To Bahia with an escort

Sea days, lazy days.

It is surprising how long you cannot actually stand on deck and listen to the sound of the waves being split by the bow of our ship. A different definition of time seems to be in effect, a gentler one, one that does not interrupt your pondering, that does not urge you to attend the next event. There is just - time. When in our lives do we still have that? And so everybody starts to walk a little bit slower, hands in the pocket, a book under the arm maybe or a drink in hand.

Of course we are not suspended from things that happen; still there is a couple of lectures for those who want, there is the lively conversations over the meals - and there is wildlife.

We are reaching the latitudes of the gannets. These amazing birds have a sleek, elegant body and a long straight beak. Literally they are darting through the warm winds, hovering next to us as if they want us to take a picture. Until all of a sudden they fold up their wings and aim straight for the waves, disappearing with the swiftness of a thrown spear in the water, only to come up seconds later with a silvery quavering fish. Masters at work.

They are around us every day, but as we approach the port of San Salvador de Bahía they turn away and leave us alone.

In the morning light we make pier in Brazils third largest city, about 800 miles northeast of Rio. Most are out on deck and squint in the bright hot sun. The air is damp, tropical and has a distinct smell of low latitude.

How must the early navigators have felt this, when they came here over 500 years ago? Paintings of the conquering times of the Spanish and the Portuguese show them going ashore in heavy, shiny armors. Not a good idea, if you ask me...

And suddenly we are in the middle of a buzzing, mildly chaotic but immensely colorful city, by far the oldest in Brazil, and also its first capital.

The enormous wealth the place gained through sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee is manifested in the super rich colonial architecture. The slow but inexorable decline over the following centuries, too: Many of the buildings have lost all their splendor and are now slowly reconquered by the lush plants of the tropics, balconies and facades in the firm grip of trees and xxx. Not many have been preserved as well as the over-generously decorated Franciscan convent of Saõ Francisco, where gold is the prevailing color.

The Ciudad Alta, the upper city, is one of the most picturesque in South America, steep cobblestone alleys lead among candy-colored houses, wheelbarrows with tropical fruit are rolling by, and the air is full of spices. African spices, very often. The local cuisine is dominated by African ingredients, like the Vapatá, the classical dish. About 80 percent of the population has direct African ancestors, as in former times the unbelievable number of 3,8 million slaves were brought here, mostly from Ghana and Mali.

Well, these times are fortunately long gone, and the spirit here is free, cheerful, full of music and dance.

After some most enjoyable tropical hours it is time to get back to FRAM, and in the dwindling light of the day we cast lines and leave Brazil.

Now it is time to make across the Atlantic.

Equator, here we come!

Along the Coast of Brazil

While the sea  kept pounding us for quite a while after having left Uruguay the weather decided to leave us alone after a few days of travel now. Not only that, even the rain clouds, that can be pretty persistent in these parts, dissolved and gave the sky back to the bright, high sun of the lower latitudes.
That changed everything on board. Pants made way for shorts, sweaters for T-shirts (if so), the chairs outside were directed towards the sun. Holiday feeling is spreading, the decks smell like sunscreen.
Nightfall comes surprisingly early now, but it's a fine occasion to do some stargazing. Rigg-gazing, too: Off the Brazilian coast there are large oil and gas plays that are being exploited large-scale, sometimes it feels we are driving through an obstacle course of riggs and factory ships.

The evening challenges are on: Now the table-top soccer season is literally kicked off; watch how many stripes are necessary to score one goal...

And while next day the crew is preparing for the basketball opening round, the coast of Brazil is faintly visible on port side. Halfway there.

Two more afternoon teas, maybe not always with live piano music...

The rhythm of the sea

Decelerating seems to be the keyword for these days.
Already the change from buzzing Buenos Aires to laid-back Montevideo felt like taking the speed some notches down, but now it is only waves and clouds and winds who dictate the daily pace. Oh, and the rain, of course...
The temperatures are constantly rising, ocean and air are at a balmy 27 degrees (NOT Fahrenheit), the breeze is more welcome than annoying. Deck chairs are propped up, books and Kindles emerge from their bags, and a gentle quietness is tangible on the ship, not even interrupted by the numerous maintenance works that have to be carried out during the time on the Atlantic. That's because they are well synchronized with the board activities from day to day, so no bother here.
All this doesn't mean there is nothing to do for the 58 crossers: Lectures are given on various topics, the freshly learned navigation theory is manifested by a workshop in the Observation Lounge, dealing with plotting courses on paper charts, depths in meters or fathoms, and the tricky business with magnetic North.
The afternoon tea is about to be established as a small, casual daily convention, where stories are swapped and hot beverages are sipped despite the warm weather.
And the evening sees the opening of the FRAM Atlantic Games!
Tonight it's darts, starting slowly. But as we know it, these events will gain momentum every day.
Let the Games begin...

So near and yet so far

Heavy clouds are gathering above the skyline of Montevideo, our brave ship is jerking in the gale force wind. The port of Montevideo is closed...


It seems just a bunny hop, crossing the Rio de La Plata, from the southern end to the northern one. But it isn't, the river's mouth is wide as an ocean. And the laws of nature dictate that a stream, that suddenly has more room will lose lots of its capacity to transport sediment. So the waters are murky and - above all - shallow, thus generating a pretty wild surface.
So we spend a good part of the morning just waiting, literally for better weather. 

And our optimism is rewarded shortly after ten in the morning - the port reopens, letting us enter, past the not overly inviting ship junkyard. But still, we are there! Everybody heaves a sigh of relief, especially the two pilots who certainly would not have appreciated to stay on for Brazil...

Seems that it is only the weather which is a little complicated here - immigration and paperworks are done in 5 minutes, so everybody is free to leave and spend the next seven hours al gusto. Many decide to take the comprehensive excursion through city and surroundings and to have lunch at a renowned winery out of town.
But also without excursion the city has much to offer. It is not easy to put a finger on the architectural style here, for many eras, many cultures and many artists have had their saying; so the overall picture is not entirely coherent. But really beautiful, colorful, delightful.

A distinct smell of grilled beef hangs in the air, emerging from the Mercado do Puerto, which houses numerous Parillas (steak houses), wineries, bars and cafes. Loads of people, thousands of steaks per day, accompanied by Uruguayan red wine and Tango music. Seems that the same traditions and the same specialties are prevailing on both sides of the Rio.
The sun has won. Under a blue sky we cast lines for one week of sailing now.
Dear followers of MV FRAM's expedition blog:
As we are going to be out at sea for one week now, we will not encounter a great variety of sights and situations. This is also what this trip is about - tuning in into the slow pace of the ocean. So the blog will do the same, meaning that only every other day there will be a newsflash about what is going on here on board.
So, don't be alarmed - we are still out there, heading your way!

Buenos Aires Farewell

It's moist and cloudy - and really, really warm. Buenos Aires welcomes us with the smell of subtropical green, which mixes with the occasional whiff of industry, as we enter the Terminal Rio de la Plata.
Changeover. Busiest of times, a swirl of groups, lists, guides, buses, announcements, luggage dollies and hand luggages.
And then, all of a sudden - silence. The ship is empty. The hustle and bustle of the last 18 days comes to an end quite abruptly. Gone are the faces we got used to, headed home.
Also heading home are most of our colleagues, as now we are turning the wheel towards the North, commencing a near-5000-mile-voyage to the other hemisphere, with only a few stops. So the ship feels twice empty, quite awkward. A mini team, however, remains. And so this shall be the story of FRAM's long ride, at the end of which we will stop in Las Palmas.
The time is just long enough to dash into town and have one of the world famous Argentinian steaks, because in the afternoon our new guests arrive, under the gushing warm rain of South America.
From the size of the welcome cake you can easily tell that it is the opposite of a large crowd - 58 of them set out with us, across the mighty ocean, via Uruguay, Brazil and the Cape Verde Islands. 
A voyage like none other we do, trying to combine excitement and laziness.
Right now we are checking the weather non stop, hoping that the wind drops enough to enable us to go to pier tomorrow morning.
The gushing rain turns into a serious deluge as we cast the lines in order to "hop" to the other side of the Rio de la Plata.

Stay tuned, folks, the Blog goes on!

Good bye, Falklands!

Our second attempt to land on Carcass Island was more successful! The beautiful morning sunlight and the fresh breeze helped to shake off immediately the last bits of sleepiness in these early morning hours. 

The morning developed splendidly! Blue sky, sun, and the wind calmed down. Everybody found something to his or her palate on this last landing of the trip: some strolled along the beautiful white sandy beach, others took an extended hike up to viewpoint on a ridge over the entire island in the back of the landing site, or just popped in the local farm building where we were received heartily with a cup of tea and delicious cakes.

All kinds of birds are abundant on the island, and they are very tame, too! Only moments after sitting on a rock one was surrounded by some curious blackish cinclodes, a small sparrow-sized bird. One should however not sit still for too long time, because also the striated caracara were very curious indeed, and with their strong bill and sharp claws easily damage jackets, backpacks or any other pieces of equipment.

Back on the FRAM for lunch, it was time to say good bye / auf Wiedersehen / au revoir / på gjensyn / hasta luego / tot ziens /… to the Falkland Islands. 

We set sail in northerly direction, towards Buenos Aires. Just about the time we passed the Jason Islands, the outermost islands in the archipelago, we noticed a blind passenger on board: one of the little cinclodes shorebirds tried to hitch-hike to warmer climates. A task force to catch it was quickly assembled, but the bird was quite reluctant to co-operate. Being very fast and agile, it withstood all our attempts to catch it. Reports on its whereabouts on the ship (deck 8 up front, deck 5 port side, in the life boat, back up to deck 7,...) arrived in a steady stream of information to the command centre of this task force at the reception. In vain. Tonight when it will be dark, we will try to blind it with a torch and seize it. Keep you updated about the going...

In the camp

Wind and waves hampered our progress last night, and so the landing this morning was a little delayed - start at 8 instead of 7 o´clock - a circumstance that probably a majority of people on board FRAM had no hard feelings about...

We spent a wonderful morning at New Island! The sun was out most of the time, but the wind chased some dark clouds over the sky and this dressed the natural rock amphitheatre, in which the black-browed albatross, blue-eyed shags and rockhopper penguins breed, in a dramatic light. We strolled along the upper edge of this theatre that offered fantastic views and photo opportunities down onto the animals. Actually, only the albatross and shags were still tending their chicks; the offspring of the rockhoppers had already left for a self-sustained life, but the parents remained a few days longer to complete their annual moult.

The wind did not cease during lunchtime. Coming from a south-westerly direction it blew right onto our designated landing site for this afternoon at Carcass Island. A short look into the bay was enough to convince ourselves that no landing would be feasible at this spot this afternoon. We therefore fixed an alternative program and sailed to Westpoint Island instead. The sheltered bay there provided excellent landing conditions. In a two kilometer walk, we crossed the island to visit another stunning rockhopper penguin and black-browed albatross colony facing the sea at the exposed side of the island. Those who were not in for such a long hike could get a lift with a land rover directly to the colony, or just spend time at a white sandy beach close to the landing site together with some Magellanic penguins.

Back on board everybody enjoyed the fantastic Philippino buffett, one of the favourites of the expedition staff and guests on board!

Stanley (not Hardy)

Many seabirds followed the FRAM on our way past Cape Pembroke and into Port William before breakfast. We landed early morning in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands.

The buses were already on the pier to take us to our various excursions. On a city highlight tour, we learnt everything on Stanley, from its beginnings as a ship repair yard for sail ships that were damaged in storms in their attempts to round Cape Horn to the modern time in which Stanley lives from fishery license fees, tourism, and offshore oil exploration. Alternatively, some guests strolled along the beach on a guided nature walk, learning about the different native and introduced plant species as well as the feathered inhabitants of the islands.

For lunch, a blue-coated armada invaded all the local pubs and restaurants to enjoy a real British treat: fish & chips! After this refreshment, the blue armada sailed on to raid all the gift shops in town. Innumerable small penguins in different shapes and sizes, post cards with penguin pictures on them and other penguin paraphernalia were captured (shopped), and in contrast to the last invasion 32 years ago, the people in Stanley were quite positive to our appearance on their island.

In the late afternoon, the FRAM set course out of Stanley harbor, we passed the narrows into Berkeley Sound and sailed south to halfway circumnavigate the islands to our next scheduled landing on the Western side of the Falklands. The waters around the FRAM teemed with huge flocks of sooty shearwaters and also some sei whales as after a rainy afternoon the sun came out once more to delight us with a formidable, colorful sunset.

South Georgia to Falkland Islands

As for the two sea days between South Georgia and Falkland Islands they were rather similar to the once from the Antarctic peninsula to South Georgia. Days were filled with bridge visits, introduction to the Falklands and different lectures. Before reaching the Falklands everyone who wanted to visit the bridge have had their chance.

On the first day the weather was really bad, not in the sense of waves and wind but due to fog and rain. This clearly had influence on the wildlife, which was limited to a few birds and no mammals at all.

The second day on the other hand was not only calm, but the skies were almost blue. So for the second day more wildlife were observed. In the morning a lot of birds were observed amongst them were both wandering albatrosses and great southern petrel. During the day also peali´s dolphins were observed a few times playing at the bow of the vessel.

In the evening of the second day the hotel manger, the captain and the chief engineer all took seat in the observation lounge. The reason for their seating was a question and answer session. First the assisting expedition leader had some questions to the three gentlemen to get the show started. After which the passengers got their chance to ask questions to the trio. Some of the questions from the passengers was of technical character about the compasses on board and the stopping distance of the vessel, which was estimated to 1100 meters at a speed of 14 knots. But also a bit more personal about how long time they were away from their family and how they manage both family and the long times away.