An Evening Routine on the Ship

Naturalist Jamie Coleman provides a lecture on albatross

Thursday, November 2 -  Evening Routines

Now that we've been on the ship for three days, I notice our evenings have taken on a pattern that will persist for the duration of our cruise.  We were back on the ship by 4:30 after our excursion to Keppel Island. I enjoyed a warm shower and washed my hair, getting all clean and pretty for dinner.  But first we had our 18:15 cocktail hour/recap in the Ice Lounge.  We had a lecture from our naturalist, Jamie Coleman about albatross.  Perfect timing, as we'd just spent the morning watching about 6000 of them.  Albatross live to be 40 or 50 and the chick takes 5 months to raise until it fledges.  Once they do fledge, they fly off and never touch ground again for up to 5 years when they become sexually mature and start looking for a mate.  

After Jamie's talk, we heard about our options for tomorrow’s activities from our expedition leader Stefan. And then an announcement from Chef Bogdan about dinner choices.

Albatross photos by Jamie Coleman

We have enjoyed a great variety at dinner - the menus are posted in the morning outside the restaurant, so you can anticipate what you might have all day long.  There are always meat, fish, pasta and vegan choices.  And if you wish, you can order a steak or chicken instead.  We have tended to sit at the round tables on the port side, aft.  This gives us the same servers every evening, and we have enjoyed getting to know them.  We are always offered white or red wine, with selections that rotate every evening.  And desert, specialty coffee and after dinner drinks are available at the end of the meal.  The dinner typically lasts from 7 until 9 PM, and then we're free to enjoy the sunset or other areas of the ship.

Pistachio crusted goat cheese, topped with pickled beets and onions - very special

The red wines were varied and tasty - Argentinian, Chilean, Californian, Italian and French

Tonight's main course options included lamb chops

Deserts are tasty - and always plated so attractively

After dinner, walking the decks to see the sunset

An evening visit to the bridge to see what birds and mammals were recorded for today

Sailing along at the bottom of the globe

Tonight, after dinner, we had a special treat.  It was a talk at 9 PM by Tiphanie May, a marine biologist on our ship who has lived and grew up in the Falklands as an 8th generation Falkland Islander.  She and her brother and parents lived “in Camp” on a sheep farm set on three islands in the south of the eastern group of islands.  They had to order all their supplies (food, etc) once a month and it came by boat from Chile.  Her schooling was remote, via video, with a traveling, visiting teacher stopping by every few months or so to live with the family for 2 weeks.  Serious medical care is provided air evacuation, flying out to Santiago or Montevideo for all complicated illness, such as a myocardial infarction.  Amazon orders take 3 months to deliver.  She noted that the islands’ internet is $120/month and is very slow because of a monopoly contract with the provider and the government.  She’s looking forward to when a new contract will be renegotiated in a year or so.  In addition to her training as a marine biologist, she is a trained firefighter and boat operator. So interesting to hear her experiences.

When she finished, we returned to our room.  It was now 11:30 and time for bed. Can't wait to see what adventures tomorrow brings!

Great talk tonight by naturalist Tiphanie May, with a Kir Royale to enjoy while listening

So glad we're visiting the Falklands - it's such an interesting and beautiful place