The transit from the Falklands to Montevideo took 3 nights and over 3 and half days through the South Atlantic.
After a good night’s sleep with only the occasional bang or pitching. Our draft bill was waiting outside our cabin when we went for breakfast.
Everyone in the dining room looked happier after another calm night at sea. This was the first day that I regretted not packing a lot of warm weather clothes. Looking around the dining room our fellow passengers were in t-shirts and shorts.
Our expedition voyage on Hurtigruten’s MS Fram would take us from Ushuaia to Antarctica, to South Georgia, around the Falklands and then onto Montevideo.
Monday March 13th was our last day of the transit to Montevideo from the Falklands and was the day the voyage became a cruise..
Last day in the South Atlantic
Out on deck I tried Deck 7 aft and then moved to Deck 5 in the bow looking for sea birds or more dolphins.
The sun was now shining and the air temperature was warm in in the slight breeze.
These were the helpers on Fram’s bridge.
I did see fleetingly some sea birds but the majority of my images were likely to be of clouds or of the sea!
By lunchtime the ship had slowed to a crawl as the voyage of adventure turned into a sunshine cruise. We sat in the sun chatting to fellow passengers and looking for sea birds. We were surprised at the lack of birds given that there were now dandelion seeds floating around us and even flies.
Cocktail party and charity auction
The Captain held a farewell cocktail party at 4 pm in the Panorama Lounge. He was presented with gifts from the Mongolian passengers who thanked him for an excellent and safe voyage. At the party we were told that Flam will have sailed 4012 nautical miles since Ushaia when she finally reaches Montevideo.
After the cocktail party there was an auction to benefit the South Georgia Heritage Trust. One of the items was the Hurtigruten flag flown throughout the voyage. The flag now had all our ports and landings and was autographed by the ship’s officers and the expedition team.
The last item was a chart that had been updated by the navigation officer showing our route over the last few weeks.
Once the auction was over the assembled officers, crew and exhibition team sang the ship’s song as a finale.
BBQ on Deck 7
While the auction was in full swing the crew had been finishing setting up the promised BBQ out on deck. This was on the starboard side of Deck 7. We waited in the lounge for a drink with our table companions before joining the BBQ out on deck.
Tables and chairs were at a premium outside by then so we sat back in the lounge and avoided the mosquitoes that had arrived outside.
Later we were treated to a gorgeous sunset and as the moon rose it was a wonderful orange colour.
And finally …
Back in the main lecture theatre we joined fellow passengers to watch the video generated by Ester from her images of the voyage. This was the DVD that we had ordered earlier.
Then we were back to our cabin to finish packing and adding yellow labels to indicate a transfer straight to our hotel.
This was when we noticed the sunburn on our arms and faces – oops!