The Penguin Room or lecture room was used in the evening to show movies such as “March of the Penguins” and “Happy Feet”. During the day, more sober presentations on sea birds, penguins, mammals, geology, icebergs, weather, research and history – Shackleton, Antarctica and its environs were presented. The scientific presentations were given when we were not boarding Zodiacs to experience firsthand the wonders of Antarctica. The room is laid out like a typical lecture hall with theater style seating but with benches and coffee tables around the perimeter.

When Sola and I entered the lecture room I looked for Simon. If anything happened to Simon his wife would feed me to the leopard seals. As I looked around the room for Simon I was surprised to find both computers at the rear of the room engaged with email writers. Once I spotted Simon, looked through the window to check the weather condition and wondered if shipboard computers have become the modern day message-in-a-bottle.

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Just before midnight on Thanksgiving Day we were now sailing southwest through Bransfield Strait having spent the morning at Elephant Island; we were now heading to Antarctica.

Bransfield Strait is south of the Drake Passage, the body of water between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn and Antarctica. The cruise was titled the “The Spirit of Shackleton”, no one knew when we left Ushuaia how aptly this cruise was named.

I was particularly keen to go on the Explorer as it is well known for being the only purpose built ship for exploring the Arctic and Antarctic. Unlike my first cruise to Antarctica aboard the Ushuaia, the Explorer cruise included visits to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island with King Penguins, as well as Antarctica.

When we weren’t boarding Zodiacs, visiting historic sites or viewing the wildlife, we were onboard the Explorer attending lectures given by prominent scientists in ornithology, geology, sea mammals, climate and glaciology.

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On 11 November 2007 Sola, my daughter and I departed from Ushuaia, Argentina aboard the M/S Explorer on a cruise meant to follow in the wake of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endeavor. Little did we know how closely we would follow Sir Ernest.

The M/S Explorer, nicknamed “The Little Red Ship”, formerly MS Lindblad Explorer (1985) and MS Society Explorer (1992), was purpose built in 1969 for Arctic and Antarctic cruises. The MS Explorer was originally commissioned and operated by the Swedish explorer Lars-Eric Lindblad. G.A.P. Adventures, a Canadian based travel company, acquired the ship in 2004.

The first time I went to Antarctica was in 2004. I had a few free days before I was returning to Bangkok after being in Bariloche, Argentina to celebrate Simon Bonython’s sixtieth birthday with Jon Olson. Simon, Jon and I have been making annual trips together for over the past ten years usually mountain treks. Prior to leaving Bangkok, Gary Heager, a well-traveled friend, had suggested I visit Ushuaia to earn “visited the southernmost city in the world” bragging rights.

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