Last week in this [post](https://steemit.com/adventure/@kiligirl/science-guy-goes-to-marion-island), I introduced you to Thando Cebekhulu, who will soon be introducing himself to you once his account is activated. I've now registered it and am waiting for the e-mail to say he's been accepted - as @scienceguy. He's sent me an #introduceyourself post which I'll format for him and post on his behalf...soon, I hope!

How is he sending this stuff? By Facebook Messenger. I kid you not. That's the only way we've been able to communicate since he left Earth, er, Cape Town. I'm still trying to figure out a secure way to send him his Steemit password. If any of you have ideas on how to do this, short of taking a photo of cut up pieces of paper with the password on and sending that back to him via Messenger (and no, I don't think carrier pigeons will fly there), I'm all ears. I wouldn't want his opportunity to earn compromised by poor security in the startup process!

As I explained in that post, Thando (pronounced Tan-doe for those not familiar with Zulu names) is a young South African zoologist researching birds (and seals on the side) on Marion Island, a cold, windswept, volcanic rock on the way to Antarctica from South Africa.

We, along with his mother and his sister, saw him off on his voyage with 70-odd other intrepid seapeople on the SA Agulhas II (pictured below) in early April of this year from Cape Town Harbour.

![Panoramic view of Cape Town Harbour](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/bimostitch_pano_2_zpsbhdmjcop.jpg)

The sharp-eyed among you will see @tim-beck in there for scale and moral support. By the way, I learned a lot this morning trying to stitch five photos together to make a panorama. For those who do this for a living, I tip my hat to you. After hours of trying, I found an app on my phone (bimostitch) which did it in under a minute. Eish and oy vey. But I digress.

Some of you might have seen @marcel1965's post on the sights of Cape Town's V&A Waterfront (https://steemit.com/life/@marcel1965/v-and-a-waterfront-some-sights). He also picked out the venerable rust buckets you can see on the right!

We had a chance to say goodbye in person to Thando on the morning of Friday 7 April. That's him disembarking, then with his mum Geslina, then with Geslina again and his sister Zandi.

![Thando disembarking](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-07%2011.20.59%20-%20Copy_zpsogr38onz.jpg)

![Thando and Geslina](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-07%2011.22.10%20-%20Copy_zpsppj4tsu6.jpg)

![Thando, Geslina and Zandi](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-07%2011.23.08%20-%20Copy_zpsxcfdrk62.jpg)

This is the next generation icebreaker - and an impressive vessel closeup. 

![SA Agulhas II closeup](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-07%2011.14.54%20-%20Copy_zpsny58nkcr.jpg)

![SA Agulhas II moored](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-07%2011.16.17%20-%20Copy_zps6d8e3rjq.jpg)

Thando gave us each an expedition badge, sporting the logo the expedition team designed themselves - I'll let Thando tell you why the 4 is lying on its side, a story which will be worth reading.

![74th Marion Island expedition badge](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-08%2012.41.38-2_zpso0o3rwvv.jpg)

...and then he had to go back on board. That was the last time we saw him before the ship finally sailed sometime the next day.

![Bye Thando!](http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e39/Linsey_Dyer/Thando%20launch/2017-04-07%2011.26.52_zpsr6lleeke.jpg)

I hope we get approval for his account soon so you can start reading his stories in his voice, not mine. And yes, getting penguin pictures!