PART TWO; ICE, PINGWINGS AND HUMPY SOUP! With Anno Brandreth and Mikey Bailey CRUISING BY ANTARCTIC PENINSULA ANTARCTICA This vast stretch of land, ice and sea is an example of nature at its most spectacular. The Antarctic Peninsula offers breathtaking natural beauty in one of the world’s most remarkable regions and is home to penguins and many species of whale, who are drawn here by the high volume of krill available. The closest land to the Peninsula is Ushuaia, some 700

"Penguins, Petrels and Humpy Soup" PART ONE: MAGICAL MYSTERY TOURS, DRAKES PASSAGE AND THE FALKLANDS. With Anno Brandreth and Mikey Bailey. A delayed start to our adventures saw me and Mikey stranded in Montevideo, after Industrial Action in Argentina saw flight delays and last-minute hotel bookings. The flight out had been eventful with no reception in terms of Wi-Fi causing issues with the Internet and shutting down the inflight entertainment. This resulted in just a few ho

Day 1 – Rosyth, Scotland The OWE team of Mark, Brian and Dermot travelled up to Rosyth on 25th June for a seven night cruise around the Scottish Isles, visiting Orkney, the Inner and Outer Hebrides and Shetland. Many of the cruise guests were ‘first timers’ with Fred. Olsen, but there were also a few friendly faces from previous cruises. Always great to have a catch-up when sat in port before departure. A foggy Forth Bridge was on show as Balmoral prepared to set sail at 10pm

The OWE Team comprising Paul, Julia, Anno and Dave met up on the Bolette on the 20th June for the start of an eight night cruise from Liverpool to the Scottish Isles, taking in the Hebrides, Shetland and Orkney with a final shore day at Ullapool. The Bolette set sail in the late afternoon from Liverpool, sailing out of the River Mersey into Liverpool Bay and along the North Wales coast before turning north to the Isle of Man. Cruising at around 8 knots allowed ample time for

Most of the images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at full size. Whilst some of the OWE had been able to participate in the Antarctic and South America voyage, those who had other commitments were able to join the MS Bolette in Liverpool for the first of several UK based cruises. Paul, Julia, Christine and Lorraine met up on 31st March for T2606: Islands and Coastline of Scotland at Easter. The OWE Team for T2606 (from left to

Our various teams are now back from this amazing cruise and have written their respective blogs. Five teams each covered one leg of the cruise: Leg Start Finish Leg One Southampton Buenos Aires Leg Two Buenos Aires Punta Arenas Leg Three Punta Arenas Callao Leg Four Callao St Johns Leg Five St Johns Southampton The tables below summarize the Cetacean and Seabird sightings during the cruise. The species in the Seabird tables are listed in the latest order, following Avilist.

An overnight stop in Cartagena de Indias gave the OWE team (Peter Howlett and Jeff Clarke) the chance to take an early morning trip into the dry forest of Matute. Our guides from Matute Birding, Adriana and Israel, would give us a first-class tour of this dry forest area. Biodiversity is rich in this part of South America and even people with previous experience of any given area will always find much that is new to them. We spent the first couple of hours walking rough roads

Having spent a productive day in Costa Rica following our transit of the Panama Canal we returned to Colón, where we once again met up with Rafa outside the port gates and were quickly on our way to Castillo de San Lorenzo. We tried a few forest stops with limited success, although we did get some cracking views of a Cocoa Woodcreeper, but in contrast the area around the ruins of the fortification was buzzing with birds. Crested Oropendolas were immediately obvious, and their

Borealis arrived in Amador, Panama, early morning on the 23rd March 2026. The OWE team (Peter Howlett and Jeff Clarke) had arranged a tour with a local bird guide through Beautiful Tours Panama. Once ashore we met up with Rafa and were soon headed towards the famous birding site of Pipeline Road. Our start point was ‘The Ammo Ponds’, very close to ‘Herman the German’, the famous floating crane in the dock site at Gamboa along the Panama Canal. 'Herman the German' the heavy li

St John’s, Antigua St John’s was the final change-over port for the OWE teams. Mark and Martin arrived around mid-day just in time to meet with Jeff and Pete as they left the ship. The hot sunshine was a far cry from the cold of the UK they had just left behind; time to unpack and get a cold drink! A few familiar faces from previous cruises also greeted us, but I think we rather stood out as the new wildlife guides; binoculars and a pasty British complexion betraying us as th

Callao Callao was the third change-over port for the OWE teams and an overnight port for the cruise. James and Jean departed Borealis early morning to head off on a three week trip to explore more of Peru, while the incoming team of Peter Howlett and Jeff Clarke arrived on Borealis in the evening. There was time to greet some familiar faces in the Earth Room before bunks beckoned after nigh on 20 hours travelling. (Click on an image to open it in a new window) The team were g

4th March 2026. Punta Arenas Harbour Punta Arenas was the second changeover port for the OWE teams on Fred Olsen’s epic Exploration of South America and Antarctica cruise. Anno and Mikey departed Borealis early in the morning with James and Jean arriving onto the ship at lunchtime. Once we had settled in and sorted out various onboard logistics, we ventured out around the Punta Arenas harbour for a quick look. We started seeing some classic southern Chilean species including

28th – 30th January 2026 – Southampton A big cruise to start the 2026 cruising season for Ocean Wildlife Encounters, the South America and Antarctica round trip, titled “A Grand Voyage”, filled the OWE team with great expectations for a fantastic wildlife filled route! However, it didn’t quite start as planned!! But spoiler alert – it did get much better!! The first of five OWE teams of two to relay throughout the cruise, Christine Murdie and Clare Gower, boarded Borealis wi

Most of the images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at full size. The Ocean Wildlife Encounters (OWE) team, Paul Hill, Dave McGrath, Christine Murdie and Lorraine Soulby joined Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines MS Bolette and her guests on the 17th November 2025 docked at Liverpool’s famous Pier Head in front of the magnificent waterfront. The team had a look for Harbour Porpoises in the river and Peregrine Falcons soaring above the wo

The OWE adventures on the Azores and Madeira cruise

22nd - 27th August 2025 MS Bolette All images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at full...

7th - 22nd August 2025 MS Bolette All images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at full...

10 th -20 th July 2025, MS Balmoral All images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at...

All images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Click on the images to view them at full size Northern Fulmar - banks against...

7 June Rosyth The team for this cruise were Peter Howlett, Christine Murdie, and Lorraine Soulby. As the cruise was departing from and...