Friends

This is the last day upon the Antarctica Dream. I feel more than satisfied with the enormity of what I have seen and experienced. We continue to move at a fair pace despite the swells of the sea increasing. It sounds like tonight we will be celebrating the Captain's Farewell Dinner in the safety of sheltered waters. At the moment though, the boat still rocks. Breakfast included the rolling rolls and a crashing coffee cup. I wonder how it will feel to walk on solid ground again. Will I have wobbly sea legs on shore? The nausea feeling from yesterday is gone, and I am anticipating a few more great lectures down in the lower level. I love the depth of these lectures. Not only do they help pass the time, but I have learned a tremendous amount about Antarctica and nature.


Farewell Dinner
All the meals aboard this ship have been fancy three course meals, but tonight's dinner is a fantastic celebration. In the calm waters of the Beagle Channel, the dinning room is full of laughter. A man from Korea entertains us with songs.

OH!!! I've never talked about the amazing diversity on board. All ages of people are on this vessel. There's the Hong Kong film crew, a brilliant medical group from Canada, a newly married couple from Eastern Europe and a whole group of recently retired people from Switzerland. There is a photographer from Ireland, a journalist from England and two travel agents from Germany and Sweden. There are a few Argentineans, Chileans and at least one guy’s from Bolivia I believe. Then there is the Korean couple who have entertained us the entire trip! The guy singing songs in a boisterous voice as we waited in line for the zodiacs. He could sing almost anything. His wife made us all laugh. Video camera in the right hand with photo camera in the left...ALWAYS. I don't think she saw much of the trip except through her lens. She taped the lectures, the dinners, EVERY minute. And tonight was no exception. She somehow had gotten a hold of a third camera and was operating all three at once!!! These are just some of the people from the boat.

Emails are being exchanged and at times it feels like a strobe light is going off with the amount of photos being taken. Sharing in a glass a wine, people talk about their favorite moments as well as what they will do when they get back home. Two people have found romance on this trip, although I doubt it will work considering they live on different continents. The diversity of this group strikes me. We have so much we can learn from each other. I hope to stay in contact with at least a few of them.