Silver Cloud #1001 - Ushuaia RT via South Georgia - January 4, 2020

[rloke]

32 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

The weather has been high 40s with wind from 20-30 knots. Mixed sunshine with some clouds. No rain. Seas 1-2m swells. Really quite pleasant! 

 

A few whale tails from this afternoon. Challenging to hold the camera steady with the big zoom lens extended, with the wind gusting and the ship pitching. But the whales were playful. Great show!

 

 

 

 

Nice...the VR of the lens must be getting a good workout...😉

[RachelG]

January 7, 2020–still enroute to South Georgia Island

With the time change and perfectly smooth seas, we just about overslept.  Neither iPad nor phone updated the time change, and I am becoming accustomed to the sun rising early.  So I slept till 7:30.  

Mandatory briefing to learn all the rules was at 9 followed by a very thorough inspection of all the gear we will plan to wear ashore,hiking poles, cameras, binoculars, etc.  Velcro is good at picking up seeds and grass, and they did find some on my waterproof pants, even though i had washed them after Iceland.

I walked up on the top deck for a while.  It was much colder, despite being sunny,  due to a sharp strong wind which threatened to push me over when I rounded a corner.  I was able to spot some whales spouting in the distance.  The birds had left us altogether for the morning

We had decided yesterday that we would try the pool deck for lunch.  It was pretty cold, even with our parkas, hats, and blankets wrapped around our legs.  The heaters were on but didn’t seem to help.  My grilled fish was excellent, and I had a salad with it.  George’s burger was good, for a burger on a ship, but it was so cold that his fries were totally chilled by the time he got to them.  Lesson learned.  If you want hot food, eat inside.  I think it would be ok with the “hot rocks” concept at night though because the rock would keep everything warm.  We have reservations in a few nights to test out the theory.

I was doing some work online when the announcement came overhead that we were nearing Shag Rocks, a small group of rocks popping up out of the ocean so called because of the large number of shags (a species of bird) that nest there, and that whales had also been spotted.  We were warned that it was cold and VERY w
Indy outside, and that the ship couldn’t slow down because the stabilizers wouldn’t work if it did.  

So we bundled up and hurried to the top deck.  Cold and windy was an understatement, but it was well worth it, because there was a huge humpback whale convention apparently in session.  Also birds everywhere.  One male humpback was really showing off, slapping his tail out of the water over and over.  I am terrible at taking pictures of birds and whales, but I got a good one of him.

After about 20 minutes, I was pretty frozen so came back inside for the lecture which was appropriately about whales and dolphins.

Trivia was another win, though questions today were somewhat hard.  Then another lecture about Shackleton.  

Recap and briefing was mandatory tonight, as it included zodiac instructions.  We have been through this many times, probably over 20, so we were ready to go, but understand it is important.

Dinner in the MDR was good.  We ate with new friends and had great conversation.  My crab cake followed by shrimp curry was delicious.

Early to bed as tomorrow is our first landing and we are group 1.

[spinnaker2]

JP 

OMG.

Just spectacular.

There are no words for this because it is life to be viewed by humans and with a message that we must protect it.

Thank you for showing us.

What a gift.

[jpalbny]

20 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Surprised they would even charge you for the switch after all the time you’ve spent on SS ships and all the nice reviews.

 

No worries. It was a very reasonable charge and we were not at all expecting the upgrade to be free. It was a nice birthday present for Chris. 😃 She let me off cheap this year! 

 

Love the view though. 

 

 

Time for bed before South Georgia tomorrow. Zodiac group 2 is still early... And still not recovered from that time change last night. 

 

We had a great dinner tonight, with guest relations manager Camilla, whom we've met on previous cruises. My main was venison, done beautifully medium-rare, with mushrooms, red cabbage, and a poached apple. Chris enjoyed a large lobster tail. Both were delicious. Food and menus are as great as we remember. 

[RachelG]

8 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

JP 

OMG.

Just spectacular.

There are no words for this because it is life to be viewed by humans and with a message that we must protect it.

Thank you for showing us.

What a gift.

You will note I wisely left posting the whale pics to JP.  I have never been good at photographing whales or birds in flight, but there were so many that even I got a couple of good pics.

[Stumblefoot]

21 hours ago, carefreecruise said:

We Were on the Cloud last year and they brought plenty of Scotch and whiskey to the grave site. Don't worry.... 

 

Not a single dram brought to the gravesite by SS today.  If you hadn’t snuck your own on shore, you were out of luck.

[carefreecruise]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

 

Not a single dram brought to the gravesite by SS today.  If you hadn’t snuck your own on shore, you were out of luck.

Wow,, must be because of the new expedition leader starting in March 2019. Old one said he always brought good Stuff to the gravesite. I guess  I can't use "don't  Worry" anymore...  

[RachelG]

17 minutes ago, carefreecruise said:

Wow,, must be because of the new expedition leader starting in March 2019. Old one said he always brought good Stuff to the gravesite. I guess  I can't use "don't  Worry" anymore...  

yesterday, they really emphasized NO food or drink of any kind to be brought ashore.  Very strict

[Fletcher]

How disrespectful . . . 

[Stumblefoot]

Fletcher,

 

For you, sir.  I hope you approve.  Where there is a will, there is a way, thanks to a very nice gentleman from the US state of Georgia.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Stumblefoot

[mrlevin]

I am surprised Grytviken was your first stop; are you going to Salisbury Plain and Prion Island tomorrow?  Was there opportunity to take the hike to Grytviken retracing Shackelton's end of his hike across the island?

[Stumblefoot]

10 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

I am surprised Grytviken was your first stop; are you going to Salisbury Plain and Prion Island tomorrow?  Was there opportunity to take the hike to Grytviken retracing Shackelton's end of his hike across the island?

 

I was not aware of any hiking opportunity, so I will say no.  Total time on shore for each of the six groups was planned at roughly 1.5 hours, but I’d say we had over 2 hours ourselves.

 

We’re in Fortuna Bay now, but our landing and hike here has been lost due to heavy swell at the shore.  Instead, a zodiac tour of the bay is being offered in it’s place @ 4:00p and 5:15p.  With the wind and spray that is evident, we’re going to pass.  As you can imagine, disappointment amongst the passengers is palpable, but such is life on an Expedition Cruise.

 

Tomorrow morning is Salisbury plain as the weather forecast is excellent.  Not sure what the afternoon will bring.

[les37b]

Stunning photos JP. Thanks for sharing.

[tgh]

The reports here seem to confirm the softening of Silversea's expedition agenda.

There has been a massive tightening of shore excursion opportunities in the Baltic to meet their AECO commitment and it appears that they are carrying these procedures to the Antarctic.

Hard to blame SS as  it seems fair to tightly manage the impact of the ever increasing  multitudes setting foot in once pristine environments.

 

[RachelG]

January 8, 2020–Grytviken and Fortuna Bay, South Georgia Island

Finally, we have arrived!  After a very smooth night sailing and great sleep, we awoke to the sound of the anchor dropping in a sheltered harbor with in a harbor.  We were at Grytviken, an old whaling station.

Low rugged mountains were all around with higher snow  covered ones behind.  There weren’t any real trees, but there was a lot of low green vegetation, similar to what we have seen in other cold parts of the world.  At the end were several low white buildings with red roofs which house the government offices and the old rusty whaling outpost.  There are no permanent residents, but people live here in the summer to do scientific research and monitor and inspect the ships that bring tourists.  It was slightly overcast, with temps in the 30s, though when I stepped out, it seemed a little colder than that.

Our landing group was 1 (out of 6), so we were first up today for disembarkation.  Our number will remain the same, but the times for disembarkation will rotate throughout the cruise.  Zodiacs went out to pick up the officials to bring them to the ship to inspect us before we could go ashore.  The inspection was very thorough, with headlamps and magnifying glasses to the bottoms of our boots.

We had a smooth zodiac ride over to the old whaling station.  We were greeting by hundreds if not thousands of fur seals lying on the beach and amongst the rusting remains of the whaling operation.  There were adults, juveniles, and tiny babies.  You are not supposed to get close to any wildlife, but it was really difficult because they were literally everywhere.  The babies are just so cute, and the juveniles are very inquisitive.

Walking towards the cemetery to pay our respects at Shackleton’s grave, we also encountered a couple of large groups of king penguins.  No whiskey or champagne at the gravesite, just us.

We hiked back to the museum, making it safely despite being followed by several juvenile fur seals who wanted to check us out.  Museum was small, but very thorough and interesting.  The gift shop was excellent with high quality merchandise and took George’s credit card payment with no issues.

During lunch back on the ship, we relocated to Fortuna Bay, a wide bay with a glacier that does not come down to the water at the end.  We could hear the fur seals barking from the ship and see hundreds of them on the beach.  We were supposed to make a landing and hike, but it was not to be.  The wind had kicked up considerably, causing a large swell.  It was unsafe to land.

Instead zodiac cruises were offered.  Getting into and out of the zodiacs was a little tricky, and a lot of people chose not to go.  Once we were actually on the zodiac,it was fine.

We cruised along the coast, with fur seals swimming beside us and popping up out of the water randomly.  Lots were on the beach as well, along with some penguins.  After about an hour, with the wind getting progressively stronger, we were cold and ready to go back in.  Our butler had hot tea waiting for us.

Wonderful dinner in MDR with friends.  George thought his steak was just ok, but loved everything else.  I did a veggie dinner which was delicious.  

[jpalbny]

Rachel has already posted an excellent description of today's activity. Here are a few pics. Have to reduce them to 800x600 otherwise they would take days to upload...

 

This morning we anchored off Grytviken. Some sun broke through the clouds. We were the second group off.

 

 

Cool views from ashore. The Petrel is a former sealing ship. Now just a distant memory of times past. 

 

 

Several bunches of king penguins along the path. 

 

 

Tourists at Shackleton's grave. 

 

 

Seals watching Silver Cloud.

 

 

After lunch, a very photogenic stop in Fortuna Bay. Stunning backdrop of mountains, but unfortunately no landing was possible.  

 

 

Dinner tonight in Hot Rocks. Gorgeous sunset. Great company and wines. Nice end to the day. What a beautiful place this is! 

 

More photos to share but it's late and past my bed time. Will need to wait for a broadband connection! 

[carefreecruise]

27 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

This morning we anchored off Grytviken. Some sun broke through the clouds. We were the second group off.

Several bunches of king penguins along the path. 

 

 

This picture looks very familiar. If its the spot I remember, these isolated Kings were standing in that same low spot on the way up to the Graveyard when we were there in February. they are surrounded by  Fur Seals on all sides. A woman was standing looking at them and told us they were also in the very same spot on her two previous trips in the very same spot.  So weird... 

 

Hope you don't miss the main King colony. It will be a hike and maybe across a river but worth the trip.

[RachelG]

7 hours ago, carefreecruise said:

This picture looks very familiar. If its the spot I remember, these isolated Kings were standing in that same low spot on the way up to the Graveyard when we were there in February. they are surrounded by  Fur Seals on all sides. A woman was standing looking at them and told us they were also in the very same spot on her two previous trips in the very same spot.  So weird... 

 

Hope you don't miss the main King colony. It will be a hike and maybe across a river but worth the trip.

Haha, maybe they are just animatronic fake penguins.

 

i have just about given up on posting pics while on the ship.  It takes forever.

[Stumblefoot]

Removed

Edited January 9, 2020 by Stumblefoot
File uploading failed

[TrulyBlonde]

11 hours ago, carefreecruise said:

This picture looks very familiar. If its the spot I remember, these isolated Kings were standing in that same low spot on the way up to the Graveyard when we were there in February. they are surrounded by  Fur Seals on all sides. A woman was standing looking at them and told us they were also in the very same spot on her two previous trips in the very same spot.  So weird... 

 

Hope you don't miss the main King colony. It will be a hike and maybe across a river but worth the trip.

I was there last November with Ponant and I remember these penguins too. Was the huge Elephant seal still blocking the walkway to the museum? He was very photogenic 😉

[Stumblefoot]

This morning the swell was too large in the Bay of Isles on the north coast of South Georgia at the preferred landing site, so we moved to an alternative landing site.  The hike across the broad Salisbury Plain to reach the King Penguin colony was approximately 1-mile (1.6 km).

 

In closing, for some reason CC is posting the baby chick pic in landscape mode although the original was taken in portrait.  I have no idea how to correct such a mistake within CC, so I do apologize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Stumblefoot

[jpalbny]

Awesome pics, Stumbles!

[RachelG]

January 9,2020–Salisbury Plain and Hercules Bay, South Georgia Island

The ship only moved a short distance during the night, repositioning to a very open broad bay where we would disembark to hike to Salisbury Plain, a broad plain produced by runoff from a glacier and a place where penguins like to hang out.

It was a bright sunny morning, temps in the upper 30s, with quite a bit of swell but no wind. Our group would be next to last to go out, so I went to yoga.  As I was the only one there, I had a private class.  The ship was moving quite a bit at anchor, so it added an extra level of challenge.

We boarded the zodiacs for the short trip to a rocky beach literally covered with fur seals.  There were hundreds, including lots of babies to tiny to go in the ocean yet.  The little babies are so cute and playful.  A couple were using the boot scrubber as a scratching post.  I could have watched them all day.

But we had penguins to see.  We hiked over flat pebbly ground across the plain for a little over a mile until we reached the main penguin colony.  There were literally penguins as far as the eye could see.  There were lots of juveniles with their fluffy brown furry feathers, lots of teenagers in the process of converting the brown cuteness to adult proper penguin suits, and of course, the adults.  Over 100,000 breeding pairs which translates to over 500,000 penguins.  Those of us who were fit enough were able to climb up a steep muddy hill to overlook the entire colony.

The penguins were really noisy, making a whistling sound like one of those spinner things as well as a “hoo” sound like an owl, and a bunch of chittering and chirping.  Of course, they smelled to high heaven, but with many years of surgery experience, I have learned how to breath to avoid that.

Back to the ship for a quick but well earned lunch followed by trivia.  Part of our team was missing, so we came in 2nd today.  The ship sailed past large glaciers and rugged snow capped mountains toward our next stop, Hercules Bay.  As we progressed, the sky became more and more overcast, and the wind picked up considerably.  We could see the waves crashing high up on the cliffs.  I was skeptical that we would be able to get off the ship.

Sure enough, the announcement came overhead that it was too unsafe to enter the bay.  What we could see outside confirmed this.  Instead we would head for a safer sheltered bay, Leith, to anchor overnight since conditions were quickly deteriorating.

Dinner was in the grill, aka hot rocks, aka the pool grill.  We had a big table with Stumblefoot and his familia, plus other friends.  It was a delicious meal, and great company with lots of laughs.  So glad he is slowly feeling better.  George usually complains about having to cook his own food, but this is his exception as it is really good.

As we ate,the fog rolled in.  We were pretty much engulfed with fog.  It gave a very eerie greenish cast to everything.

[jpalbny]

Friday, January 10th

 

Happy Birthday Chris!

 

We anchored overnight in a sheltered bay near Stromness. This morning, the zodiac ride ashore was short and from the landing site, it was about 2k walking over rocky ground to Shackleton's Falls.

 

Great hike though rough terrain, and lots of streams to ford. it was about 38F with wind and spitting rain. But luckily the rain was at our back for the hike out.

 

The destination was worth the effort, though! 

 

 

The hike back was easier because the rain had largely stopped. Some wind in our face but not too bad. At the end, near the beach, we had to fend off a lot of aggressive fur seals who were doing their best Monty Python imitation. "None shall pass!" But we did.

 

Back on board we found that our butler had set up caviar and champagne for Chris's Birthday. A nice treat!

 

Lunch at LT with another excellent pizza, and a Sardinian white wine that was delicious. 

 

Now repositioning to Fortuna Bay, to reattempt the landing we couldn't do on the 8th. Fingers crossed. Will try to stay awake...

 

Tonight we sail for Antarctica. Hoping to avoid the incoming storm that will hit South Georgia in full fury tomorrow. Will keep posting as time and (slow) internet allow.

[Stumblefoot]

I hope you enjoy this short little video of a mother fur seal calling for her pup.  I watched her come out of the ocean, walk up the beach, and sound her call.  After 6 good calls and no reply, she got into a braided river to swim further down the beach and begin her calls anew.

 

This video was shot near the abandoned whaling station at Stromness, South  Georgia.

 

Binoculars, video camera, and backpack to carry everyone’s gear.  What more could a man want?

 

 

Fur seals, not rocks, in the foreground, king penguins in the center, and the expedition vessel, Silver Cloud, in the background.  First snow of the new season arrived overnight.

 

At Shackleton’s waterfall.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Stumblefoot
Have no idea what happened to the video. Will try in another post.