This page is still under construction. Photos have not yet been uploaded for the final six days of our cruise.
For information about booking a cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula, contact Barbara Stein
at Post Haste Travel Virtuoso: 1-800-881-7690 or barbara@posthastetravel.com.
Complete contact information for Barbara is online at www.barbarastein.biz.
Ted Cookson & Barbara Stein's cruise
to the
Antarctic Peninsula
on the 114-passenger Corinthian II
20 February-2 March 2009
Life is not easy in the
Antarctic. A Gentoo penguin protects her chicks
at Neko Harbor on the Antarctic
Peninsula on 26 February 2009. Unseen is a brown skua which lurks in the left background, hoping for a
meal if the mother is not vigilant. To view a video clip of this penguin family and the skua,
click on this link:
Gentoo penguin mother with
chicks and brown skua predator.
Maps of our cruise route:
This is an overview of our cruise itinerary along the Antarctic Peninsula.
This detail map shows the locations of some of our landing sites and Zodiak
tours in and around
the Gerlache Strait. During the course of six days we
landed at
nine sites: Half Moon Island, Brown Bluff (on the Antarctic
Peninsula), Cuverville Island, Port Lockroy, Palmer
Station, Neko Harbor
(also on the Antarctic Peninsula), Whalers
Bay and Pendulum Cove in
Deception Bay on Deception Island, and Hannah Point on Livingston Island.
We also enjoyed
one-hour Zodiak tours off
Pleneau Island and in the Melchior
Islands.
Click on the link below to view (in a Word file):
Our Antarctic cruise expedition log
by Dr. Jean Kenyon
Click on the link below to view (in an Excel file):
Antarctic species checklist for our
cruise
by Samuel Blanc
Daily Program - 20 Feb
2009
In this view over beautiful Ushuaia, Argentina's
southernmost city, our blue-hulled cruise ship, Corinthian II, is the
second
vessel from the back of the pier on the right, opposite the much larger Regent Seven Seas Navigator. The end of the runway
and a hangar at Ushuaia Airport can also be seen on
the peninsula at right.
Corinthian II, shown here being
resupplied while tied up at Ushuaia, is a very comfortable cruise
ship. For details about
this vessel,
please visit
www.traveldynamicsinternational.com/shipinfo.asp?ShipID=2.
Barbara and I flew American Airlines
Miami-Dallas-Buenos Aires on 18-19 February. Unfortunately, Barbara's only
checked
bag did not arrive with us in Buenos Aires. So, needless to say, she was
ecstatic when her rerouted bag was finally
delivered to the ship the next day less than half an hour prior to sailing!
Daily Program - 22 Feb
2009:
Half Moon Island
Half Moon Island Fact Sheet
Our first Antarctic landing was onto the pebbled beach of Half
Moon Island.
Barbara surveys part
of Half Moon Island's large chinstrap penguin colony. Argentina's
temporary Camara Research Station
looms in the distance.
The chinstraps were molting during our visit. Note the many feathers that
have fallen onto the rocks.
Chinstrap penguins, which are about 27 inches high and weigh some 9 pounds,
live in the barren islands of the sub-Antarctic
region and on the Antarctic Peninsula. Chinstraps eat krill and some fish,
and they in turn are eaten mainly by leopard
seals. There are about 12 million chinstrap penguins in the Antarctic, and
they live to be 15-20 years old.
Daily
Program - 23 Feb 2009:
Brown Bluff (on the Antarctic Peninsula)
Brown Bluff Fact Sheet
Originally we were scheduled to land at Argentina's Esperanza
Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula on the morning
of 23 February. However,
because base personnel were busy unloading a supply ship when we arrived, we
reverted to
"Plan B" and sailed to nearby Brown Bluff for a landing.
Ted poses with a
Gentoo penguin on the beach at Brown Bluff.
Three Adelie penguins rest on a rock. This is the only group of Adelies we saw on the entire cruise.
A Weddell seal basks
on an iceberg.
The Weddell seal looks up to
check out the tourists in their Zodiac.
Penguins cling to an iceberg
in the Gerlache Strait en route from Brown Bluff to Cuverville Island.
Daily
Program - 24 Feb 2009:
Cuverville Island
Cuverville Island Fact Sheet
On the morning of 24 February we spent an hour roaming across the
beach at Cuverville Island in
light sleet. By the time we departed, the sleet had turned
to snow.
Although Barbara is smiling, the Gentoo to her right appears to
take exception to her presence. We were instructed to keep
at least 15 feet away from all Antarctic wildlife.
Sometimes the best laid (15-foot) plans come to naught.
This Gentoo penguin sought warmth in a
human lap.
In this view of Cuverville
Island the Gentoo penguin colonies at either end of the beach can be seen as
well as one of the
Zodiaks from Corinthian II. Our landing site was in between the two
penguin colonies.
This Gentoo appeared to be
quite comfortable on a snow-covered patch of the beach.
Rain drops don't penetrate Gentoo penguin feathers.
The daily buffet lunch on Corinthian II was always delicious.
After returning from shore excursions when there had been some
liquid sunshine, we hung our wet gear up
in our suite to dry.
Goudier Island (Bransfield House
at Port Lockroy, which is run by the British Antarctic Heritage Trust)
Goudier Island (Port Lockroy) Fact Sheet
Landing at Port Lockroy involves climbing onto these
rocks, which were a bit slippery in the light snow.
Bransfield House, operated by
the British Antarctic Heritage Trust (www.heritage-antarctica.org)
only during the Southern
Hemisphere summer, contains a gift shop, post office, museum, and living
quarters for four British staffers. The lucky male
manager, shown in the doorway wearing a blue parka, supervises three young female
employees.
Bransfield House is surrounded by a thriving Gentoo penguin colony.
The Bransfield House gift shop is very well-supplied. The postal clerks work at the counter behind the book rack here at the
front of the shop.
The museum at Bransfield House exhibits, among many other things, old cans and bottles of food.
Mail posted at Bransfield House in Port Lockroy is sent via ship to Stanley in the Falkland Islands. From there it is carried by
air to
England.
This museum poster in Bransfield House provides an historical overview of British postal services in Antarctica.
This museum display shows the
designs of stamps issued in 1946 for use in the Falkland Islands Dependences, including
Port
Lockroy.
Staff living quarters at
Bransfield House might be termed "cozy."
Pleneau Island (Zodiak tour)
Pleneau Island Fact Sheet
Anvers Island (Palmer Station, which is a U. S. research station)
Daily Program - 26 Feb
2009:
Neko Harbor (on the Antarctic Peninsula)
Melchior Islands
(Zodiak tour)
Deception Island (Whalers Bay)
Deception Island (Pendulum Cove)
Livingston Island (Hannah Point)
For reference only:
Barrientos Island (Aitchos Islands) Fact Sheet (This is an alternative landing site that was not visited during our cruise.)