Aurora Expeditions

No Sandwiches for us

jdewyze2 Comments

Right after breakfast this morning, our expedition leader, Gaby, announced we will not be going to the South Sandwich Islands. That’s okay with me.

Gaby, breaking the news

Although both the North and South Sandwich Islands were discovered, claimed, and named by Captain James Cook during his voyages of discovery, the southern bunch are much drearier than their tropical cousins (which today the world knows as the Hawaiian island chain.) The southern islands remain a British possession. I’d never heard of them before I began researching this trip.

At least a few of our fellow passengers really, really wanted to see them, though. The rocky knobs that make up Sandwichland (as Cook originally called it) are very small but they’re home to an enormous colony of chinstrap penguins. Still, Gaby made it clear why the captain and she felt compelled to change our plans. An intense storm system is racing toward the area. We’re on its edge, and that’s been pretty harrowing. Outside our windows, the sea froths with white caps, rising up in 10-foot swells. The wind is gusting at 35-45 miles per hour.

At our present location, it’s sunny at the moment, which makes it less scary (though some folks are seasick again. Happily, not me.) But Gaby says the South Sandwich area is certain to be socked in with fog.

One of Gaby’s fog charts

None of the islands’ waters are sheltered. They’re also not well-charted, so we wouldn’t be able to get any closer than a mile or two from any shore. Happily, we have an alternative.

The new plan is that we’ll go to South Georgia Island and hang out there for 6 or 7 days, instead of the 4 included in our itinerary. One of the expedition crew members last night at dinner called South Georgia the most isolated place on earth. It’s much larger than any of the Sandwich Islands, and about half its coast is cut with fjords that offer plenty of protection to mariners.

I have no idea what we’ll do with all that time, but Gaby seems to see it as an exciting and extraordinary opportunity. With luck we’ll arrive sometime tomorrow morning.

Here’s our ship’s position this morning, heading to South Georgia.

Antarctica Ho!

jdewyze3 Comments

It’s still summer in Antarctica, but the days until the equinox are dwindling. I’m guessing the polar summer doesn’t look much like the end of winter in San Diego, where the skies were clear and sunny, and the temperature was heading for 70 degrees this morning. But soon I won’t have to guess. In less than two weeks, I’ll be on a ship, sailing south from the tip of South America, embarked on an experience that promises to rank among the strangest of my life.

We will only be visiting the Antarctic Peninsula, that curvy tail that extends off the continent. Then we will sail in a big loop that will take us to islands I never before knew existed.

Of course, it doesn’t take 12 days to travel from California to the Antarctic Peninsula, but it’s such a long journey Steve and I wanted to break it up. So after landing in Houston, we’ll catch a non-stop flight to Buenos Aires (capital of Argentina) and spend three nights there. On Saturday we’ll fly several hours south to Ushuaia, which calls itself the End of the World. We’ll have five nights there before boarding a small Australian cruise ship, the Greg Mortimer. That will be our home for the succeeding 22 nights.

It still shocks me to write those words. Part of my identity (and Steve’s) is that we’re Not Cruisers. We know countless folks who are, and that’s great for them. But Steve and I have always loved traveling under our own steam, on land, preferably in places rich in human history and culture.

Steve thus never had the slightest interest in visiting Antarctica (the only place on the planet humans where have never created permanent settlements.) He hates being cold. But I have long been curious about this loneliest continent, harsh beyond imagination but also, by all accounts, strikingly beautiful. Because Steve is a good sport and open-minded, we’re going there.

I’ve heard that our ship is equipped with Starlink. So if I experience things that seem interesting, I can write about them and, with luck, post to this blog. That assumes I won’t be too busy being seasick. Or socializing with all those other passengers and penguins.