Cliff and Diana's Antarctic Cruise - January, 2008
Because this is long, it is broken into 3 parts.
CLIFF AND DIANA’S ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE
PART ONE
Planning for this trip began in August, 2007. Diana would only agree to crossing the Drake Passage between Antarctica and Cape Horn if we were on the biggest ship we could find. Fortunately for Cliff, Star Princess, one of Princess Cruises Grand Class ships was offering a 16 day itinerary from January 10th. to January 26th, 2008 that suited us just fine. (Star Princess is 109,000 tons, 951 feet long, 118 feet wide and 18 decks high)
After many months of research surfing, we had prepared ourselves with maps, information and confirmations and were ready to go. We flew first from Victoria to Toronto and stayed overnight. Toronto weather in January can be quite nasty and we didn’t want to miss the flight to Buenos Aires, the starting point for the cruise. We also wanted to spend some time in Buenos Aires, having been there 20 years ago on a business trip.
We arrived there January 7th. and hired a car to take us and our rather bulky baggage to the hotel. Planning and packing for this trip was a challenge, knowing that we would be in Buenos Aires and Montevideo in mid-summer, with high temperatures and in Antarctica in mid-summer, with considerably lower temperatures. In between, we would be in the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia in mid-summer, with somewhat moderate temperatures. In all of these places, the weather can be very changeable.
In any event, we arrived at the hotel, booked months in advance on expedia.ca,
and were pleased to find that they did, indeed, have our reservation. Not only that, they had upgraded us and we were in a lovely large room with a delightful balcony overlooking Avenida Nueva de Julio and the Obelisk. Unfortunately, for the 3 days we were there, it was too hot to sit out on the balcony, with temperatures reaching almost 40 degrees C (100 F). Poor us, we had to find solace in the bar and cool of with the local cerveza, Quilmes. This did, though, allow us to become good amigos with Fernando, the bartender. We practiced our Spanish and he practiced his English.
At this point, the review will be divided into sections. First will be the ports of call, then the ship itself and finally, the highlight of the trip – Antarctica.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
As mentioned we had been here 20 years ago. Since then, the political situation has undergone many changes but now appears to be reasonably stable. Argentina has just recently elected a lady president, the wife of the outgoing president. She seems to be well accepted by the people.
This is a city of contrasts. There is construction evident throughout and the people are some of the friendliest we have encountered in our travels. At the same time, the infrastructure is failing and there has been a lot of neglect that will not be easily remedied.
Our first full day was spent relaxing and acclimatizing. We were right next to one of the pedestrain shopping streets which led to the more well known Calle Florida. On Day 2, we took a tour to the El Tigre area, the delta of the Parana River. This consisted of a bus and train ride to the town and a boat ride through the various islands. After returning to the hotel, we went next door to the Panamericano, where Princes Cruises had arranged an early check-in to reduce congestion at the terminal the next day. After this, we enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner just around the corner at a parilla, where the meat is cooked over an open fire near the entrance. Argentine beef is probably the best anywhere. We shared a lovely sirloin, with salad and a half-bottle of wine for $32 US.
Day 3 was departure day with sailaway scheduled for 5:00PM. There had been a thunderstorm overnight and the weather was still overcast and humid. We had been advised to go to the terminal at 11:00AM so we loaded into a small taxi for the short ride. More about departure later.
THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
Situated in the middle of the South Atlantic, this British Colony has quite a history. With about 3000 inhabitants, most of whom live in Stanley, the only town, they are frequently outnumbered by tourists when cruise ships arrive. We were no exception, bringing 2600 passengers and 1100 crew to town to spend money.
The weather here can be severe and is subject to strong winds. Because of this, cruise ships are not always able to anchor and tender people ashore. 2 days before we arrived, Celebrity’s Infinity and NCL Dream had been unable to make their scheduled call and continued on. This was to be the first of our charmed arrivals, though. We anchored in a very light breeze with clearing skies. We had booked a Princess tour to see penguins which involved being picked up right from the ship by motor-launch and taken to a landing in a nearby cove. From there, we went by 4x4 Land Rovers across a large farm to the colonies. Our driver, a young lady who had come from Scotland via Hong Kong, was able to get us up and over the boggy terrain without incident both ways.
At the colonies, we found 2 large lots of Gentoo penguins. Around each group, a rope had been laid on the ground and this was our boundary. There were many young chicks, still in their down among the adults. A lot of the chicks were spead-eagled on the ground, not moving. A volunteer naturalist on site explained that this was there way of staying cool, as they were not used to the heat. At this time, it was nearing 15 degrees C (59 F), a veritable heat wave for this area.
After an hour here, we returned in the Land Rovers and launch to Star Princess for lunch before tendering into Stanley for a look around.
Stanley was just as we had imagined it, quite British with a frontier look to it. The buildings were mostly brightly painted to offset the gloom that is the norm most of the year. There were several British-style pubs and they were doing a roaring business. By this time, the temperature had reached 18 degrees C (64F) and we were enjoying brilliant sunshine. Cliff had left his hat on the ship and ended up wearing his woolen toque to keep the sun off his head. After a walkabout , we stopped for a beer and chatted with a few of our crew members enjoying some time off, then purchased some souvenirs and tendered back to the ship.
We enjoyed a sunny sailaway from the hot-tub on Deck 16 before going to dinner.
USHUAIA, ARGENTINA
Claiming to be the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia is the capital of the Tierra del Fuego area of Argentina, with a population of about 64,000. It is surrounded by mountains and faces the Beagle Channel. Across the channel is Chile. Tierra Del Fuego translates as Land of Fire, named by Ferdinand Magellan for the many fires he saw along the shore, lit by the Yamana indians.
Originally a penal colony and source of timber, Ushuaia is now a thriving, modern city and the stepping off point for many of the smaller Antarctic cruises. There is also a thriving winter ski tourism industry. In the summer, it is a port of call for all of the major cruise lines and has a number of tourist attractions.
We had originally planned to do the Train to the End of the World tour but changed to the Beagle Channel Catamaran cruise. This left at 9:30 and spent 3 hours touring several small islands and rocks in the channel to see cormorants, sea-lions and other wild-life. It was a good choice, as the catamarans were able to get in very close to the shoreline for an excellent view and great picture taking opportunities. The tour left from the same pier at which Star Princess, along with 4 other, smaller cruise ships was docked.
On return to the pier, we went back aboard to change before going into the main part of Ushuaia. We finally found a restaurant to our liking and enjoyed the local delicacy, king crab washed down with Quilmes cerveza. Some more shopping and then we were back on board.
THE BEAGLE CHANNEL
A few hours after leaving Ushuaia, we passed the Chile-Argentina border and had Chile on both sides of the Channel. To our starboard, we bagan passing a series of incredible glaciers, many coming right down to the shore. People were glued to the starboard windows as these came into view, one after another in a parade of ice. The last of these had a river of melt water discharging from a tunnel under the face and cascading to the waters below.
We then continued westward towards the Pacific Ocean before turning east and north during the night to enter the Strait of Magellan.
PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE
A larger city, with a population of about 130,000, Punta Arenas is the capital of the Magellenas region of Patagonia. On the flight from Toronto, we learned from a Chilean lady that Patagonia means ‘Big Feet”. The name came from the early explorers who, when they first encountered the native people, believed they had very large feet. Apparently, the natives used a type of snow-shoe in winter to get around, something the explorers had never seen before and thought that they were actually their feet.
We anchored off here and were tendered ashore. Not having a tour booked, we did not rush. Once ashore, we walked to the main square for some pictures and a look around. This was also the first opportunity to find an Internet Café to check e-mail, etc. off the ship. ($1.00/30 minutes vs. $0.75/minute onboard) Back to the ship for lunch then Cliff went ashore again to spend some more time online and pick up some local beer.
During the day, the wind continued to strengthen and by 3:00PM, the tenders were finding it more difficult to come alongside the ship. At the same time, the falling tide had resulted in the second landing at the pier being closed when the water became too shallow for the tenders to embark passengers. Scheduled deparurte was 7:00PM, by which time the wind was Force 10 (48-55 knots) off the shore. The Captain had been using both bow and stern thrusters most of the day to hold the ship in position to provide a lee for the tenders. After everyone was back aboard, the tenders had to be lifted and restowed before we could leave. Those on the starboard side were retrieved but we had to weigh anchor and turn the ship starboard side to the wind to retrieve the port tenders. We did not get underway until almost 8:30.
We then sailed north-eastward along the Strait of Magellan towards the Atlantic Ocean. There was a full moon that night which provided some terrific picture opportunities.
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
The name supposedly originated when a Portuguese sailor, seeing the only significant hill in the area, call out “monte – vide eo” (I see a mountain).
We arrived after 3 days at sea on a warm, clear morning. The pier is u-shaped and a tug was required to assist in turning the ship 180 degrees to come alongside the inside length of the ‘u’. Soon after, the sun rose over the city, silhuetting the skyline.
With no tour booked here, either, we made our way ashore in leisurely fashion and took advantage of the free shuttle to one of the leather factory outlets. After an obligatory look at some of the leather goods, we walked into the city centre in company with a couple of ladies we had met onboard. We then left them and found a lovely beach walk that took us to a small restaurant. Here we enjoyed an Uruguayan beer and a sandwich, served by a very friendly waiter who spoke good English.
Refreshed and fortified, we walked back to the main square and then took a taxi back to the ship. We had been forewarned that the several blocks between the pier and downtown was not a good area to be walking alone. Before going back aboard, we visited the memorial to the Graf Spee, a German battleship scuttled off Montevideo during WW2.
Departure again called for a display of seamanship on the part of our Captain and crew. After our arrival, Oceania Cruises Insignia had arrived and berthed on the arm of the ‘u’ off our bow. Astern of us was a fishing trawler and another small vessel and the other arm of the ‘u’ was occupied by more fishing trawlers. The wind had picked up and was blowing quite strongly on our port quarter. The Captain had called for tugs to stand by but they were delayed, having just towed in a disabled small ship. To leave, we had to first get the stern swung away from the dock to move back to clear Insignia with our bow. We then had to move sideways away from the dock until we had cleared the two arms of the ‘u’, all the time avoiding being blown forward onto Insignia. The final move, due to the narrow gap between the end of the pier and the end of the breakwater, brought us very close to Insignia’s stern and the pier end. There were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as we skimmed past, both from our passengers and some on Insignia.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
After sailing overnight up the channel, we awoke to learn that we were at anchor 28 miles from the harbour. The wind had been Force 8 all night (34-40 knots) and was still blowing too strongly to attempt the narrow entry into Buenos Aires. After a couple of hours, we weighed anchor and proceeded up the channel again. The wind was subsiding and we were able to go in and dock. This involved entering the gap at the breakwater and turning to go stern first to the dock. This was accomplished with the aid of 2 tugs. Once again, we marvelled at the skill of our crew in maneuevering a vessel of this size in such close quarters under such adverse conditions.
After a delayed arrival, we were ashore with all of our bags, headed back to the hotel for one more night. We had decided to stay on rather than rush to a long flight. A quick taxi ride had us ‘home’ again where we received a very friendly greeting and were assigned the same room as before. As soon as the bags were in the room, it was off to the bar and a very surprised Fernando, our amigo.That night, we were joined by another couple we had met onboard and returned to our favourite restaurant, La Estancia, for another delicious steak dinner.
Check-out time was 11:00 the next day and flights home were not until late in the evening, so we arranged for a car and driver to give us a city tour before taking us to the airport. Roberto arrived at 12:00, loaded all our bags in the car and proceed to show us all of the places we had not seen previously. He was a great guide and delivered us safely to the airport, all for a very reasonable cost. Later that night, we were on our way to Miami and Toronto.
TORONTO, CANADA
After an early morning arrival, it was off to our daughter’s house and a birthday party that night for our 6 year old grandson. Another day and night of visiting saw us outrun a winter storm to the airport and a couple more flights brought us back home, weary but happy, filled with wonderful memories.
Cliff and Diana's Antarctic Cruise - January, 2008 (Part 2)
PART 2
STAR PRINCESS
We sailed on a short repositioning cruise on Sapphire Princess in 2007, our first cruise with Princess. We liked the ship and service at that time and found the food and entertainment pretty good. We were looking forward to Star Princess and, while the ship itself was fine, we were a little disappointed in the food, service and entertainment.
She is one of the Grand class and is big, as mentioned in Part 1. We were familiar with the basic layout from Sapphire and had no trouble finding our way around. We had booked an obstructed view outside cabin and our travel agent had managed to secure one that was between lifeboats. There are 2 cabin configurations for the outside cabins, some with the beds against the window and some fore-and-aft away from the window. We were very pleased, on boarding, to find that ours was the latter and we could stand at the window, which had a view out and down to the water. (This was important later, as you will see.)
There was a refrigerator, not stocked as a mini-bar, which left lots of room for beer and wine, which Princess did not seem to mind us bringing aboard and for Diana’s medication. (We had found a good Argentinian beer and carried 6 cans with us, in addition to red and white Argentinian wine.) Above the fridge was the TV and opposite, a desk and night-table. 2 large suitcases, once emptied, fit nicely under the beds.
The beds were very firm but our cabin steward, Lawrence, promptly fitted an egg-crate foam when asked. A nice cabin feature is the closet area, which has a tall cupboard with shelves and the safe and the rest is open hanging, with lots of hangars. The bathroom is small but functional. The standing joke about the Princess showers is that you pre-soap the walls, the get in and spin around.
We were on Emerald deck, one up from the Promenade, 2 or 3 up from the 2 open seating dining rooms and close to the elevators to the Lido deck, where the buffet and main pools are located.
We had some good meals and some not so good meals. We could not honestly say that we had any excellent meals. With Anytime Dining, we sat at different tables with different people each time, so did not get to know the waitstaff as we had on past cruises with assigned times and tables. Generally, the service was OK but not outstanding. Menu selections were pretty standard. There were quite a few passengers who had sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to Buenos Aires on the prior cruise who said they were getting a bit tired of the repetition.
The buffet offered a good range of selections for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the layout of the serving area is confusing and often quite crowded, with people going in all directions at once. Also, Princess uses large platters rather than trays, making it a little harder to select choices. Surprisingly, considering the number of sea days between ports, there were always bananas and other fresh fruit available, as well as a good selection of yogourts.
We seldom eat desserts at home, so always look forward to these on a cruise. The selection and preparation this time was very disappointing. Many were
stodgy, some undercooked, some overcooked and generally not all that tasty.
We looked in on the Princess Theatre a few times and enjoyed a couple of the stage productions. Otherwise, we did not think the entertainers were all that good. The same could be said for the other venues. Our favorite was Maurizio, who played alternately in the Atrium and one of the bars. He was full of energy, was a great singer and played the piano and keyboard with skill and style. (We went to Skywalker’s disco one evening and no one was dancing – Maurizio had people dancing in the Atrium and on the 2 deck levels above).
Our general impression was that the staff were not energized as they are on other ships. We never really saw or heard from the Passenger Services Director, who is ultimately responsible for the ‘Passenger Experience’ and wonder whether this might have a bearing on the service levels. The Cruise Director, Frank, was the usual rah-rah type but really had no influence on other than the entertainment aspect. We kept seeing the Princess mantra - “C.R.U.I.S.E” – which stands for “Courtesy-Respect-Unfailing In Service Excellence”, but were left with the impression that this crew were not Walking the Talk.
That said, we could not fault the operating crew. The Captain kept us informed throughout the cruise. The Port Expert gave informative and helpful talks throughout and the Naturalist, despite having lost his 2 assistants due to a flight cancellation, was knowledgeable and tried his best to keep up with the demands of this particular cruise. The Captain, Staff Captain and other officers had all done previous Antarctic cruises and were ably assisted by the Ice Pilot, a retired US Coast Guard ice-breaker Captain with extensive experience in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Two incidents confirmed our impression of the professionalism of the operating crew. On the first morning, while eating breakfast, we heard the announcement ‘Assessment Team to the Incinerator Room”. Star Princess, like most cruise ships, disposes of combustibles in a high-temperature incinerator while underway. Occasionally, the fire gets out of the control area, at which time a water deluge system floods the compartment. Shortly after hearing the announcement, there was another calling the response teams to their stations. This began to sound more serious. However, soon after we heard the ‘Stand Down’ announcement, followed by a full explanation from the Captain of what had happened and reassurance that all was under control. There was a second call for the Assessment Team on our last sea day as we approached Montevideo but it was quickly cancelled.
The ship itself was in good condition and, for it’s size, not difficult to navigate. Of all the facilities onboard, our favorites were Skywalker’s – otherwise known as the shopping cart handle, the aft hot-tub on deck 16 for some sailaways, the Atrium areas and the observation deck above the bridge when conditions allowed. Much of our time was spent on deck, either the Promenade or Lido, which allowed for a good deal of walking as well as providing excellent photography vantage points.
Cliff and Diana's Antarctic Cruise - January, 2008 (Part 3)PART 3
ANTARCTICA
What can we say. It is difficult these days to find a suitable superlative since so many have been hijacked and lost their impact. Let us just say that, in the true sense of the words, it was both AWESOME and HUMBLING.
At this point in time, less than 300,000 people have visited Antarctica. We feel fortunate to now be counted among them. We also feel very fortunate to have experienced some of the best weather possible for this area. After leaving Stanley in the Falkland Islands, we spent a full day at sea. Following this, we awoke to a misty morning and found ourselves cruising past a vast piece of ice that had separated from the Larsen ice-shelf. We were later told that it was estimated to be 18-19 miles long about 10 miles wide and about 100 feet high above the water. This would make it about 700-800 feet thick below the water.
Soon after leaving it astern, Elephant Island began to appear through the mist. There was ice on the decks and the air temperature was hovering around freezing. Despite this, the decks were soon crowded as many of the 2600 passengers aboard came to get their first glimpse of Antarctica. We were at 60 degrees south latitude, the official start of the Antarctic. Passing slowly by, we were able to see the beach where Shackleton’s crew survived a winter
awaiting rescue and the point of land where they had initially landed. It was a most inhospitable looking location and it brought home how incredible their survival was, given the equipment and clothing they had at their disposal.
After a close look, we continued south toward the Bransfield Strait. By this time, icebergs of all shapes and sizes were appearing and the weather was clearing, although the termperature remained the same. After an overnight passage, we were at the western entrance of the Antarctic Sound, often referred to as Iceberg Alley. This is a shallow strait between the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula
and D’Urville, Joinville and Bransfield Islands. Ice from the Larsen Ice-shelf and the eastern shore of the peninsula is driven through the Sound by current and wind. The plan was to sail to Hope Bay, about half-way down the passage and look in on Esperanza, the Argentinian research station. Unfortunately, there was a very strong wind when we arrived and the Captain and ice-pilot decided not to proceed further. We turned away amidst a great number of icebergs and ‘bergy-bits’ to proceed across Bransfield Strait to King George Island and Arctowski, the Polish research station in Admiralty Bay.
King George Island is also the location of the Chilean base to which the survivors of the Explorer sinking in November, 2007 were taken. On the way there, we passed close to the actual site of the sinking. Once in Admiralty Bay, the winds eased and we were able to bring a group onboard from Artkowski. The station commander gave a talk from the bridge, informing us of the activities they undertook and how they lived in this remote place. From a previous talk from the bridge, we had been told that the ship usually made up a ‘goody bag’ for the visitors to take back with them to add a little extra to their usual diet. This group appeared to return well provisioned.
After viewing the vast ice-sheets that flowed to the water’s edge and seeing many whales spouting nearby, we started on our way. We could just not resist and immersed ourselves in the Deck 16 hot tub as we sailed away. What a sensation as the ship turned close to the shore. It felt as though we could reach out and touch the ice and snow. However, as we picked up speed and found ourselves again in the wind, we quickly exited the tub and, after a near disaster of having a jacket almost blow away, returned to our cabin to warm up before dinner.
We were now well south and experiencing late sunsets and early sunrises. After dinner, we were on deck for pictures and to watch a brilliant sunset. In these latitudes, sunset is a lengthy affair and it took some time for it to sink below the horizon. This afforded wondeful photo opportunities and resulted in a series of good pictures, both of the sunset itself and of the glow on the far shoreline.
Continuing south, we awoke next morning to more sunshine and icy decks. Up early for sunrise pictures, we found crew on deck scraping ice into the scuppers before the morning crowd arrived. Today was to take us to the furthst south point of the cruise down the Gerlache Strait, hopefully to 65 degrees south latitude. The day was spent weaving through fields of ice – bergs and bergy bits. From our lofty vantage point, wildlife was not easy to spot but we did pass one lot of penguins, which took to the water as we drew closer. Another floe showed us a lounging seal.
Nearing the turning point, we were told that Captain Bob, the Ice Pilot, had ordered up a pod of orcas (killer whales). Right on cue, they appeared off our stern and swam with us for a short distance. At 64d 57.92m south, we began our turn northward as there was just a bit too much ice ahead to actually reach 65S.
We then proceeded up the narrow Neumeyer Channel, an absolutely incredible sight. Ice sheets flowing to the water, broken and ready to calve. Black rock mountains piercing the low clouds and glorious sunshine. A small cruise ship nosing in along the shoreline. Once through the channel, we headed north for our last night in Antarctica.
Since approaching the Falkland Islands, we had been treated to soaring birds of all types. Albatross with wingspans of 10 feet, giant petrels, antarctic petrels, cape petrels and many more. There were a number of ‘birders’ aboard who were found during the day on deck with their spotting scopes on tripods and binoculars at the ready. They were keen but also willing to help identify the birds for those less knowledgeable. We continued to see these magnificent creatures until we returned to the warmer waters near the River Plate.
Our last day in Antarctica found us off Deception Island. This is a volcanic cone which had opened to the sea and was home to several whaling stations in the caldera years ago. More recently, research stations were established but these were destroyed by volcanic activity or abandoned due to the threat. Smaller cruise ships are able to enter the caldera but the narrow entrance and a shipwreck in the channel meant that we could not go in. Those that do enter land passengers on the shore, where thermal activity actually allows for a quick dip.
We passed by and then cruised along the shoreline. Sheltered beaches were covered with penguins in the thousands, some spread out inland and up the slopes. As we cruised along, hundred of them swam alongside and popped out of the water like porpoise as they came up for air.
We were in company with Le Diament, a smaller cruise ship and Europa, a sailing bark out of Ushuaia along the shore. The day before, we had sighted Marco Polo in our travels. As we prepared to leave Deception Island, another small ship was seen entering the Caldera. She has not been identified yet.
Departing Deception Island, we sailed west past Smith Island before turning northward to cross the infamous Drake Passage. Known as the roughest stretch of water anywhere, we wondered if our weather luck was going to abandon us. It was not to be. Although we did have winds up to Force 9, the seas were kind and Star Princess handled the crossing with hardly a bump, thanks to her stabilizers and size. After enjoying a quiet and restful night, another calm day at sea brought us to the infamous Cape Horn.
We approached slowly and awaited the Chilean pilot before entering Chilean waters. The seas were calm and the winds light. The sun came out and we were again treated to a beautiful day for our visit. The first sight was of the point where Chile has established a station to keep watch. Nearby there is a monument to the sailors who have lost their lives trying to round this southenmost point. It consists of a two facing triangles with the cutout shape of an albatross in the centre.
From there, we sailed slowly around the island that forms the cape, seeing the jagged rocks and inhospitable shoreline that have claimed so many ships in the past. Thankful for our reliable propulsion system, we completed the circuit and left for our passage up the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia.
Antarctica has no government and is regulated through an international treaty. There are several organizations that are more or less self-regulating but there is a strong will on the part of all parties to maintain the character of the continent. Star Princess observed very strict guidelines the entire time she was sailing south of 60 degrees south latitude. These included closing the ship’s laundry and any other facility that discharged overboard while at sea, prohibiting smoking on outer decks and notices advising that the self-serve laundries might also be closed. Nothing was to go overboard and passengers were cautioned not to leave loose items where they might blow away. There were occasions where items were seen blowing away and stern announcements from the bridge quickly followed. Passengers were occasionally seen admonishing others who were not observing the smoking restriction.
As mentioned at the beginning of this part, Antarctica inspires awe and creates a real perpective of our place in the scheme of things. The vast tracts of untouched ice and snow, the incredible peaks jutting through to pierce the clouds and the diversity of wildlife in this pristine setting defy description. We only hope that we have been able to convey some of our wonder at the priviledge we enjoyed by being able to go there and see for ourselves what a marvelous place this is.
FOOTNOTE:
We took about 1300 pictures during the entire trip, many bracketing scenes to be edited later to choose the best. We used a Fujifilm S700 7.1mp main camera with a 10x optical zoom, backed up with an HP 5.0mp. For the trip, we carried a total of 9 gigabytes of memory and a CD burner to backup the memory cards regularly. In additon, we had a monopod and plastic weather covers in case of rain or snow. The Fujifilm S700 took some excellent video clips so that we were able to capture some of the activities that were difficult to catch on stills.
132 of our edited pictures have been posted at:
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/6401181307-1202778513-72777/