February 28,

I awoke at 0730… 11 hrs of sleep!! My throat is not sore so much, unless I have a coughing jag. Jeff still is congested as well, he said he head fills full, and his hearing is lessened! Definitely sounds sinus related… we’ll see how he fairs in a day or two. So being sickly, we have decided to not go out and about. I wanted to do a little different blog – a kind of recap of where we went and all the “critters” we saw.

We launched from Ushuaia, Argentina – The Southernmost city in the World. We cruised through the Beagle Channel east out to the Drake Passage & Scotia Sea. The Scotia Sea connects the Atlantic Ocean and Southern Ocean. Our course was reversed so we were heading to South Georgia, and we were Friday night, all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and finally entered into South Georgia water on Monday evening.
–Tuesday morning was our First Zodiac cruise in Godthul Harbor (meaning Good Hollow) on South Georgia’s eastern, central coast. We saw King, a solitary Macaroni, & Gentoo Penguins; and Fur & Elephant Seals. Also we saw a nice waterfall, before this excursion was cut short. Our next outing, a landing, was to have been in Grytviken, an abandoned whaling station and burial site of Sir Ernest Shackleton. We got to see it from afar on the yacht only though due to windy conditions. The schedule was changed and the yacht went to Jason Cove. We did a Zodiac landing here. Here we saw more King & three Gentoo Penguins; Skuas & Petrels; and Fur Seals. This was probably the most picturesque sight with snow capped mountains, glaciers, and so much green tussac grass.
–Wednesday was to be a Zodiac cruise – but wind knocked us out of a landing in St Andrew’s Bay (we saw it from afar, so many penguins!) – they changed to a cruise in Moltke Bay. It was further south on the east coast. We saw a Fur Seal “school” & Elephant Seals; and a few King & Gentoo Penguins.
–Thursday was a three day excursion. First was Fotuna Bay, a Zodiac landing. This was probably the most fun sight for me. Baby Fur Seals- challenging us or anything that looked at them, and some nursing; lots of King Penguins- pairing up in mating rituals. We hiked some crossing a small stream, and lots of grass. It was warm here. The next site was Hercules Bay. This was a Zodiac cruise. It had another waterfall. We saw our first Chinstrap, many Macaroni, & some Gentoo Penguins; and Fur & Elephant Seals. The third site was Stromness Harbor, a landing here. It used to be a whaling station. We could see the old buildings, and whale bones. We hiked back to a waterfall, and did a traditional wetting of the back of our necks. This is where Shackleton came to get help to rescue his stranded men. There were a few King Penguins and Fur Seals making this home.
–Friday…a make-up day, we went back to St Andrew’s Bay because this is one of the largest colonies of Penguins in the world! It was a Zodiac landing and was packed with King Penguins, and some Fur & Elephant Seals. Our hike took us closer (but still a distance from) three big and beautiful glaciers.
–Saturday, our second Saturday, the 21st was a sea day. We left South Georgia Friday night and we were heading west and some south crossing back through the Scotia Sea to Antarctica. We continued through Sunday “yachting” as well.
–Monday morning we arrived at the Antarctic Sound, Gourdin Island. We did a Zodiac cruise only as the landing was too risky. It was much colder with more icebergs around and we both had our parkas on. We saw our first Adelie Penguins here- they are smaller, more animated, and have striking blue eyes. We also noted Chinstrap & Gentoo Penguins; and adult male Fur Seals. We saw pink and green algae here, striking on the white ice snow. Our next outing was canceled due to wind and weather – it was a landing on Antarctica! It was snowing and sleeting a bit with the hurricane force winds. But they repositioned and did the Polar Plunge! I thought this to be Madness, Crazy, and a few other descriptors. We did not participate. Jeff had a cold as well by now. We did pass by Esperanza Argentinian Base, even seeing a supply ship leaving there. We had supper with Jan, Expedition Leader(and a previous one with Flor).
–Tuesday morning we did a landing on Paulet Island in the Weddell Sea. It was snow covered until we walked, then it became orange from the penguin guano. We were with a big colony of Adelie Penguins. The trail came to a hut. Natalia, another Exposition leader, told us of the hut – Nordenskjold’s failed expedition to the South Pole, and pointed out a burial site of one member. We also saw a very large nesting site of Antarctic Shags or cormorants, and a couple Snowy Sheathbills. We also sighted our first Humpback whales off a distance from shore, Leopard Seals close to the shore line, and Weddell & Fur Seals. But lastly, and most significantly for us we went next to the Antarctic Peninsula at Browns Bluff for a landing. It was a dramatic volcanic headland area. Natalia handed us a flag of Antarctica and took our picture for us. Then, Maria explained the making of this area. We saw fledgling Gentoo Penguins here. It was surreal…we finally made it! Antarctica, a wilderness, the last frontier of earth, and our seventh continent!
A M A Z I N G !!! With that we leave Antarctica
–Wednesday morning was cruising in the yacht by Elephant Island and to Point Wild, where Shackleton’s crew was stranded for over f o u r months! We were totally enshrouded by fog, except clear to see the monument to the Chilean Captain who saved them with a few penguins reclaiming some land!  That night and all day Thursday we cruised to and through the Drake Passage. (Wednesday afternoon, I did a painting class, painting a penguin). We were back to Ushuaia by Friday morning, ending our Antarctica cruise.