One of the last icebergs

OK, made it home yesterday after 17 hours on various flights.  There is a 5 hour time difference from Antarctica to Pacific zones.  I wrote down a few other things to post and then I ran out of satellite minutes and time before.  So here goes:

Cats in Buenos Aires (pronounced “Iris”) rarely seen for some reason.  The 2 we did see appear to live in the cemetery and an outdoor market and were feral.  Lots and lots of dogs.  They walk their dogs but do not clean up after them and we had to watch where we were walking even in the nicest part of downtown.

Hard Rock Cafe:  First time we have ever been in one where we were the only geezers.  All the other people were young.  HRC appears to be the “place to go” in Buenos Aires. Waitress spoke no English but we ordered with the “pointing finger” method!

Argentineans like and specialize in ice cream (helado) especially a flavor called dulce de leche which is a rich carmel tasting.  We were in hog heaven!  They also like their beef, but Jeff said it always had a lot of gristle.  Third thing they have a lot of is pizza and it was really good too.  Thin crust only and lots of goodies on top.  We did not drink their water.

With all that fattening food, so many Argentinian women were thin and beautiful.  They really dress up.  I thought maybe if I ate enough of that dulce de leche I might get thin too!  Ya think?

For some reason, hard to find anyone who understood a word of English, unlike Ecuador or Mexico.  But Argentinian people were friendly and charming nevertheless.

No bugs in Antarctica.  No trees or plants.  Only green thing was algae.  It was good to get home and see trees!

The blue hue on the icebergs is from light being bounced against the ice from the sky/water.  Some icebergs were the size of city blocks or skyscrapers.  Absolutely amazing, never got tired of them as each one was unique.

Some problem evidently with the Chilean navy wanting us to park someplace else in a certain bay.  Do they think they own the place?  No one owns Antarctica.  Our German captain won the argument evidently because we parked there and went about our business while the Chilean navy ship watched.  I think there’s a picture of it below.

Arctic is water/ice surrounded by land, whereas Antarctic is land surrounded by water/ice.

Drake Passage:  Called the “roughest sea in the world.”  Agreed.  It is rough because it is where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet, also where the warm South American water meets the cold Antarctic water.  If we had it to do over again, we would have brought enough Scopolamine patches to wear the whole time because there were a couple of days in Antarctica that were a little rough.  Oh well.  We won’t be back, too many other places to see but if you plan to go, take heed!

Coldest it ever got was 32F.  It snowed once, a light snow.  Warmest it got was about 40F.  Windy only one day and at one site but it was ferocious.    Couldn’t launch Zodiacs or kayaks as a reult.

Final tally on wildlife:  3 types of penguins, not sure if the 4th was a 4th as it was too far away.  Two types of whales, humpbacks and killer, but 2 types of killer whales.  Dolphins!  The type was Peale’s.  They followed the ship like they were playing, kept right ahead of the bow and we were worried they would get hit but they didn’t.   All 3 types of penguins (Gentoo, Adelie, and Chinstrap) had babies.  None were the least bit afraid.

Prior to this trip we thought the only place left in the world where animals have no fear of humans was Galapagos.  But we found Antarctica to be the same.  Not enough humans to cause them any problems and the humans they do see stay a distance, do not feed, keep quiet and only take pictures.  So, the penguins walk right past us or right up to us.  The whales seem curious and get really close (Yikes!) and I mean close!

Polar plunge was a volcano crater (last eruption in 1969) where right at the water line the water/sand was 100F but a few feet out into the water it was 30F.  So, the hearty souls who went got their toes warm right before they got their whole bodies cold!

Food on the ship was pretty interesting.  Rabbit meat, raw tuna, raw chicken soaked in curry sauce, duck legs, toothfish, and Brille (another fish), and reindeer meat.  I ate none of the above!  Mama always told me not to eat raw fish or meat because I would get worms.  Also I don’t eat red meat anyway.  I found out that the waiter would bring me helado (and yes, dulce de leche) upon request so I would eat the veggies and salad and then have my helado!  Jeff tried a few things and I hope he doesn’t have worms.  Too soon to tell.  Will he have to be de-wormed like a cat?  May have to take him to the vet!

The ship didn’t have my favorite type of wine so I was FORCED to order champagne instead.  What a sacrifice!  lol

Well that’s all I can think of for now.   We loved getting the comments from those of you who commented.  We saw a lot of people looked (more people than we even know) and that was kind of cool too.

We will have this blog up for a year because we had to pay for a year so if you have any questions, just ask under comments and we will check it from time to time.