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Days 11 to 13
Nov 29, 2022
Up at 4AM to step out onto the bow of the ship to watch it sail right through the beautiful Lemaire Channel. Despite the low cloud cover, the views were spectacular. The cloud cover along with the mist made for very poor visibility, but the mountains on either side of the ship made for a cool ride. The ship was taking it easy as there were way too many icebergs around and the channel itself in certain sections was extremely narrow. The ship was crunching through some of the smaller icebergs as we made our way to our first stop of the day, Petermann Island.
The channel is nicknamed the ‘Kodak Gap’ for its photogenic qualities.
I decided to take the day off from all activities. Mingled around with a few folks, watched a movie, read a few chapters from a book on past Antarctica expeditions to the South Pole. After the morning activities were done and just before lunch, we reached the southern most point of this expedition (65°10’ S / 064°11’ W). After another entertaining lunch with the group of merry solo travelers we started making our way back up North to our next stop, Damoy Point.
The crew had put ins so many hours so far; to get out first thing in the morning, assess conditions, change plans quickly if required, navigate those zodiacs, map out our activities and do so much more, that they also decided to take a well deserved break in the evening. Which meant, the chatter on the ship was up a few decibels, now that everyone was aboard and with nothing else to do, but drink! It was loud, but it was lively.
As we closed in on dinner time, there was a surprise announcement over the intercom. We were asked to come outside to the aft of the ship. The crew were waiting for us there BBQing a huge spread of meats and serving up a whole array of veggies, salads, and desserts. There were some tunes playing over the intercom as well. We had to get bundled up to stay out there, but it was quite a scene. Music, food, and friendly company on the deck of a ship that was anchored in a place called Paradise Bay, surrounded by massive white cap mountains and glaciers. Thankfully it was not snowing or raining, and the wind was down to a light frigid breeze. Nevertheless, the excitement of BBQing in Antarctica was enough to keep us outside. After dinner we did not stick around too much as the icy conditions and dropping temperatures made us hurry back inside. After some more friendly chatter for a few hours and some games it was back to bed.
Nov 30, 2022
Our last day on the Antarctic Peninsula started off with the traditional wake-up call from our expedition leader Pippa at 6:45AM. The ship was still anchored in Paradise Bay and it was a beautiful day outside. Cold, but bright and sunny with very little cloud cover and for the first-time clear visibility of the entire landscape, and perfectly still water. So, by far the best weather day on the Peninsula with the temperature at -2°C!!
We boarded the zodiacs at around 8:30AM after breakfast to head out towards Almirante Brown Station. The station was abandoned for the season and 2/3rds covered in a huge pile of snow. In fact, when we landed, are first steps were almost on to the roof. The first real view of the landscape was a brilliant coating of white flowing hills. There were some light flurries in the air and a whole ton of gentoo penguins using the abandoned station for their summer retreat. We were free to explore so we went off in different directions, always making sure we do not step in any of the penguin highways. These little fellows were even more adventurous then any we saw before. They came right up to us many times with their wobbly (drunk) walk of theirs, which never gets old. We hiked on around for a couple of hours. The higher and further we got the landscape got more diverse, with hills, mountains, glaciers, and lots and lots of snow.
The next item on the agenda was to go out for a cruise in the zodiacs. The weather was still cooperating with us, so this gave us the opportunity to experience some interesting sightings such as Weddell Seals, Gentoo Penguins and Imperial Shags building their nests as we zigzagged between icebergs and ice floats. The stillness of the water was disturbed only by the ripples created by the zodiac's motor. The stillness of the water also meant we got to see some stunning picturesque reflections of the mountains in the iceberg filled waters.
Once everybody was back on board, we sailed towards our next destination. After lunch we headed back up to loiter around by the bar an announcement blared over the intercom… Orca’s spotted! as We were currently sailing through the Gerlache Strait. I with a few others ran up to the bridge to get a wider view. It was not just 1 or 2 of them but a whole pod of them First, we saw 5 individuals and then at a distance almost half a dozen and then more and some more. They were popping in and out of the water, some even came up really close to the ship. This was a surprising treat as the chances of encountering even one was remote and being able to observe so many was exciting as hell! The captain quickly scrapped the original plan and turned the ship around to follow the orcas and nobody complained. We did this for the next 3 hours and not a second of it was boring. One of the expedition leaders decided to give us a quick lecture on them, but he never got a chance to finish as people were just moving from the aft to the starboard side of the ship, following the Orcas for a viewing. It was absolutely fascinating to see these apex predators at work as they swam up and under the ship. We also got to see them in action as they hunted down some prey which we assume was maybe a seal.
At our end of day recap, Pippa told us that they would be adding a couple of additional sights to trip, a bonus! We were heading to the South Shetland islands and then the captain was going to navigate the Hondius towards Deception Island right into the well of an active volcano early in the morning.
The orcas were the highlight of the day, but it was time to leave behind the Antarctic Peninsula, so this was our last opportunity to look upon the icy landscapes that had all of us mesmerized for the last few days. As soon as we left the sheltered coves, the swells started up again and the ship started to roll from side to side. The evening goes on at the lounge as we recounted the trip over drinks and toasted to one of the best experiences of our lives. I don’t think the night really ended and the bar was open late as the crew also joined in.
Dec 1, 2022
I woke up at 4:00 am, to see the ship sail through a special place in the South Shetland islands called “Neptune’s Bellow” right into Deception Island. The sun was just coming up as the ship sailed carefully through the narrow channel into which is a horse-shoe shaped island with a large, flooded caldera. It is one of the only places in the world where vessels can sail directly into the center of an active volcano. Sailing into the narrow channel of Neptune’s Bellows was a tricky proposition (so the captain said) because in the middle of this channel lays a rock right below the water line on which ships used to run aground and sank in the past. The old whaling station was visible now as we came out of the channel. After watching us sail in I went back to bed for another couple of hours.
The rough weather conditions we had since last night had calmed down by now. We sailed to a
landing site called Telefon Bay, where the ship anchored. We boarded the zodiacs as usual to head to land. Compared to all the landings we had thus far, this was one was the easiest. I was surprised to see a few penguins at the beach. There were a couple of seals (white & brown) as well slumbering as usual also.
The crew just let us do whatever we wanted. So, we went off in different directions. The unique landscape comprises of barren volcanic slopes with layers of snow, steaming beaches and ash-layered glaciers. So, being the adventure enthusiasts we were, some of decided to hike up some of those mountain slopes. The winds were blowing at around 15-20 mph at the bottom but as we started going up it got stronger and stronger with steady gusts at around 40-50 mph, making it extremely hard to even stand up straight. It was even getting a bit hard to breathe, not because of the altitude, but due to the strong cold winds. We scrambled up the last bit of rock wall and from there we could see the entire crater, and it was a huuuge one. It was so huge, that it was impossible to get the entire crater in one shot, even the wide angle could not get it all.
Once we were back down, just as we were about to load up on the zodiacs, we were asked to wait for a bit. The crew was having a hard time with the ships shell doors. They had to fix it before we sail out, or the inevitable would be taking on water. Next stop was Half Moon Bay, but the weather was too rough for a landing, so we had to turn around and to all our dismay, start making our way back to Ushuaia. It was the last time we would get a glimpse of the outer edges of the Antarctica peninsula, so everyone was out on the bow of the ship trying to capture every last image of the continent. No sooner we got out and into the Drake Passage, the full force of the winds and waves started back up and the ship started rocking violently again. Its going to be like this for the next 2 days as we journey back to port. So, here we go again!
Days 11 to 13 photos
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