The Traveling Widower

Category: photography

Top level category for photography related posts

  • An Amazing First Day

    November 21st, 2025

    This post will cover what turned out to be a bonus day on the trip. Usually, it takes a full two days to traverse the Drake Passage, and activities begin the day following our arrival. The passage was kind to us (although there were a few who required medical assistance) – no extremely heavy seas, and we made it through fast enough to arrive at the tip of Antarctica mid-day Thursday. The day started out well – clear skies, and we awoke with the ship surrounded by Humpback whales. I opened my curtains to view spouts everywhere. There were also Orca’s out there as well. 

    Since we were cruising along to hopefully reach a location where we could get out on the ice to visit a penguin colony, the ship did not stop for the whales. But it was still an amazing sight to see so many of the critters, including a big pod of Orca’s. There were also large numbers of sea birds following the ship – 3 or 4 types of albatrosses, and a bunch of others I’m not familiar with. The observation decks were crowded with bird watchers and photographers for the first two days of the trip.

    The first view of Antarctica is astounding as you get closer to see the details of the huge peaks and walls of ice.

    At this point, most everyone was dressed in their orange parkas, standing out in the viewing areas photographing the incredible scenery.

    And to celebrate reaching our destination, the staff came out with trays of bubbly. Hot cocoa with Baily’s Irish Crème would have been better. It was really cold out there. I’m glad I found my old expedition hat – toasty warm. We keep the orange coat, which has a fleece jacket inside.

    The NG trip leads decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and our early arrival by scheduling our first excursion – the passengers were split into multiple groups and then shipped off for either a Zodiac cruise around the icebergs, or a hike on shore to view a penguin colony (you got to do both). This was the first time we had to get fully dressed with multiple layers, along with the incredibly heavy/awkward much boots, and the ever present life vest for the time spent on the Zodiac. By the time you are fully dressed, you kind of look like an orange penguin, sort of waddling around. 

    The landing was something of a challenge to get up a rocky, icy slope from the Zodiac, but staff members were spaced out to help the decrepit old folks like myself. The rest of the hike to the main penguin colonies was just a walk in a snowy path. Sort of like being back in Colorado. Hiking sticks helped a lot.

    The penguins, mostly Gentoo, were all over the place – large and small grouping and individuals wandering around on the penguin highways which are paths worn into the snow. The ground around the large groups was stained red from the bird poop and the fragrance was quite strong. Sort of like passing by a sea lion population. We had an hour or so to wander around the colonies – it was an amazing experience, not just seeing the penguins – the view of the glaciers, snow covered peaks, glaciers and icebergs was overwhelming – I was speechless at times. Plus the weather was absolutely perfect – an almost cloudless skies and temperatures in the balmy 30’s

    And now for a few penguin photos:

    There were times while I was wandering around in the snow, that I just had to stop and take in the incredible beauty of the moment. This was a lot like the time in Glacier Bay, where I put down the camera and just soaked in the incredible solitude and magnificence of the surrounding landscape. This was even better. 

    This was posted a few days since we visited the penguin colonies. I’ve been shooting hundreds of photos each day, and just have not had a chance to keep with the blog, and probably will not post again for another day or two. Every day is filled with excursions and activities on the ship, and I’m not getting a lot of sleep either. The sun does not set until 11:30 right now, and sunrise is just a few hours after that. It’s very weird going to sleep at 11:00PM with the sun just starting to set. My internal clock is really messed up. 

    9:30PM…..still daylight

    But the strange lighting makes for some photographs.

  • Living the Good Life in Antarctica

    November 20th, 2025

    This will in no way, be as weird as the last one. I promise.

    As I’ve mentioned previously, Jan and I avoided cruise vacations, with the exception of the one trip to the South Pacific Islands. The ship we were on, the Paul Gauguin, was relatively small (300 passengers), had all the usual features one would expect on a cruise liner (multiple restaurants, swimming pool, casino, etc.) but at the time, was fairly old and dated. We thought it was nice, but had nothing to compare it to. 

    The three ships I’ve cruised on this past year were even smaller, and were extremely comfortable and function for expedition activities, but not worthy of a separate write up. No complaints at all (other than the cavitation issue), but just not worth describing at any length.

    The ship I’m currently on, the National Geographic/Lindblad Resolution, is worth posting about. I’d seen pictures of it, and kind of glanced through the Web site, but was absolutely floored when I set foot on board. Wow would be an understatement.

    At first glance, as we walked up from the catamarin we had cruised around the Ushuaia harbor, the ship looked huge compared to the 3 other ships I had sailed on. It is an ice breaker, and has to have more bulk, but you don’t really get a feel for how “bulky” until you walk up to it. The ship is relatively new, and has the smell of a new place. It’s beautiful inside – very modern, and extremely high-tech. They have an IT officer who manages all the software (hmmm …. I’d go back to work to get that job).  Rather than go on endlessly like I always seem to do, I’ll just throw out a bunch of photo’s with descriptions.

    The photos above are of the ships lounge, name the Ice Lounge – this is the gathering place for presentations, mandatory training, and daily summaries. It also had the main bar, and the photography workshop. Very techy, with LCD screens all over the place, and a great view toward the aft. 

    The lounge is also a nice place to watch the sunset with a nightcap – this was at 10:15PM. It never really gets dark this time of year

    The eight level forward has another small restaurant (TheDen) and a library/observatory, the best viewing spot on the ship. There is also a huge “iPad” which has a map and current position. The view is incredible, and if you remember to bring your parka up there, the observation deck is the best place for viewing wildlife and scenery.

    We were getting our first views of Antarctica after 4 days of travel. Woo Hoo! This level is also a great place to have breakfast – while watching whales spouting. Never done that before.

    Right below the observation deck is the bridge – all the National Geographic/Lindblad ships have an open bridge policy. You can go in anytime of day, unless there is a crises, and as long as you do not touch anything. No steering wheel – it’s all electronic.

    I was able to talk to Captain Picard for while the last time I was up there. Most of the staff are Klingon. If you touch anything, they will phaser you (on stun of course). The transporter room is right next to the bridge.

    The main dining room is on deck 5 (just down the hall from my cabin) – it’s all open seating, and buffet style for dinner. The food is excellent as expected. Lunch and breakfast are also served here, as well as the smaller kitchen on deck 8. Everyone gets an invitation to a special, multi-course tasting dinner at the smaller restaurant. It was a lot like being on the CNN Michelin Star show – the head chef puts out an incredible menu, and you can also do a special wine paring with the meal (it was worth it…of course I did that).

    The ship also has a large spa with sauna’s, two hot tubs, and igloos if you want to sleep out in the freezing cold all night. No thanks.

    And a few more random images above from inside the ship.

    After four days of travel, we can finally see Antarctica. Penguin Day has arrived!!!!