From Cape Town to Maine

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Here’s where the trip took a turn for the worse as the whole world was reeling with the virus.  We were due to arrive in Cape Town a day early since we once again made fast time across an expanse of the ocean that was due to experience bad weather.  Our expedition leader arranged several tours for the extra day, which most people enthusiastically signed on to.  The next day (at sea), we were told those tours would be cancelled because an edict had been issued by South Africa that people shouldn’t congregate in large groups or travel in busses.  Since we’d all been following the news, we understood the situation.  We were also told that once the ship was cleared by customs, we would be free to go around the city on our own.  It was understood that we had been in the equivalent of quarantine for 3 weeks due to being on the ocean and visiting mostly uninhabited islands, and we were all virus free.  There was also little or no virus in Cape Town.

As the news had been getting more dire, we decided that we should cancel our safari in Tanzania and make new arrangements to fly home.  We tried for several days to reach AMEX (the travel agent who booked our return air tickets) with no response.  We also tried to contact the issuing airline of the ticket (Alitalia).  We knew that was a lost cause since Italy was badly affected.  So, we did the next best thing and booked a new ticket to return on Delta Airlines with no intermediate stops overseas on the day the cruise ended.

(Cape Town--Sorry for poor quality)

Finally, after 3 weeks on the ocean, the day arrived when we awoke and saw the coastline of the beautiful city of Cape Town.  However, instead of going into the port, we started sailing in a loop back and forth off the coast for an entire day.  We had been notified that overnight a decision had been made to close the ports. So, the President and Transport Minister met that day and debated our future arrival.  They already knew that our ship and its passengers were virus free, and we had previously been given approval.  Around 5:00PM that day, after a meeting that lasted 8 hours, we were told that approval had been given by the Transport Minister and the President of South Africa for us to come in and dock.  But we still circled the coastline for another day awaiting instructions to come in.  Passengers were starting to miss their flights, if those flights were taking off at all, since many had been cancelled.

Finally arriving at Cape Town Port

Eventually, we were given the ok to move the ship to the port but were sent to the container port for the night.  The next morning, approval was given to move to the cruise ship port.  We thought that was an encouraging sign and still hoped to make our flight later that day.  Well, another day of waiting ensued with no authorities giving us clearance to leave the ship.  At this point, we didn’t know how or when to rebook our flights home.

Cruise Ships in Cape Town

(2,000 pax each - ours 170)

All in all, we spent 6 days on the ship in the port.  The ship’s staff couldn’t have been more wonderful and gracious to us in their efforts to wine, dine and entertain us.  They, too, were in limbo, since several of them were finishing their contracts and just wanted to go home.  They all showed the best of human nature and their concerted efforts to resolve what they could and deal with the rest.  Once we were finally cleared to leave the ship, we made another attempt to book a new ticket.  It took a couple of days to be able to complete a reservation.  The internet was very slow and frequently timed out. Telephone connections were similar.  Eventually, we did succeed.  If we hadn’t, Silversea would have gotten the tickets, but we would not have had any choice regarding the flights. Passengers were only allowed to leave the ship in time for their flights to depart South Africa.  They were sent in groups and escorted by officials.

Captain Eric bids farewell to every passenger

Excitement and anxiety built as we left our safe bubble of the ship on the third day.  I think I even heard a pop as I transited the threshold into a new, unknown version of the world.  We were escorted in a group of eight to a bus and taken to the airport.  Check-in went smoothly; we found a sparsely populated lounge.  Take off was on time during a lovely sunset.

Sigh of relief!  We slept comfortably in our cubicle beds until the middle of the night when the Captain made an announcement that he would be diverting the flight to Oman, rather than continuing to Doha, Qatar.  We made a quick descent into the Salalah Airport and deplaned into the gate area.  It was announced shortly after that another plane would be sent from Doha to complete the flight.  Unfortunately, that meant most everyone would be missing their ongoing connections to the States and Europe.  After about 5 hours, the plane from Doha arrived and we were flown to the airport in Qatar.  While waiting in Oman, we had once again rebooked our continuing flight for the next day nonstop to Boston.

On arrival in Doha, airline representatives were waiting for us, and we were escorted to the lounge.  Qatar had closed its borders to foreigners, so we were unable to leave the airport for an overnight stay at a hotel.  There was a transit hotel at the airport but that was closed, too.  So, we were taken to a semi-private area behind the lounge with cubicles containing a couch and chair where we could spend the night.  Showers and bathrooms were provided nearby.  So were food and beverages.  Dave described it as a 5 star hotel with no rooms.

Qatar Airport Lounge - Nearly Empty

The next morning all went well as we took off for our nonstop flight to Boston.  It was a long flight but comfortable.  When we arrived in Boston, we were quite surprised that there were no health forms to fill out and no health screening at all.  The international arrivals area was totally empty, and there were only a couple of immigration officers on duty.  Neither they nor any other airport employees were wearing any kind of protective gear—no masks or gloves.  We heard the same story from some other passengers who arrived at JFK.  We thought that was unbelievable, especially since even the 3^rd world countries we had transited through provided temperature checks and forms to fill out.

Touching down in Boston

The Rental Chariot--License Plate--"The Spirit of America"

After obtaining a rental car, we drove home through mostly empty roads in Boston.  It was quite eerie to see no one on the road at rush hour in the city.  We’re now glad to be back home and will stay in for the next 14 days.  We have a good friend and neighbor who is getting us needed groceries and checking on us.  Thankfully, the stores do have most things that are necessary.  Our biggest wish is to stay healthy, to have our family and friends stay healthy, in fact to have everyone stay healthy and to have this pandemic over as soon as it can be.

In the quote from Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”, I found my thoughts about the trip.  The ‘highs’ of visiting such beautiful, remote, untouched parts of the world represented the best of times.  Following the progression of a pandemic ravaging the world was surely the lowest of the lows and the worst of times.

Through it all, we were able to witness some of the best of human nature in our fellow passengers and the ship’s crew.  Although the crew was anxious about their futures and their families spread out across the world, they never once showed their worries, and instead greeted us with smiles and continued to provide excellent service.  Most of our fellow passengers took the situation in stride and had confidence that they would get home.  Some were even planning their next adventures.  As in other uncertain situations, we all bonded in our shared circumstances.  We did learn just before leaving the ship that permission had been denied for all crew members to leave the ship to go home, so as I’m writing this, I believe they are sailing north along the west coast of Africa.  I know they will be fine.  I can almost see the ornithologists and biologists out on deck or in the observation lounge looking for birds and whales with binoculars and cameras. 

Bon Voyage, my friends!

The Ascension Islands

Tristan da Cunha

 

The first hint that our trip was going south figuratively, while we were traveling north, literally, came when we were denied permission to land on this island nicknamed the “Remotest Island”.  There are about 300 residents here, most of British ancestry.  The island is a territory of Great Britain.  Although we had been isolated on the sea for a couple of weeks with just a short visit to the Falklands where there was no virus, we were told no landing was possible.  Later, we learned that most of the people on the island suffer from asthma and had been battling the flu.  With limited resources, ie. medical care, we understood their dilemma.

Tristan da Cuhna Village

So, we sailed around this beautiful green isle with its symmetrical volcano and enjoyed views of the rocky coastline.  One can only imagine the solitude of living so far from the rest of the world in a village overlooking the sea.  The independent nature of the citizens who are so self sufficient when supplies only arrive once every few months is also amazing to those of us who can normally shop for most of what we need or want on-line or at shops.  Because of the mountainous nature of the island, their few products include potatoes, and those of dairy and sheep.  They do fish for lobster or crayfish, their biggest export product, which is sent to South Africa.

Clouds over the Caldera

 

Nightingale Island, Gough Island and Inaccessible Island

Gough Island

These islands are part of the Ascension Island archipelago, too.  The raw beauty of these islands is difficult to describe.  First, picture crystal clear ocean water with visible kelp forests flourishing below. Next, imagine seals—Antarctic fur seals to be exact—playing and darting through these waters following the rubber dinghies.  Next, we’ll follow those seals to their haul-outs of massive sea caves where their barking fills the air and reverberates off the cave walls.  Next, picture the rocks, boulders and hills where the seals bask in the sun.  Last, imagine nurseries of baby seals romping around in protected rock pools playing with each other and waiting for their mothers to return from the sea with dinner.

Kelp and Clear Blue Water

 

 

Baby Seals

 

But let’s not forget the islands themselves.  For this view, remember “Jurassic Park”.  Volcanic islands with beautiful waterfalls and valleys that are green and verdant play among the mountains and rocky landscape.  Most of us had never quite seen anything like it.  And all of this magic unfolded under a sunny sky and mild temperatures.

 

 

Now, it’s time for the birds and another species of penguin that lives here.  It’s the Northern Rockhopper, a crested penguin that is quite small but has long yellow eyelashes and a red beak.  They exist in small colonies on the slopes and rocks and are called rockhoppers for good reason.  They congregate in little groups and hop their way up the rocks.  There they raise their young and rest when not fishing.

Northern Rockhopper Penguins

Tristan Albatross

 

Antarctic Tern

 

In the end, we were really thrilled to visit a place relatively untouched by humans where the natural world is thriving.  As a side note, St. Helena is also in the Ascensions.  It is the island where Napoleon was exiled.  It is even more remote than the islands we visited in this part of the archipelago.

The last chapter of this journey will be published later when we can give an accurate account of events that unfolded on our way to Cape Town and our experiences there.

 

 

 

The Sub-Antarctic Island of South Georgia

King Penguin Rookery - South Georgia Island

Anyone who’s ever seen a nature documentary where 1000’s of penguins and hundreds of seals are sharing space on a wide beach has probably viewed the island of South Georgia.  The location for this Eden of nature is in the South Atlantic, a two-day voyage by sea southeast of the Falklands and north of Antarctica.  The island is mountainous and studded with glaciers.  Where the glaciers have receded, wide beaches, plains and valleys are present adjacent to the sea.  The ocean here ranges from a beautiful Caribbean turquoise to sapphire blue, colors we never thought to see in such a cold environment.  There are no trees on this island, just tussock grass, moss and a few other low hugging plants.

Konig Glacier, Hercules Bay

Fur Seals Nesting on Tussock Grass

 

Skua Nesting in Tussock Grass

What the island lacks in vegetation, it makes up in wildlife.  This is the major home of the king penguin, a beautiful bird whose colorful plumage is breathtaking.  It is the most colorful of all penguins.  The adults stand about 3 feet tall, have black heads with large orange lower beaks and a cheek patch of orange-gold.  They still have sleek gray, shiny bodies with a white chest and stomach.  They resemble the Emperor penguin, which is much larger and lives in the coldest areas of Antarctica.



 

King Penguins



They are curious birds, often walking up to us to check us out and showing no fear of humans.  We have visited several colonies of them, the largest numbering about 150,000.  One other had 100,000 and a third was populated by about 30,000.  Visiting a penguin colony/rookery is a multisensory experience.  Often, the first clue that you are near is the aroma.  If you’ve ever been in a barnyard, you know that smell!  Now multiply it by 20 or so and you have the idea.  The visual is awe-inspiring but so is the sound of so many penguins honking and calling.  We were lucky enough to see some adults balancing eggs on their feet.  They have a little apron of skin and feathers just above their feet to cover the egg and keep it warm.  These penguins do not build nests or burrows.  Instead, they just keep the egg with them, switching egg duty between the male and female.

 

King Adjusting Egg for Incubation

We were able to add another species to our penguin list here—the macaroni penguin.  It is one of the crested penguins that lives on the cliffs and rocks.  As such, it’s not easy to photograph since you must float around on a zodiac (rubber dinghy) which is constantly moving to try to get a shot.  Why is it called “macaroni”?  Think of the song Yankee Doodle, where the fellow put a feather in his cap and called it macaroni.  The feathers that create the crest reminded someone of that concept.

Macaroni Penguin

When we toured through the penguin rookeries, another animal was numerous and active, the Antarctic fur seal.  Most of the seals we saw were young pups, a few months old.  Some were still suckling with their mothers; others loped around together in creches, waiting for their moms to return from the sea and feed them.  They’re being left alone more often now to learn how to function on their own.  They were playing and swimming in the ocean, vocalizing loudly, and sleeping.  These animals also show no fear of humans and come very close to us.  It doesn’t appear that they have any natural enemies.  We expected to see some orcas or larger seals preying on them, but none were in the area.  We did learn that seal numbers have increased dramatically since they are not hunted by humans anymore.

Fur Seal Pup Nursing

There are no human residents in this animal paradise.  We have viewed a few abandoned whaling stations which were operating until the 1960’s.  When most of the whales had been killed, the stations closed, since it was no longer profitable to keep them open.  There are a few people here seasonally to perform scientific research and operate a small museum for the few tourists who come here.

Defunct Whaling Station - Grytviken, South Georgia

The British Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton was buried here on South Georgia in a place called Grytviken, a former whaling station.  Grytviken was the site from which Shackleton organized a rescue mission to bring his men home after their ship, the Endurance, was broken apart when sea ice surrounded it in the Antarctic in 1915.  He and his crew managed to sail to Elephant Island on the Antarctic peninsula in some small boats.  From there, Shackleton and 5 crew members sailed and reached South Georgia.  They trekked across the mountains and glaciers until they reached a whaling station.  Eventually, they reached Grytviken where the rescue effort was launched.  All of the crew was rescued from Elephant Island and none perished in the harsh environment.  Shackleton launched another expedition to Antarctica a few years later but died of a heart attack while at sea.  His widow agreed to bury him on South Georgia. 

Earnest Shackelton Grave - Grytviken, South Georgia

Well, it seems we are getting another head start on our next adventure by leaving a bit early from South Georgia.  Bad weather is setting in, so we’ll try to get ahead of the worst of it.  Next stop—Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic island in the middle of the South Atlantic.  See you then!

The Falkland Islands

 

 “ … the land is low and undulating with stony peaks and bare ridges; it is universally covered by a brown wiry grass, which grows on the peat”. The whole landscape … has an air of extreme desolation…This is one of the quietest places we have ever been to”.  Charles Darwin

 

We weren’t thinking too much about the Falkland Islands, since we were expecting South Georgia to be the jewel in the crown of wildlife and scenic beauty in this part of the South Atlantic.  So, what a pleasant experience we found it to be, unlike Darwin’s visit!

Our first landing was in the west part of the Falklands archipelago on New Island.  We enjoyed a pleasant walk across spongy peat bogs and low vegetation to the top of a hill. There were wide horizons since trees do not grow here and obstruct the views.  The weather was mild and sunny, almost balmy after Antarctica.  A vast rookery of Rockhopper Penguins and Black-browed albatrosses stretched vertically along the sea cliffs which plunged dramatically to the ocean below.  The birds were all mixed up together on the rocks—the albatross chicks sat on their round clay nests and the penguin chicks stood in between and all around.  Both chicks were patiently waiting for their parents to bring back food from the sea.

 

 

The albatross babies were testing their wings, and in another month or two will be able to take off and fly on their own.  They are pelagic seabirds and will not appear on land again for 7-9 years when it’s time for them to breed and have their own chicks.  A single egg per pair is incubated for 71 days before it hatches.  As we watched the adults fly in to feed the babies, all we could say was “WOW” every time they flew over us.  Their wingspan ranges from 79”-94”, and it’s awe-inspiring just to watch them soar.  Albatross are also monogamous and wait patiently each year for their mate to appear.  When this happens, they erupt into a ritual dance seeming to celebrate their safe return.

 

 

 

 

 

Black-Browed Albatross Chicks

The Rockhopper Penguins are called that name for a good reason.  When one sees the sheer vertical incline hundreds of feet above the sea, it seems impossible that a penguin could hop so high to raise chicks when it has to feed them by returning to the sea to fish and then make the climb all over again.  But their legs are strong, and their feet have sharp claws to help.  These penguins are listed as vulnerable.  Their numbers have been declining due to overfishing and pollution.

Rockhopper Penguin

On the periphery of these two major rookery species were several striated caracaras.  They are a bird of prey and very spunky.  They don’t shy away from tourists, but sometimes approach them.  They look at us as if to say, “maybe today will be interesting since we can watch all of these aliens making noise and milling around us.”  They scavenge for food and have been listed as a threatened species.

Striated Caracara

 

Skua

Another interesting stop in the Falklands was West Point Island.  The same albatrosses and penguins were found there along with Magellanic Penguins, oystercatchers, steamer ducks, kelp and upland geese, and heron.  Enroute between the 2 islands were numerous rafts of sea lions swimming together and leaping out of the water like dolphins.  One group actually was a pod of dolphins of unknown species, since they didn’t come far enough out of the water to identify them.  It turned out that the wildlife in the Falklands didn’t disappoint us but was rich and alive.

Magellanic Penguins

Blackish Oystercatcher

 

Steamer Ducks

Male and Female Kelp Geese

 

Male and Female Upland Geese

Night Heron

Port Stanley is the capital of the Falklands.  It is considered a BOT, British Overseas Territory.  It is entirely self-governing, and no taxes are paid to Britain.  However, Great Britain does provide defense and foreign policy.  The town has about 2,500 residents.  Some were born there; others came from somewhere else but have chosen to become residents, and others are there just to work for a time and leave.  The city is very English, down to its cottages, gardens, pubs and right-hand drive vehicles.  One cannot visit here without recounting the many memories of its citizens during the Falklands War with Argentina in 1982.  On the Argentina side, we saw many signs which held that the Falklands or Malvinas (in Spanish) do belong to Argentina.  This dispute has not died and may even intensify in the future as oil has been discovered in the waters surrounding the Falklands.



Governor's House

Well, it's time to start the engines and move on.  We now have a 2 day sailing to South Georgia Island.  We stay busy on sea days with informative lectures regarding the geology, biology and history of the waters and islands we travel.  The seas are expected to have some swells because of winds and currents.  Weather can range from sunny to cloudy or rain and snow, and those phenomena can all occur within half an hour!  Most importantly, we are glad to see very strict biosecurity rules here.  All of our outer layers of clothing and boots must be absolutely clean and without a trace of organic material before we make a landing.  Inspections are carried out to insure it.  Carrying invasive species from one island to another can be a very harmful event to the environments here, because there are no natural predators to keep them in check.