Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 20 – Silver Wind, Falkland Islands

Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 19 – Santiago/Silver Wind can be found here.

We drifted off to the gentle lull of waves lapping at the Wind. We woke to building swells as we left the shelter of the horn of South America on our way to the Falkland Islands.

Good morning, South Atlantic! …Or is it?

We slept well, though perhaps not long or deeply enough. Everything in our suites is comfortable, but we went to bed late and it takes time to get used to the motion of the ship and its various creaks and sighs.

But – we get to unpack! What an unbelievable luxury to not have to move our luggage for 40 full days.

First order of business this morning – laundry, as always. It’s only been four nights since our time at Cascada de las Animas, but that means that there are multiple bags of laundry that need to be washed. My wife goes off to search for a washer.

I go help the kids wake up. They slept well, though not as long as they would’ve liked. It’s a relaxed agenda, but steady the whole day through – an expedition overview, a lecture on Falklands wildlife, mandatory briefings on travel to South Georgia and Antarctica and a bio-security inspection.

The initial washer-hunt proves successful, and we head off to breakfast at the Restaurant – but the swells put a damper on our appetites, and only one of us managed a full breakfast:

Toast, smoked salmon and cream cheese – yum!

The rest retreat to our room for a time to stare at the horizon, nibble some toast and sip ginger ale.

It’s always difficult to gauge wave height from videos – but trust me, it’s super impressive

The current South Atlantic swells are somewhere around 3 metres (9 feet), though I’ve heard rumours of 4 metres (12 feet). Either way, they’re coming in sideways which gives the ship a rolling, yawing feel to it. Breakfast is sparsely attended.

Off to our first lecture – where we meet the heads of the various departments, as well as the expedition team. Highlights included one expedition guide who introduced himself simply by saying, “Penguins!” and another who described himself as “a recovering orca-holic.”

The expedition leader, Maerike, also explained the uncertain nature of expedition travel, and that we would all be much happier if we learned to relax and go with the flow.

It’s advice that bears repeating – indeed, it would be better still if Silversea explained all of this in advance – ideally before booking as there seems to be a distinct lack of awareness of what expedition travel involves. But better late than never.

After, it was time for gear exchange – or in our case, ordering. We’d placed our order well in advance, and yet it wasn’t delivered to our suite after our arrival. Apparently six weeks is not sufficient notice. But it was easy enough to swing by the desk to try on some Bogs and tell them our sizing. They wouldn’t make any promises but they expected it would be relatively straightforward. Fingers crossed, as most of our landings will be wet.

Half of our family then stayed in the theatre for the lecture. We were fascinated to discover that rockhopper penguins will actually use the same path long enough to wear grooves into the rocks, and that there were no mammals on the Falkland Islands prior to human settlement – they were all introduced from other areas.

In terms of Falklands plantlife, the long, thick tussoc grass is a vital part of the ecosystem – particularly for birds nesting under it in burrows and amidst the roots. We also learned about the diddle-dee, a heath-like evergreen shrub that covers large tracts of the Falklands. It has small, juicy berries that ripen in January and February – excellent food for geese and small birds, and they make a tasty jam.

After the lecture, some of us went off to lunch at the Grill while others kept it to crackers.

One had the burger:

A Caesar salad and a hotdog were also consumed, but not photographed.

This afternoon we have the obligatory briefings for the International Associaton for Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO). It boils down to keeping our space from the animals, ensuring bio-security by not bringing in foreign material, and otherwise leaving as small a footprint as possible.

It might seem straightforward to not leave garbage in this pristine wilderness, but it only takes a moment’s carelessness to drop a kleenex or lose a ziplock bag to the wind. Those wanting to see the slideshow can find it here.

We then continued with the usual spiels regarding safe zodiac travel and how the zodiac groups will work. It appears that we have 245 souls aboard for this trip, which is more than we’d hoped. With fewer than 200 they can get half of all passengers out at once, which means they can potentially make a third landing a day. Fewer than 200 passengers also opens up additional landing sites in South Georgia, apparently. So it goes – we’ll see if it makes that much of a difference when all is said and done.

Off for the biosecurity inspection, followed by a bit more downtime – including a stop in the Observation Lounge.

My daughter found a book she likes, so I expect we’ll be back later so she can engage in one of her favourite hobbies – reading and gazing out over the ocean.

It was then time to head for an early dinner. Ours is not the first zodiac of the morning, but we’ll still need to be out the door by 7:30 am.

Flavours of Australia tonight. It sounds delicious, but I think we’ll stick to simpler fare.