Speaking of crowd, the IAATO is doing a fantastic job managing the ecosystem. I was beyond the moon to realize that not more than 50 people could be present on any island at one point so that animals are not traumatized. As our ship sailed out of the bay another ship would enter in. It is good that the Expedition Teams work in such harmony and tandem that the pristine nature of the place is preserved. It is important that this is maintained in the generations to come.

The only heart breaking sight is to see the glaciers breaking apart and falling into the ocean with such loud thunder. It is amazing how delicate the ice pieces were. The water that is two to three thousand years old is so pure and fresh. Even the air trapped in between the ice is clean. Even the whiff that one gets when we break the small pockets of air in the glacier pieces is nice.

Be it the leopard seal or the fur seal, wedell or elephant seal we see all are so content in their habitation. They know they are left alone and have plenty to eat. The Krills (variety of shrimp) are in the billions in the waters of the Antarctic. Squids and other small crustaceans were visible. Hump back whales were in abundance and we could also see the Ocras or Killer whales. We had the good fortune to see a hump back breach but could not capture it in eternity except in our memory.


Polar plunge was fantastic. My younger son showed more enthusiasm in jumping into the frigid Antarctic Ocean than any of us. Our children being the babies on the ship were the darlings of all the people. As one fine Texan put it - Good you got the children, it helps bring down the average age of the expedition group and make us feel a little younger. Above all, we felt perfectly safe in the capable and gentle hands of the crew and Quark must be congratulated for all aspects of the journey.

As for the trip itself, taking the words out of the mouths of the expedition crew, the weather was warm to Antarctic standards i.e 4 to 11 degrees and they have not seen such a climate in years. The sun was shining bright. Another amazing feature was the calm ocean that we enjoyed. It was like we were living on a luxury yacht on a lake during a cool sunny morning. I want to commend (not in any patronizing way but lack of alternate word selection) you for choosing Quark. The crew is beyond words. The passion they carry for nature is obvious but the emotion they went through with the delays and cancellation and re-booking for my family is real. This sets them apart from the commercial to the genuine.

The big difference in the journey was the Owners Cabin. It was amazing and had the best views in the world. It is a world of difference from the cabins we had booked with port holes. This is what made the trip memorable and all the more enjoyable for us. Comfort factor apart, the prestige the address (512) gave us is phenomenal. We were looked at in awe and people wanted to know who we were and what we do. We would just say we were blessed and to paraphrase your kind words Thanks to Almighty.

When they welcomed us abroad the crew said "This is your new home for the next five days and we are here to take care of you". In our case it was literally true because we had food every day that we have at our homes. What more could we have asked from this Expedition and all of the credit goes to the extraordinary lengths you went to make sure we did not come back devoid of those wonderful memories that we now have.