team for one final get together when they presented us all with a short video to music of us all out on the water, every time we watch it , it brings back so many great memories, and we thought was a lovely gesture. We also discovered we get a souvenir book of the voyage, and are so looking forward to seeing that when it arrives.
It truly was a once in a lifetime experience, though we are considering, cruising the Artic on the same ship in the future.
The photographs can only give a small taste of the Antarctic, and if it wets your appetite for more do get in touch, and allow me to help plan your trip to the 7th Continent.