Cruise Day 1

We awoke to beautiful blue sky that prevailed the whole day. The weather was fine and cruise overnight was very smooth to Bahia Ainsworth and the Marinelli Glacier. The first excursion by zodiac had Karen worried, but the water was calm and there was no problem. Here we followed a nature walk trail through the beach area and forest. Eduardo provided excellent commentary on the Flora along the trail including Chinese Lanterns, Devil's Strawberries and the famous Calafate berry, which if eaten, ensures your return to Patagonia. Along the forest walk, we stopped at a "Tranquility" station where water naturally drips into a pond from moss covered cliffs. We finished the walk looking across the bay at Marinelli Glacier. After the walk, the staff was awaiting us with a glass of Johnny Walker Red on Glacier Ice! On the return by zodiac, we were able to observe Elephant seals, but not particularly closely. Once back aboard, we had a short sail to the Tucker Islets. Again, the weather was beautiful and warm. The excursion was a circumnavigation of one island where we observed Cormorants on the cliff walls. This island was formed from conglomerates which when eroded result in various ledges which create ideal nesting conditions. We came around to a playa where a Magellenic Penguin colony habitates. In amongst these was a King Penguin, which apparently is highly unusal as this Penquin was apparently lost and separated from his colony. We stayed and observed these penguins for quite a while before completing the circumnavigation and returning to the ship for cocktails and dinner. Our table mates were a German couple who seem to enjoy vino tinto as much as I do! We had lots of fun working around language barriers with them and the waiter (Maurice).