Today is the last day of the expeditions for this cruise in Antarctica. We were scheduled to go to an area called Chiriguano Bay. The Octantis ship has never visited this area before, so we were excited. The sister ship, Polaris only visited here for the first time on their last cruise a week or so ago.
Snow Sticking to the Ocean
When I woke up at around 6:00 AM, it was really snowing hard outside. The snow was so intense that it was actually “sticking” to the surface of the water. In reality, it was floating on the more dense salt water that is so cold it will not melt the snow. It was very strange looking.
We finally arrived at our destination, the ship came to a stop out in the middle of all of the snow and ice. We learned just a little while later that we were not in Chiriguano Bay, but had stopped in Lapeyrere Bay. There apparently was too much floating ice in Chiriguano Bay for the ship to transit there. It was snowing so hard, we could not see anything more than about a half mile away, which was nothing but open water.
I went to breakfast after showering and let Stephanie sleep in. It was at breakfast that I saw Robert and Martha, and Robert was the one who told me he had heard we were somewhere else. With all of the snow and limited visibility, we could never have known anyway.
I took Stephanie a Croissant form the World Cafe back to the room for her breakfast. Our tour this morning is a Special Ops Boat at 9:15 AM. We could see people going on Zodiac Cruise tours from our window and it looked a little miserable with all of the snow. People were covered in snow in the Zodiacs in just a few minutes. At least the Special Ops Boats have a roof of sorts.
We were in Group 2, so we headed down to the meeting area and then proceeded to board the boat,. All of the seats had snow on them that we needed to brush off before sitting down. We headed out with our guide and we actually saw a lot of wildlife. We wore our goggles for the first time, and were glad to have them with all of the snow falling.
Seal On A Small Iceberg
There were several bird species flying about, and quite a lot of fur seals sitting on pieces of ice. There was one pair that were sort of playing around, climbing on and off the ice and chasing each other.
Our driver got a call rom the ship’s bridge that sounded like they were seeing some engine issues on our boat, and we seemed to head out of the snowy slush and floating ice out to an area on the other side of the ship that was clear of both. We learned later that they can monitor the engine instrumentation remotely on the bridge. Apparently, the water jet engines have a hard time with the floating slush, it is too thick to move through the engines as easily as water. Now, there was nothing to really see in the clear area, is was clear of everything but a few birds.
Blue Iceberg
We headed back to the ship and saw that the other Special Ops Boat was already back inside the hanger, and after we were dropped off, we heard that then next tour was cancelled due to the conditions.
We saw they were getting ready to launch a sub, so we waited in the hanger area and took photos of the sub getting ready to be lowered into the water. We also watched them put the first special ops boat into the front area of the long launching ramp that is used to store and launch the two boats from the Hanger. They were making room to put the second boat we had just gotten off of back into the hanger.
Launching Sub From The Hanger
We went back to the room and dropped off some of our gear, but we also wanted to go to the bow of the ship and look at all of the snow. The ship was getting covered in snow, all of the decks outside had about 8 inches of snow on them, and it was not letting up.
After a few photos, we headed back to the room to get out of our gear and relax. We do not have another excursion until 4:00 PM, a Zodiac Cruise, and we hope that the weather will clear some before then. We needed to dry some of our gloves and hats, they had gotten wet from the snowfall, so we headed to the laundromat and found an open dryer. When we got back to the room, we thought we might do a load of whites just to make sure we have enough underwear for the remainder of the trip. It was nice that a washer opened up when we go to the laundromat, and we put in our clothes to wash and took out our gloves and hats from the dryer.
While the clothes were washing, we decided to get a hot chocolate and Bailys to help with the cold weather. The Explorer’s Lounge was not open yet, so we stropped for the first time at the Library Bar. We had our hot chocolates and then decided that a morning drink was in order. Unfortunately, he could make Stephanie’s Peach Bellini, the peach schnapps they had to get yesterday had come from this bar. However, he did not have my Clamato for a Bloody Caesar. Stephanie instructed him while he made her drink, then we got some peach schnapps to go to take to the Aquavit Bar on the same level, but in the stern of the ship, so they could make me a Bloody Caesar. We had two drinks there, but Stephanie had to leave and fight in the Laundromat to get our wash from the washer to the dryer. People are just downright mean in the laundromat.
Special Ops Boats Loaded Up For The Day
She was gone for about 15 minutes and then returned. While we were at the bar, they made an announcement that all of the Special Ops Boats were now cancelled for today due to the weather conditions. We do not know if anymore actually went back out after ours, but they were cancelling them one at a time up until this announcement. This made it clear that there would not be anymore for the rest of the day.
We needed to go to eat some lunch, so Stephanie ordered a Bellini to go and I ordered a Pinot Grigio to have with lunch.
The lunch was not bad, and we had some deserts form the special chocolate buffet that the Chef had set up for such a gloomy day. We headed back to the cabin to get out our laundry and then to rest. This time of day between excursions is is always our opportunity to catch up on the blog and Facebook posts, I had not completed the day before yesterday’s post yet, and it was tough to remember the details of what we had done two day ago after yesterday and this morning’s activities.
We started to get ready for our late afternoon Zodiac cruise excursion about 3:30 PM. By this time, the weather had really cleared and the sun was shining. Only a few hours ago, we had contemplated not going on the afternoon excursion, but now, it was really nice outside and we were excited to go. Plus, this was the last excursion of the trip and we did not want to pass that opportunity up.
Seal Resting
We headed down to Deck A and did not have to wait long to board our Zodiac. Our guide was also our driver, sometimes that is not the case, sometimes the driver and guide are two different persons. I guess it all depends on who is qualified to do both, but it makes for more room when there is not an extra person onboard.
We headed out and did not have to go far before we spotted a Humpback Whale near the shoreline. We headed over in that direction, but the whale was not being cooperative. It was under the surface for long periods of time, and we did not get to see it but once more before we headed off to see other sights.
Birds On The Rocky Shoreline
We drove over to some of the rocky shoreline and saw a lot of different birds nesting there. There were also several seals resting on the rocky shoreline, and we were able to get some good photos of them. The Zodiac boats were awesome for this excursion, we could get right up to the shore and into several small passages between rocky cliffs
We did a lot of driving around large icebergs, many of which were grounded in the shallow water near the shoreline. The ice and snow above the rock cliffs was just a spectacular sight, especially in the bright sunshine. We were up close to several icebergs and they almost glowed with the blue ice color.
Humpback Whale Feeding
We started heading back to the ship, but the water was a little rougher, and we all got pretty wet on the ride back. The whale we tried to see at the beginning of the excursion was back and we headed over to get a couple of good photos before we needed to get back to the ship.
They were already loading up other Zodiac boats, this must have been one of the last excursions for the day. When we got off, and checked back in through security, there was no one waiting for any other Zodiacs, so this confirmed it was the last tour time. We did not see any other boats out during our excursion but the ones who had left with us at 4:00 PM.
Beautiful Ice In The Bay
We went back to the cabin and undressed outside the door, at least for the outer wear that was really wet from the ride back to the ship. We used a towel to wipe the salt water off of our jackets, and put the wet outer pants on a towel on the floor. We were not sure if the boots and pants would be taken back tonight or tomorrow, so we put everything in the drying cabinet to dry.
We took showers knowing that if we went to get a glass of wine now, it would be hard to come back for showers later. Plus, we have a reservation tonight for Manfredi’s Restaurant at 8:30 PM, but are planning to go about 7:30 PM knowing they are never full.
After getting dressed, we headed up to the Explorer’s Lounge for a glass of wine before dinner. While we were there, the ship started to head out and there was our lone whale we had seen earlier starting to have a good time feeding right near the ship. I debated about going back to the cabin for my camera, and after seeing how active the whale was, I finally decided to go and get the camera.
Humpback Whale
By the time I got back upstairs, the ship was moving faster and the whale was not as close as it had been, but it was a very large whale and I still got a few good photos as we headed out to sea to the Drake Passage.
At about 7:30 PM, we headed to Manfredi’s to eat there for the first time this cruise. We had a little difficulty finding it, we thought it was in the stern, but the entrance was more mid-ships, and we finally found it after walking around the ship for a bit.
We asked for a window seat for two, and were taken directly to a table by a large window. Unfortunately, the bright sunshine was directly on the side of the ship where the windows were located, and most of the curtains were closed. I tired to open our curtain so we could enjoy the view, and someone dining at the next table over did not like it, so she asked me to close the curtain, the sun was directly in her eyes. So much for a window view.
We ordered our food, both of us having the fried calamari for an appetizer. We had really enjoyed the calamari from Manfredi’s on the last Viking Cruise in December. I ordered the Florentine Ribeye for the main course and Stephanie had the pasta of the day, short wide noodles in a spicy tomato based sauce. We also both had the Pasta e Fagioli soup.
The calamari here was not nearly as good as the last time, it was just greasy, and did not have much of a coating. We both agreed it was just not our favorite. The soup was good, but had a lot of beans in it and not much broth.
Then the wheels fell off, the steak I ordered medium rare was overcooked, it was medium at best, if not medium well. Our waiter asked how our meals were and I told him my steak was overcooked. It was late and I did not want to wait for another to be cooked and I told him that, but next thing I know, the chef and head waiter were bringing me another. One bite seemed to be cooked less, but in the end, it was overcooked too, almost like it was not evenly cooked. Stephanie though her pasta was too Al Dente, but not bad. I had ordered some as a side dish, and it was just OK.
Finally Able To Open Our Curtain at Manfredi’s
By this time, at least the sun adverse people had finished their meal and left and we could finally open our curtain and enjoy our window view of the sea.
They do not have any desserts Stephanie liked here, we knew that from the past experiences eating at Manfredi’s, but I had a Limoncello for my dessert. The meal had not been that good, and we were disappointed after having had to wait this long before Stephanie could eat a full meal comfortably.
After dinner, we headed back up to the Explorer’s Lounge and it was packed. We were able to find a couple of seats at the bar and were sitting next to Shane, the guide that had helped Stephanie on our first excursion. We had seen and talked to her a few time after that, and had a great conversation with her at the bar.
The bar was closing at around 10:15 PM, and we headed back to the cabin. It is supposed to be a little bumpy tonight as we cross the Drake Passage back to Ushuaia. We will arrive in Ushuaia on Sunday afternoon, so tomorrow we have a full day at sea to relax in the bumpy seas.