November 8
It just goes to show, how unpredictable your day can be.....and in particular what the wonders of Antarctica can provide for you. I cannot impress upon you, if you're interested enough to read these journals, just how unbelievable it all is in person. I can't tell you how many times later today we said "WOW" - and this all came after we had agreed that we were disappointed in the way the day had turned out. But in the end, just a spectacular day!
Today the plan is to make landfall on the main continent of Antarctica (we've previously been on the outer islands of the continent). The problem has been that the channel to access the continent has been full of ice blocking our entrance. But we spent the night in the harbor (thankfully that meant calm waters and a solid night's rest). By late morning the ice had cleared out and we crossed the straight into our landing area. The main continent was RIGHT outside our window....wow.
But, after trying to launch a scout zodiac the winds picked up and the adventure was called off. We moved back into the channel as ice was beginning to block access to the harbor and we waited for the weather to improve. One of the cool things about a Viking voyage is that once on board you open your Viking app on your smart phone and EVERYTHING is at your finger tips. The daily bulletin that is always left in your stateroom - it's on your phone. Your excursions - they're on your phone. Your dining reservations - on your phone. And you can MAKE reservations on the app. You can check your account, it's just limitless. But for this specific adventure this is exceptionally handy because with the constantly changing schedules, it all comes to your phone so you know nearly as soon as the Expedition Director knows :)
Eventually the ship began moving to a new location and the ice we floated past was so big and often so close to the ship!
Later we found ourselves right back where we had started and you could see the landing site and the hundreds and hundreds of penguins. Marc our Expedition Leader came on the PA and announced they were sending the scout boat out and expected to begin "operations" (guests leaving the ship) around 5 pm. But at about 5:30 the ship was leaving and the announcement came that the waters were too rough to disembark from the ship to the zodiac, and even more problematic the landing site was completely blocked by ice. So, disappointed, Kim and I got ready for dinner. Went down the hall to get our pre-dinner drink then headed to the Aula to hear Marc's report and projections for tomorrow. Then we headed down to dinner. It's ironic how it all played out because you have three options for dinner, (1) The Dining Room and (2) Manfredi's - which both "require" reservations but often you can walk up. And (3) the World Cafe on the upper deck which is largely buffet style but they have specialty spot called "The Grill" where the food is prepared right there for you as you like it and the meats are excellent. At the World Cafe you can sit on either side of the ship. Well, our decision tonight was to eat at the World Cafe, go to The Grill, and sit on the starboard (right) side of the ship. We were about 2/3 through dinner when the captain came on and announced there were some nice glaciers to view. We've seen glaciers.....then minutes later Kim's eyes lit up and she said, "I think you need to go outside and take a photo of this - it may be the picture of the day." I turned and looked and OH MY - just spectacular.
And SOOOOO close to the ship! You can't tell from the photos, but the size of this thing had to be at least twenty feet tall and at least 1/3 the length of the ship. Could not have been more than 20 yards at most off the railing of the ship. JUST WOW. We've been to Alaska (six times, but who's counting!) and the day among the glaciers is THE best day. But never...EVER have we been this close to such massive chunks of ice. And that doesn't even count how close we were to the glacier shoreline all day. So from the end of dinner until about 90 minutes later the ice was spectacular and made for a GREAT day!
No comments:
Post a Comment