CAPE PUSSYCAT

Dawn.  Cape Horn.  The dreaded passage.

Not.

We have been incredibly lucky (if you believe the ship’s naturalist) with the good weather in every port and point of interest.  Today was no exception.  Not only did we have sun and clear views, the sea was totally calm.  Cape Horn is an island marking the southern tip of the Andes archipelago, and its principal mountain also is referred to as the Horn.  It was named after the Dutch ship Hoorn, which was the first to navigate around the southern tip (as opposed to going through the more northern Straits of Magellan) in early 1616.  This is about as nice a view as you ever will get.

There was a decent wind blowing, so it was still quite chilly out on the deck.  My ears and hands were freezing.

We were there early, but the deck quickly crowded.  There was a lot of jostling for position and more than one shot botched by getting knocked about by the, um, more enthusiastic photographers.  Taking your turn is not a universal trait among nationalities.  No names.

Our ship was joined by the much smaller “expedition” type vessel that we saw docked at Ushuaia.  It was much closer to the shore and was offloading some passengers on zodiacs and running them into the beach.  There’s a very steep stairway from the landing up to the ridge where the weather station (manned by a family of three) sits and where the famed albatross silhouette artwork is positioned.  The silhouette is formed by two metal panels that are each cut along facing edges so that, when positioned together, the cutout gap forms the image of an albatross with its wings spread up and down.  Look closely and you can make it out (with little thanks to my poor telephoto).

We’ve been trying to find an albatross souvenir to take back for our RV, which we named “Albatross” five years ago.  Haven’t found a one.  Penguin knick-knacks galore, but no albatrosses.  We’ve seen the real deal skimming and soaring along the waves when we’re out at sea, and they truly are nifty birds, with up to 10 foot wingspans.  They spend nearly all their lives at sea, coming to shore only to mate.  Anyway, absent a trip to Antarctica some day, this is as far south on the planet as we’ll ever get.  Loni is SO glad about the calm seas and I love the sun for photos.

Of course, when we looked east, our intended direction after leaving the Cape, things looked a bit dicey.  A lot of people on board are disappointed that we didn’t encounter really rough seas.  If we had, I suspect most of those heroes would be barfing in their cabins.

Oh well, only one thing to do.

You can have your choice of a sit-down-and-be-served breakfast in the decks 4/5 main dining room, or go upstairs to the 10th deck cafeteria.  The choices are much wider in the cafeteria, so we have almost always opted for that.  Besides, you can sit next to huge picture windows like these if you scramble fast enough.  Those disks are windows that look straight down to the water. 

A gimmick that fades quickly, and they’re mostly a pain to slide your chair legs over the lip.  We’re now headed north to Puerto Madryn, Argentina.  Goodbye, Cape!  Hello, Atlantic!