At sea from Ushuaia to West Falkland

I woke early and went up on deck to watch a beautiful sunrise. The sea was very calm and the sun rose above the horizon, setting the sky on fire. What a way to start this cruise!

Glorious sunshine over the South Atlantic

I went into the lounge and got tea to take down to the cabin for Wendy. We then went to the dining room for breakfast and sat with an English couple, Chris and Dick Cox, whose daughter Jo will be joining the ship when we dock at Stanley. She works for the British Antarctic Survey and will leave Silver Explorer when we get to Grytviken. Also with us at breakfast were Ken and his daughter, Michaela, from Boston.

We had our first briefing of the trip on how to use the Zodiacs to get to and from the ship when going ashore.

This was followed by the first lecture of the cruise by Will Wagstaff, an ornithologist from the Isles of Scilly.

We then walked eight times round the deck, a distance of about a mile. Better than nothing when the food is so good and you need to burn some of the calories off!

The second lecture of the day was by Peter Damisch, a historian from the US. The lecture was on the history of the claims on the Falklands. Everyone agreed it was an excellent lecture and, for the Brits in the audience, it was especially pleasing to hear that the Argentinians have no claim to the islands.

In beautiful sunny weather, we went up to the aft deck for lunch. I had a very tasty hot dog and chips! Not the healthiest of meals!

Our first views of the Falkland Islands, late in the afternoon.

To the left of this photo is a group of fur seals, with the cliffs of the West Falklands in the distance.

First sighting of the Falklands

Getting closer!

The Cliffs of West Falklands

One of the many giant petrels that followed the ship, swooping low over the water and flying effortlessly for mile after mile.

Giant Petrel

In the evening, we had the Captain's Cocktail Party followed by dinner. Our table was hosted by Luqui, from Argentina, who is an expert on glaciation. We were joined by Martin and Tama, who were married recently and currently live in Azerbaijan. He comes from the UK while Tama is from the United States.

Tomorrow we have two landings. The first will be at New Island and then, in the afternoon, we go ashore at Saunders Island. Lots to look forward to!

Distance Travelled:  355 NM