RWSE Day 9: No Sunrise @ Saunders … But

“Traveling — it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” ~~ Ian Battuta ~~ (from the Daily Program)

The alarm went off at 4:00a! Ugh.

I rose up on my knees in bed and looked out the window. It was immediately obvious that there would be no colorful sunrise … no chance of seeing the glow of Mt Michael’s lava lake.

I was tempted to go back to sleep. But I was awake anyway. And there was convenient open deck space aft of our cabin. So, I threw the parka over my pj’s, slipped on closed-toed clogs, and went out to take a peek at the third largest island in the South Sandwich Islands … and one of eight discovered by Captain Cook during his 1775 expedition.

Even as I was opening the watertight door on the starboard side, Sara announced that there was a blue iceberg on the port side. I hurried over there instead. What a beautiful sight … even in the dull light.

A few clicks of the shutter and I crossed back over to the starboard side to see what I could of Saunders Island … which wasn’t much. The clouds were low and thick. There was no sign of the huge plume of steam that someone managed to photograph at 3:50a! It must have blended right into the cloud deck.

At least there was a bit of color on the port side. So, after a few shutter clicks of the island, I went back over to check out the blue berg. Sculpted by battering seas and howling winds, the iceberg was now close enough to see the translucence of the blue-green ice.

On that note, I went back to bed until Sara came on the P/A @ 7:45a with the daily wake up call!Læs mere