Day 35 - 11/10/23 - Antarctica Experience - Day 4

 Today was our last day in Antarctica.  I slept through the Captain's early morning announcement but woke up with the Expedition  guide's announcement of our arrival at Elephant Island.  Elephant Island (named for its shape resembling an elephant's head).  It was the site of Shackleton's camp on Elephant Island after his ship Endurance which is a famous wreck after being trapped in the ice in the 1915 some 5 months earlier farther south and on the lee side of the island.  This campsite was after the party trekked across the island to Point Wild which was the starting point of Shackleton's epic journey.  He and 4 crew members left Point Wild on his heroic 800 mile sailing trip in a lifeboat to the South Georgia Islands and another hike across that island to reach a  whaling station.  From there he had to sail back to Elephant Island to retrieve his crew.  Talk about courageous!  You can read about it in one of the many books written about it or Shackleton.

Photos credit:  Dr. Neil Gilbert

The submission date for turning in photo contest entries was extended so I turned in an entry: my Southern Cross picture.

After we sailed around the NE corner of Elephant Island, we reached Point Wild where Shackleton's crew had to spend 5 months waiting for their rescue not knowing if it would ever come.  There is a monument to Shackleton there with a large Chinstrap Penguin rookery nearby.  There was a second large rookery to the right of the first one.  Several humpback whales were spotted along with albatrosses and other sea birds.  After viewing the monument, it was the end of our Antarctic portion of this voyage and the Captain pointed the Zaandam north towards our next port of call, Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands.  It was truly hard to imagine how Shackleton and his men survived the harsh winter conditions under a lifeboat for shelter and eating penguins and seals for months on end.

Shackleton monument in center and Chinstrap Penguin rookery to the right.  These pictures were taken from at least a mile off shore.

With that north turn, the swells became larger and the large icebergs became smaller and faded into the distance.  And the motion of the ocean became quite noticeable with the LIDO pool sloshing its contents on the deck.  I don't often comment on the lunch menu, but today I must.  There was the most incredible sashimi and other raw fish offerings along with dim sum.  They were yummy!

Our route today.  The grey dot is Point Wild.

The afternoon programming was light with a final presentation by Dr. Neil Gilbert on whether Antarctica was a lawless frontier.  (Hint: it's not!).  His session was followed by a 45 minute recap and Q&A session with the two Expedition Team members (Dr. Gilbert and Iain Miller.  Before dinner we tried to sit up in the Crow's Nest but it was simply too cold.  So we ate an early dinner where I had Asian stir fry and Angela enjoyed the roasted duck.

Marc Yaffee was back for his second show and he was very funny.  He poked a lot of fun at ship life and what it will be like returning home.  Afterwards we watched the Disney Nature Penguins movie which was quite good.

Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands the following day.  Here's hoping the weather is decent enough to be able to tender in.  The current forecast shows high winds there (25-45 mph). We have a penguin excursion scheduled there.