Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5: Day 11 – Hurtigruten MS Fram near Strømness, South Georgia
There are not many hours of darkness this far south at this time of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. You need to stay up late to see the colors at sunset and dusk, and very early to see the colors at dawn and sunrise. I was fortunate to catch this cloud formation at 03:51 AM. No one else was out on the deck other than the ship’s late night watch.
Gone to See Florida 2017/2018 Road Trip. Day 5: Urban Garden in St. Petersburg.
This was the first time I have seen a Black & White Warbler. It never stayed in one place very long, so was hard to get an image. Many House Sparrows and an orange butterfly (Gulf Fritillary?). Then some fruit — Bananas still on the tree, a Carambola, Figs, and a green lemon.
Gone to See Antarctica 2014/5 Day 10: Christmas Day on South Georgia Island
The Hurtigruten MS Fram arrived at South Georgia early in the morning. We were ferried from the ship to the island on Polarcirkel boats (a more comfortable version of the Zodiac boats). We then hiked across the island to Grytviken — an abandoned whaling village to attend Christmas Service at the Whalers Church. This is reported to be the southern most church. It was prefabricated in Norway, and dedicated 104 years ago on Christmas Day. The Christmas service was performed in Norwegian, German, and English. The church has a foot-pumped organ that the ship’s musician used to play Christmas music (as well as “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum). We then spent the remainder of our time on shore investigating the remaining whaling buildings in Grytviken and visiting a King Penguin rookery just outside of the village.