-
Devil’s Throat and Sandboarding
Tuesday, April 8 – Sunny Today started with a pickup by Percy and our driver for the day, Roy, to travel a short distance to the start of our “trek” up to, and through, the Devil’s Throat, which is a canyon carved by water. We first “scrambled” up some rocks to reach a plateau where
//
-
Moon valley and sunset view
Monday, April 6 – Sunny and 75 We had a morning flight to Calama where we were met by Percy, our guide for the week. He is from Brazil and speaks very good English. We had about an hour drive from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama and our hotel, Terrantai. The hotel is situated
//
-
Emergency landing; quite the way to start
April 5 – Miami International Airport – We were about 45 minutes out of Miami – as Bill likes to say, likely over Cuba, when the pilot announced that there was a problem with one of the cockpit windows and we would be returning to Miami and would be greeted by emergency vehicles – just
//
-
Melchoir Islands
Day 20 – a zodiac cruise through the islands Today is our last day visiting Antarctica. It was a beautiful sunny day. The day started with just a few wispy clouds even though they are calling for some snow later in the day. We took a zodiac cruise through the Melchoir islands, including a look
//
-
Cuverville Island
Day 19 – Gentoo penguins and a couple of channels Today we took the zodiac to Cuverville Island, which is home to some 9,000 breeding pairs of Gentoo penguins and at least two Adelie penguins. We had an early start because there were strong winds forecasted for the afternoon. The smart penguins set up their
//
-
New month, new year, new continent
Day 18 – Recess Cove, Antarctica First off, Happy New Year – may you notice God’s presence each day of 2026! I feel like an explorer. After 17 days, we finally set foot on the continent of Antarctica. The snow was very deep and so the expedition team only packed out a fairly small loop
//
-
Yankee Harbour
Day 17 – Submarine Day There was so much happening today, it is hard to know where to begin, so I will begin with the morning. We travel in Bird Safe Mode at night so all the room darkening shades are down from dusk to at least dawn. Since the sun rises here about 2
//
-
Sea Days
Days 15 and 16- two more days at sea with gloomy skies. At least that is what we expected. The expedition team was to launch a weather balloon on Day 15, but it was too windy so they had to postpone until today – Day 16. The crew of Octantis knows how to turn any
//
-
Drygalski Fjord, South Georgia
Day 14 – Another sunny day and more seals We spent most of the day in Larsen Cove, which is at the front of Drygalski Fjord. We took an hour zodiac cruise in the cove. We saw all kinds of lichen and some wildlife. The rugged mountains were stunning to view in sunlight. In this
//
-
Fortuna Bay, South Georgia
Day 13 – Cold, wet, and rainy We started the day with a Special Operations Boat ride. That translates to a 16-passenger boat that is easier to get in and out of than the zodiac. The boat ride took us around the bay. There were lots of fur seals playing in the water and we
//
