Oct 24 Buenos Aires - Our hotel

Balconies are the rule

Oct 26 And early next morning, there she is!

Black-faced Ibis

Oct 27 The patch lets us enjoy the rolling and the birds - a Wandering Albatross

We're like little yellow ants next to the Captain.

Bridge work

They're off!

We pile down the gangplank to take a walk on the ice to visit this fellow

Always one last shot

Joan Robins

Breakfast in a Bogie cafe

A Towhee, perhaps

Nice lifeboats!

Sparrow

Cape (Painted) Petrel

Surveying the ice from the bridge

Pancake ice and the sea calms down

Pink twilight

On the way we meet and greet a few Emperors

Watching them walk on by . . .

Lifeboat drill and all that gear to pile on. Maybe the camera goes OVER the lifevest? Joan Robins

Roommates Rosrin and Colette have a slight language barrier--Rosrin speaks only Thai and English, Colette only French

Our room - we have a flight to Ushuaia tomorrow . . .

We're ready to go!

Red-billed Gull

The bridge

A quick dash out to the deck for one more picture . . .

Snow Petrel

A huge tabular iceberg near the ship

Penguins watch the sunset

Can't stop laughing! Joan Robins

A nearby church

Oct 25 Ushuaia - Our room . . .

But first a trip to the nearby national park Greater Upland Goose

We walk out to board the ship!

We sail!

Last evening on the ship. Sharon Osberg, Joan Robins

Joan Robins

Starling

Our ship is still at sea and will dock here tomorrow (taken from the window of our room)

Southern Lapwing

Our first meal in the dining room with Rosrin, Colette, Irene, Sharon and Ron. Luckily, Irene and Ron, from Geneva, speak French!

Sharon hanging on to the ship on a windy slippery walk

Oct 28 The first sign of ice

Emperors on their way to the ocean to fatten up on fish for their chicks back at the rookery

We are parked in the pack ice (the sea to our stern) 25 miles from Snow Hill and the Emperor rookery. The expedition leaders are trying to figure out how to get us there all in one day. The math was difficult, and it meant that the helicopter pilots would put in a grueling 14-hour day. But the deicision is made to go for it!

The sun is shining! This is the helicopter landing/base camp about a mile's walk to the rookery.

Joan Robins