New Years, Penguins and Antarctica!!!

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe 2009. I know it has been a week or 2 since I have updated this blog so I would like to update you a little. New Years on the ship was nice…quick but nice. We turned our lounge into the balloon drop center with one of the bands playing and dancing. Of course free drinks were passed out and everyone was having a lot of fun. The highlight for me was at midnight when I had to come out with Father Time, played by Chris our Travel Guide, as Baby New Year. Yes this means I had to run around in a diaper and take pictures with passengers. We then had everyone follow us up to the Crows Nest, the “disco” on the top of the ship, to celebrate the rest of the night. Again Chris and I had to take pictures with passengers and mingle. There was also a crew party that was happening on the mooring deck. The mooring deck is in the front of the ship where they keep the huge anchors and all the huge ropes to tie off the ship when in port or when we are anchored off shore. It surprisingly is a great place to host a party. That was about it for New Years. I hope everyone had a great time at their own functions.

THE FALKLAND ISLANDS = LOTS OF PENGUINS!!!
Currently we are heading back down south to Antarctica for our second trip into the White Continent. Today we made our last stop before getting there in Stanley, The Falkland Islands. The island is located 400 miles off the eastern tip of South America in the South Atlantic Ocean. The group of islands is under control of the British Government, after defeating Argentinean forces in 1982. Still to this day there are land mines that are placed around the islands from this confrontation. The islands have become a major tourist attraction for cruise ship and expedition companies as they make their way around South America and/or en-route to the Antarctica Peninsula. Major wildlife include of course, penguins, sea lions, dolphins, whales, and many types of birds. Kristen and I set off to find such wildlife, and was happily surprised at what we saw. After taking a short $10.00 shuttle ride to Gypsy Cove located west of the main city center we found what we came to look for…Penguins. The species was that of Magellanic penguins which look like what you would think a penguin would look like. They are not very tall, maybe standing approximately 1-3 feet tall and was made up of black and white in color. As we approached the cove we could see two large groups of them on the pristine white sand beach. Some were out by themselves including one little guy who started to climb up the hill towards us. This offered us a great chance to shoot some photos of him. The path we were on was flanked by short brush that the penguins made their “burrows” in, some as deep as 2 meters. You could usually spot a mother or farther and their chick in a burrow if you looked closely. Further up the trial came to a look out deck and below that stood about a dozen more penguins spread out over the hill side. Some were walking around, taking care of chicks, or just doing nothing. They seemed pretty content with themselves. : ) A little further up the trial we spotted a huge Sea Lion that was lying on the beach and then a smaller one just up from him at the base of the hill which led up to the first lookout deck. We then headed back before a nice couple from our ship stopped us and showed us another parent and their chick. This was amazing because the two of them were no more then 3 feet from us at the top of their burrow. The chicks are brown in color and have think fur which I guessed is to keep them warm till they can produce their own set of feathers. It was very cute as the chick was making lots of noise probably because it was hungry or upset. The parent kept trying to stop this by pushing its beak down on the younger one…pretty typical from what I remember as a child when I would get to loud and my parents would try to shut me up. At this time we also spotted 2 dolphins swimming near the shore. We then decided to get back to the shuttle but not before we came across our last penguin who was laying outside his or her burrow. This one was no more then a foot away from us and could have been easily grabbed by anyone. He or she just lay there as we took its picture seeming to enjoy the attention. What an easy life!!! We then returned to the ship. We had a great day and got to see up close something I never thought I would ever see in person….real life penguins.

PLAN A TO ANTARCTICA!!!!
Like I mentioned before we are on our way now to the Antarctic Peninsula. This will be our second trip to this continent and the only difference is we will do things in reverse order of our first trip. Here is a quick run down of Plan A. Now remember, on our last trip we got to Plan G…maybe Plan M…not sure but things change on a moments notice due to weather, ice and time constraints. Our ice pilot assured the passengers at his first lecture that this trip is an “Ice avoidance trip,” and not one of an “ice breaking trip.” Our ship can withstand some hits here and there, but should not be running into icebergs. This is the biggest ship to ever travel through Antarctica. Day 1 plans a trip into the Antarctic Sound, also know as Iceberg Alley. This is located towards the north part of the Peninsula. Last time we did not make it all the way through to Paulette Island where we are trying to get to. This is because of pack ice and is to dense to travel through. Also on the agenda is Esperanza Station for penguins, and Deception Island. Being that this time there will be about 2 hours of complete darkness there is a chance of seeing the Auroris Australis (Please excuse the spelling). This is like the northern lights up in the North Pole, just in the South Pole. Day 2 we are planning to go to the Danco Coast, Gerlache Straight, and Newmeyer Channel. Again these places offer views of penguins, and lots and lots of icebergs. The scenery is amazing. Day 3 we plan on going to Palmer Station, which is a U.S. research station in Antarctica. We have some of the researchers board and do lectures. We will also debark 2 or 3 scientists that have been passengers since Buenos Aires. Talk about a nice way to get to your job. The Holy Grail of the trip will also be on this day as we try to get through Lemaire Channel which is beautiful. Last trip we got down pretty far but then had to turn around due to pack ice. From here we will head back up to Cape Horn and travel north on the west side of S.A. to Valparaiso, Chile. Don’t worry, I will update this when we are done and let you know what actually happened with the trip.

I hope everyone is well back home and I miss you all very much. Again if you have any questions or comments let me know. If I don’t now the answer I can get the answer ASAP. Love you all and can’t wait to see you all in a few months.

Cheers, Danny