Monday, January 1, 2024
Happy New Year!
On this first day of the year, we woke up late and lounged around our stateroom enjoying the views and coffee that Jane brewed. The World Cafe was serving brunch from 8 am to 1 pm, so we eventually wandered down to eat then attended an excellent presentation in the Aula about Antarctic penguin breeding strategies.
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| Attending Penguin School |
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| The Aula with Screen Retracted |
Early afternoon, we climbed into our outdoor wear, which has become a faster routine now, and headed down to Deck A for our Special Operations Boat (SOB) excursion. The SOBs are high-tech speed boats with two columns of techy high chairs running up the middle allowing excellent viewing. We dashed across the bay enjoying close-up views of various sized icebergs and then coasted along a beach with a colony of Gentoo penguins. We then headed back toward the ship but the pilot spotted a group of penguins swimming along, porpoising in graceful arcs through the air and water. We followed them for awhile before heading back to the Polaris.
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| Our SOB Guide |
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| Enjoying the View |
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| On the Lookout |
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| More Beautiful Icebergs |
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| Polaris’ Bow up Close |
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| Polaris’ Portside |
Back in the room, we changed clothes and relaxed awhile. Meanwhile, six penguins out for a joy ride, floated close by our window on a small berg. Eventually, we enjoyed another lovely dinner in the World Cafe. At 8:30 pm, Nina, Ray, Harriet, and I watched a great documentary together in the Aula called “March of the Penguins”. Jane didn’t join us because she had recently watched it at home. When I returned to our room, I learned that Jane had explored the ship, helped work on a jigsaw puzzle, and had updated her hand-written travel log.
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| Penguins out for a Joy Ride |
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| Close-up of the Crew |
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Picture of Irish seaman Tom Crean (1877-1938) with an armful of sledge dog puppies. This photo is across the hall from our stateroom door and is one of many pieces of historical documentation about Antartica displayed throughout Polaris.
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