Before I talk about our day, I did want to mention that the artwork around the Octantis is absolutely beautiful and very educational. You could spend a day looking at the collections of artifacts, photographs, paintings, and textiles that are featured on every deck. There are also many TVs around, featuring tidbits of info as well as quotes by famous people. I love reading the quotes. One quote I can relate to, is by Susan Sontag…”I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

We are at Elephant Island and the first thing we noticed – there’s no snow! We had a nice morning and after lunch we went for a walk around the decks. Another beautifully sunny day, with mild temps.

The mild temps lasted, but the sun went in just as we were ready to embark on our final zodiac ride to the shore. The rides were postponed by a half hour as the tides were changing and the waters were quite rough.

We made our way down to the launching deck, and an announcement came over the loud speakers that they were searching for another place to embark onto the shore because of the waters. So after a 20 minute wait, we finally made our way to the zodiac, which was bouncing up and down in the water from the rough sea.

This was by far the most terrifying zodiac ride ever. The waves were high and the zodiac kept going up and down as well as to and fro. Almost all of us slid into the zodiac like beached whales and then carefully made our way to our seats. The ride to the shore was also scary… Water spraying on us, as we bounced up and down the whole way, holding onto the ropes for dear life. One of our friends on the zodiac after us was injured as he got on, sliding into the stepstool and had to go to medical. 😳

When we arrived at the shore, we had to disembark in calf height water and walk over extremely slippery rocks. Thankfully, there were many guides extending hands, clutching us as we walked to shore.

But it was worth it. Seeing the fur seals, the penguins, and the elephant seals was amazing. We walked the beach and then waited for our return zodiac. While walking the beach, we were cautioned to be careful where we stepped, so we did not step on any of the green vegetation that was all around.

Before we boarded our return zodiac, we had to rub the bottom of our boots back and forth in the sand and then rinse them in the water. Even doing that, some of us still had seaweed attached to our boots. The bottoms of our snow pants were soaked, but our socks remained dry.

Thankfully, the waters had calmed a bit and the ride back wasn’t as bad. Halfway to our ship, however, we were stopped by another zodiac, and we thought there was something wrong as we pulled alongside. They tied both zodiacs together, and then passed out champagne glasses so we could toast to our very last zodiac ride in Antarctica. Such a wonderful surprise.

We had a bit of difficulty again, going from the zodiac to the ship, but all was okay and we quickly changed and met our friends for a quick drink and then on to dinner.

The maitre d’ at dinner told us the Drake tonight and tomorrow will probably have waves about 4 meters high…rougher than our first crossing, but we are prepared. Green apples, ginger ale, crackers, seasickness patches, and ginger chews. We were also told to put our water jugs and glasses in the wastecan, so they don’t roll off the countertops.

We ordered room service for breakfast for tomorrow, just in case it’s too risky to traverse the halls to get to the restaurant.

As Bette Davis once said…”Hang on tight. It’s going to be a bumpy night!”