Ken and I were lazy today and did not do the long walk that Ken has done before or the short walk that I have done before. It was nice to sleep in, do a little laundry and catch up on a little work.

Yesterday at Salisbury Plains was spectacular the best weather possible it was sunny, not a cloud in the clear blue sky and the water was SO calm. Even on my fourth visit to this amazing spot it is still an awe inspiring experience.

The next two stops were places I had not been before and seeing the huge wandering albatross was fantastic. These birds have up to a 12ft wingspan and flew right over our heads at a low altitude. One nest was only about 10 feet away from us. There was a nice walkway built to take you to the top of the small hill where the birds were nesting. It made it a very easy walk up and the seals were adorable as they also think the pathway is a good way to get around. Just like the lions use the roadways in Africa. They normally just kept walking ahead of us but sometimes they would do their charging and barking to defend their pathway and of course even a tiny reaction from us and they back off.

The final stop Fortuna s a new stop for us too. It was a lovely scene with the ship in the background, a pool where the young seals are learning to swim and king penguins all round. One lone gentoo penguin came out of the water wandered around and looked a little confused. He finally went back into the water I guess to “find his own kind”. Often kings and gentoos share the same area but in this case I did not see any other gentoo penguins. At the end of the day the wind suddenly picked up and it was a rough wet ride back the ship.

This morning we have another wonderful day. Calm seas, blue sky and light winds. We have been SO blessed with this trip unbelievable weather. Later today we go to Shackelton’s grave and the old whaling station at Grytviken.

Tomorrow Gold Harbor is bound to be on the schedule I just pray for one more day like this as I really feel that is a fantastically beautiful landing site.

I do love this little ship. To me it has the same ambiance that the Song of Flower achieved. When you have less that 200 people the staff are able to develop a different level of personal service that pleases both the guests and the staff at a level just not possible on a larger ship. Plus these cabins although not big they are well designed, lots of storage space and are cozy. The expedition team are so superior to other teams we have experienced with the only exception being David Fletcher who was on the Hanseatic that and he is a totally unique individual. However the rest of the Hanseatic team did not compare to the team on the Silver Explorer. The team is pretty consistent from all three of my voyages with just a few changes for vacation and each and every one of them is great. The reception team of Tina and Nina are exceptionally nice and I wish I could clone them for every ship I travel on plus they are very efficient as well. Life is good on the Silver Explorer

Having so much fun with everyone, what a great group. Spirits are high with all and the smiles are bountiful. Pooch and heart games are taking place and the competition if fierce. Of course Marc is the top dog in hearts and Pam is the leading contender in pooch but feel twice yesterday, once to Beth and once to Andi.

Okay time to eat again, Ken is going to send a few photos to Karen to post it is so hard to do it from here.