Day 25 – Sea Day 4 of 4 – Around Cape Horn

Drink of the Day – Speedy Gonzolez

Although this was a sea day, most of the day and evening was spent up on the top decks as we traveled around Cape Horn. We pulled up to the edge of the Cape around 1:30 or so. The ship was “parked” for several hours so everyone could take pictures and take in views. It was quite nippy and windy with winds around 40 knots and frequent gusts up to 59 knots. It was difficult to hold a camera still to take pictures although surprisingly we all got many good shots.

The captain seemed pretty excited about the rounding the Horn. After we parked he got off the ship with a couple people including a cameraman and the cruise director and went up to the lighthouse on the southern edge of the Cape. There is a family of four that lives there for 12 months. Truthfully it seems like a lonely place to live considering you get few visitors and half the year is spent in darkness. The captain was there for probably two hours while the ship rotated frequently to give everyone a chance to see the shore and take pictures.

After the captain returned to the ship we moved a few miles down and stopped at the actual Cape Horn so everyone could take pictures. Part of the ship was in the Atlantic and part was in the Pacific Ocean. We even saw penguins on a large rock. From the ship they looked like little bristles sticking out of the rocks. We weren’t sure what they were so Jane and Linda both took pictures with telephoto lenses and sure enough the dots were penguins. Very neat.

There are penquins all over the rocks in the two pictures below. They lok like little black specks. The second one is a closer view of the same rock, although it may be difficult to actually see the penguins on the blog. They are really there.

We were all expecting rough seas with huge waves and rain. It was very windy like but also very sunny and clear. You couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.

The ship traveled through a narrow channel all evening long literally inching its way along. It was due to arrive in Ushuaia around 1:00 am although it arrived an hour or so earlier. Thursday we plan to be on shore by 7:00 to explore and get up close and personal with the wildlife at the southern tip of civilization.