Everybody gathered on deck to watch the mountains of Ushuaia fade into the distance as our ship, the Ocean Nova, set out for our first destination: The Falklands Islands. 
Paul enjoys a fishy toast on our first night on the ship--and one of the few nights where we were in calm enough waters to enjoy a meal without strapping down our forks and knives. 
Our first "official" penguin came with our first landing on the Falkland Islands. This punked out fellow is a Rockhopper penguin -- and his name is fitting. These little guys work their way up class 3 and 4 terrain to their nests. 
The crazy landscape gave Paul and I some time to play a real-life round of "Super Falkland Island Brothers". Though I stuck the landing this time around, the previous jump came up short and I lost a life. Bummer. 
Here's the zodiac rafts we use to travel from ship to land (or sometimes just to cruise around). This was the last known sighting of the guy you see waving, as he spent the rest of the voyage barfing in his cabin. 
Looks tropical, doesn't it. Man, that Antarctic sun can really dry out your eyes. And make you grow a third one on your forehead. 
Paul and Deb on an overlook on Carcass Island (named for a ship, not a specific carcass). 
A pair of Magellenic penguins and their ground-bound nest. This was the last we'd see of the Magellenics until we returned to Ushuaia a few weeks later. 
The lovely Deborah Doyle and me on the scenic hills on Carcass Island. 
Couldn't resist another kitty picture--this feline friend was in the civilized (IE they had Internet) city of Stanley, the capital of the Falklands. In 1982, the Brits and Argentines had a "sort of" war here, the end result being a bonanza of marketing ploys commemorating the war. Next on the agenda for the Brits: the war on gingivitis. 
The cats however, had very nice teeth. 
From the Falklands, we made our way to South Georgia where the wildlife incrementally increased in both volume and diversity. Here we got our first glimpses of the King penguins (don't worry, there will be many more where these guys came from). It was wild to see the penguins, fur seals and the big old elephant seals living side by side. As long as bellies are full, everybody gets along (a marked difference of the animal kingdom vs. the human kingdom). 
Our next landing at St. Andrews bay had more Kings, including tons of these scruffy looking brown adolescents. His escorts remind me of typical middle school dance, minus the facial blemishes. 
Molting penguins prefer to hang out in the little streams that run down from the incredible mountain peaks.
A rare blonde seal on the beach says, "Darling, can we PLEASE hurry this along? I have krill to attend to." 
As you can see here, the penguins aren't rattled in the least by the presence of goofy looking tourists hanging around on their beach. 
These little fur seals, affectionately called by our South Africa guide Conrad "dinky toys", were plentiful--and darn cute--on the beaches. 
Walkin' in a penguin wonderland. Just beautiful....
More to come, stay tuned (we're not even in Antarctica yet!)
