December 10, 2025

Antarctica > Puerto Williams, Chile

02:43, sunrise. We are in the Drake Passage. The ship is doing its rock-n-roll thing. Nearly fell out of bed. We will be traversing the passage all day today and most of the day tomorrow. We are scheduled to arrive in Puerto Williams at 22:00 on Thursday. I was able to go back to sleep until 06:00 when I got up and got dressed and headed down to the Arts Café.

The Daily Chronicles suggests a few things to do today. Wildlife Watch, lecture with Emile on cetaceans, the Expedition Leader Michael is speaking about the different Artic Regions we might want to visit, there is a sold water survival workshop (hopefully not needed), and a lecture on the Shackleton’s ill-fated expedition. At 10:00 we are to return our rental gear.

There is still a lot to do even through we are at sea. This cruise has been an experience and well worth the trip. Antarctica is a wondrous place. Truly the last unspoiled frontier. We are looking forward to the 27° C (80° F) weather in Santiago on Friday. Of course this will be followed by the 0° C to 10° C (32° F to 41° F weather in Kansas City.

We received my Polar Plunge Certificate this morning. The southern sea (64° 34.3’ S Latitude and 61° 40.9’ W Lonitude) at the time and place of the plunge was an invigorating 1.4° C (34.5° F). That may qualify as going swimming in Antarctica in December. It really dosen’t matter how you put it, it is cold.

My cappuccino and brioche were waiting for me in the Arts Cafe at 06:30, thank you Nwe and Harry. There isn’t much of anything to see outside. It is raining and the fog is very thick. I am sure navigation before WWII would have been extremely difficult. With today’s modern electronic equipment probably not as difficult. The sea itself has long swells and they are somewhere between three and four meters according to the display in reception.

It may be prudent to put on one of the transdermal scopolamine patches. After the last one it seems it is not significantly different from good old Dramamine. In both cases all it really seems to do is put you to sleep. If you are asleep you don’t feel like throwing up. So ti works with a side effect.

In fact, what happened is I went down to the Mudroom and collected our boots, brought them back to the room and put them in the blue cloth bags they were delivered to us in. It was about 09:00 when Mary got up. At 09:30 we went back to the Arts Cafe so Mary could get some breakfast; at least a cappuccino and muffin of some sort. Then, at 10:00 we went to the Observation Lounge and turned in our rented expedition equipment. We were back in the room before it had gone 10:30; and about 10:33 I was back in bed asleep.

It wasn’t until it had gone nearly 13:15 before consciousness returned. We ordered room service. While we were waiting for room service, I went to reception to retrieve our passports. The young lady at reception asked if I would like help to complete the Chilean Landing Affidavit. Sure. So, we completed the document, and she then printed it out for me. I also had the nerve to ask when we were scheduled to be picked up in Puerto Williams and taken to the plane for Santiago. 06:00 on Friday morning.

We should be back in Santiago by 11:00? Forty-five minutes to get everyone though immigration, on the bus to the airport and on the plane. Take off at 07:00. The fight is about three hours and forty minutes. Land and deplane in Santiago about 11:00. It is then another forty minutes to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We can only hope we can check-in early again. If not, it is lunch time.

We finished up our room service lunch about 14:00. I got back in bed again and quickly dozed off. Mary joined me at sometime because when I woke up again at 16:00 she was in bed asleep. It is now clear and sunny outside, and it is a balmy 10° C (50° F). The sea state isn’t a whole lot better. According to the bridge screen it is currently running two to three meters.

There is a recap and briefing in the Explorer Lounge at 17:00. I’ll put on some clothing and head up there. Perhaps I can get some additional information on our departure on Friday. There was no helpful information at the Recap or Briefing. The only thing learned was that the seas are likely to stay at three or four meters until around lunch time tomorrow.

It is now time to go to the Captain’s and Antarctic’s farewell toast and then dinner at Il Terrazzino. This is one of those things that happen on cruises. They bring a lot of the staff out for you to meet, and they give various members of the staff awards for service or safety. It is a little sad that we are leaving but let's not make a big deal out of it.

Dinner was nice. We started with a nice bottle of wine, Prunotto Berbaresco. It is made from the Nebbiolo grapes in the Barbearesco region to the southeast of Torino. It was a very nice red which went well with the dishes we had for dinner. Speaking of which, they offered a Cacio & Pepe. Now this is one of my favorite dishes from my stay in Siena while studying my Italian. It is difficult to get just right.

You really need to have the proper ingredients, the most important of which is the pasta. This is where most chefs made a mistake. In Siena they use Pici pasta. It is a usually a handhold think pasta. You can use bucatini. The long, hollow, tube-shaped pasta. It is a pasta with sufficient structure to hold the creamy sauce. Tonguethey ay they are using bucatini.

Ok, yes you have to use pecorino romano as the cheese. You need a good fresh ground black pepper. Getting the balance between the two is part of the key for success. Well, to night I had this as my appetizer. I was not disappointed. It was very good.

Mary & Susan had the Caesar salad. Richard had some (ugh) fish soup. As a main course, I chose the lamb chops. This time they had mint jelly! They were very good. Mary had the lasagna, which is always compared to Mariagiulia’s which no one can come close to.

Mary’s Lasagna

Richard’s fish soup

My lame.

Dinner was very good overall. The wine was excellently paired with the dishes. Nwe was our server. She is also there in the morning to serve me my cappuccino at 06:30. After dinner I went and had a cigar. Susan, Richard and Mary went to the observation deck.

Tomorrow is our last full day. We disembark from the ship at 06:05 Friday morning for Santiago. Our flight from Puerto Williams is at 07:00 and we should be at the hotel around noon on Friday.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria