"Good morning, good morning by dear Antarcticans"

27th January 2016
This morning we were still crossing the Drake Passage and it was still being kind to us. Yes we were rolling but not as much as it could.
Each morning quiet music is played in to the cabins as a wake up call. Julieta then comes over the speaker with her favourite saying, "Good morning, good morning by dear Antarcticans "
This morning we could see land a long way off on the port side. It was Cape Horn, but no worries we don't go anywhere near it.
This mornings lecture was given by Alejandro and it was about a project he works for. The "Southern Right Whale Programming" studies the whales in an area off Argentina.
At 1:20pm we left the Drake behind us and entered the Beagle Channel. Moving along the Channel we were joined by a number of Dusky Dolphins riding our bow wave, they seemed to be having a lot of fun jumping out of the water in front of the ship. There was another ship travelling parallel to us and the dolphins alternated between ships as if to give everyone a good show.
We made good progress yesterday and today across the "Drake Lake" as Julieta called it. We therefore anchored in the Beagle Channel and a pilot will come on board later to take us into Ushuaia where we will dock around 7:00 tomorrow morning.
We had our final recap with the guides this afternoon and we have all been given a CD that contains information from the trip. This includes an expedition log of what we did, a map of where we went, a list of wildlife seen and where, and a slide show of the trip. It's a really nice touch.
We then had a certificate presentation when we were each presented with a certificate stating that we had crossed the perilous waters of the Drake Passage on board the expedition vessel Ushuaia from Tierra del Fuego to Antarctica and landed on the Antarctic Continent at Gonzalez Videla Station 64 degrees 49' S, 62 degrees 51' W.
This evening we had our farewell meal and as it is my birthday today I was presented with a cake and a round of happy birthday to you. The cake was shared with those people sharing a table with me.
So the exciting bit is over and tomorrow I start the long trip home.
I hope you have enjoyed the blog and the photos. This is just a small sample of photos, there is around 1500 photos if you would like to see a few more! The last photo here shows me and the Great expedition team the next day after we docked.