Wednesday, March 4 and Thurs Mar 5. Moraira to Santiago via Valencia, Majorca and Barcelona.
We left home at 1:30 pm and boarded an Air Europa plane to Barcelona which involved a change at Malaga. We took off at 5 pm from Valencia and then around 8:30 pm from Malaga and eventually took off from Barcelona at 11:30 pm. This was all quite tiring as we had an extra soft suitcase that could not be checked in. The Level flight from Barcelona was in premium economy and this was good value for money as the seating was very satisfactory. The plane was not very full and we were probably have been okay in ordinary economy as the layout there were groups of two with four in the middle whereas in premium economy we had slightly wider seats and more legroom with seats of two and just three in the centre. The food was very basic and contains some MSG to keep David awake. But we both managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep and even the roll at breakfast was not inedible.
We landed in Santiago at 9:30 am and then had a short wait to get through passport control and an even longer wait for our suitcases but eventually we were cleared by 11:30 am and took a taxi in to the Mandarin Oriental in Santiago. Here there was chaos. Before we even got into reception, a doorman told us the room would not be ready. We eventually found a Silversea check-in on the first floor and went through that and once done with Silversea we had to go to another room to register with the Mandarin. They said it was unlikely the room would be ready before 3 pm, the agreed time of their arrivals but they would email us if it were to be ready earlier. We also had a fight with them as they would not take a debit card as security (insisting on a credit card) Eventually David paid the duty manager $200 in cash as a deposit.
We then went out to search for the mall which we eventually found in the opposite direction to that in which the Silversea lady had pointed us. We indulged in an almond and chocolate ice cream in the mall. These ice creams seemed to last forever. I also bought myself a little white top which I’ve been searching for for many a year in Zara. Back at the hotel at 3 pm, the room still was not ready and I told the Silversea staff that their management should tell the Mandarin management that they were a bunch of monkeys. Eventually we got a very nice room, 810, at about 15.15 and I got changed and went down for a swim and one of the most gorgeous pools we have ever seen. David had a Caipirinha while waiting at the pool, and it was not quite up to scratch. This proved to cause a problem, as he signed for it and later on we got a call to say he should not have signed for it as he had not left a deposit. Wow!, Fireworks. Apparently a human error. We enjoyed a cup of coffee in the room and went down later for more cocktails and a light snack.
Friday, March 6. Santiago de Puerto Williams.
We both got a reasonable amount of sleep during the night but we were awake from about 6 am onwards. We went down to breakfast before 8 am and were pleasantly surprised: it was a windowless room but fairly well lit and the food provided was a good quality. We enjoyed the fruit and a croissant and then went back to the room and made ourselves a coffee there with the pleasant views over Santiago. Before breakfast we had checked out as we feared this might be a lengthy process if we left it till the end. So at 10 am we assembled for the second of the Silversea charter flights of the day to Puerto Williams.
This was managed well and after a 30 minute drive to the airport we were quickly on board the roughly 70 seater jet and we were in the first row. It was a four hour flight and the time passed quite quickly. We enjoyed a very good pisco sour and then a pleasant meal, probably the same menu as we had had several years previously from Buenos Aires to Punta Uranus, followed by a Baileys liqueur. The boys had a trip to the flight deck where they helped the pilot fly the plane. All went well until after we landed. Just before landing the stewardess had removed a bag with the boys into a locker just ahead of us as in the first row one is not allowed anything loose. However, I forgot to ask for them back when we landed and only realised that they were missing after we had been on the bus to the ship for about 10 minutes. I explained the problem to the guide on the bus and was hopeful that we would be able to recover them before the aircraft took off again, but David felt there was little hope. Once the bus arrived at the ship about 10 minutes from the airport, I explained the problem again to a member of Silversea staff , by which time we had missed the opportunity to be the first passengers from the flight onto the ship, but that was a little consequence.
Once aboard the usual practices of registering and having our photos taken and then to our cabin, 720. We were lucky that we were on the second flight as the third flight only arrived near six and would’ve had little chance to unpack properly before dinner. The only members of the crew that we recognised in the first few hours were Martin, the cruise entertainment manager and Lee who we had known for many years who now seemed to be called Tracy for some unknown reason. We will have to find that out in the next few days. After working very hard at doing all the unpacking, I went down to reception and found the boys had in fact being delivered there but the reception were making no effort to reunite them with their owners. And I had to describe exactly what was in their little black bag to be allowed to take them away to safety and more cuddling in the future.
By this time it was about 6 pm and the sun was still shining, although it was very cold outside so I decided to go and test the pool as the water was obviously non-choppy before we sailed away. So I had a very pleasant swim and a Jacuzzi before getting changed and going up to the bar for another Pisco sour and having a chat to Martin in there about the possibilities of playing bridge aboard. Then we went back down to the room and found an invitation to dine tomorrow with the captain, Freddie. He was the South African captain who had we had encountered before and who had been the captain of the ship who had found the Endevour a few years ago. We then wrapped up well and went up to dine in the open air grill, knowing that this would be very cold but would be the best opportunity to sample the grill whilst the ship was almost stationary, departure time being set for 8 pm.
Saturday, March 7. At sea from Puerto Williams.
We had a good breakfast in the dining room. Which was followed at 9:30 am by a welcome from the expedition leader, Claudia or Clouds, a South African who we had not encountered before, as far as we know. She was very clear in all her instructions and we look forward to a good voyage with her. After this at 10:30 am Chris went and played Trivia whilst David attended a wine briefing by the head sommelier who was trying to up sell wines. Just seven other people attended this. A new twist on upselligs also emerged with Silversea trying to sell single glasses of wine for upwards of $30 each.
At 11 am there was a mandatory zodiac briefing. We had a healthy lunch in the dining room at noon and then a quick siesta before a Bridge rendezvous at 1:30 pm. Only one person turned up for this and lo and behold, what a surprise that was Adrian, who we had sailed with in 2019 aboard the Explorer. Neither of us really recognised each other even though we had corresponded with each other intermittently in between. At 3 pm it was a lecture by Matthew on the Falklands, followed by tea at 4 pm and then a briefing on Sundays activities at 5 pm by Clouds. Also a recap by Jess, Lee and Dimitri. We had sailed before with Jess (Saudi to Dublin) and discovered that she had now married her fellow lecturer, Matt. Other old fce were Babsi (sailed with her from Florida to Peru in 2019) and Dimitri, a Russian historin who lived in Cyprus.
At 6:30 pm there was a captains reception and then we were invited to dine with the captain. Here there were just two other guests, Mr. and Mrs Fleischer, who were friends of Donald Trump’s: the first so-called friends of Trump that I have ever encountered, so an interesting evening with them and captain Freddie who we had met beforehand and who was a delight to chat to. Also a very good red wine, Italian, and eventually a second bottle of this too, which I think were donated by Mr Fleisher. Then to bed and to plan early start on what we should wear in the morrow at Westpoint in the Falklands.
Sunday, March 8. The Falkland Islands, Westpoint and Saunders Island.
An early breakfast and then ashore at Westpoint. Because of David's torn ankle ligament, we used the Jeep to take us up to the other side of the island. So we were one of the first to arrive there. We had to go through the very long tussock grass which was over our headset times. We saw Adele and King Penguins nesting amongst the grasses We also saw Magellanic penguins on our circular route round the penguin colony. It was supposedly only 2.5 km one way, but it seemed a long way back.
Near the end of the way back we stopped at the farmhouse where they provided us with tea and cakes: the cakes were somewhat small. A Victoria sponge was full of imitation cream which was a great pity because the little cubes of carrot and chocolate cake were probably quite nice. The weather was exceptionally fine probably one of the best days in the whole year for this part of the world so we were incredibly lucky with that.
Then back to the ship and lunch in the restaurant with Chris and Jerry Anne, most enjoyable except for the fact that I ordered just a plate of ham and cheese as a main course and this came looking as though it had come from the Soviet Union. It was just spam and processed sliced cheese. Not surprisingly this was sent back and a reasonable platter of three pieces of cheese with grapes and nuts appeared instead.
In the afternoon we went out again just before 3 to visit Saunders Island. there we saw Gentoo, King and Rockhopper Penguins on a walk along the most fantastic sandy beach.. The experience was a bit spoilt by the fact that the crew were not easily recognisable so we could not get advice on what to see. The only decent advice on where to go was from Lee, although there were several other crew probably around.
We were back aboard around five and Chris managed to have a swim before a shower and then the recap and briefing at 6:30. We then went to the Panorama lounge for two Pisco sours, absolutely excellent and some canopies. Finally we ate in La Terrassa about 8:20 pm and chatted to Kevin and Adrian there. We also chatted to the head chef there who had received notice about disappointment with the cheese and ham platter at lunchtime! So Chris was able to order some marzipan petit fours for the future. After a pleasant dinner there we went up to the Panorama lounge and listen to Martin singing for half an hour before retiring very very tired.
Monday, 9th March. Anchorage at Port Stanley.
We anchored by 7 am of Port Stanley and we went ashore at 8:30 am for a battlefield tour. We saw quite a lot of the Falklands terrain, but our guide, Kevin, who was a corporal in the parachute regiment in 1982, was somewhat difficult to hear in a noisy coach, and partly due to his accent. The two Silversea expedition team who were in the coach were absolutely useless even though they knew that we could not hear properly
We visited four sites. The first being of Boot Hill; then Estancia were 4000 troops had turned up at the owners door: then the Argentinean helicopter crash site and then the Ghurka memorial before returning to Stanley. We left the bus at the statue to the dead, of which there were roughly 250 British dead, and went into the museum nearby. Then into a nearby supermarket, where we bought several different cough medicines and cough pastilles for David who was still really suffering from bronchitis, plus strained hamstring muscle which was taking a long time to heal..
Once back on the boat, we enjoyed our lunch before a lecture from the Russian historian on the Falklands. This was after another Trivia section at 3 pm in which Chris enjoyed a Paris coffee. A siesta during the afternoon and then a recap and briefing at 5:45 pm which included an interesting one from Babsi on how they had rescued two grounded dolphins the previous day. After this we enjoyed another Pisco sour with tapas in the Dolce Vita bar before going back to the room. We then visited reception to see if they could sort out by Chris could not send any WhatsApp’s or photos from her phone.
We then indulge in another Pisco sour and tapas in the Panorama lounge before a very pleasant dinner in the restaurant. This was followed by listening to Martin with his game show on what was the most popular answer to certain questions. But I was disappointed that he had not allocated a Bridge slot for the next day .
Tuesday, March 10. At sea, en route to South Georgia.
A really pleasant sea day with good weather. After a healthy breakfast in the restaurant, we went to a lecture on glaciers by David: but our David thought it was rubbish Chris quite enjoyed it.
After this that was at least an hour spare time before another lecture at 11:15. On Shackleton by Dimitri. It concluded with photographs of his efforts to reconstruct Shackleton's ship with Lego, which he did during Covid. We then went to the restaurant for an Indian buffet which David enjoyed whilst Chris ordered from their normal menu. Then we lost an hour in the afternoon, a ridiculous ploy by Silversea to change the clock during the daytime rather than during our sleeping period, I really do not know why. It was really confusing. At the new 3 pm I managed to get three others for a bridge session: this included Kevin, Adrian having got lost and Barbara with her husband Barry. They are really serious Bridge players from Canada. We played in the Dolce Vita lounge and it was more successful than I had thought, as I was worried that Kevin and Adrian would not be to the liking of two serious bridge players. We played until 4 pm and then debunked up to Trivia and then back again for a little tuition, Kevin having not played since 2019 and neither had Adrian.
At 5 pm there was a lecture on King Penguins and we all went to this and then adjourned again for more bridge until almost 7 pm. David was surprised to see me eventually back in the cabin before 7 pm. He knew that I could not have really got lost on the ship from 1.45 to 2:45 when I had left the cabin. I got changed quickly and we went up to the Panorama lounge for our normal drink, this time a Caipirinha and tapas. We chatted in the to a lady called Kimberly who had been sitting next to us whilst we were playing bridge. A pleasant meal in the Terrassa restaurant was followed by 20 minutes of karaoke in the panorama lounge. The chef had produced a large plate of marzipan petit fours for me which was left in our cabin. Another day at sea tomorrow, so no urgency in getting clothes ready for tomorrow.
During the night the television had come on at 3 am and was it was not possible for him to turn it off. So David went up to reception to ask for it to be turned off remotely but this seemed impossible and he was dismissed as a troublemaker. So at 7 am, he was a very tired bunny and very grumpy during the morning. We received a visit from some high officials who noted all this down. Meanwhile the television had been put to rights, but we still do not know exactly why it had turned itself on at 3 am: seemingly only one other television on the ship has been similarly affected.
Wednesday, March.11. At Sea en route to South Georgia.
After a leisurely breakfast, the morning was taken up with bio security for landing at South Georgia. They did not want any alien seeds to get ashore on our clothes. Also avian flu was a problem. First of all, we had a lecture and a video from Claudia on bio security and then we had to take all our outdoor clothes to the lecture theatre to be inspected for any seeds. The lunch at noon was not so good as normal but plenty of food all the same. At 1:30 pm we had the first announced Bridge game and five of us turned up for That: Adrian, Kevin Frank Barry and myself so we had quite a pleasant game with Frank observing for a 90 minutes. I had obtained the necessary tablecloths to stop the cards falling off the table from the restaurant and the necessary bidding boxes from Martin. Then at 3:30 pm there was a lecture from Matt over how they eradicated the rat from South Georgia. Then Trivia followed by another lecture on seals and sea lions, particularly the Antarctic sea lion which was the only one which had ear flaps. During this time David had attended a champagne tasting.
6 pm Clouds here with her recap and briefing, and then after 7 pm, we went up to the lounge for our normal drink and Tapas. A very pleasant dinner followed in the restaurant with smoked salmon, terrene de fois gras, and then duck with orange. Then up to the panorama again for a Paris coffee whilst listening to Martin doing his name this film game.
Thursday, March 12, Gold Harbour and Saint Andrews Bay, South Georgia.
An early start at 7 am for the zodiac ride to Gold Harbour. We had seen the Sun rising over the mountains from our balcony, and they were indeed gold. . It was a gorgeous sunny day for the zodiac from which we tried to view the penguins and the seals that were on the land here. 13 years previously we had been able to land here as we were on a less than 100 passenger boat but with our present 200 passenger boat this is not allowed. Nevertheless, we had a very pleasant cruise back and forth along the colonies of penguins and seals that inhabited this area. And it was pleasantly warm.
Once back aboard 90 minutes later, we enjoyed a breakfast in a nearly empty Terrassa restaurant. Then we sat out outside the Panorama lounge for an hour or so in the sunshine before Trivia at 11 am. This was followed by a briefing on the next day at 11:30 am and then lunch in the restaurant at noon. After this siesta for an hour or so before the next outing at Saint Andrews Bay, the ship having repositioned itself to here during lunch.
We went ashore 2:30 pm. We had visited this area 13 years ago and Chris had fallen over here. So she remembered it vividly at this time. It seemed to be in a slightly different place and we walked through grass with penguins and seals hopping around until we got to a ridge above the beach where we could survey the myriad of King Penguins. After having taken loads of photos we eventually made our way back and had a very wet start to our our Zodiac ride back to the ship as they tried to push the zodiac out against the income in rollers.
We were back on the ship just in time for afternoon tea and then at 6 pm we went to see the guest relations manager to see if we could get them to change the restriction on Chris only having one IT connection, which made life very difficult for her with her limited vision. We will see if we manage to get them to break their company rules that of guests should only have one machine connected.
At 7 pm, we met up with Kevin and Adrian in the Panorama lounge for a drink and then had dinner with them in the main restaurant. Unfortunately, the food was really bad this evening so it was not an overwhelming success. But we had a long chat to the chef about it. Not quite so early start in the morning.
Friday March 13 . Stromness and Grytvyken, South Georgia
Breakfast in the restaurant and then we were one of the last zodiac groups ashore at Stromness. This was the place Shackleton reached with two of his crew after a long sail in the James Caird from Elephant Island in. 1916. It was a whaling station and Shackleton’s boat had landed on the opposite side of South Georgia and the three men left behind the other three somewhat feeble members of the epic boat journey,and then climbed up over the mountains. They heard the work siren of the Stromness wailing factory in the distance, and from that knew they were arriving at safety.
Here we set off on a walk to Shackleton‘s waterfall, but decided not to do the full walk after having seen the waterfall in good resolution through the binoculars. So we then returned to Stromness, avoiding the numerous fur seal pups which were somewhat aggressive, to the beach and then crossed a river to see a number of elephant seals. The weather was truly miraculous and David had seen the most gorgeous golden suns rise from the front of the ship at 6:15 am. After this the ship repositioned to Grytvyken, another of the old whaling stations. It has been partially restored and now receives at least 150 boats during the six months season. During this time we had a game of trivia and a recap and briefing from Clouds.
In the afternoon we were again almost the last to set off for this whaling station. The weather is still absolutely splendid. It was quite a calm landing and we walked up to Shackleton‘s grave where Dimitri gave a talk and a toast to the boss: the toast was a dram of whiskey in a plastic mug - Silversea bean counters strike again. Beside Shackleton‘s grave was a plaque and the ashes of his second in command, Frank Wilde, which had been placed there in 2020. From here we walked down to the other side of the beach, left our life jackets and then had a guided tour of the whaling station from one of the South Georgia Trust staff . We went to the church and then the various shops and the museum before being in the last zodiac back to the ship around 6 pm.
A cocktail and tapas in the panorama lounge, completely deserted as per normal, was followed by another mediocre dinner in the restaurant and then an Irish coffee to the sounds of the guitarist back in the Panorama lounge after dinner.
Saturday, March 14. Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.
An early morning and a very foggy morning. Before we went to shore at 7 am, I had to go down to reception to get my phone functioning and this took at least 10 minutes and the receptionist was very unwilling to give it back to me when I said I hadn’t got time to hang around. I also said I needed to speak to the guest relation manager but not at that moment as I needed to get my Parka on and life jacket ready for the call for our Zodiac group . When I eventually got back to the cabin alone and behold the telephone rag and there was a guest relation manager so I told her again that I had not got time to talk and would hear from her later.
So we set out in the mist to visit Salisbury Plain. Not too long journey by zodiac and there were penguins galore to greet us as we landed. Then a walk of at least a mile, not difficult at all but over a few very shallow rivers until we came to the end of the walk which seemed to be a glacier with lots of penguins, very scenic. Then a leisurely walk back again passing molting pups and a mother penguin who was standing on an egg. Obviously far too late in the season to successfully be hatched and survive.
Back aboard by soon after 8:30 am, the return journey having to be made on a compass setting as the mist was far too thick to reveal the ship's position. Eventually the ship emerged like the Mari Celeste out of the mist, and we made it back safely. We had breakfast in La Terrassa, a window table but without a view because of the mist, and I sampled my first almond croissants that Kevin had so highly recommended.
There was nothing scheduled in the morning except for a sail away party at 11:15 am but this was cancelled due to the weather. Chris was disappointed or shall we say annoyed by the fact that there was no Bridge scheduled on the daily schedule. She found Martin and asked him to announce that there would be a bridge at 1:30 pm and he agreed to this but obviously did not intend making any But he did apparently ring up a few people to tell them that there will be a bridge. However, at 1:30 pm that was just herself Kevin and Adrian but they still manage to have a happy hour or so before Adrian decided he needed to do some work. I ordered a café Roma whilst we were playing bridge but received a most peculiar cup of coffee with lime in it. I had had many apologies for this during the rest of the day
2 pm, there was team trivia. Then at 4 pm, although this was actually only 3 pm as the hour had again been lost on time change mid afternoon. David and Chris indulged in a scone at afternoon tea. 6 pm the recap and briefing which went on for 45 minutes. Then we got changed for dinner and went up to the Panorama lounge for our normal cocktail and canapés before eating in La Terrassa soon after eight and for once the food was really good. A nightcap in the panorama lounge of a Café Roma,
I was woken up at 10:20 pm by Tanya the guest relation manager, who seemed to be indicating that they would give me premium Wi-Fi but she sounded very sulky. I did not think it was necessary to wake me up to tell me this.
Sunday, March 15. Sea Day
At sea in the fog amid the growlers. A very foggy day with no views whatsoever after breakfast, we had a lecture by Jess on the history using Survivor Shackleton as her role model. It was not until the 1980s when someone discovered a secondhand book that he had remembered enjoying as a child that the legend of Shackleton as a role model of a leader to get one out of a hole was established and the notion of Scott as a British hero diminished. A really enjoyable lecture.
Later on Captain Freddie gave a 45 minute talk The discovery of Shackleton ship, the endurance, in 2022. We had heard him talk about this in 2023, but this talk was completely different and maybe a bit too technical for the majority of us. Lunch was a British pub lunch buffet in the restaurant where we had an excellent steak and mushroom pie and some roast lamb and also a portion of fish and three chips with mushy peas.
At 1:30, I had 90 minutes Bridge with Adrian, Kevin Jerry and Philip: very enjoyable as usual. Then team trivia at 3:30 pm before just reading in the cabin and having a siesta until 6 pm. This was the time for the Venetian Society so-called party. We were the second most travelled Silver Seas members on board with our 580 days being a long way behind the Loebs Then a painful dinner with the staff captain and the third officer and Vicky and Dennis Roberts. Adrian and Kevin were sitting at the decks table and making a terrible amount of noise but in a way this alleviated the difficulty of making conversation with the staff captain.
At 9 am, we went to see The guest relation manager said that the hotel director had agreed to give me premium Wi-Fi which would enable me to use both my machines at the same time: this was said somewhat graciously that she did become human in the end by the time she had set the two machines up.
Monday, March 16. At Sea.
I enjoyed porridge for my breakfast and after this we went to a lecture on kelp. It actually make the kelp seem quite interesting. Then later on there was a talk by Philip Kellen, the administrator of Tristan Da Cunha on life on that island. He had been there just over two years after serving as a diplomat in North Korea, South Korea, Austria, Bulgaria, and Israel. This was quite interesting for me. Then there was an Asian buffet in the main restaurant where the crackling on the pork was particularly good.
Bridge at 1:15 was great but they stole another hour from us with the clocks going forward so we only had just over an hour before having to stop for team trivia: this I also greatly enjoyed. Soon after this, there was a presentation by Claudia on the Arctic: we felt she rather over egged the number of polar bears to be seen there but I enjoyed her photos. There was also a recap and briefing before having cocktails as usual in the panorama lounge, Chris really enjoying her newly found Amaretto sour, and then dinner in the in Terrassa. I then managed to do this diary before going back up to the panorama lounge to hear Martin singing.
Tuesday March 17. At sea.
A leisurely breakfast and then nothing until 11:15 am when Philip, the administrator of Tristan Da Cunha, held a questions and answers session in the theatre.
Then a Greek buffet which was not mentioned in the Chronicles at all, so did not get a large attendance in the restaurant. This was followed by 90 minutes bridge at 1:30 pm which was good fun as usual with just four of us. Then there was a mandatory bio security check on our outdoor clothes in readiness for landing at Tristan.
I then mugged up on Saint Patrick as it was Saint Patrick’s Day and I thought Martin would ask some questions about this at trivia 4 pm, but there were none. At recap and briefing we discovered that we were in fact going to have hopefully 2 1/2 days at Tristan and would not overlap with the Hellenic Diana ship which was also scheduled for 8 am on March 20.
Dinner in the restaurant was followed by an Irish liars club with Micha, John, Jolene and Janine being liars and Martin hosting it. David participated that in this and got three out of 4 right which was equal first.
Wednesday March 18. Gough Island.
A leisurely morning, after attending 30 minutes of a talk on Pirates and castaways. I played bridge with Gary, Kevin and Adrian between 10 and 1130. Then trivia at 11:45 followed by lunch, again in the restaurant, and then 30 minutes siesta before being called with half an hour warning for our zodiac cruise around Gough Island. We were now about a days sailing south of Tristan Da Cunha. We had a very enthusiastic zodiac driver called Dane and we saw many rock hopper penguins and albatrosses. Also unusual rock formations. Quite a pleasant 80 minutes but Chris was not actually able to focus on any of the wildlife from the zodiac but the vegetation and rocks were interesting.
Once back aboard we enjoyed a good scone for afternoon tea and then a guided tour round the galley at 5 pm. This was very extensive but they had far too many people in the group and only three or four could actually hear what was being said by, first the hotel director,r and then the head chef. I was amazed that it was the original kitchen installed in 1994 when the ship was built. But we had to give the cruise top marks for having allowed us to see it as we had never been round a kitchen before on many trips on the Silver Cloud and the Silver Wind. Then it was time for Claudia’s recap and briefing. This included a video of the Silver Explorers rescue of some crew members from the ship Oliva in 2011 on which both she, and Daniell, had been in the expedition staff.
We then went straight to the panorama lounge for our cocktails. After this we went to the Terrassa about 8.30. A reasonable meal apart from the discoloured sprouts that seemed to come out with every meal there: we had a word with one of the sous chefs about this afterwards. Also talked to Kev who had been in the military intelligence for 41 years, included in Northern Ireland. Then we had coffee and a drink in the panorama lounge with no show on for the evening.
Thursday, March 19. Nightingale Island.
After breakfast, we went up to the observation lounge and spent a pleasant hour there as we approach Nightingale Island. Then a really pleasant zodiac tour, the sun shining and the temperature warm, with just eight of us in the zodiac so taking photos was much easier than normal. We saw lots of rock hopper penguins and seals, far more attractive than normal somehow. Also great rock formations and we were out for about 90 minutes returning for a late lunch.
Time for trivia before going out again in the afternoon. We had signed up for the short hike up Nightingale but this was deemed difficult. Was just not so long as the other one. But once we got onto the island, Chris found it far too difficult and was relieved when the expedition team confirmed this for her, although David was still convinced that we could’ve done it. He refused to go on up by himself, so we waited on the island with such pleasant views for about half an hour and eventually we’re given a zodiac cruise all by ourselves with Babsi as our driver. This is a very pleasant alternative to our frightening hike.
Once back aboard we showered and hair washed quickly and there was a recap and briefing at 6:30 which we followed with drinks in the panorama lounge before returning into the cabin until about 8.15. Dinner in the restaurant with the lamb was a big disappointment. Then a quick sit down in the panorama lounge with a Poire William for David. During the day "Silver Sea " had added himself to the collection of bears on the bed, a present from Martin with his cupboard clear out.
Friday, March 20. Inaccessible Island and Tristan Da Cunha
We had an early start for an 80 minute cruise round, or rather in front of, Inaccessible Island There were just eight of us in a zodiac with Tristan, so named, as the driver. David was not happy that for a lot of the time to start with we we’re just looking out to sea on our side resulting in us getting rotten cricks in our neck. They was really was not a lot to see, but it was still a pleasant interlude from the ship.
Back on board just before 10 we just managed to get a breakfast in the panorama lounge which we had not visited before for breakfasted. Eventually our fresh orange juices reached us. Then I had a quick snooze before team trivia at 11:15 and Lunch at noon. Then another snooze of an hour before woken up by Clouds telling us of the afternoons departs.
We disembarked for our walking tour of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas just before 3 pm. The guide, Chris Swain, a local of about 60 years, seemed completely unaware of what this position of guide meant and marched a very large group, far too large in our opinion, around the town with hardly a word. After 15 minutes or so of this Lee took charge and tried to ask him questions continuously, but most of these were replied by a yes no or some facile comment that meant absolutely nothing.Was he a halfwit, was he sulking because he had to do the job or did he genuinely not know what was required of him ? The Hellenic Swan ship Diana has been in town in the morning and we saw her departing just before 3 pm.
We were happy with our view of the Township of the settlement as locals call it despite the efforts of Chris Swain to put us off. We entered the shop where we found two sweaters that we really liked with rock hoppers on and hope to go back to purchase in the morrow with cash as they did not take credit cards. We put our noses into the pub but decided this was far too crowded and also visited the gift shop where we did not find anything interesting. We also tried to enter the school but there was nobody there at about 5 pm, so then went on to the cemetery and then wended our way back to the jetty, boarding the ship just before six.
We showered and went to the Dolce Vita bar for a change about 6:30 pm and had a cocktail and canopies there and then returned to the cabin for half an hour before going up to the panorama lounge for another cocktail and more canopies. Our dinner in La Terrassa was a success which made a pleasant change. Then a port and a Poire William in the panorama lounge completed our evening , before wandering across the noisy deck where the officers were presenting a cocktail demonstration.
Saturday March 21, Tristan Da Cunha
An early morning start to go to the potato patches. We were told it was quite a short walk but it turned out to be about 9 km return trek. But we managed to get the island bus for the return journey. It was quite a pleasant morning with a light breeze and we walked past cows and sheep till we got to the potato patches. Here the potatoes are just about being dug this year, but many these patches were long ago abandoned. There were buildings here too, many of them had had their roofs blown off in the severe gales the island suffers. We managed to get the front seats in the bus for the return and then then walked to the pub where the handicraft we had seen on the previous day where displayed and here we bought the two rock hopper sweaters, these being greatly admired by everybody on board when we wore them for the afternoon.
We were back aboard by about 10:15 am and went up to the panorama lounge at 11 am for a piece of cheese. Then lunch up on deck after Chris had had a swim in a somewhat choppy pool and then the Jacuzzi. We enjoyed the lunch up on deck as the weather was really barmy. Then Chris went down to play bridge at 1:15/1:30 pm that lasted less than half an hour as trivia was at 2 pm and we failed to get a 4th to resume after trivia.
At 4 pm there was a lecture by David on the Vulcanology of the Tristan Cunha Islands and David was very unhappy with this, later looking up all about the hotspot on AI. A recap and briefing at 5:45 pm. Predictably showed a very self satisfied Clouds announcing how we have done all the islands and we should never do the trip again as we would never get such a success rate. She also introduced Conrad Glass," the rock hopper copper", who was travelling with us to Cape Town to take up a position as lecture on a Seabourn ship. We had a cocktail in the Dolce Vita bar and then went back to the cabin to change and David had another one after this in the panorama lounge, but we were very disappointed that there was no music there yet again. A pleasant dinner in the dining room followed by a port afterwards in the panorama lounge talking to Adrian and vaguely listening to Martin’s musical quiz.
Sunday March 22. At sea en route to Cape Town.
After breakfast Chris sat out on the back deck outside the panorama lounge until about 11 am and then attended Conrad Glass's lecture on Tristan Da Cunha. He was the seventh generation descended from a William Glass, An army corporal who stayed there after being posted in the Garrison for the eight months that the British garrisoned Tristan. It was a preventative measure to stop the French trying to rescue Napoleon from St Helena. We were not over impressed by his presentation which was far from polished, but we probably learnt a few facts that we had not known beforehand.
Then we attended a drinks and canopies reception given by the hotel director for the 10 most travelled couples on the ship. This we stayed at for less than 30 minutes as we had a previous lunch date with Lee. We enjoyed our time chatting to Lee but then I was telephoned by Adrian to say I was missing from Bridge which started at at 1:30 pm, a fact I knew but thought I still had one or two minutes in hand. I was really suffering with my cough, being unable to breathe at times so did not enjoy bridge as much as I normally did. Then at 2:30 pm which should be changed to 3:30 pm by Silverseas silly movement of the clock forward an hour in the afternoon rather than in the middle of the night.
We had trivia and soon after this lecture by Jess on costing trying to preserve nature and resources: I found this quite thought-provoking. At 5:45 pm there was a recap and briefing, nothing momentous at all and at 7 pm we joined Adrian and Kevin for drinks in the panorama lounge before a very pleasant meal up with them in La Terrassa, but Chris was still suffering from being unable to breathe. After this David and Chris went up to the lounge for 30 minutes to hear Martin singing.
Monday, March 23 . At sea.
After a really bad night with my cough, we just managed to make the 9:15 am lecture by David on geology in Africa talking about the tectonic plates and the movement of the continents in the far past Then there was a lecture on where does food come from which was not super exciting at all.
As there was a seafood lunch buffet up on deck we decided that La Terrassa would be fairly empty so had lunch there which was very pleasant, a window table and roast goose followed by some cheese . Bridge at 1:30 pm for about an hour and then a break before trivia at 3:30 followed by afternoon tea and scones At 5 pm there was a 1960s BBC film about the evacuation of Tristan Da Cunha and life there just before and just after this evacuation, which it lasted two years in England for the islanders. The islanders had not enjoyed their time in England and voted practically unanimously to return to Tristan. But once back in Tristan, 35 of them then returned to England: after three years 27 of these then returned back to Tristan. It appeared to me that life was not quite so Rosie on Tristan as the islanders wish us to believe and that it was merely that they felt confident there with all the support they had one to another which they would not have in Britain.
We had drinks and then dinner with Janine and Martin and that interesting things about them . I was somewhat inhibited by my cough having turned into a full-blown sneezing cold but felt relieved that at least the ache of breathing might now go away. There was then a party up on deck but it only had about 25 people at it dancing away with super loud music so we just observed this and came back to the cabin.
Tuesday March 24. At Sea.
A bad night with an emerging cold, but at least I had could breathe again by the morning,. But feeling really tired I went back to sleep again and David went to breakfast alone in the panorama lounge. I got up in time for lunch out on deck and had my first hamburger of the trip: the fresh air and the side of the sea was more bracing than the hamburger, but I really enjoyed my time. We then went and sat out in the Sun on the comfy chairs outside the panorama lounge until the bridge session at 1:30. This was a good full session of over 90 minutes and I managed to conceal my cold. I think fairly satisfactorily. Then trivia at 3:30 pm which was so enjoyable as usual.
This was followed by a 1980s colour film on life on Tristan Da Cunha which showed that 16 to 25-year-olds were not satisfied with staying on the island and there was a shortage of eligible men. When this stopped Conrad Glass answered questions and it was obvious that he thought that life had deteriorated on the island -more rubbish was being left around, although we have not noticed this as it was just such things as a ruined car and a gas cylinder rather than plastic bottles et cetera. He was dubious about how the island would be in another 10 years or so.
David went to a lecture on orcas and whales around South Africa whilst I stayed in the cabin on the balcony. I had a chat with both Nick and Carol. We then had a cocktail. Before going up to the panorama lounge for David to have another cocktail. We ate in La Terrassa, a pleasant meal, then back to the panorama lounge for Martin’s musical songs of which there were more than 15, of which we only got one answer right although we were not competing anyway. Then to bed and the dictation of this diary as usual. During the day the The swell had increased and we put fresh anti-sea sick patches behind our ears around 6 pm so that the final day would not be spent with that problem
Wednesday March 25. At Sea
breakfasted as usual in the dining room and then went to a 9:30 am lecture on the flowers of the Cape: I found this really interesting but it was not a good lecture and far too many things were shown, including loads of insects and animals but the flowers were really beautiful. Then at 11 am, after trivia at 10:15 am, there was a lecture on the Benguala sea current, a bit beyond me, but that may be just a bad lecture. Having decided that I wanted some fresh air for lunch, we sat down on the terrace of La Terrassa and our luck was in as beef Wellington was being sliced, excellent but far too mutch of it. This was followed by a small fruit salad, that is the little fruit that still remained on board ship, oranges mangoes grapefruit and several other fruits have been exhausted.
Then we sat on the back deck outside the panorama for half an hour before I played bridge for the last time with Kevin, Adrian and Gary. Once again we lost an hour of the afternoon so did not have a long game. At 4 pm that was the expedition team farewell included in the results of the photographic competition and Claudia‘s recap of the voyage. At 5 pm, we cashed in our points that we had received for trivia and any other game show and Martin had saved us a compendium of Frank Curley’s shops of the endurance and I also got a notebook and pen so we were really pleased with these.
Our 6 pm there was a captains farewell, for the first time without any canopies but they made up for this later on in the evening when at 9:15 pm there was a chocolate bonanza in the panorama lounge. We had dinner with Claudia and her partner Mark and also the Norths once again. Mark was charming and we really enjoyed our conversation with him and continue chatting to him later on in the panorama lounge over an Irish coffee. The panorama lounge was really noisy with all the people who had gathered there for the chocolate Bonanza, which indeed looked very appetising, but we had eaten too much already. Earlier we had vacuum packed sweaters and bulky trousers ready for the packing tomorrow.
Thursday, March 26. Cape Town.
We were already in Cape Town when we woke up in the morning and got up earlier than normal and packed some of the big case before breakfast and then most of the rest of it after breakfast. We left the ship after nine for a six hour outing to Stellenbosch. 64 of us went on two coaches First stop at Stellenbosch where we had a short walk round this beautiful town with a guide and within less for 15 minutes by ourselves. The church was particularly impressive. Then back into the coach for a 10 minute ride to the Marathe vineyard which was quite scenic and had about seven tables outside, seating nine people each. We were here by noon but the second coach had not arrived for another 20 minutes or so. Then there was a wine tasting or for a wines. Only after this did they take the orders for lunch for which there was a choice between two starters and two main course. But no food arrived till at least 230 which was the time which we were meant to be leaving and then the food arrived only erratically. Eventually we had our fish which in fact was quite well cooked but then gave up the ghost and went for a walk by ourselves sitting overlooking table mountain and other mountains in a very aesthetic position. Then we wandered round the multiple rooms of the museum part of the estate, before wandering back to the coach parked by a lake. Here we laid down on the bank to wait the others. Eventually we set off back to town at one minute before four, some 90 minutes later than anticipated. Of course the slight delay was glossed over by Matt on the coach saying it was all well worthwhile. Both of us went to sleep on the way journey back.
We then spent 90 minutes in the cabin finishing off the packing, with great difficulties for David to shut the big suitcase. Then to the panorama lounge for our final cocktail and champagne for David. We had both got to the stage where food was no longer an attraction for us, so Chris just had cheese and a small salad and David a light dinner.
We then returned to the cabin and labeled the suitcases and put them outside the door before having our final café Roma and Irish coffee in the panorama lounge with a chat to Rolloff after he finished playing the piano.
Friday, March 27. Cape Town to Hermanas.
We vacated the room by 8 am and left our possessions in the library and then had breakfast in La Terrassa. It was very foggy so not possible to eat outside on the terrace. At 9:30 am we had to leave the ship this was the last time we could stay on until, and we proceeded to pick up our luggage and then went through customs and successfully ordered an Uber with no problems. It was just a short ride to the offices of. Bluu, The rental car company, in the centre of Cape Town.
Our Silver Sea holiday Cape to Cape