Tuesday. We were rousted from our sleep a little after 5:00 a.m. at the campsite where we had slept onshore. When I pulled my boots on (they had been outside the tent overnight) and stood up, my back went out. It was so painful I could barely walk but I managed to help break the tent down and repack it. Back on board I immediately took a couple of ibuprofen. A special breakfast had been prepared for us campers which included a mixed fish plate and Prosecco. Nathan kindly got a cold pack from a crew member and I iced my back before going to bed. We were awakened around 10:00 a.m. by an announcement that there were orcas nearby, but by the time wed dressed and gone up to the deck, they were long gone. After lunch I took a couple more ibuprofen, walked around the deck for a while and did a lot of stretching so that I could join the shore excursion. We anchored in Paradise Harbor on the Antarctic Peninsula. Nearby was Ardvord Bay.
I was glad that our group, the Wandering Albatrosses, had a late shore excursion (4:30 p.m.) because it gave me more time
to recover. We landed at Brown Station, an Argentine research station, named for Admiale Brown, an Irishman who emigrated to Argentina. A colony of gentoo penguins lives among the buildings. Our path led us between two buildings and through the colony. A few of the females had young chicks standing on their feet, two had twins, one was feeding a chick from her throat. A couple of snowy sheathbills were there also and an albino gentoo. We had to sometimes stop and wait while penguins crossed by. A path up the hillside through the snow had been laid down by all the hikers before us. It led to a wonderful viewpoint. Higher up was a place to slide down the snow on ones back. Nathan did it and was loudly hooting all the way down to the amusement of all. I was afraid of further injuring my back so didnt participate. We spent a lot of time ashore.
At dinner through the window I saw a whale spout , then the back appeared. I pointed and yelled whale! Nathan got up and ran to the window and a table of Germans followed suit. The whale was under at that
point and one of the Germans said were you joking? Then when it reappeared they thanked me for sharing.
