Friday 25 February 2011

Our voyage is coming to an end…


One more last sea day! It turned out to be a smooth ride again… and now we are in the Beagle Channel, not far away from Ushuaia, where it all started, 12 days before.


Our captain had one last surprise for us: as we were good in time, he deviated the ship from its course and brought FRAM close to Cape Horn. The Chilean authorities even gave us permission to go as close as 4 nautical miles from the famous cape! A strong wind accompanied us on this careful approach – exactly as we would expect in this place.

In the afternoon, we gathered in the Observation Lounge where the expedition team wanted to check if we learned something at all during our trip. The final exam took place in form of a quiz, and two very strict judges (see photos) made sure that everything went correct! Excellent results showed that indeed all passengers go home with a sound knowledge on Antarctica. And congratulations to boat group number 4, the final winner of this great challenge!


We had the Captain’s Farewell Dinner in the evening, with speeches, the classical Baked Alaska and a good-bye of the MV Fram choir. The captain once more pointed out that a successful trip can only be achieved through good team work and because there are many ever-busy crew members behind the scenes.

Rona, Clarice, Marilyn and Rowena
from reception




For some of them, like the reception girls, these last days of a trip are always the most challenging – all bills have to be prepared and in parallel work for the next cruise also needs to be done.

We all on board MV FRAM hope you have enjoyed this trip with us down to Marguerite Bay and hope to see you soon again on board with us!


 
Dolphins saying good-bye in the Beagle Channel