I had been to the Antarctic pack-ice in November 2002 on the special one-off trip run from Cape Town on the small SA Agulhas. This was very successful for viewing seabirds and penguins but as we were unable to land anywhere, it did not give the full Antarctic experience. When I heard from Dave Adkin of a late offering by Swan Hellenic, operated by Noble Caledonia on the Minerva, going to Antarctica including South Georgia, and to Tristan da Cunha for a knock-down price, I jumped at this opportunity and booked it with Dave (DPA). We flew to Ushuaia, Argentina with a 44 hour stop at Buenos Aires, then cruised for 17 days to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha and finally to Cape Town, South Africa where we spent two nights before flying home. It was exceptionally good value at £1995 all-in, including flights, with a high standard of food and drink, facilities and service throughout, lectures, first rate information, and some free activities on land. We saw all the seabirds to be expected on such a cruise, with occasional help from experienced bird-guides on board, but missed the landbirds as we failed to get close to the Tristan da Cunha islands other than the main one. We had hoped to make 7 landings including on Tristan da Cunha and Nightingale Island but only did two, on Half Moon Island and at Grytviken, South Georgia. The others were missed, purportedly because the sea was too rough but really because the schedule was too ambitious for the speed of the boat and the number of passengers. The paperwork spoke of only 200 passengers being aboard but there were nearly 300, which was why we were offered such a good late deal. This led to some very dissatisfied participants, who had paid more than twice as much as us and subsequently sued the operators. I was happy with the trip although very disappointed that we did not land on Tristan or even get close to Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands, and only had one stop on South Georgia, not the scheduled two. Had we gone on a dedicated birding cruise, we would have seen a few more birds and probably more ice-bergs, spent more time on land, paid a lot more (possibly 3 times more), and been in less comfortable conditions with a much higher risk of sea-sickness in the smaller boat.

Jon Hornbuckle

ITINERARY

March   3          Fly Heathrow – Paris – Buenos Aires, 18.00 – 09.40

4                     Arrive BA, transfer to Marriott Plaza Hotel; pm walk to Costanero del Sur

5                    All day at Costanero del Sur. Night at Marriott.

6                   Fly BA – Ushuaia, 07.25 – 11.15. Taxi to Martial Glacier for birding walk, lift to edge of town, birding walk to coast, taxi to port, boarded Minerva – departure delayed till 10pm by wait for supplies. 

7-8               Cruise the Drake Passage

9                 South Shetland Islands: Half Moon Island landing, Deception Island, Elephant Island.

10                Point Wild, Elephant Island, then onwards towards South Georgia.

11-12           Cruise the Scotia Sea

13                Visit Grytviken, South Georgia

14-17            Cruise the South Atlantic Ocean

18                Pass Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands, anchor at Tristan da Cunha, leaving at 18.30

19-22          Cruise the South Atlantic Ocean

23              Reach the Cape at 11.00, dock at Cape Town at 17.00.

24             Visit Penguin colony a.m., Stellenbosch pm, night on ship in Cape Town harbour.

25             Fly Cape Town – Heathrow 08.15 – 18.10.

DAILY LOG

March 4: Arrive at the Marriott, Buenos Aires in heavy rain. After a 2 hr wait for my bag to be delivered to the room, the staff being useless, I eventually find where it has been off-loaded and collect it myself. Walk to Costanero del Sur Reserve with DPA, only to find it shut due to the prolonged rain. A walk on the road along the edge of the reserve in the rain is quite birdy, eg with Black-and-rufous Warbling-finches and Freckle-breasted Thornbird. Shelter as rain gets heavier then return to hotel for a good dinner. Long phone call with Alec Earnshaw as I want to go to Ceibas or Otamendi with him but we decide conditions are too risky - wouldn’t be allowed to go in if it wet and muddy.

March 5: Good weather so can spend the day at Costanero del Sur with DPA, in my case till 7.15 pm. Good selection of about 50 species including one tick, Glaucous-blue Grosbeak, but no sign of Warbling Doradito, the other possible tick. Almost no waterbirds because all the pools are dry – most unusual.

March 6: Fly to Ushuaia then transfer with group to restaurant outside town for lunch. Order taxi to pick up DPA, Graham Williams (retired Land Manager for RSPB Wales) and me. DPA and GW stop at the coast while I continue to the Martial Glacier chair-lift to look for Yellow-bridled Finch. Walk to top of chair-lift, not far, seeing Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant. Go a little way on to glacier and then along a path across scree but only see Bar-winged Cinclodes, with Black-chinned Siskin on the way down. Scrounge a lift with a couple to the edge of town, then walk across rough grassland to the coast. Bird around here till 5pm, seeing a good selection of geese, gulls and waders including 20-30 Rufous-chested Dotterel and a few snipe, one of which looks different - thought could be Fuegian but that’s rather rare. Taxi to port and  board the Minerva, our home for the next 18 days, just in time for the safety drill. Scheduled to leave at 7pm but departure is delayed for 3 hours awaiting supplies being flown in. This means it is too dark to see any birds when leaving the coast, but does allow us to see Cape Horn the next morning.

March 7: Sea-watching 07.00-18.00, passing Cape Horn in surprisingly calm seas, with some sun and showers. Lots of albatrosses and Giant Petrels, along with Soft-plumage Petrel, Wilson’s and Black-bellied Storm-Petrels, Imperial Shag and the first of only 3 White-headed Petrels seen all trip. Also see our our first whale, a Sei. We attend the captain’s dinner with Graham and Judith Williams, Polly Corbishley and Ron Edmonds – good food, drink and company

March 8: Sea-watching in the Drake Passage disappointing; foggy - the few birds include our first Southern Fulmars and we see a Humpback Whale.

March 9: Arrive at the South Shetland Islands and land on Half Moon Island from 07.00 to 08.30. Lots of Chinstrap Penguins, Brown Skuas and Fur Seals, with a few Gentoos and Snowy Sheathbills. Dramatic snowy mountain scenery on nearby Livingstone Island. Shame to have to leave. Two hour journey to Deception Island but captain aborts the planned entry to the caldera due to strong cross-wind. Continue to Elephant Island, only new birds being Antarctic Tern and a small black and white petrel. See another Hump-back and a Fin Whale.

March 10: Sail part way round Elephant Island but the weather too bad to get close – only birds are

Chinstraps but later see lots of Antarctic Prions, Fulmars, 2 Light-mantled Albatross, and 1 or 2 Sei Whales, as we leave for South Georgia.

March 11: Cruise in the Scotia Sea with fairly good weather but not many birds. Do see our first King and Macaroni Penguins, Kerguelen Petrel (2), a few South Georgian Diving-Petrels and 2 Bottle-nosed and Fin Whales.

March 12: More birds today with flocks of prions at times, many more as we near South Georgia with up to 5 Wandering Albatrosses at a time, plus a few Grey-headed and Sooty. We enter Elsehul Bay at 17.30 and anchor to observe this magical place, festooned with albatrosses, penguins, and Elephant and Fur Seals, calm enough to use a scope. Leave at 19.00 for Grytviken.

March 13: A lovely clear, calm morning, turning cloudy and windy in the afternoon. We sail into Cumberland Bay and anchor overlooking Grytviken at 06.15, then zodiac across to fabled South Georgia at 07.00 for a 4 hour visit. We start with a nip of alcohol at Shackleton’s grave, then walk to Gull Lake which is birdless but looks scenically superb. I then walk quickly left over rough grassland and scree to the coastal cliffs to search for breeding Light-mantled Sooty Albatross. An adult flies low over the cliffs but the only other birds are a single Skua and Giant Petrel. The view of glaciers, snow-covered mountains and the river estuary is phenomenal. Walk down to the river amongst many Fur Seals and for some time watch the activities of about 100 King Penguins, along with Elephant Seals, South Georgia Shags, Antarctic Terns and single Macaroni Penguin and Pintail. With the superb scenic backdrop, and sunshine, this is the highlight of the trip for me. Walk back along the shore then return to the lake which I thought would be the best bet for South Georgia Pipit. Walk all the way around it but no sign of the Pipit, only the remains of tern’s nests and many limpet shells. Tour Grytviken including the museum before returning to the ship by the last zodiac. We leave at noon and cruise along the north coast with a continuous view of snow-covered mountains along the spine of South Georgia, until they disappeared under cloud as the weather deteriorates We have been very lucky with the weather – had to strip off some clothes as it became so warm! Sometimes landing is impossible due to high winds. The sea is quite birdy, mostly with albatrosses and prions. Some 20 large ice-bergs are seen in late afternoon, a few very spectacular, and I am pretty sure I saw 2 Snow Petrel with a large berg. After dinner we retire to the lounge where the Hungarian band play old numbers and I am persuaded to join Graham and Judy in the jiving. 

March 14: Windy and misty all day. The few birds include our first Great Shearwater and White-bellied Storm-Petrel.

March 15: Rough with a relative wind-speed of 40kph and the ship’s speed down to 8kph all day. New birds are Sooty Albatross, and Spectacled, Grey and Atlantic Petrels.

March 16: Still rough, with access to the deck closed but able to spend a lot of time on the bridge (the operational centre at the front end where visibility is good), seeing lots of Broad-billed Prions and Atlantic Petrels, at least 2 Slender-billed Prions, one Great-winged Petrel and a few Common Diving-Petrels. An enjoyable musical evening.

March 17: Still windy but calmer so able to go full speed ahead. On the bridge at 07.00 with David Wilson, great nephew of Wilson on the ill-fated Scott Antarctic trip - two White-faced Storm-Petrels feeding like ballerinas, with straight wings, 3 Sooty Albatross, our only Little Shearwater and the only other White-bellied Storm-Petrel of the trip. Return to the bridge after breakfast and see 2 Yellow-nosed Albatross, huge numbers of Broad-billed Prions, and a few petrels including Great-winged and another scarce Kerguelen.

March 18: Approach Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands in good weather in the morning but speed straight past them, too far away to see any birds, even through my scope, although we do see 4 Orca. Then we reach Tristan and anchor near the small harbour. The island is dominated by a steep volcano with a dormant lava flow not far from the village. The main habitation is a row of neat houses, with cattle and potato gardens beyond the village. We are not allowed to go across the short stretch of water to the quay because our Leaders decide there is too much swell to safely board the zodiacs. Very disappointing as it is hard to believe the weather could ever be much better here. So we stand on the deck looking across to the island for hours while the old ladies of Tristan come across to us to sell their knitwear, trinkets and postage-stamps on board Minerva. Had we been able to land there would have been a chance of seeing the Tristan Thrush, albeit less than 50/50, and Northern Rockhopper Penguins. Some of our crew start fishing from the lower portholes/decks and threw small fish back in the sea. This attracts a few Antarctic Terns including 2 juvs, and up to 5 Yellow-nosed Albatross that make a grand sight flying backwards and forwards close to the ship. Then at 18.30 in fading light we leave and are soon cruising full speed ahead to Cape Town.

March 19: Nice weather but few birds – did see a youngish Tristan Albatross at last, having missed others, along with Spectacled Petrels and distant Orca and dolphins.

March 20-22: Good weather with only a few birds and no cetaceans. Our first Cory’s Shearwater is seen on 21^st. A Purple Heron flies around the ship on 22^nd and almost lands but appears to be put off by the number of passengers on deck – this is over 100 miles south of Cape Town! It was followed later that day by a Cattle Egret. There are some interesting on board activities - a film about a very long distance race on sledges pulled by huskies in the Yukon, and after Captain’s Dinner, a musical concert.

March 23: Good weather again as we approach Cape Town. Much more bird activity with dozens of albatrosses at times, mostly Shy with a few Black-browed and Indian Yellow-nosed; Great, Cory and Sooty Shearwaters; Brown, Arctic, Pom and Long-tailed Skuas; Wilson’s and European Storm-Petrels, White-chinned and Great-winged Petrels; Cape Gannets, Swift Terns and gulls. Great views of Tabletop Mountain and the 12 Apostles, and of Southern Right Whales with 4 or 5 active in the sea around us. Slow progress from 11 till 4pm when a pilot boat finally comes to take us into the commercial harbour rather than the Victoria and Albert harbour where we should be docking – we reached the Cape too soon thanks to failing to land at Tristan! Lots of gulls and cormorants as we dock. In the evening, we all visit the Round House for convivial African music and beer. Our bus arrives late thanks to the driver losing the way, so we miss the first round of drumming. We return to the ship to sleep in our cabins.. I decide to visit the African Penguin colony near Simon’s Town in the morning, by myself, and go on the free wine-tasting group excursion at Stellenbosch in the afternoon. DPA and Fred opt for an organised day trip to Cape of Good Hope NP.

March 24: I Take the coach to the V & A harbour at 08.00 to get cash from the nearest atm, then a local bus to the railway station. Just miss the Simon’s Town train so have to wait for a local train, terminating before Simon’s Town. I am able to hitch a lift to Boulders Beach, in Table Mountain NP, where I spent a pleasant hour or more amongst large numbers of penguins, terns, cormorants and a few other birds. The African Penguin population here has increased from 2 pairs in 1982 to 3000 now. I miss the infrequent train back to Cape Town, so try hitching but without success this time. Take a local minibus part way back and then hire it for the rest of the journey to the dock. I am there at 13.15, for the 13.30 departure to Stellenbosch but cannot not find Minerva. It takes me another 30 mins to find it by which time the tour bus has gone. Fortunately, the Noble Caledonia agent is still there and rings the coach driver then drives me to a meeting point on the motorway. Aboard the coach I find the average age of the group must be about 93, with nobody I know. We drive through Stellenbosch university, full of scantily clad gorgeous girls, then spend some time in the town, looking at a lot of nice, old preserved buildings. Finally we drive to the “winery” where we taste small amounts of 5 decent wines. In preference to viewing the wine-making facilities, I take a walk in the surrounding farmland and see a few birds, including a male Peregrine, Hadeda Ibis and Fiscal Flycatcher. We return to Minerva just before dusk, in time to look round the classy V & A area. After the last dinner aboard, I listen to the band and drink with a group of younger cruisers celebrating a Swiss girl’s birthday till 12.30.

March 25: We leave the ship for the last time at 05.30 for the BA flight to Heathrow. This arrives on time at 18.00 and I catch a coach to Sheffield, getting home at midnight after a most memorable trip.

Birds seen in 2002, not in 2009

Emperor Penguin

Adelie Penguin

Rockhopper Penguin

Antarctic Petrel

Blue Petrel

Salvin's Prion

Grey-backed Storm-Petrel

Leach's Storm-Petrel

Crozet Cormorant

Lesser Sheathbill

Sabine's Gull

Arctic Tern

Kerguelen Tern

Birds seen in 2009, not in 2002

Jackass (African) Penguin                Spheniscus demersus                                     

Tristan Albatross                                Diomedea dabbenena                                      

Broad-billed Prion                              Pachyptila vittata                                              

Slender-billed Prion                           Pachyptila belcheri                                           

Spectacled Petrel                               Procellaria conspicillata                                   

White-faced Storm-Petrel                  Pelagodroma marina                                        

White-bellied Storm-Petrel                Fregetta gralleria                                              

European Storm-Petrel                      Hydrobates pelagicus                                      

Antarctic Shag                                    Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis                        

South Georgian Shag                        Phalacrocorax georgianus                              

Purple Heron                                      Ardea purpurea                                                

South Georgia (Yellow-billed) Pintail                                                                         Anas georgica georgica  

African Black Oystercatcher              Haematopus moquini                                       

Snowy Sheathbill                               Chionis alba                                                     

South Polar Skua                                Catharacta [skua] maccormicki                      

Antarctic Tern                                     Sterna vittata                                                    

Brown Noddy                                     Anous stolidus

Birds seen in Argentina 5-6 March 2011