The early morning on board the National Geographic Explorer was alive with the anticipation of experiencing an almost once in a lifetime phenomenon, a total solar eclipse. This happens when the new moon passes across the face of the sun, from earth‘s perspective. Captain Yuri and guest-expert Dr. Steve Croft had worked together to determine that a position of 55˚00‘S, 045˚22‘W would be the ideal place to witness this event.
0500am was the wakeup call from Expedition leader Lucho, as sunrise was to be at 0521am. It had already been calculated that the moon would have made first contact with the sun at 0514am. Unfortunately for us all, the cloud cover was blocking the sun.
At 0552, we started to see the orange twilight on the horizon around the ship.
At 0558, the light begins to decrease and the temperature drops slightly in the gusty winds we had.
At 0600, guests start to feel the change as the horizon moved into darkness.
At 0601, Captain Yuri announces onset of total eclipse. For a brief moment, our part of the world was in a spiritual darkness, a time to reflect and appreciate the amazing universe we have.
At 0602 Captain Yuri announces the end of total eclipse.
From 0603 onwards, partial phases come to an end as the sky opens up once again.
An amazing time to experience such a special event, even though we couldn‘t see the sun. Not very many people on planet earth had the privilege of experiencing the spiritual feeling of bliss as the morning became night and the night became morning again. We were blessed.
Thank you, Lindblad Expeditions. Cheers!
