Live From the Sapphire, 30-Day Antarctica/SA B2B, Jan 20 - Feb 19

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 5 - Jan 24 - Punta Arenas, Chile

 

 

 

I have to say we have been impressed with Starlink’s reliability so far, even with these slow speeds being encountered down in this part of the world.

 

 

Edited January 24 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

It’s 10 pm here in the middle of summer, and I just looked out and saw snow on the mountains! I know, who knew!! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Good morning from Punta Arenas!

  

 

 

It was definitely breakfast time behind the ship for the local Kelp Gulls! 😂

 

 
Punta Arenas is a tender port. 

 

 
Looks like we will be wearing our coats today, but at least there is no rain in the forecast until later this evening! 😁

 
This is the penguin excursion we will be going on today! 
 

 

Edited January 24 by Ken the cruiser

[ocean sounds]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

penguin excursion we will be going on today

Excited to hear your thoughts on this excursion!  I’m booked on it for the next cruise. 
 

@KenTheCruiser, Your morning photos from Punta Arenas are gorgeous.

 

 

Edited January 24 by ocean sounds
Added

[azbirdmom]

Love the pictures!  Enjoy Magdalena.  We were there 12 years ago and really enjoyed our time walking among the penguins and nesting sea birds.

[LACruiser88]

39 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Love the pictures!  Enjoy Magdalena.  We were there 12 years ago and really enjoyed our time walking among the penguins and nesting sea birds.

We were there in 2011, great experience.  Enjoy! 🐧

[Mah Jongg]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Good morning from Punta Arenas!

  

 

 

It was definitely breakfast time behind the ship for the local Kelp Gulls! 😂

 

 
Punta Arenas is a tender port. 

 

 
Looks like we will be wearing our coats today, but at least there is no rain in the forecast until later this evening! 😁

 
This is the penguin excursion we will be going on today! 
 

 

We have also done this excursion. Very interesting.

[Ken the cruiser]

What a fun excursion! Basically, the Magdalena Island Penguin Reserve is a rookery (nursery) for Magellanic penguins and Kelp Gulls. 

 

First we boarded the catamaran that would take us on a 90 minute ride to Magdalena Island. Initially, it was a tight squeeze until the Captain allowed us to go outside shortly after receiving the safety briefing.
 

 
Punta Arenas is in the background, and as you will see, it turned out to be a beautiful day! 😁

 
Magdalena Island

 

 
As we approached the island, there was a huge flock of Kelp Gulls flying around off the starboard side.

 

 

 
These Magellanic penguins were members of the island’s greeting committee. 

 

 

 

 

  
Then came the Kelp Gulls, young and old as well as not even hatched yet! 

 

 

 

 
This is a juvenile Kelp Gull

 

  

 

 

 

 

 
The first half of the 1 hour walk was walking up to the lighthouse.

 

 

 
Out in the water, there is a kelp bed where sea lions were hanging around in waiting for the penguins to jump in the water while at the same time the Kelp Gulls were dive bombing them, trying to scare them away. 

 

 

 

 

 
Off in the distance is a large group of Imperial Cormorants all huddled together.

 

 
These are Upland Geese we found hanging out behind the lighthouse.

 

 
And now it’s time to head back down from the lighthouse back to the boat.

 

 

 
As you can see, it turned out to be a beautiful day in the low 60s with very little wind on the island.

 

 

 

 

 
On the way back, a few Commerson’s Dolphins wished us a fond farewell! 😁

 

 

 

Edited January 24 by Ken the cruiser

[azbirdmom]

Fantastic pictures!  Thanks for sharing.

[ocean sounds]

Thank you for all the  pictures.  I can’t wait to see it soon.  

[1emerald1]

Did you see any baby penguins?  I saw some on a nature show and they are absolutely the cutest things on earth!

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, 1emerald1 said:

Did you see any baby penguins?  I saw some on a nature show and they are absolutely the cutest things on earth!

All of the penguins I took photos of with “fur” are chicks that were probably hatched in early December I would imagine. This was the smallest one I took a picture of that was with one of its parents. They are pretty cute. 😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

After a tasty dinner in the Reserve Dining Room, we headed back to the cabin to watch the last tenders bring passengers back to the ship.

 

 
While waiting I found this interesting map and started wondering which route the Captain was going to take to get us to Ushuaia by around 10:30 am tomorrow morning. 🤔

 

 
We set sail around 6:45 pm.

 

 
Then it was time to head to the theater to watch Kristina Wells provide her encore performance, A Tribute to the 70s Divas.

 

 

 
Afterwards, we headed to the Explorers Lounge to watch the very funny game show called The Living Room Battle! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

When we got back to the cabin, we headed out on the balcony to watch the sunset as we started cruising through the Strait of Magellan fjords. What a wonderful way to end a fun day! 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s where we were at when I took the above pictures.

 

 
And here’s what the wind forecast looks like south of the fjords.

 

 
Hopefully, the Captain will find a suitable route through the fjords to Ushuaia without having to go into open waters. 🤞

 

Edited January 25 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 6 - Jan 25 - Ushuaia, Argentina

 

 

  
And the internet speeds have definitely not gotten better. But I can still post all of this, so I’m happy! 😁
 

 

[nini]

What a fabulous day and outing! @Ken the cruiser Thank you for sharing with us.

[Flakie]

Thanks again @Ken the cruiser for your superb updates. 

[LaRu60]

Great pictures @KenTheCruiser!

[Ken the cruiser]

This morning started early around 5:30 am when I “magically” woke up, looked outside, and was wowed by the beautiful scenery we were cruising through.

 

 
Then about 5 minutes later, we were passing by Italia Glacier! 😁

 

 
For reference, this is where the ship was located when I took the above photo. You can also see the route the Captain chose to get to the Beagle Channel.

 

 

 

 

This was the view off the starboard side about the same time.

 

 

Then I woke up again around 8 am with this view out the aft.

 

 

Then we finally stayed up around 8:30 am as we started to get close to Ushuaia,

 

 

which you can see off in the distance.

 

 
We pulled up to the pier about 15 minutes later under partly cloudy skies with temps in the high 50s! 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Here are the details about our “easy” Ushuaia excursion we will be going on this afternoon.

  

  
along with the “sunny” forecast!

 

 

[azbirdmom]

Simply stunning!  I saw elsewhere that the ship cruised through Glacier Alley early today, wasn't sure if you'd do it on the way in or out.  Have a wonderful day in gorgeous Ushuaia!

[Ken the cruiser]

Our excursion today was pretty much a vista view point tour where we stopped at various places and took pictures. It was OK, but definitely not a lot of wildlife for our taste. But the weather was great!!! 😁

  

 

 
Our first goal was to drive to the “End of the World” which equates to the end of the Pan American Highway that stretches from Alaska to Ushuaia. These were some of the views along the way from our side of the bus.

 

 

 

 
We made it!

 

 

 

 

 

 
We stopped at 3 different places on our way back and saw some horses having fun running around! 😂

 

  
Mr and Mrs Upland Geese

 

 

 
A Sierra Finch

 

 

 

 

 
A bumble bee hard at work! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 
Like I said, finding wildlife on this excursion was rough! But the weather was awesome for taking pictures and walking around in lightweight clothing! 😁

 

[MustangGT]

@Ken the cruiser - what a fabulous trip report!!  This is on our bucket list!

We will be onboard the Sapphire Princess in April/May for a 32-day cruise and cannot wait!!

If it’s not too much trouble, can you check to see if Coke Zero is available?

Thanks so much!

[ringers0815]

Beautiful pictures! Thank you for posting them.

[Ken the cruiser]

After dining in the Reserve DR, we headed to the theater to get a good seat for the production show Born To Be Wind, our personal favorite I might add. 😁

 

 
Afterwards, we were off to the Explorers Lounge to watch another fun game show!

 

 
Then it was back to the cabin to watch as we sailed away from Ushuaia. 
 

 
But when we noticed the Cape Horn arrival time wasn’t listed in tomorrow’s Patter, we called Guest Relations to find out when we needed to wake up to be able to see it. Apparently the Captain has decided to bypass Cape Horn and head straight for Iceberg A23a. That works for us as we’ll see Cape Horn on the next leg.
 

However, I’m not quite sure if that schedule change has been spread throughout the ship yet, as calling GR is the only time we heard about the change. But were definitely sleeping in as the original Cape Horn arrival time listed on the itinerary was between 7-8 am. 
 
Here’s where the ship is currently cruising at.

 

 
The wind is forecasted to be around 14 kts at 11:00 am tomorrow as we’re crossing the Drake Passage, which sounds great!

 

 

And the waves around 8 feet. Wouldn’t that be nice. 🤞

 

 

Edited January 26 by Ken the cruiser