Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Speaker David Davies

Today's talk by Dave Davies was about Expedition Cruising - this is luxury cruising on small boats with about 100 passengers.  The beauty of this type of boat is that it can get up close and personal with wildlife, with the opportunity to go on excursions aboard Zodiacs (10-seater rubber dinghies) for close encounters of the animal/aquatic/geological kind!

Dave took us first on a journey down the coast of Peru, stopping off to view Macchu Picchu, approached by an 'Orient Express-type' train (sounds better than walking to me too!). He then went on to Lake Titicaca and Reed Island in the middle of it.

Next up was Alaska - exploring the fjords between Vancouver and Anchorage.  The sea is green with glacial silt so fine it is suspended in the water, as opposed to the glacial ice, which is deep blue due to the intense pressure having squeezed out all the air.  The Zodiacs went to investigate the 'Brach's ice' at the foot of the glaciers, but no closer than 2 times the height of the glacier to be safe from icebergs breaking off!  They call it calving apparently...

He saw hump-backed whales, among others, bears fishing for salmon (naturally they prefer the female salmon who taste sweeter) and albatross.

Finally a trip about as far south as you can go, down the Chilean fjords, past Easter Island, Chiloe Island (with its wonderful wooden cathedral), taking in the Andes (where he saw volcanic ash lying like snow at the road-side), the Argentinian Alps and finally to the Falkland Islands.  On this trip Dave saw condors and cormorants as well as Rockhopper and Magellanic penguins.  He saw tango danced in Buenos Aires and even visited Eva Peron's tomb.

On the Falklands he visited the Governor's House in Port Stanley and, poignantly, the war memorial at Bluff Cove where the dead from the Falklands' Conflict are remembered, particularly those from the warships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, which were bombed nearby.  He didn't however get to land at Cape Horn, due to an impending cyclone!!

A very interesting talk!

Jayne Middleton