South America and Antarctica
18-12-2025 to 10-01-2026
Stanley (Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas(Christmas Day)
25th December
Rainbow from my office window.
The desk where my laptop is set up.
One of the houses in Stanley as we left the dock for Bluff Cove to see more penguins.
The road to Bluff Cove.
Belted Galloway cows.
This is where the minibus dropped us of in the wind. It was difficult to stay upright.
Gentoo penguin colony.
Parent and baby.
A baby being fed.
Near the Gentoo colony was a small group of King penguins.
After watching the Gentoo and King penguins up on the hill we walked down to the beach where there was a group of King penguins who had come ashore to moult.
During the moult the penguins loose their waterproof coat and cannot enter the sea to feed.
The moult can last up to 30 days.
The penguin on the right is definately moulting.
I nearly walked into this Magellanic Oyster Catcher on the beach.
White Rump Sandpiper.
Two Bar Plover.
The cafe and shop where we had a cup of tea and a couple of pastries.
My selection. Scone with diddle dee jam made from Diddle Dee berries on the island.
On the way back to the dock we saw these Upland Geese.
Christmas decorated house in Stanley.
Stanley as we sail away from the Falkland Islands.
Our little Christmas decoration we brought with us to have in the room.
And the card from Chris, Peter and Katie.
After dinner there was this towelling Christmas tree on the bed.
At Sea (Boxing Day)
26th December
Sunset on Boxing day.
At Sea (Elephant Island)
27th December
This morning the captain wanted to show us an iceberg close up.
This is the iceberg we were shown.
Penguins porpoising.
Point Wild on Elephant Island.
The bleak rocky spit where 15 of Shackleton's men waited 4 months in 1916 for rescue.
The arrow points to the memorial bust of Chilean naval Captain Luis Padro who saved them.
A wider view of the rocky spit.
The arrow points to where the spit is in this photo.
The other side of the spit. The memorial bust can be seen in the middle of the photo.
This is still Point Wild. They just looks like rocks.
Untill you have a closer look. Full of penguins.
In the afternoon there was snow and ice on our balcony.
At Sea
South Shetland Islands (King George Island)
28th December
Our first scenic cruise this morning is Admiralty Bay on King George Island.
Just a selfie.
We sailed round this island in Admiralty bay.
This is the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station. It is a year-round research base.
The orange boat in the background is an FRB (fast rescue boat) from our ship.
It had been launched to take photos of the ship in the bay.
The other boat is some people from the Polish station.
More icebergs.
Penguins on an iceflow.
Lunch on our balcony.
Late in the afternoon we visited Deception Island.
It is the caldera of an active volcano which damaged scientific instruments in 1967 and 1969.
At Sea
Antarctic Peninsula (Charlotte Bay)
29th December
I like the blue hole in the icebreg.
The sun was only shining on the iceberg.
We weren't the only ship in the bay.
Our next stop was at Cuverville Island.
Discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897- 1899.
It was named for Jules de Cuverville a vice admiral of the French Navy.
It supports a breeding colony of about 6500 pairs of Gentoo penguins.
That is the Roald Amundsen.
The passengers are having a walk on shore.
Only ships with a small number of passengers are allowed to go ashore.
We have too many passengers.
After leaving Cuverville Island we saw some whales.
At Sea
Antarctica (Port Lockroy)
30th December
Cruising the Neumayer Channel to Port Lockroy.
Port Lockroy is in the centre.
And on the right.
It's only a little island.
Run by United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust.
It operates a museum and Post Office in the summer months.
Passengers on the bow watching the collecting of postcards and stamps from the Post Office. Passengers can then write post cards and have then sent from the island. The most southerly Post Office
The 5 members of this years team.
Oosterdam crew collecting the postcards and stamps
in the orange container being hauled onto the rescue boat.
The orange containers delivered back to the island after the passengers had written and stamped them.
Once again we were not the only ship in the area.
That is one of the Princess ships.
After Port Lockroy we went to see Lemaire Channel.
After Lemaire Channel we were to go to Plamer Station, but due to two medical cases we are now heading straight to Ushuaia and will be there on New Year's Day.
At Sea
(New Year's Eve)
31st December
New Year's Eve Dinner.
Dessert.
At Sea
(New Year's Day)
Drake Passage and Cape Horn
1st January
The official Itinerary is Drake Passage and Cape Horn and here we are in Ushuaia dropping off a couple of patients.
Heading for our berth.
Ambulances arriving.
The first patient being loaded.
The second being loaded sitting in her wheelchair.
Gangway stowed and ambulances away.
Total time moored 36 minutes.
Heading down the Beagle Channel to Drake Passage and Cape Horn.
I don't know why the boat followed us for a while.
Cape Horn Lighthouse and Monument.
The monument is a steel sculpture that commemorates the seafarers who perished while sailing round Cape Horn.
The sculpture is of a flying albatross.
The Cape Horn lighthouse is on the Isla Hornos.
We did not go past the lighthouse as the weather was bad. We had come by during the night ahead of the low pressure zone the Captain had been trying to beat.
Looking back at Cape Horn as we head back to Ushuaia for our scheduled port stop tomorrow.
Posts continue from 02/01/2026 to 11/01/2026