Today was the last full day of the expedition. In the morning, we finished crossing the Drake Passage. The passage was unusually quiet yesterday, but the waves grew bigger today, closer to their normal size in the Drake. In the late morning, Lucho, our expedition leader, announced that National Geographic Resolution was quietly drifting close to Cape Horn, the southernmost point of the Americas. For the first time in many days, we saw gently rolling mountains. What a contrast to the dramatic cliffs of Antarctica!
Later, while passing through Beagle Channel, we enjoyed viewing the vertical zonation of the mountains with forests covering the lower slopes, alpine vegetation on mid-slopes and sparkling snow on the summits.
We enjoyed excellent presentations today. In the morning, Tua Pittman, Cultural Navigator on the ship, presented, “Discovering Antarctica: The Polynesian Way.” After lunch, guests had the opportunity to learn about the operational capacity and design of National Geographic Resolution, presented by our captain, Martin Graser. The final presentation of the day introduced us to fieldwork of the British Antarctic Survey, presented by naturalist John Pailthorpe.
In the evening, our ship arrived in Ushuaia and expertly moved into berth alongside the dock.
