Geocaching in Antarctica, March 4

I had created a list of nearly 30 geocache possibilities for our Antarctica cruise. Geocaches, most of them earth caches,  specific to possible stops the cruise ship/yacht might make. I was very aware weather and the captain's discretion might affect the list, but I was certain we would make at least one geocache stop. It wasn't until the final day of Zodiac excursions, and the Captain's plan B or maybe C when the geo fates aligned and the 7:00 PM excursion was an earthcache on my list. It also turned out to be one of the best for wildlife, too.

This Weddell seal greeted us upon our Zodiac landing.

He was gone when we left Portal Point.

The three of us wearing the parkas furnished by the cruise line. Each of us brought ours home. Perfect for winters in SD & MN.

Gentoo penguins at Portal Point

and Fur Seals

there were a total of 4 Fur Seals

some folks walked to the viewing point

In the 1950s the British built a hut at this place to continue local survey work in the region. In 1996 the hut was dismantled and transported to the Falkland Islands Museum. Only the foundation remains. 

the original afternoon plan for the day

the talks that day featured seals and sea lions

it was snowing lightly that evening

the geocaching virtual souvenir

Now, the trip to Antarctica is complete!

There will be one or two more blog posts as a wrap-up and some odds and ends that didn't make the daily posts.

Antarctic Cruise, The Beginning

 This post will cover Days 1-3, Thursday February 27th through Sunday March 1.

Our cruise started with a bus tour through parts of Terra de Fuego National Park.

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago at South America’s southernmost tip, shared by Chile and Argentina. It’s known for its dramatic landscape of snowy mountains, glaciers, tundra and wind-sculpted trees. Its main island, Isla Grande, is home to the Argentine resort town of Ushuaia. Sometimes called “the End of the World,” Ushuaia is a gateway to the region and Antarctica to the south. - Google

walking trail at The End of the World

Because of my elbow, I had trouble taking photos the first few days. I could not hold the phone high enough with my left hand and hit the button with my right hand. It was a struggle.

Notice the distance to Buenos Aires and Alaska on the sign. The sign was a geocache.

We had a quick bus ride through some of Ushuaia and a fancy lunch at a resort overlooking the harbor before boarding the yacht at 3:00 PM on Friday, February 27th.

temperatures for Saturday, February 28th

Saturday and Sunday were At Sea Days as the yacht traveled from South America to Antarctica through the Drake Passage, named for Sir Francis Drake

The Drake Passage is a notorious 600-mile (1,000 km) wide, roughly 11,000+ ft deep waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands. Known as one of the world's deadliest, it is famous for extreme winds, powerful, turbulent, and often unpredictable, resulting in two-day, sometimes treacherous, yet essential crossings for Antarctic expeditions. 

 The meeting of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern Oceans creates a turbulent environment where intense storms, high winds, and, sometimes, massive 80-foot waves occur. The lack of landmass at this latitude allows strong winds to build up significant momentum, creating high waves. Known as the "Drake Shake," this area can produce fierce storms, 10-meter (33 ft) or higher waves, and strong winds. Free-drifting icebergs from Antarctica pose hazards to navigation. Considered the "world's deadliest stretch of water" with a legacy of over 800 shipwrecks and 10,000+ sailor deaths. 

Ranging from the tumultuous "Drake Shake" to the calm "Drake Lake," conditions are highly variable.

We were very fortunate to have a Drake Lake crossing. No strong winds. No high waves. No need for Dramamine or sea sickness patches for the 3 of us.

 fin whales

spouting from 4 fin whales on Sunday

The area is a hotspot for seabirds like the wandering albatross, along with whales and dolphins. - AI

Crew members were in the bridge with binoculars watching for animals. Passengers on Deck 7 in the Dome (glassed forward area) would rush outside with cameras of various sizes and shapes to catch the action. OFD had a new iPhone 17 and I had my trusty iPhone.

Each cabin had the use of a pair of high powered, high quality binoculars during the cruise.

There were also fur seal sightings, but neither OFD nor I got any photos. We did not see any dolphins or many sea birds those two days.

Shetland Islands

clouds moving in at the end of the day

Geocaching in Uruguay

 Tuesday was a ferry ride from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. The ferry ride was about 90 minutes. The temperature and humidity were almost the same number - 80s. 

We added a traditional, a virtual, and an Adventure Lab of 5 stops during our 4 hour stay.

Some Geocaching

 We traveled to Cherokee IA last month for a day of geocaching. We geocached in and around Cherokee before attending an event in nearby Cleghorn that afternoon.

a geocache in the city library in Cherokee

and a Little Library geocache

a birdhouse gadget cache called DKOI

Hubby solved all the puzzles for the pie geoart

that was the easy part

going down and up the ditches was the hard part

he attached a rope to the step of the truck

to let himself down into the steep ditches

and then used it to pull himself up and out

we did not finish finding the pie caches 

we will have to go back to Cleghorn

I attended an event in Sibley and completed some geocaches

I earned this souvenir for attending the event

Hubby stayed home and attended a college football game

some of the geocachers who collected trash along the ditches of 

Rice Street in Brandon

our collection of collected ditch trash

the geocachers who participated in the city-sponsored 

Cache In Trash Out event

we earned this virtual souvenir for the event