Lemaire Channel, Antarctica

Friday, December 25, 2015 (Christmas)

We woke up this moring with an alert from the captain. "I have just received a report that there is a man on an iceberg up ahead. We are trying to get a positive ID on him. Wait . . . it’s Santa Claus!”

We woke at 7:00 AM, this morning, eager to see whether Santa would find us since we are far away at the other pole. After breakfast, we put on our furs and went to the 12th, and then 7th, floor viewing decks. The scenery was unbelievable as we passed through the Una Peaks and the Lemaire Channel.

The Lemaire Channel is 7 miles long and averages only 1 mile in width with spectacular peaks on each side. We took dozens of photographs, but they don’t do justice to the majesty of the vistas.

I looked pretty good too – in my ring seal fur coat!

Then, way off in the distance, we spotted something red on top of an iceberg.

Actually, I spotted it and told a friend about it.   She thought I was teasing, so she just said “Yes, I see it too.” As the ship nosed up closer, we realized who it was – Santa Claus!

He was there with Mrs. Claus and a female helper, ready to come onboard for Christmas. How he got there nobody knows. All the little girls and boys aboard shrieked with delight and disbelief but yes, Santa had found us – even though he had to travel from the North Pole to the South Pole.

(In actuality, the Enrichment Team had selected one of our good friends, along with his wife and daughter to play Santa and family. They rode the rescue boat early in the morning for miles up the channel to get set up. The entire  extravagant experience was something that would only happen on The World!)

After relieving myself of the extraordinarily warm coat, I joined everyone in the Plaza to await Santa’s arrival.

As would be expected, all the children were seated on the floor in anxious anticipation of the big moment.

The Enrichment Team explained that the Claus family was not on the visitors list and had no passports, and were accordingly being delayed by ship security.  

While we waited, they played a holiday video of the entire crew wishing everyone happy holidays. Egg nog and warm chestnuts were served to all.

Santa arrived and, with Mrs. Claus and their helper.  Santa announced that all children on board had been declared very good children, and Mrs. Claus proceeded to hand out pre-labeled toys to each and every one of the 55 kids aboard, each of whom had a photo with Santa.

We retired to our apartment and just took in the view for hours. Then, it was time for lunch. And what a Christmas brunch it was! They had anything and everything. We tried to be healthy, but our third dessert belied us.

Again, the afternoon allowed for even more viewing of this imposing, yet majestic landscape.

My apartment was decorated in traditional Christmas holiday cheer.

The day was sunny and (relatively) warm. At 4:30, it was our turn to take a zodiac cruise and to hike up Peterman Island. But by the time we started out on the water, the sunny ceiling had turned cloudy. Accordingly, our choice of clothing was insufficient – and we got cold.

We cruised around for about 30 minutes (with a zodiac driver we didn’t much care for– he seemed a little too daring approaching the icebergs and a little too fast in the zodiac, except when we had to stop so that he could refuel– saying he didn’t want it to happen at an inopportune time… neither did we!) We were able to get a few great shots, however.

Then, we dismounted and explored Peterson Island.

We saw Adelie penguins today, sometimes breeding right in the middle of a group of chinstraps.

After about 45 minutes on the island, and with our fingers starting to get cold, we trudged back down the mountain to the awaiting zodiacs.

Back on the ship, we had only 30 minutes to get ready for the briefing and dinner.

At the briefing, we heard from a woman who summered on Coverville Island, the spot we are planning to visit tomorrow. We learned a fascinating and humbling fact.  The moss and lichens grow at a rate of 1/2 millimeter a year.  Yet on the island it can be as thick as 18 inches, giving us some sense of how many years the moss and lichens have grown in this Antarctic island.

Dinner was spectacular (as it should have been for $500).

But, for the first time, the service was slow. There was one seating and we were told the chef wanted to wait until everyone was there before he started serving, and then everyone would get served at the same time. As a result, those of us who were on time, waited 45 minutes before our first course came out. On the other hand, the food was totally delicious, and the wine pairings were both spot on and plentiful. (The service was fine once it began.)

Throughout dinner, the views continued.

It had to be the best Christmas dinner view ever as we turned around (at 65 degrees, 17 minutes south on the globe) and navigated our way back north through the Lemaire Channel.

Determined not to make it a late night again, we went straight to bed.