Destinations/Ports Series: 2020 South America/Antarctica Cruise Elephant Island may be most famous as the shelter of last resort taken by the crew of the Endurance during the ill fated Antarctic expedition lead by Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton’s ship became trapped in the Weddell Sea ice for over a year and was eventually crushed and sank. The…
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Destinations/Ports Series: 2020 South America/Antarctica Cruise Paradise Bay is one of the quietest places I have ever visited. There are no signs of civilization, though it is home to Argentina’s Almirante Brown Antarctic Base (still in use) and Chile’s González Videla Antarctic Base (not used since the 1980s). We sat on the deck of our…
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Destinations/Ports Series: 2020 South America/Antarctica Cruise After spending most of the day at sailing around Paradise Bay and enjoying the picturesque views, our ship headed back towards South America via the Gerlache Strait, named for Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache who lead an Antarctic expedition in 1897. This continued the scenic sailing though the Antarctic…
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Destinations/Ports Series: 2020 South America/Antarctica Cruise This was our first glimpse of land as we approached Antarctica. On either side of us was Anvers Island and the Brabant Islands. The channel was discovered by the Belgian Explorer Adrien de Gerlache who named it for Fans Schollaert, who served as prime minster of Belgium from 1908…
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Destinations/Ports Series: 2020 South America/Antarctica Cruise Before the completion of the Panama Canal, merchants who wanted to ship goods via sea from the East Coast of the US to California, or the reverse, would have to utilize the clipper ships that would sail around South America and the famed Cape Horn. Sailing on a sailing…
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