Tag Archives: cruise

Antarctica at Last

by

 

lone penguin

A lone penguin stretches and seems to take in the view.

Many tourists visiting Antarctica fly one way and cruise the other. That is exactly what we did.   We flew from Punta Arenas, Chile to Antarctica and cruised the Drake Passage to Ushuaia, Argentina on our return.  However, just getting to the take-off point for Antarctica from Punta Arenas is no easy task.  Weather conditions flying from Punta Arenas are very uncertain, casting doubt on any planned take off.  The weather window must be constantly studied and adjusted. Continue reading →

Antarctica Quest

by

We visited Antarctica in March of 2024.  I’ve completed a journey to all seven continents now.  Whoopie!  Our visit was at the end of the southern hemisphere summer cruise season, with only one excursion later than ours.  Ours was a cruise full of penguins, leopard seals, more penguins and best of all, singing whales.  But first, we have to get there….  Our Antarctic quest would begin by flying from Atlanta to Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile, then flying on to Antarctica, then cruising back to Ushuaia, Argentina.

Continue reading →

Greenland Villages

by

 

yellow field

Nanortalik, Greenland Field of Dreams

Greenland villages are small by any standard.  The largest town in Greenland, the largest island on earth, has less than 20,000 inhabitants.  Nanortalik has about 1,100 people making it the eleventh largest town on the island.  So I was wondering what is the eleventh largest city in the US?  If you go strictly by incorporated city limits, it is Austin, Texas.  If you include the primary statistical area it is the Miami, Fort Lauderdale area with over six million residents.

Continue reading →

Cruising Iceland

by
puffin

Puffin swimming, presumably looking for fish.

I was excited to see my first ever puffins and photograph them while cruising the islands off the coast of Iceland.  I knew my resultant travel photographs would never compete with professional nature photographers who sit on a hillside and wait for the perfect moment to capture a puffin.  However, out of the many hundreds of photos taken from the moving, bouncing Zodiac boat, two photos were acceptable to show here.

Continue reading →

Cruise Port Excursions

by
Tobermory, Scotland

Colorful Tobermory, Scotland

Colorful Tobermory, Scotland was a fun spot to explore after our failed bird watching expedition to the countryside.  The photo above captures about one-third of the town.  The arrival of our ship doubled the population of this quaint town for the day.  We went into the Mishnish Hotel, the yellow building above, and had some local beverages and a half dozen oysters as part of our shore excursion.  Then we ventured a few doors down for some Indian cuisine.

Continue reading →

Our 32 Day Cruise, Lisbon to Montreal

by
Seaborn Quest Cruise

Thirty-two days on the Seabourn Quest, our longest cruise yet.

Our 32 day cruise began in Lisbon, Portugal.  The Portuguese say Lisboa.  Our cruise itinerary seemed to include every place that ended in “…land.”  That would include England, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, many islands and finally Newfoundland.  We accomplished our main  goal.  Get out of the August heat of Idaho.  Greenland may have been my favorite.

Continue reading →