Valparaiso
At 8 o'clock we arrived in Valparaiso, our last destination on this journey. We had our last breakfast and said goodbye to everybody. The expedition team was standing out on the pier to say goodbye to all guests. It is always sad to leave, but all of us onboard wish you a safe journey home and heart...
At Sea - Toward Valparaiso Day 2
Last day onboard for this journey. Another beautiful day on the sea and the sun is shining.The day started with a lecture from George.Marvellous Migration. An insight to the Migration of the Antartic birds. George also had a workshop called Chilean Sea lions. This was a day of to catch up with the l...
At Sea - Toward Valparaiso
Today we woke up to calm seas and good weather. The day started of with a wildlife watch, with sighting a whale but it was quite a bit away from the ship. We saw some petrels and other birds. Some of our guests just the opportunity relax in the sun. Jane gave a lecture a about the famous British exp...
Castro
We woke up to beautiful wetter and fantastic scenery this morning. We sailed towards our destination Castro, situated on the island of Chiloe. On the way we passed salmon farms and blue mussel farms. We sailed in between island and through fantastic landscape. Four dolphins decided to swim in front...
At Sea - Toward Castro
We woke up this morning to a ship that was moving. We where out in open sea passing a stretch called Golfo de Penas. In the morning Christy had a lecture called Echolatation of whales - an insight to their communication. Then we started our exciting scavenger hunt, where we had to find answers to di...
Puerto Eden
Today we woke up still sailing through Chilean fjords. We could enjoy our breakfast and the beautiful scenery. Peter held a lecture about the great Norwegian explorers Nansen and Amundsen and their expeditions. At 11 o'clock we sailed through Passo Piloto Pardo, which is a narrow passage. At 13.30 w...
Puerto Natales - Day 2
After a long excursion to Torres del Paine which lasted til late in the evning, it was time for a good night sleep. This morning we woke up, and it was time to og on excursion to explore Cueva del Milodon, 45 minutes drive away from Puerto Natales. The first bus left at 8 o'clock in the morning, and...
Puerto Natales
The morning started up a bit grey and overcast , but that changed after a while. The sun came up and blessed us with beautiful weather and blue skies. We sailed to beautiful fjord landscape in this beautiful weather. George held an interesting lecture about Darwin and after that, it was all hands on...
Chilean Fjords
During the night we have been sailing through the Beagle channel.Beagle Channel is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. During the day we have been sailing through the Magellan strait. Peter had made a lecture about o...
Cape Horn and Puerto Williams
Today in the morning we where at Cape Horn, the southern most point down here. Well, in a sense not right, since cape Horn is on an island. The southern most point of Chile is Águila Islet of the Diego Ramírez Islands. We could not get the pilots on bord which we needed to land at Cape Horn, so we s...
Drake Passage - Northbound
Crossing Drake passage can sometimes be a challenge, but not today. Drake displayed it self from it's best side. The sun was shining upon us. We had a full program onboard with lectures about seabirds from the southern ocean by George. Our French guests got a lecture about whale hunting history. In...
Whaler's Bay, Deception Island
Deception Island in the Antarctic South Shetlands was our final landing of this half of the voyage. The low cloud and distant mist lent an eerie atmosphere to this lunar-like landscape. However many of us were distracted by the cheeky young fur seals as we walked along the beach or roamed around the...
Cuverville Island & Orne Harbour
An incredibly lovely morning welcomed us to Cuverville Island. We had Gentoo penguins to the right of us, penguins to the left of us and even penguins above us. However many guests said that for them, the colours and shapes of the prolific glacial ice in the small bay left them open mouthed. After l...
Petermann Island & Damoy Point
We've previously deployed our Science and and Photographer boats for enthusiasts in these subjects. Today's Science Boat underwater drone footage was excellent and prompted much interest from many of us. Later Jane gave us a lecture, interrupted at midpoint by humpback whales, on the bizarre tale of...
Exploration Day
Today we had some swell, but not too much to ruin either appetites, the enjoyment of the day or those of us participating in Art Corner. However the wind picked up so we sheltered for a while in a bay and then continued our progress north beyond Adelaide Island. A ultimately the day was spent enjoyi...
Laubeuf Fjord & Jenny Island
We had a wonderful morning today cruising in the Gullet, a very scenic and narrow body of water. Our schedule changed as the afternoon progressed because of weather conditions at the planned landing on Jenny Island. Tomski and the team did their best to land but it was impossible for them to do so s...
Red Rock Ridge & Stonington Island
For those interested, part of the programme is to spend time in a boat with the scientists or photographers. This was really interesting to do whenever weather permitted. Additionally, today we were able to participate in kayaking in mirror calm waters with our wonderful activity guides Laura and Ca...
Detaille Island
A splendid day. We did our first landing in Antarctica on a tiny Island called Detaille Island.It was an old British Base from 1956 to 1959 with a hut which we were able to step inside and look around. It was historically fascinating to see how the men lived in such a hostile environment all year ro...
Drake Passage - Day 2
Things got serious today because Expedition Leader Tomski had told us that we were heading South, below the Antarctic Circle and today we began the biosecurity procedures we would adopt for the rest of our voyage. Our outdoor boots were issued and we learned the best way to ensure that for each trip...
Drake Passage
Today was a day of fascinating insights into the scientific topics which would enrich our voyage South. We had lectures on the history of the tectonics of Antarctica, geology and cloud observation. This was one of the many Citizen Science projects we got involved with over the voyage. We also had tw...
At Sea
Over the next two days we got to know the ship, the very friendly and professional crew, the diverse members of the Expedition Team and of course, each other, sparking maybe friendships that will last a lifetime. We met the scientists on board and were shown the Science Centre and the different ways...
Punta Arenas
After boarding the good ship MS Fram and settling into our cabins, we collected the emblems of the expedition - our red jackets. Later, after the safety briefing, the rumble of the engines announced our departure as we slipped away from the dockside at Punta Arenas with the faint rays of the setting...