Sunday February 7, 2016 – The start of a welcome few days at sea after the busy two days in Uruguay. Being Sunday, we were up for the Ecumenical Church service of hymns, readings and prayers by the Captain Kevin Oprey. This was followed by an always informative destination lecture on Punta Arenas, Chile by Graham Howell, followed by an interesting talk by Times / Telegraph Press Photographer James Fraser entitled “Thrust me I’m a Press Photographer” illustrated with many interesting photographs. After time at the Gym and swimming, was the lecture by the Marine Biologist Philip Price entitled “Marine Creatures you really don’t want to meet” – Some really scary animals that live in the sea!. After dinner we all went to the Pub to watch the Super Bowl (Denver beat Carolina by 14 points), which was then moved to watching in the cabins after the first quarter, eventually retiring for the night at 2 AM!!!
Monday February 8, 2016 – Chinese New Year (Monkey). Last year we were in Pnohm Penh, Cambodia for Chinese New Year – what a change a year makes!!! Peter Snow (UK Journalist and Historian) gave his second fascinating historical talk (The first on Waterloo), this time being the war with America in 1814 after the Declaration of Independence when Britain marched on Washington DC and burned the White House and Congress (still two separate buildings), the efforts of Dolly Maddison, the presidents wife and then where the British were rebuffed in Delaware. Also mentioning the origin of a poem written after the battle which today is the US National Anthem. The title “When Britain Burned the White House” is also the title of his book. Mid day lecture by Robert Horner on “Bletchley Park – Britain’s Espionage Factory (Part 1 of 4)” laid out the origins and structure of the code breaking Center. It was so fascinating that the theatre holding 1000 was completely filled and even standing room was at a premium. Time in the gym and relaxation for the afternoon. After dinner, and the show – three terrific young ladies singing and calling themselves Virtuosity, there was the Carnival Ball as tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday. The dancers performed and many of the passengers donned fancy costumes / headdresses and a parade took place. Once again bed came late at 1:30 AM!!!
Tuesday February 9, 2016 – An action packed day – 10 AM – James Fraser on “The Greasy Pole – Politics Vs The Media”; then at 11 AM was the different departments of the crew who underwent a pancake tossing tournament for the joy of the passengers. 16 teams (Galley, Housekeeping, Photographers, Dancers, Bar servers, Waiters etc) all dressed in either their work or amusing clothing (some were dressed as babies in diapers, others with shoulder pads as American football players, others as pirates etc) and ran a course flipping pancakes in a frying pay. There were 4 to each team and after the elimination rounds, quarter, semi and finals, the victorious team – the dancers – got the trophy – A mounted frying pan! A really good fun was had by all. Then at 12:15 was another oceanography talk by Philip Price on weird and wonderful creatures – “Ocean Dwellers from another world” – from the 200 ton blue whale to the 1 millimetre long bear type animal that can stand 36,000 feet below sea level, 10 days outside in the vacuumed of space, placed in a -230C (near absolute zero environment) and at 150C (50% over boiling point of water) and live through it all. Rober Horner did his next Bletchly Park lecture explaining in detail the workings of the famous Enigma Machine and the key people in Bletchley Park. We decided to dine at the specialty restaurant – Todd English and then the show – A very amusing American ventriloquist singer (Michael Minor) who was able to sing and mimic singers of bye gone eras through the puppets. Now to bed earlier as we arrive at the bottom of South America in Ushuaia, Argentina at 6 AM tomorrow morning after going through the Beagle Channel. The sea conditions were a bit rough today and rain, fog, sunshine and cold (8-10C) winds prevented people venturing outside.
Roger & Anne Travels 