March 16, 2015, Sitka, Alaska How could this be my 75th post for a 68 day cruise? OK, one post was anticipation and this one is a coda, written after we got home but still… I averaged more than one … Continue reading Coda, Prinsendam Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage
March 13, 2015 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida The cruise is over and we are back in Fort Lauderdale. I will probably have one more post after this one to sum things up. I guess I have been working on USAID projects … Continue reading Closing Campfire and After Party
March 9, 2015 St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Not every Holland America officer likes serving on Prinsendam; at least that’s what our American Express representative tells me. It has an old fashioned bridge, different from the other ships. The newer … Continue reading On the Bridge of MS Prinsendam
Feb 8, 2015 Montevideo, Uruguay “Travelers see what they see, tourists see what they came to see.” GK Chesterton. We honestly didn’t know what we came to see in Montevideo. Forty seven years ago Suzi and I came within a … Continue reading Forty Seven Years Late
Bertha Beach is the home of Gentoo Penguins. Some look a little rough, they are in the middle of their annual molt. They have finished fledging their chicks, took a swim out to feed and now have to sit very … Continue reading Surrounded by Acres of … Penguins!
It’s a day at sea after the Falklands and the Captain, the Expedition Leader (A professor from New Zealand), the Ice Pilot (a retired USCG admiral with 16 years’ experience on heavy icebreakers) and the Chief Engineering Officer are giving … Continue reading Antarctic Coda
February 3, 2015 King George Island, Antarctica. I was startled when I got an SMS message sailing into Admiralty Bay on King George Island. King George is the largest of the South Shetland Islands off the coast of Antarctica and … Continue reading Antarctic Metropolis and Teflon Rocks
February 3, 2015 Antarctic Sound, Antarctica. Dear Friends, Antarctic Sound, at the very northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, is packed with history and ice. The ice is the reason for the history. It’s named for a whaler turned research … Continue reading Ice Bergs, History and Politics
February 2, 2008 Andvord Bay, Paradise Harbor and Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica, During the Alaska summer I get little sleep. I don’t sleep with curtains drawn so generally wake up early and go to bed late. I figure I will make … Continue reading Paradise to a Whaling Captain
February 2, 2008 Paradise Harbor, Antarctica. They look like dolphins swimming alongside the boat, but very small dolphins. But looking closely they are penguins, Gentoo Penguins. They move quickly thought the water, up for breath, down to swim. These penguins … Continue reading Feathered Dolphins.
January 30, 2015 Ushuaia, Argentina. Here is the second claimant to “end of the world.” Ushuaia is a newer town than Punta Arenas. It was founded in 1870 by missionaries from the Falkland Islands wishing to convert the natives of … Continue reading Or is This the End of the World?
January 29, 2011 Punta Arenas, Chile Dear Friends, Punta Arenas, Chile and Ushuaia have a rivalry. Both claim to be at the end of the world. Both claim to be the furthest south city in the world. Looking at a … Continue reading Is This The End of The World?
January 23, 2015 On Board the Prinsendam, My kids say that our family doesn’t take vacations, we go on field trips. I may have slowed down a bit but days ashore are busy. On a cruise ship we have don’t … Continue reading Sea Day!