The Traveling Widower

Tag: zodiac-boats

  • Antarctic Wrap-up

    December 1st, 2025

    ”Hey it’s good to be back home again”
    “Sometimes, this old house, feels like a long lost friend”
    ”Yes and hey it’s good to be back home again”
    John Denver, Back Home Again

    I finally made it home after 19 hours of flight-time collectively on three separate flights starting in Ushuaia Argentina, to Santiago Chile, to Atlanta and then finally to Sacramento. Phew. I put in a couple of miles of walking though airport terminals, waited in security and customs lines multiple times, had some pretty good meals (1st class on international flights), and managed a few solid hours of sleep for a change. It’s now Monday, and I’m pretty much back to my boring life – it’s weird being alone again after sharing this incredible experience with 130 people, many of whom knew me by name (and not just because we wore name tags). But, it’s still nice to be home, and I’m looking forward to light meals, no alcohol, and working out daily. And I already go my chipped tooth repaired! My dentist said the Lindblad physician did a great job with the temporary fix.

    With all the idle time on airplanes and airport lounges, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on this trip, resulting in the last post on this trip – how sad. Nothing to write about for a while. 

    Overall rating – Superb/Beyond Belief/Best Ever 

    We had the cruise finale meeting the last evening at sea, where the Lindblad captain said that this had been an extraordinary trip, even from his lengthy experience in the Antarctic. We went further south, beyond the Antarctic Circle, than cruise ships normally go, and went through thick ice fields to an uncharted bay, filled with moving masses of ice…and managed to send out Zodiacs for 2 hour exploration rides through the ice, and even let the kayaks out to play (but closer to the ship), all the while the captain and bridge crew had to keep moving the Resolution to dodge icebergs (phew..quite the run-on sentence). That one day was an extraordinary experience.

    Pretty much every stop we made was a step beyond anything I’ve seen or done before. We visited four separate penguin colonies, each filled with hundreds or thousands of these amazing little critters. Just watching them waddling around, swimming and porpoising in the ocean, or stealing rocks from their neighbors nests, was a sight to behold. The scenery around each site was beyond belief. I want to come back and see the penguin chicks some day, and definitely want to see the larger penguins (King) in the South Georgia Islands. Maybe 2027 (already looking into a cruise there).

    Every outing was different, and they were not all focused on penguins. We explored an old, abandoned British research station (Station W) on the Detaille Island – it’s been maintained as a self-service museum of sorts, in pristine condition, still filled with old cans of food, games, clothing, radio equipment. And a really disgusting looking bathroom (just a wood plank with a hole in it – and the researchers had to clean it out). I forgot how many men stayed there – about 16 I think. They must have been good friends. It was an interesting stop, and we all hiked up a hill for some great views of the surrounding coastline and glaciers. 

    I’ve already described our ‘stable shore ice’ outing – that was incredible. And like most of our time in the Antarctic, there were penguins and seals flopping around. It always paid to have your phone or a camera handy since wildlife just seemed to pop up on the ice out of nowhere. Catching those images was pure luck – which I never seem to have. I did get to try out ship hauling – who knew that this was a potential career for me.

    Another stop I have not written about was Crystal Bay(not sure about the name) – this was scheduled as a Zodiac/Kayak opportunity and once again, we lucked out with perfect weather. Blue skies, little if any wind, and a perfectly flat sea. There was not much wildlife to see, other than a couple of humpback whales (fluke shot below), but cruising through the icebergs was fun – lots of interesting shapes making for good photo opportunities.

    All NatGeo/Lindblad cruises allow 24/7 access to the bridge – I’ve checked with some of the other expedition type cruise companies, and from what I can tell, you have to get permission. The bridge on the Resolution was amazing – high tech, lots of room for guests to wander around, plus there was a large observation area in front, which looked down the very unique bow of the ship. The captain gave a 2 hour presentation on the design of the ship – it is an absolutely amazing ship. The bridge though was special – you could stand behind the pilot’s “Captain Kirk” chair, and get the same view they had of the navigation and camera view screens arrayed in front, and watch as they manipulated the thrusters and engine pods with what looked like game controls. It was a tech geeks dream to watch as they maneuvered through narrow gaps in the ice flows. 

    I am truly blessed to be immune to wave motion on ships – so many of the passengers had to deal with motion sickness during the Drake Passage (both directions). I slept like a baby. The ship’s physician was extremely busy those days. For me, I kind of enjoyed the passage – there was a lot to see – Humpback and Orca whales, and flocks of sea birds. I spent a lot of time out on the observation decks during out passage to Anatactica, attempting to photograph the different Albatross and Petrels swooping around the ship. The passage back to Ushuaia was rougher, but still not too bad. The forecast was bad for the next group going out – we lucked out.

    Overall, with our bonus day for getting there early, we spent almost 6 days wandering around Antarctica, covering a large area. The ship’s path in map below, when expanded (not able to do that in the blog) looks like someone just scrawled blind-folded on the map.

    I have so many photos to curate from this trip…and a lot of videos of ocean waves, floating ice, and stumbling penguins. I might eventually do a ‘best of’ and/or a slide show, and post them. Everyone loves penguins. Plus, I get to learn something new.

    I enjoyed sharing my trip on this blog. I hope you found this interesting. Comments are always welcome.

  • The Last Adventure – Cruising a fjord and a polar plunge (not me)

    Dawes Glacier

    The last day turned into a real “Wow!” This was about as spectacular as Glacier Bay in terms of the scenery. We cruised overnight from Petersburg to a deep fjord, which ended with the Dawes Glacier – this is a very active, enormous, 11 miles long glacier which calves small icebergs into the fjord – these eventually float down to the main channel. The fjord itself is spectacular – a classic deep, u-shaped channel with steep rock walls, and side “hanging” valleys which at one time also had glaciers. It was a glacial geologists dream. And not too shabby for photography. 

    The adventure for the day was taking groups out in Zodiacs, to view the fjord features, check out the floating ice, and then hang out at the foot of glacier with the hope of seeing some of the glacier crash into the bay (but not too close….large chunks make large splashes and big waves). There were only 6 passengers per boat, so there was plenty of room to move around for taking photo’s. Typical for Nat Geo trips. 

    We were told to wear multiple layers of clothing – it was a bit nippy cruising around in the morning. Very good advice – this was the coldest morning of the trip for sure. Gloves, hats and windbreakers were mandatory (for me at least). But to make sure that nobody froze while zipping around the ice flows for 90 minutes, Lindblad sent out emergency rations – a Zodiac pulled up after an hour offering hot chocolate with a shot or two of Bailey’s, and whipped cream of course. Yum. They really treated us well on this trip.

    Zodiac boats, near Dawes Glacier, Alaska

    I’ll keep this short for a change, and just dump a bunch of photo’s below. I’ve got shots of some really cool icebergs (I just cannot seem to pass on a pun opportunity), the ragged front of the glacier, one of the many waterfalls we passed along the way, and a few other odds and ends. I’ll be adding more to this post once I get home.

    Dawes Glacier
    National Geographic Quest
    Ice flow near Dawes Glacier, Alaska
    Dawes Glacier

    Once everyone made it back on board, we were given the opportunity for a polar plunge. The water temperature was in the 40’s. I wear a 1mm wetsuit top when I swim at the club if the temperature is below 78F. Jumping into a giant ice bath did not seem like a good idea.  I just stood on the bow and watched as a bunch of passengers and crew members put on a show. It was fun to watch. I’ve got a few months to think about doing one – the Antarctica trip also offers a group polar plunge. 

    That was the end of outdoor activities for this expedition. There were a few more presentations (two of the naturalists should be stand-up comics), the Nat Geo photographer had put together a nice show of slides submitted by the passengers (four of mine were included), and then most everyone headed to their cabins to finish packing. There was also a group Tango dance on the sun deck, but most everyone passed on that as well. Tango dancing is up there with polar plunges for me. 

    I’m looking forward to getting home. I need a break from vacationing.

    I’ll do one more post with a trip summary, more thoughts on traveling alone….and more photo’s.

    And one last thought – as we were getting ready to disembark from the Quest, this monster pulled in behind us. Nope, never going to go on one of those.