January 30: We Are at Sea!

From January 30, 2020 (written on this date)

We are at sea!

Brief Stop in the City at the End of the World: Ushuaia
We arrived in Ushuaia yesterday around noon, via our tour’s charter flight from Buenos Aires, and had a few hours to explore and grab a proper lunch before boarding the boat.

Port of Ushuaia

Ushuaia observations: what a cute little place, full of friendly people. I made friends with some local restaurant staff who very easily accommodated our vegan requests, and were more than happy to help me with my Latin American Spanish. Muy bien.  

Ushuaia: fin del mundo

We also learned that the government has taken active measures to encourage Argentinians to move to Ushuaia. As a result, the population went from 30,000 to almost 80,000 in a fairly short period of time, with tourism i.e. cruise ships like ours and research excursions, being an essential contributor to the local economy.

Ocean Endeavour: Our Temporary Home
Everything  runs like a well-oiled machine (boat?) on this ship. From embarkation, to daily briefings, to sit-down meals and refreshments, to biosecurity procedures of gear checks to prevent bringing non-indigenous fauna and flora into the region, to wellness and educational programs… the list goes on. Let’s just say, I am impressed - and most of you know I am really not easy to impress. As I write this, we have been on the boat for just more than 24 hours and I have been fascinated by so much already; the crew even ran a safety drill with all of the guests in case of an emergency! No Titanic-level human arrogance on this ship, that’s for sure - thank goodness for that.

Soy Vegetariana Restricto a.k.a. “I Am Vegan” 
Getting onto a boat without knowing exactly what vegan options would be available made me a little nervous. Turns out, there was no need to worry. The chef and kitchen staff here are all more than accommodating, and I am confident that we will not starve! As a matter of fact, we may even gain some weight if they keep feeding us desserts like the ones they made especially for us today, which was a tart with a strawberry sauce drizzle, and a side of lemon sorbet - yum. Feeling very special and well fed so far.

Birds, Birds, Birds
I’ve been taking advantage of our two days at sea to practice taking pictures of the birds we can see from the ship deck. It’s been good, particularly as I hadn’t picked up my camera in a few months (oops) and needed to remind myself of what all the settings mean and how to change them. It sounds like I’ll have all evening and early tomorrow as well to keep capturing photos of the birds that have been following our boat.

Great Southern Petrel on the left and the Northern Petrel on the right

Bird watching summary: so far, we’ve seen and captured two on camera - the Great Southern Petrel and the Northern Petrel, and I’m getting all revved up to see albatross and penguins! And as we’re about to cross the Antarctic Convergence, we may even get to see a few before reaching the Antarctic Peninsula.

About that last sentence: guess where I learned this information? At an educational lecture this morning from the resident ornithologist!

Here We Come, Cetaceans
No whale (or iceberg, for that matter) spotting yet. However, we have been assured by the resident marine biologist that they are all ahead of us where the waters are cooler and the phytoplankton and krill, from the bottom of the food chain, are in abundance. We just need to catch up.

The crew has issued a challenge to the guests to be the first one to spot an iceberg - a very reasonable expectation once we cross the Antarctic Convergence. Even though the prize is apparently “immeasurable” I’m just in it for the glory. Challenge accepted.

More birding from the boat - another Great Southern Petrel