Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica - December 2008

Xmas and New Year celebrated in and around Antarctica is very special. This time we sailed on The Professor Multanovskiy which takes 50 passengers and our 19 night expedition set sail mid December from the relative warmth of Ushuaia straight into rough seas on the first evening. This set the trend for the rest of the trip: some rough nights were spent sliding from one end of the bed to the other, literally, and occasionally a jug of water would throw itself over an unsuspecting diner, there were also a few broken dinner plates. But our landings were truly outstanding.

On a 50 person ship, the zodiacs get loaded and onshore faster which is a huge plus: there’s less standing around and more time to spend with the wildlife. We had a terrific first landing at West Point Island on the Falklands where we were treated to Black-Browed Albatross with their young chicks. This was a real treat because we had been unable to land when we did the trip three years ago. These birds have a wonderful story and accustomed as we are to seeing them at sea, it was special seeing so many of them together on land. We managed to see a few extra species of Penguins this time as well. We managed to see the Full Monty: Gentoos, Adelies, Rockhoppers, Magellanics and Kings. That leaves only Emperors for which we are planning a super duper trip, possibly for late 2010.