Sunday, January 7, 2024
Jane had not slept well last night although I slept like a baby rocked in a cradle. On our last full day on Polaris, we rolled out of bed early, dressed, and headed to the bow deck to see Cape Horn. Gradually, quite a crowd joined us and the crew served coffee fortified with Irish whiskey. And, a rainbow briefly appeared over Polaris. Afterwards, Jane and I had breakfast together then she went back to the room and later, attended another session on micro-plastics in the Science Lab. Meanwhile, I went to the Aula to watch a Disney film on an Adelie penguin named Steve. This was followed by a lecture about acoustic communications of Southern right whales.
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| Approaching Cape Horn |
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| Rainbow over Polaris |
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| Cape Horn |
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| Learning about Southern Right Whale Acoustics |
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| Whales have Egos, too |
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| Harriet (right) attending a Micro-plastics Session in the Science Lab |
All five of our pre-cruise group gathered for lunch and later in the afternoon, participated in a science trivia competition (that we did poorly at) and a walk-through of the Hangar and Science Lab. All the ships toys, Zodiacs, submersibles, special operations boats and kayaks were stored in the hangar and it was interesting viewing them all together and from different perspectives.
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| The Hangar – Polaris’ Toy Box |
Afterwards, Jane and I went back to our stateroom and packed the bags we will check on tomorrow’s flight, managing to squeeze our new Viking coats and liners into the bags we brought. We will place these bags in the hallway before 9:30 tonight for pick-up and transfer to the airport.
Nina and Ray had made a 7 pm reservation for our pre-excursion group at The Restaurant, so that the five of us could meet in fellowship for one final meal together. The food, wine and company were excellent and we enjoyed reminiscing about the good times we had had together on this trip and discussing our future travel plans.
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| Farewell Dinner of the Pre-Excursionists |
Polaris had docked in Ushuaia during dinner, so around 9 pm, Jane and I disembarked and walked into town; it was still very light. We walked along the docks, then uphill to the main street. It was Sunday evening so that shoppes were closed but the bars and restaurants that were opened were crowded with tourists. We also strolled along a promenade by the water before returning to the ship where our bags had disappeared from the hallway. We went to bed immediately trying to rest up for our travel day tomorrow.
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| The End of the World |
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| Changing of the Year |
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| Monument to the Indigenous Peoples of Tierra del Fuego |
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| Provincial Government Building |
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| Tourist Vendor Buildings |
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| Memorial to Local Singer/Songwriter Angelito “Titi” Rodriguez |
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| Streets of Ushuaia |
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| Street Wanderer |
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| Jane and Polaris |
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| View from the Waterside Promenade |
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| Polaris at Dock with Vessel Mates |
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| Penguin Souvenirs |
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| Returning to Polaris via the Docks |
