We had one final presentation on the Drake crossing that I waited to write about because it wasn’t by an expedition team member or ship officer.  

This presentation was by Pedro who works for the BBC.  

Pedro is from Brazil and told us his story that began as a kid who loved water activity.

He grew up to be a marine biologist and receive degrees in filmmaking.

Those accomplishments led him to being employed by the BBC Natural History Unit.  Because 90% percent of natural history content is made in Bristol, England, it is called Green Hollywood.

Pedro has been onboard the Venture for two months through a partnership between the BBC and Seaborne. That means he has been on seven cruises with multiple submarine dives per cruise.

Pedro’s next gig will be on a Japanese scientific ship, much less glamorous!

His stories about transporting all his gear were interesting! He travels alone and manages all the equipment shown above.

A BBC program/series takes about 4 years to develop from inception.

Wildlife aren’t the most cooperative actors!

It is important for the BBC to take the time to double and triple fact check. If any scientist disagrees with a theory or assumption, it is dropped. The BBC feels the need to get it right to maintain their reputation and that of David Attenborough. The shows have a massive global outreach.

Pedro is the last person out in the field for the BBC’s latest series in development.  He couldn’t say a word about the new series but said we would know it when we saw it. We can’t wait.

As our cruise came to an end, we found the map of our voyage interesting. The part in the very south doesn’t happen for most cruises but ours was two days longer than usual.

The international breakdown of passengers was also interesting.

Seabourn did everything so well!  This was an expedition cruise, different from their regular offerings, but we would be very happy to sail with them again.

Because Seabourn needed us off the ship to prepare for the next cruise, they gave us “meal money” and hired a tour of Ushuaia as we waited for our flights out.  

Ushuaia sits on the Beagle Channel which separates Argentina from Chile at the southernmost tip of South America.

We had bus and walking components on the Ushuaia tour, but is it fair to tour anything right after Antarctica?

I went in search of something to purchase to be our Antarctica Christmas ornament – something I always do to commemorate our trips.  There just weren’t any souvenir shops in Antarctica!

Once I found this penguin, I was satisfied. It is blue eyed so not really representative of Antarctic penguins but good enough. (Only fairy penguins from New Zealand are blue eyed.) 

Our flights home were uneventful and mostly dedicated to sleeping.  

Global Entry kiosks at the Houston International terminal weren’t working so we had to pass by and interact with arrogant and rude border patrol and immigration officers at the Houston airport.  It was disappointing to think this is how the United States presents to visitors to our country.  

It took 32 hours from leaving the ship to walking in our door at home. 

We have been so fortunate to travel to so many places and to take numerous trips that others have considered a “trip of a lifetime.”

We have never used those words previously, but this may be the one. 

This is the trip that has, at least for the time being, usurped The Best of Italy, as our favorite trip ever.

This is the trip that allows us to say we have crossed both the Arctic and Antarctic circles and allows us to say we have been to all seven continents!

This flag went with us to Antarctica and now hangs in our travel hall.

In our seven continent achievement, checking off Asia is a bit different than the others. We have both traveled in Asia – just not together. We did go to Istanbul which straddles Europe and Asia, but that would be a pretty narrow interpretation. 

However, as a teenager, my family lived in Thailand and we traveled to a number of countries in Southeast Asia. 

As a Hewlett Packard employee, Randy traveled to and worked in India. 

So, yes. We’ve absolutely both been to Asia.  An extended trip to Asia is scheduled for 2027.

Finally, photographer Harry took bird pictures throughout our Antarctica voyage but I never highlighted them. 

I will close out our Antarctica adventure with Harry’s birds.

If you ever have the opportunity to go to Antarctica – DO IT! Major cruise lines do “drive bys” which many find absolutely fine. Only the smaller ships allow you to step on land. We are glad we did it the way we did.