- Buenos Aires, Argentina — the stopover
- Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina
- The Falkland Islands
- South Georgia Island
- On the “road” to Antarctica, Christmas aboard the Fram, and Elephant Island
- Yankee Harbor and Deception Island, Antarctica
- Danco and Cuverville Islands, Antarctica
- Almirante Brown Station and Neko Harbor, Antarctica
- A surprise visit, Lemaire Channel, and Petermann Island
- The voyage home, New Year’s Eve, and some final thoughts
Weather — more specifically wind — caused us to have to change the schedule around a bit today. Too much ice was being blown in the direction we were trying to go, so off we went to Danco Island. Frankly, there are so many beautiful islands and the peninsula around here, you just can’t go wrong! Anyway, Danco Island is actually pretty small (only 1 mile long), but the views from here are amazing with the crevassed glaciers in the mountains surrounding the island. In addition to the mountain/glacier views, there are also the Gentoo penguins (about 2,000 pairs) that nest very high up here. This is where I learned about penguin commuting. It turns out that the elder penguins get all nesting sites down by the water where the food is more abundant. The younger you are, the higher you have to nest. All these nesting areas are connected by “penguin highways.” It’s funny to watch, but there really are some rules of the road even for penguins. Since they have already eaten, penguins that are heading higher up back to their nests have to wait for the penguins coming down (they’re hungry and are trying to get down to the water). It made me think of the long commutes that I had when we had a young family, but there’s is much more orderly. Anyway, this was our next expedition hike. The good news is that the climb was only 590 feet and it had switchbacks. The bad news is that unless you stepped in the footsteps of the person(s) in front of you, you sunk up to your knees. The worse news is that you had to fill in your holes so that penguins didn’t fall in and get trapped. Anyway, we took our time and made it to the top. It was well worth it. The views were outstanding! Of course, getting down was every bit as challenging. I wish they had broken out the snowshoes! In the meantime, Deb wandered along the shore and made friends with all the local penguins. I think we have enough penguin pictures for a couple of decade’s worth of penguin calendars! She also got to see a small iceberg “go turtle,” flipping over on its back. I didn’t like seeing those things moving like that so close to the ship!
We were then off to Cuverville Island. As the day wore on the weather worsened and we would get snow showers where the visibility would really drop. A number of the people went ashore to climb to the 600 foot summit for another great panorama and seeing the 6,000 pairs of Gentoos (I believe the largest concentration in Antarctica). But Deb and I ended up taking the Polarcirkel boat tour through the beginning of Iceberg Alley. Of course, we had to be kitted up for such a trip, so we padded down to the equipment deck in our long underwear, got our drysuits and other regalia and were off! The ability to drift around icebergs is a really unique experience and we definitely got our fill! We were also quite happy to get back to the warmth of the ship!
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
