Chile and Antarctica cruise

[SuePa]

Spectacular views from the bird.

From my 2013 Patagonia and Antarctica trip, here's what the Torres look like from the ground and close up after a solid hike in:

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I've done that hike. Those boulders near the top were challenging for a shorty like me.
A really spectacular part of the world.

 

[RooFlyer]

And I hope you turned around in your seat and told everyone on the flight, in an excited voice, what you said above - just so they know who you are

Only @Port Power , who was sitting next to me

We cruised all night to reach the western extremities of the Falkland Islands, anchoring at New Island at a bit before 7am. Early Room service brekkie then the zodiacs, mine at 7:30. Seas a bit choppy and nearly everyone was unsure how many layers to put on. Boots mandatory due to biosecurity concerns (Bird Flu). See the far left most label.



Attraction here, besides a conformable dummy run for the kit, is a bird rookery of cormorants, Rock Hopper penguins and Black Browed Albatross. Wikipedia:

New Island was one of the earliest of the Falkland Islands to be colonised, and American whalers may have arrived as early as the 1770s. Two place names on or near the island, Coffin's Harbour and Coffin's Island, commemorate the Coffin family of Nantucket. Nearby Quaker, Barclay, Fox and Penn islands reflect the New England and Quaker provenance of some of the earliest settlers.

In 1813, Captain Charles H. Barnard, from Nantucket, was marooned with his crew on the island.[2] They survived on the island for two years, and constructed a crude stone building, which is probably incorporated into the Barnard Building, the oldest standing building in the Falklands and now a museum restored in 2006. In December 1814 Indispensable, William Buckle, master, and Asp, John Kenny, master, rescued them.[3]

In 1823, Antarctic explorer Captain James Weddell anchored at the island, and commented on its excellent harbours and its natural food and water supplies. In the 1850s and 60s, the island's guano deposits were mined.

The settlement



There is a museum and gift shop



After a wet landing, we walked about 1.5 km to see a rookery. Upland geese on the way. there are also rabbits, which we saw plenty of.



Part of the rookery



A curious Rock hopper penguins



You can see why they are called rock hoppers




Some of the rugged scenery

 

[RooFlyer]

Nesting Black Browed Albatross; with chick





Falkland Skua



Rock Hopper with chick



RHs



A wreck - from the 1950s I believe, with SW in the background.

 

[JohnM]

Only @Port Power , who was sitting next to me

My deepest sympathies to @Port Power...

 

[Lat34]

Love southern Rockhoppers with their spikey black hairdo and yellow head feathers. Birds with a lot of character!

 

[love_the_life]

Plenty of cuteness there Rooflyer. Baby birds when fluffy like that are very photogenic. Love the baby rockhopper.

 

[RooFlyer]

After New Island, we choofed off to West Point Island, a few hours away. A dry landing, but boots worn because of the spray in the zodiacs, a 2.5km walk awaited us to view a rookery.

Up hill, and down dale, the walk did go on a bit.










Just follow the red parkas down to the rookery.



There we found the same as before Black browed albatross and Rock Hopper penguins, both with chicks.

 

[RooFlyer]

The rookery was quite small, and we were allowed to approach surprisingly close. One albatross hopped up to a clump in the foreground here, right next to one chap.





After about 20 mins, it was time to take the walk back. It was sunny and the wind had dropped to almost zero, so jackets were shed. There was a Uber available for those unable to walk the distance.



Beverages in sight! A glorious afternoon.



Gorse was introduced by the early brits to be a living fence', but is now an uncontrolled weed - just like in Tasmania.



We were advised to drop into the 'teahouse' on the way back for afternoon tea and cakes etc provided by one of the locals (its a sheep run).





This guy was nearby



Back on board, it was a lovely warm afternoon, sitting in the sun in my verandah, with a stiff G&T, watching the later arrivals. Ice and slices of lime were provided within minutes of my calling the butler that I'd like some.

 

[RooFlyer]

Earlier, some shots from the zodiac approaching the Silver Wind.



See the lower row of windows? As I write this (the next day) , we have been advised that in 2 days, en route to Sth Georgia, that the waves will reach there No more G&Ts on the verandah!!



Our location



Drying things in the sun while had my G&T. Jeans leg bottoms only a bit wet, as we wear waterproof outer pants on the zodiacs.



And a nice sunset to cap off the day. Stanley tomorrow.

 

[VPS]

Do you have to pay for Internet and what are the speeds like? I know when I was there it was painful just to load text and no way could I load photos

 

[RooFlyer]

Do you have to pay for Internet and what are the speeds like? I know when I was there it was painful just to load text and no way could I load photos

The free internet gives me 2-4 Mbps up and down - works fine for AFF etc. The 'premium' internet you can buy for US$29 for a single day, or something like US$350 for the voyage.

 

[Lat34]

Also, as you head further south, the sateillite/s horizon decreases which leads eventually to eg reduced quality/ no satellite TV reception. Also means slooooooow standard internet for picture uploads unless you are awake when the majority are sleeping. We didn't bother purchasing premium internet.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, a couple of days in, and before we have a day or so of weather where I may not be up to posting anything, impressions so far:

Classic Verandah suite - very good; well appointed and everything works in terms of mechanics and practicality.

The ship lay/out & facilities - very good. Everything I need.

Food: choice of places to eat, styles, variety, depth of menus and meals as presented - all very good

Drink: Again, the wines themselves are very good, but I dislike that each evening, they present a white and a red. However, I can ask for any of the wines at any time. I guess the evening choice of 2 helps regulate demand and stocks, but since I can always ask, I'd rather there be a drinks menu presented.

Meal service: Variable and some times disappointing. A few (actually more than a few) of the wait staff are frankly not good enough for what I perceive SilverSeas wishes to present. Again, need to accept that post covid staff may be more hard to find, but one would think SS would want the better ones.

Butler service and room attendant: Both very good. My butler knew my preferences after a couple of days and now everything is stocked and arranged to my taste.

Expedition crew and experiences. Up in the air at the moment. Falklands may not be typical. But in the Falklands the Exped people were mainly traffic managers for the 150-200 pax who went onshore at both sites. At one site, it was 100 people viewing the rookery and hard to manoeuvre through the thick cutting grass; v difficult to get to an exped person & ask questions. At the other rookery, smaller viewing area, no info given on site (but they were about). Left feeling a bit dis-satisfied both times.

Briefings. They hold a briefing for the next day (a 'precap') each evening before dinner by the Exped leader, including weather/seas. A couple of times he's given wrong info (not the weather!); other times its a bit ... I dunno ... doesn't work for me. What they don't have is a recap of what went on and what was seen that day. Ponant did this and it was great - it was based on what was actually seen on the day, not what might be seen if it goes to schedule. I have made an appt with the Exped Leader to give feedback about this. I think its a major deficiency.

Senior crew. Mostly unsighted by me, except at the Captain's coughtail party where he introduced his executives.

The Captain


Executive team. The guy 4th from the right is the doctor and, unlike all the others, didn't say where he was from. Poor guy - by his accent, I'd say Russian. Exped Leader (a Sth African) 2nd from left. He's who we hear most from, on PA as well as in the theatre



The first 5 from the slide behind them



The second five from the slide behind. The guy standing in front of them with a drink is the one who always arrives 5-10 mins into any briefing.



The Expedition Crew, including some admin and compliance types. Yes, there is an actual geologist amongst them I started to grill her and I think she'll do alright.

 

[VPS]

Drink: Again, the wines themselves are very good, but I dislike that each evening, they present a white and a red. However, I can ask for any of the wines at any time. I guess the evening choice of 2 helps regulate demand and stocks, but since I can always ask, I'd rather there be a drinks menu presented.

Seabourn did that too and it irritated me that I had to ask for something different

I loved the rockhoppers and albatross on New Island -

 

[tgh]

The wine service routine has never changed , a part of the SS tradition I assume.
I suggest that a la carte wine service on any ship is impractical labour intensive and a bit wasteful.
It is easy enough to get a preferred wine and never refused, many folks just accept what is offered.
In fact you could easily pre order a preferred wine, have a chat with the Sommelier, they would manage that happily enough.

 

[RooFlyer]

In fact you could easily pre order a preferred wine, have a chat with the Sommelier, they would manage that happily enough.

I will do that. In fact, since we have to give our room number every time we go to the restaurant, a little alert could go up - bing, bing bing! get the Malbec ready.

 

[Port Power]

Regarding the expedition team and briefings, I still think it might be a bit early to tell. When I was on Silver Explorer from Cairns to Broome, we did have exactly what I think @RooFlyer wants. The team leader talked about the day that was, and put up photos of animals/birds that were seen. A few of the expedition team members then gave their daily observations of what their zodiac saw, usually with photos.

I think for New Island and West Point, the expedition team were just chauffeurs. There were supposed to be local guides. I believe there should have been a couple of the expo team at the rookeries providing information and available to answer questions. I agree it is a poor first impression. I certainly hope there will be a vast improvement at South Georgia.

 

[zig]

Recaps on the expedition cruises I have done have been as you described @Port Power and this included on South Georgia this year. The expedition team were with us at the rookeries and were taking the time to point out things of interest and share their knowledge. Hopefully normal service will resume shortly.

 

[drron]

I think one of the major problems is that there has been an absolute explosion of Expedition ships and it is going to be hard to have teams the calibre of the past until the new staff have more experience.
For Silversea some of the more experienced staff has been poached, quite a few are now in management and sadly some have died.

 

[RooFlyer]

Overnight we sailed across to Stanley, on the eastern side of the island group. Too large to enter the sheltered port, we dropped anchor outside and zodiac-ed in.





Stanley was a surprisingly large town - abt 2,000 people and there is a further 2000 soldiers stationed in a camp a few miles out of town. Many new houses being built in the town too. The cathedral in the centre below. Actually, its a city, officially.





We caught the locals napping



There were a number of options available; I chose a Battlefields hosted one and we were picked up in a luxury coach and joined by our guide, Kevin, who was a Falklands war veteran. Wasn't local then, came as part of the armed forces and married locally, and settled here after some more stints overseas. So we got a first hand account; he veered towards bitterness at times and mentioned frequently how the Argentines still deny what happened and why.

We drove first to Estancia farm, where tyhe British forces assembled for the march ion Stanley, abt 20km distance over exposed, rough terrain. Hid during the day, moved at night.







Between there and Stanley is the army camp holding 2000, the other side of this ridge.



Its a pretty bleak place all round.