16 Dec 24:  Buenos Aires Day 3 - Moving Day to Hotel

(Randy)  We moved from the Park Tower Hotel to the Hotel Emperador Hotel this morning.  This is technically the start of the Quark trip.  We weren’t really sure where it was so we caught a cab.  What a surprise, it was well over 200 yards.  The cab driver was not happy!!

We checked in early and in a pleasant surprise the room was ready. Another surprise was to find a pretty nice suite, two rooms on the 19th floor with a spectacular view of the train station and adjoining slums. Ah, reminds me of home.

Nice Little Living Area (Which of course we never used!)

The Bedroom - Couldn't Remember the French Name!

 Scenic View of the Train Station.

And The Old Neighborhood - Can't Get That Just Anywhere!

We got set up and headed out for another walk about.  This part of town was a bit more hilly so we got a pretty good work out.  As has become our custom of late we stopped at one of the many sidewalk cafes and enjoyed a local cerveza. The area is quite nice with the Four Seasons and some other upscale hotels, although within a couple of blocks is the slums next to the train station.

Late in the afternoon we attended the “mandatory” Quark prebrief to get the plan for tomorrow morning.  All kidding aside, good overview of the immediate things to happen. The highlight was the news that our departure from the hotel had moved back to 0430!   I can’t begin to tell you how the thought of a 0315 wakeup call made me smile.  😊

We went back to the room, cleaned up and walked across the street for a very good dinner at an Italian restaurant.  After that, we hit the sheets for a few hours.

(Kathy)  The Hotel Emperador is where Quark puts up their passengers on their longer cruises.  It’s a nice hotel and like our previous hotel in a good neighborhood but just a couple of blocks from a slum area.  Quark passengers were arriving at the hotel all different times of the day and Quark had it well set up so everyone could get their individual orientation whenever they were ready.  We got our luggage tags and instructions for tomorrow’s charter flight to Ushuaia and headed out to explore the area keeping in mind our early morning wake up call.  Enjoyed an early dinner at an Italian restaurant near the hotel that we had seen on our walk about earlier.  I was getting antsy to get the Quark trip started!

17 Dec 24:  Fly to Ushuaia and board the ship

(Randy)  0315 alarm came early, we got packed up, and headed downstairs to catch one of the five busses to the domestic airport where we are off to Ushuaia (u su i ah).  We learned that we had 172 passengers for the trip.  It was a short trip to the airport and everything was pretty well organized thoiugh it was eerily similar to watching a kindergarten teacher herd school kids around!  We had a charter flight on an airline called JetSmart.  It was an Airbus 319, cattle car configuration.  They had added extra rows by installing “thin seats”.  Not the most comfortable 3 ½ hour flight, but they made up for it with some very good service.  Speaking of which I had no idea it was that long of a flight!  I need to either start listening at the prebriefs or get a new travel girl!! We landed in Ushuaia on time. 

Yes, We Always Fly Private . . . With Hundreds Of Our Friends!

Ushuaia is a nice little town, right on the the Beagle Channel.  We had 4 hours until boarding the ship so started walking to see as much of it as we could. It backs up to snow covered mountains – remember this is December, the equivalent June in the northern hemisphere. Temps were probably low 50s, with a bit of wind.  The sun was in and out.

They Have This Pic Posted To Keep People Out Of Town

Beanie with the Marina and Beagle Channel Backdrop

A Bike Prepared For Any Journey

We set out to get our steps in, explore and who knows, maybe find a little place for a cold beer!   We walked by the Navy Station.  We may have told you earlier it appears the Search & Rescue mission chops to the Navy versus the Coast Guard in Argentina.

One For All My Coastie Friends and Supporters!

Argentine Navy Base

Judging from some of the ships there is also a Maritime Law Enforcement segment.      

No Identifying Marking - Minnie Guns On The Bow: Not Your Average Fishing Boat!!

We walked the waterfront and then headed inland and uphill.  Wouldn’t you know it, there was a local microbrewery. We stopped in and had a very nice IPA and some papa frites (I am getting sooo lingual).  

(Kathy)  We really enjoyed our too short time in Ushuaia.  It’s a very pretty town, the vistas are beautiful and the weather was mostly good with only a brief shower shortly before boarding the ship. We saw many beautiful birds along the waterfront. There are lots of trails in the area and I can imagine spending a few days here and doing more exploring and hiking in the hills. Randy bought a cute little duck for me while we were walking around the town and when we stopped at a pub for a beer I put it on his hat and convinced him to wear it for the rest of the trip.............no!  Actually he wore it when we boarded the ship and then the clip mysteriously broke.  Or maybe someone broke it?!

No Mouth New Friend - Story to Follow!!

(Kathy) I was excited to see our ship, Ultramarine, for the first time. What a beauty.  She was built in 2021 in Croatia and is the first purpose-built ship for polar travel.  She has the highest ice rating just below that of an ice breaker. There were two other passenger ships docked here and I recognized them from my research. It was nice to actually see them too.  Here are pictures of the ships and also of Ushuaia as were were leaving the port.

Three Ships In Port - Guess Which One Is The Ultramarine??

Ding! Ding! Ding!  We Have A Winner!

Hmm . . . The Sea Spirit Poseidon?!?!  You Sure You Want To Sail On A Poseidon Ship??

The Hondius - An Oldie But Goodie, But Not The Ultramarine!

Farewell View Of Ushuaia From The Ship - Let The Adventure Begins 

A More Flattering View Of The Argentine Naval Base

(Randy) Nasty little weather front came in just about boarding time but blew thru quickly and we had perfect weather for departure.  This is a very small ship by cruise ship standards. 172 total passengers, a Quark Expedition Team of 32, and 98 ship crew members.  Our room is quite nice, 4^th deck (of 7), balcony, lots of storage/closet space and a feature we will grow to love – heated floors!!! 

How It Looked When We Got There - 2 Beds? This Will Never Do!!

Ahh, The Most Important - Spacious Bath

Beds Fixed.  Yea!!

So Glad We Decided To Get A Balcony Cabin Even Though It Was Cold Out There

After dumping our luggage in the cabin and taking a few pictures we headed to the top deck to check out the two helicopters. They are Airbus models which was a surprise to me as I didn’t know Airbus made helicopters.  We chatted with the pilots and lead flight engineer all very cordial.  Some pics below.

Beanie & A Chopper - Ahh, Reminds Me Of Her Apache Longbow Days!!

Checking It Out With Johnny - Man, Wish I Had His Hair!!!!

Just Cozying In - May Want One For Christmas!

The ship set out around 6:45PM, clear skies.  We had our emergency drills which were interesting.  Have to say, watching a bunch of “seasoned” passengers, us included, try to put on their life vests was not pretty, but quite entertaining!  Really would have made for a fun video!!We spent the next hour unpacking and getting organized, and then went to dinner around 8:00.  One of the critical tasks we needed to complete was making sure “No Mouth” was safe and comfortable.  No Mouth is a small, stuffed animal (bunny) that I won and gave to Beanie at some carnival.  We tried to remember when it was, but we think it was around 40 years ago.  He came with a defect in that he had no mouth. We kind of liked the idea this made him unique and he has traveled with us for who knows how many miles.  He went to Afghanistan with Beanie, all of our vacations around the world, all my business travel – probably in the millions of miles.  He’s getting more than a little worn, but heck, I know the feeling.  Here he is getting a little rest with our little friend we picked up for him in Ushuaia!  I think I’ll call him Dick the Duck!  We’ll see if Beanie lets that catch on!! P.S.  

New Traveling Buds

Dinner was changed to a buffet as the emergency drills and departure time pushed into the normal evening meal timeline.  The 32-person Quark team members eat with the passengers which is nice.  Passengers get a chance to chat with them, ask questions, and the interaction is nice.  We enjoyed the meal and got back to the room around 9:30pm.  It’s pretty easy to have a late dinner with the sun not setting until after 10:00pm.

Only real gripe thus far is the internet service.  They have complimentary “basic” Starlink service which is advertised to meet basic tasks such as email and internet browsing.  Ehhh, not so much!  Pages take forever to load, email times out, and forget about doing any blog work.  Sometimes texting works but no joy when it comes to doing anything with data.  We may have some challenges posting blog entries – hold the applause!  They also offer enhanced internet, but they are pretty proud of it. Prices begin at $40 a day to a package price of $300 for 10 days.  I am vacillating on the value to our blogging audience!

(Kathy)  Ship boarding was very quick and efficient.  The ship is beautiful inside and out.  Our cabin is the biggest and most comfortable balcony cabin we’ve ever had and that is unusual for an expedition ship.  There is so much storage space and we don't use even half of it.  First thing we did after ensuring the luggage was in the cabin was go up to the top deck to check out one of the helicopters on the ship. One of the two pilots, Johnny, was more than happy to tell us all about show it off.  It was very impressive.   Can’t wait to go up.  You'll see more of the helicopters later and hear more about the pilots as well.

It wasn't long before the ship got under way.  The scenery as we traveled through the Beagle Channel and out to sea was lovely.  Randy was about ready to eat a bullet after I commented for about the fifth time how crystal clear everything looked with absolutely no pollution. You may ask why we don't have any pictures of sailing through the Beagle Channel.  Good question.  But I have no idea!!

It was a long and exciting day.  I feel like the trip has now really begun!

18 Dec 24:  Sea Day 1 – Off to the Falklands

(Randy) Our first sea day was packed with fun activities.  We continued with exotic Antarctic adventures such as polar parka fitting, adjusting and wearing; muck boot fitting to include the proper use of layered socks and wet gear pants; and of course the proper use of the personal flotation devices (PFDs as we seasoned polar travelers call them) you wear for zodiac landing.  Each passenger is assigned a “locker” in the “ready room”.  This is where all wet/dry gear, personal flotation devices, muck boots, etc. are stored. Basically we get decked out there.  The ready room is right next to the hangar where all the zodiacs and kayaks are stored.  You walk through the hangar to reach the platform to board the zodiacs.

The Ready Room Lockers - It's Like We're Firemen!!!

This was followed by a briefing from our Expedition Leader, Ryan.  We learned how to properly get on and off zodiacs, as well as moving about while underway.  We make it sound a bit trivial, but in reality, it was really good stuff to know. 

We also had an overview briefing of the expedition and the introduction of the entire Expedition Team, all 32 of them.  When you think about the fact there are only 172 passengers that’s a pretty good ratio.  Also, add in the ship crew and hotel staff, that’s a lot of support.

We also had an interesting briefing from a woman astronaut named Dr. Sian Proctor, a member of the space mission entitled Inspiration 4, launched on 15 Sep 21.  The flight was dubbed "Inspiration 4" as it was privately chartered by billionaire Jared Isaacman and was the first crewed orbital mission with no professional astronauts on board.  It’s primary purpose was to raise funds, with a goal of $250 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.  It had unique selection criteria for the selection of its crew.  The mission was named to commemorate the four-person crew and their associated "pillars" of support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee: leadership, hope, generosity and prosperity.  They were sitting at $195 million just prior to re-enty following their final orbit when Elon Musk kicked in $55 million to get them to their goal!!  The other interesting tidbit is  Dr. (Phd) Sian Proctor is from Mesa, AZ and teaches at the South Mountain Community College.  I won’t put all the details here, but if you’re interested, here's a pretty good link https://www.space.com/inspiration4-spacex.html that can fill in the details.

Sian Proctor Following Her Lecture

Hanging Out at Tierra del Fuego National Park On Final Day

Weather was about as good as we could hope, clear, sunny skies, windy, and reasonably calm seas – all made for a good ride.

We watched a beautiful sunset off the bow of the ship that evening.  If my count was correct, we took about 30 pictures between us, trying to capture the beauty and all the seabirds circling about the ship.  The sun set at about 10:00pm. 

Hopefully, tomorrow, we go ashore.

(Kathy) It was a very nice sea day.  We got settled into the cabin, met some more of our fellow passengers and crew, explored the ship, got lots of briefings, got our gear ready for the rest of the trip, etc.  We're all getting our sea legs too.  It's been a bit windy and wavy.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even higher winds and seas.

We met all 32 Quark team members which included the Expedition Leader, a Marine Biologist, an Ornithologist, a Geologist, a Quark photographer, a Quark doctor (there was also a ship doctor who was not part of the Quark team), a Historian, two helicopter pilots and numerous guides. All team members except for the doctor and pilots also piloted the zodiacs.  We would get to know everyone quite well by the end of the trip.  They were all excellent but of course we had our favorites.

There are two restaurants - one large, one small.  Both are informal though the smaller one a bit more informal (no table clothes, feels more like a small bistro).  We often ate lunch in the smaller one as the windows had better sea views and it had direct access to a back deck in case of a wildlife or iceberg sighting.  It's essentially the same food in both restaurants. If the food continues to be this good, we will definitely be packing on some pounds.

We didn't take many interior pictures of the ship. We spent quite a lot of our time in the Panorama Lounge on the 6th floor at the bow of the ship.  It had a wrap around deck and excellent views from all the windows, lots of chairs and sofas, binoculars, telescopes, a small library at the rear, a bar and a coffee area with snacks always available.  Plenty of room since it spanned the width of the ship.  Many of the Quark crew members hung out here and were always on the look out for marine life and birds. First thing every morning I headed up here for coffee and to see what the weather looked like ahead of us.  There was also a huge console in the middle that could act as a second bridge if for any reason the bridge itself (7th deck) was somehow incapacitated.

Panorama Lounge and Back Up Bridge

Some Of The Charts and Navigation Aids on The Console

Main Dining Room At The Very Front Of The Ship - Tables For 2, 4, 6 and above. 

The theater is where we had all our nightly briefings for the following day, all the presentations and even the New Years Eve party.

From The Back Row - But Next To The Bar!!

This Spans The Width Of The Ship - All Seats Secured To The Floor

Ryan Nightly Briefing For The Next Day - Note All The TBAs, Weather is Everything!

Below are a few pictures of artwork in some of the stairwells on the ship.

Each Deck Had A Slightly Different Version Of This 

Probably A Greenland or Iceland Expedition

Which One Of These Is Not Like The Others??

(Kathy) Another excellent dinner and then a very spectacular sunset at about 10PM with a few albatross for good measure!  As we head further and further south, the sunsets will get later and later.  We're hoping for our first landing tomorrow on the sub-Antarctic island of West Falkland.  In the meantime here are some samples of the beautiful sunset.

 This Was Probably Around 10:00 PM

The End Of A Very Nice Day 

19 Dec 24:  First Shore Excursions.  Sanders Bay & West Falkland Island

(Randy) Big day.  We’re about two hours out from going to shore at Saunders Bay at West Falkland Island. Should be fun!!

Got to Sanders Bay and no joy.  Winds were at 40 knots and the seas over two meters.  See how international I can speak.  Basically it was too windy and the waves too big for zodiacs.  That kinda stinks but now the plan is to try the other side with the hope the land will provide enough shelter to reduce the wind and seas.

Well, so much for hope - that didn’t work so on to check out yet another possible landing site on West Falkland Island. 

The transit is full of sea bird and marine life.  Birds are pretty easy to spot– marine mammals, not so much.

It's a couple hours later and more bad news.  Just a wee windy - winds are up to 60 knots and seas over 3 meters. West Falkland Island is a no-go.  Not the start to the adventure I had in mind . . . .

I Had A Bad Case Of The Wind - Nooo, Not That Kind!!

(Kathy)  The winds picked up last night.  The ship doctor said he dispensed quite a bit of seasickness meds last night and today. Randy and I were fine but we were sure bobbing and weaving moving about the ship.  At the morning briefing, Ryan said the weather was "sporty".  We would soon learn that this is a British understatement for high winds and seas.  It was often an exciting experience going out on deck.  But since we were going through a lot of channels between islands looking for a safe place to shelter and get into zodiacs, we spent a lot of time on deck watching for wildlife.  The Quark team was good about getting on the PA to announce wildlife sightings so you could make your way on deck to see it.  We had sightings of several penguin colonies, though at quite a distance, lots and lots of sea birds and several porpoises surfing the big waves.  The Captain made a great effort to find a cove protected from the gusting winds but by early afternoon an announcement was made that no landings were possible on West Falkland Island and we headed towards East Falkland Island.  Stanley is the capital of the Falkland Islands.  We’ve got our fingers crossed the weather holds there and we can dock their tomorrow.

(Randy)  Heading to Stanley and will dock tonight versus tomorrow morning – more time on shore.  In the meantime it was movie day.  The first is Falklands Most Daring Raid which covers, in an interesting, almost tongue in cheek way, a recount of longest bombing mission of the Falkland War.   This was followed by a briefing entitled, Utter Damn Rot.  Comprehensive briefing on the formation of the earth especially as related to the history of earthquakes.  Specifically it shared some of the early hypotheses surrounding how the earth was formed and the part played by earthquakes.  Sounds like a snoozer, but really pretty good.  We docked at Stanley around 10:00 PM.  Nicely protected cove and warm enough to watch the whole docking process from the deck.

(Kathy)  Though we missed out on two landings, the day was filled with good sightings from the ship including our first glimpse of penguins and excellent presentations.  We were originally scheduled to get to East Georgia Island (town of Port Stanley) the next morning but the Captain made arrangements so we could dock tonight.  The channel into Port Stanley provided a lot of good sightings of swarming sea birds on top of the water as they were gathering together to fly back to land for the night.  It was another beautiful sunset as we made our way to Port Stanley.  We talked to Ryan the next morning and learned that he and several other members of the Quark team walked to town (about 2 miles) that night and found out that none of the streetlights were working and they got caught in a rainstorm on the walk back to the ship.  Glad we didn’t go!  We were happy to go back to our cabin.

May Want To Zoom In - Thousands Of Seabirds Feeding Just Before Dusk

Another Great Sunset Over East Falkland Island As We Come Into Port Stanley 

(Kathy)  Hang in there.  I know we're off to a bit of a slow start but believe me it gets better fast!