After lunch, we were to Zodiac ashore to see a glacier. The weather, again, was thankfully cooperating.
View on the way to Aguila Glacier
Patagonian Beauty
Soon, the skies cleared even more. Truly, we were lucking out with the weather. I was shocked to go to the top deck (no, it's not a nude deck on this ship) and was completely comfy in a long sleeved t-shirt. Not even a warm one at that.....one I got on clearance at Gap.
Blue Sky, top deck view.
Geology was gorgeous. I at times wished I was on some sort of geek/rock nerd tour where they focused more on the geology. Throughout our tour, and not just on the boat, oh how I yearned to stand up and yell "STOP THE boat/car/taxi/bus/airplane!!!!" simply so I could get a "better" picture of some obsure geological thing.
Rock nerd picture. :)
After lunch but before boarding the zodiac, the ever-grumpy bartender, Juan, offered to take my picture for me. Aha!!!! He IS human, afterall! This is the guy, who for two days, had been nothing but abrasive and rude to me. Maybe it takes him a few days to warm up to people? Nevermind, I was happy to have a photographer at this point. Ooh, and he was adamant that THIS was the best picture.
Me on my ship, near Aguila Glacier, Chile
We boarded the Zodiac. Our group was last to go. They seemed to take turns based on language spoken, then by group. We had gone first on the hiking trip to Wulaia Bay. Going last this time turned out perfectly, as I'll explain later. Zodiac trips were always fun, and today people were particularly cheery! I got brave and took a picture mid-Zodiac trip.
Zodiacing! Oh,...my ship,....beauty she is.
Once ashore, we doffed our lifevests and gathered with our guide, who was to lead us to the glacier and fill us with information, stories and antecdotes. As we mosied (moseyed?) down the beach, I saw this gorgeous rock. It faded slowly from orange to gray. I snapped a quick picture, and only later, when I saw it landscape view, did I realize just what I'd photographed. This got a LOT of laughs later. You don't need to speak English to understand this humor.
Tooshie Rock
We walked and walked and talked about birds and seashells and the weather, then we turned the corner and saw.....
Aguila Glacier
Yup. My jaw dropped too!! Possibly the MOST beautiful corner-turn that I've ever experienced. Our guide, Carlos, did a fantastic job leading us up to it, and then gave us the proper time to gawk. And to wipe our drool and pick up our jaws. This glacier is in a national park. Our ship is the ONLY ship to visit this park. The Chilean Navy doesn't even cruise these waters. So this glacier is completely untouched. Pristine, clean, pure, mother nature at her glorious best. Sun shining, birds chirping, sweatshirts disrobing....quiet perfection. What a lucky, lucky person I was and am to have had the chance to stand here. I wish every human could do what I did. After seeing this, you have no choice but to respect and love mother nature. Not meaning to sound granola-ish, or preachy....but wow. WOW.
After we all finished collecting ourselves, we went for a group shot. I almost didn't put this picture in, as I feel the humans kind of "ruin" the image I want to portray, but something funny happened. Here's our group. Happy, mostly cohesive, Americans. Group photo? Sure! Along come this random British couple, and what do they do? Take pics for us? Nope. Move along? Nope. They JUMP IN to our group! Yes indeedy. So everyone in our group, now has a "group photo" that includes some random British couple. I have no clue who they are. But they're in my picture, smiling and as giddy as the rest of us. We ran into this a few times...apparently it's a common thing in Europe to take pics with people you don't know? No matter....it was funny.
Group Shot + 2 random Brits
Up close and personal
Carlos, our guide
This is the point where being last came in nicely. All 160-some people before us were well on their way back to the beach to catch the Zodiacs. We were left (mostly) alone with nature. Just us. Yes, there were 22 of us (plus 2 random Brits), but that's a lot better than 180! We had unobstructed views and silence. Yep. Being last is sometimes best.
Being alone. :)
After a few steaming cups of hot chocolate on the beach, we Zodiaced back to the ship, changed clothes, then headed to the lounge for a pre-dinner drink. Like I said,...shipboard life suits me!
Calafate Sour
After dinner, the crew raffled off the flag that had flown on our ship, then auctioned off the navigational chart used to "round the horn". Monies are saved in case of a crew-member needed emergency medical care. At the end of the year, monies are split up like a bonus to every crew member. Our chart went for $600. The record is $2800.
0 comments:
Post a Comment