After the rigors of travel from our various home ports around the world, it was with great anticipation that we boarded the National Geographic Explorer in Ushuaia, Argentina. The mooring lines were cast off, and we were away down the Beagle Channel, heading for the South Atlantic Ocean. By morning, we had left South America behind and were out in the open ocean. The Falkland Islands lie just shy of 400 nautical miles northeast of Ushuaia; it takes two nights and a day to reach them. Fortunately, the wind, though strong enough to build up whitecaps, was striking us on the stern, and our ship loves a following sea. It was mesmerizing to simply sit and watch the surface of the sea.
With a day spent at sea, we could settle into shipboard routine, explore the ship, and reacquaint with members of the crew whom we remember from previous trips. We began our educational program by "getting to know our cameras", and we used them to photograph the seabirds soaring over the ocean all around us and crossing our ship's wake, from side to side. Naturalist Doug Gualtieri introduced the birds more formally with a talk on the seabirds of the Southern Ocean. Later, geologist Jason Kelley set the stage for our journey with a discussion of plate tectonics and the geological origin of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. For many, a nap fit well into the daily program. After this relaxing and refreshing day at sea, tomorrow, the Falkland Islands.
