We are now intrepid sailors!

Well we have been sailing for the past three days in open sea towards the Falkland Islands, and encountered a storm yesterday morning. It was no surprise as weather forecasting is highly sophisticated these days and we had lots of charts showing big red blobs to the south of the islands. No one ever wants to see these blobs, which indicate bigger waves or higher winds, but these meteorological features are a part of sailing in South Atlantic waters and there is nothing we can do about it. Well, I shouldn't say nothing because our officers on the bridge are skilled at navigating to give us the smoothest ride possible under the conditions and this may mean deviating a little from the optimum course, then speeding up to make up the time.

So today we are approaching our goal- the Falkland Islands! And what a goal they are- remote, wild, beautiful, and totally fascinating on many different levels. By late afternoon we had arrived at Saunders Island but the wind was blowing VERY strongly! Anyway, our intrepid expedition staff decided to see what the conditions were like on the beach and we launched two of our Polarcirkel boats and went in. As we approached we saw that much of the landing beach was being affected by rollers, although they were not too high and they were intermittent. This last feature was the key to success because the time between waves was long enough to allow us to land our guests!

The Saunders Island landing was fantastic, even with the wind blowing sand in our eyes! There was so much to see that we didn't care! The theme was wildlife particularly birds with five species of penguins breeding, three gull species and many others present. We will let a selection of images tell the story of this amazing place!

Waves rolling in and being blown back to sea

Part of the Gentoo Penguin colony

Some King Penguins had chicks

A Rockhopper Penguin pair with the Macaroni Penguin behind

A nice Brown-hooded Gull showing a pink breast

Two Black-browed Albatrosses courting

We landed on the beach at the far end

A young Striated Caracara

Some of our guests enjoying the wildlife at Saunders

A great day at sea

We are on our way! Yesterday, MV Fram left Buenos Aires. On board are 216 guests from 18 countries, all around the world. And boy, how excited they are to 'set sail' for Antarctica! 

The skyline of Buenos Aires

Our first stop will be the Falkland Islands. Distances are vast here in the Southern Hemisphere: it will take us more than 100 hours to get there. After following the brown water of the Rio de la Plata estuary, passing the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, Fram reached the Atlantic Ocean and is now headed straight south.

The first sunset of our voyage was a spectacular one: a vivid light show with all the colours of the rainbow.

Sunset on the Rio de la Plata

So, what to do at sea? Well, our guests seem to be very good at enjoying themselves with various activities. Among the most popular are:

• sunbathing on dek 5, enjoying summer temperatures and the blue sky above a halcyon sea.
• attending various lectures to learn more about the exciting Antarctic geology, ornitology, geography and climate. 
• enquiring information about the myriad of excursions and activities our Expedition Team will be organizing on the Falkland Islands, and during the many other landings MV Fram will make in Antarctica.
• birdwatching. Already on our first day at sea, we have seen a few very interesting sea birds, like this young South American tern. Soon, we will be in the Kingdom of albatrosses and penguins!

young South American tern

All in all, we are building up - and looking forward! - to a new season in Antarctica, packed with a whole bunch of unforgettable adventures. 

Stay tuned and follow us on our voyage!

A halcyon Atlantic Ocean

A new season begins

As promised, here we are in Buenos Aires, starting a new Antarctic season. For those not familiar with the comings and goings of our ship, MS Fram, you may think it strange that we start here. Well, it really isn't. Fram has spent the last weeks crossing the immense Atlantic Ocean, starting in Bergen on 7 October and reaching Buenos Aires just today, a little over 3 weeks later. Now we are positioned well to sail for our first destination of the Falkland Islands which are about 1700 km to the south.

View of part of the city from our hotel, 20th floor!

Buenos Aires is a gigantic city. With it's surrounding metropolitan area, it is one of the biggest in the world with about 16 million people living within it's boundaries. Of course it's famous for tango, Evita Perón, football (24 professional teams play within the city limits!) and is the birthplace of the current Pope Francis!

The Casa Rosada showing the balcony where Evita gave her last speech

Buenos Aires is a very popular tourist destination. Many of us had a chance to see parts of the city before we boarded the Fram, which was docked alongside in the main port area. It was great to see so many school children enjoying various parts of the city.

The Pope is everywhere!

Local colour!

There is quite a of things to accomplish on sailing day. Fram arrived in the harbour about 7:30am and immediately started provisioning of food and other goods for the upcoming season. We also needed to "bunker" which is the nautical term for filling up with fuel. The long Atlantic crossing depleted supplies. By 10:30am our first passengers started arriving and we were all on board by about 3:30pm. What a relief to be on board! It is such a great feeling! Soon after we had our mandatory safety drill before sailing about 4:00pm, right on time! Two Argentinean pilots took us out of the harbour and into the famous Rio de la Plata.

The Rio (river in English) is really an estuary separating Argentina to the south from Uruguay to the north. We will be sailing in the Rio overnight and will enter the South Atlantic tomorrow morning, before turning south to our destination of the Falkland Islands. We are all looking forward to some beautiful days at sea before we get there. By the way, while at sea, we often combine two days in a single blog.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride over the next few months!

Frøya the salmon island

Today we visited the growing island community of Sistranda on Frøya and island that has been all about fishing throughout its history and nowadays is a big centre for fishfarming. Some of us went to visit the Salmon factory SalMar where Salmon from its farms is slaughtered and packaged and about 30 truck loads a day are delivered daily to its customers.

But also for those who stayed in town there was lots to see and do like concerts of 2 different choirs or the local food market.

 

 And even speedboats for the ones who think that Fram always goes a bit slowly

Petter Dass Museum in Alstadhaug

Due to heavy storm warnings, we decided to skip Træna and Lovund and go straight for the Sandnessjøen from Kjerringøy. This caused cancellations and creations of new trips, but will make sure that everyone will reach their planes in time.

In the early morning we starts with the excursion to Alstadhaug. Five busses from the pier bring us to Petter Dass Museum, in Alstadhaug. The place of Petter Dass. 

This very modern building called Petter Dass Museum

and we also visit vicarage museum 

and later on the Alstadhaug church.

More Islands! Hamarøy and Kjerringøy

The landing in the morning took us to Hamarøy. The place of Knut Hamsun, the Nobel price famous norwegian Author.  And we get to see the Museum dedicated to him.

Lunch and more windy weather on the ship and a few hours of cruising later we arrive at our second destination for the day: Kjerringøy, a beautifully preserved old trading post.