I’m at the point in my life where if I think I’m not going to enjoy the experience, I’m not going to do it. Our last day in Antarctica ( before heading to South Georgia Islands) was one of those days. Riding in a zodiac when the sea is choppy, the sky leaden, with the wind blowing is definitely not my idea of a good time. Especially when I can watch the action from a warm, gorgeous ship. If this had been my first trip to Antarctica, I might have made a different choice. But it wasn’t, so I didn’t.
Unfortunately, Ernest Shackleton’s crew had no choice. After their ship, the Endurance, (that’s also the name of MY ship) was crushed by ice, they slowly made their way to Elephant Island. Most of the crew waited patiently for almost 5 months until Shackleton and his 5 companions could reach South Georgia to find help at one of the whaling stations.
That’s the reader’s digest version of Shackleton’s voyage.
Needless to say, their cuisine didn’t look quite like what we’ve been eating.
But I digress…back to Elephant Island.
I took the above photo from the ship. Those white dots that you see on the shore are penguins. They are certainly cute to watch, but I’ve already done that, and with another two weeks left on the cruise, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more.
It might not look rough, but remember, that video was shot from my balcony on deck 5. Why can you see two zodiacs containing only 1 passenger, you ask? Well those are members of the crew, standing ready to pluck someone from the frigid waters, just in case the seas started to REALLY rock n roll.
Compare that to the day before, taken from my kayak.
Now THAT experience was absolutely wonderful. What is not obvious from the photo was there were patches of surface ice. We had to break thru it with our paddles, which was a bit of a workout. A very NECESSARY workout, given the way I’ve been eating. Thank goodness for elastic waistbands!
I was very lucky to be paddling with an experienced kayaker, who was steering us through the icebergs.
Was kayaking the origin of the term “back seat driver?”
Marc was able to get us close enough to the nearby island so that I could get my first shots of Adélie penguins.
I was NOT as enthusiastic about the next activity, the polar plunge, but many of my shipmates were.
I figured once was quite enough. When Greg and I did it in 2011, we had to walk into the water, then return to the beach, and ride a zodiac all the way back to the ship. The 2026 version looked to be a whole lot better, given that the hot tubs and sauna were just a short elevator ride away.
We didn’t have a ship photographer capturing our moment, but Mike chose not to participate, so he was able to do the honors. My mother’s comment? “Mike’s the only one of you that has any sense”. Thanks, mom.
So let’s get back to 2026.
You don’t need to be on shore or in a zodiac to see wondrous sights. As we were traveling to Point Wild, we came across a massive pod of blue whales. Unfortunately, they stay mostly underwater, so the only way to know of their existence was spotting their “blows”.
This was as good as I could get, but undoubtedly those with powerful lenses did a whole lot better.
I liked this photo because you can see the tiny penguins swimming alongside the blue whales.
The weather alongside Elephant Island changed yet again from the brief sunny interlude during our whale watch,
to a progressively cloudier and foggier setting.
That didn’t stop some of my more determined cruise mates from getting into zodiacs to see what they could see at the historic Wild Point. Me, I decided to hear about it at the evening recap.
Destination NOW 