We woke up to the ship anchored off Palaver Point, home to a large chinstrap penguin colony along the Antarctic Peninsula. After landing, we followed the marked path to the left of the beach, climbing a broad snowy slope that overlooked the colony below. From there we watched the daily routine unfold as penguins carried […]
The plan for the day involved arriving at the Lemaire Channel around sunrise. Remember how we shifted the ship’s time zones earlier in the voyage? This was a perfect example of why. I understood the strategy now. Sunrise was closer to 5 a.m. instead of 3 a.m. For reasons neither of us can explain, we […]
Andy headed up to the Panorama Lounge early that morning. The day started with Beaked Whale sightings, followed by several humpback whales surfacing among the swells. Winds pushed close to 40 knots, and the seas bounced around enough that Zodiac cruises were cancelled for the morning. For a while we simply watched whales and waves […]
With a successful mission to Snow Hill behind us, the ship turned north toward the Antarctic Peninsula. Honestly, I had focused so intensely on Snow Hill that I barely looked at the rest of the itinerary. But the plan for the following day was stand up paddleboarding in Antarctica. Assuming the weather cooperated, of course. […]
After days of uncertainty, shifting plans, and watching the weather, the opportunity to reach the Snow Hill emperor penguin colony suddenly felt very real. Neither of of could sleep, so we went up on deck to watch the sunrise. At 4:32am. Helicopter Flights to the Emperor Penguins Helicopter operations began around 7am so the expedition […]
We woke to sustained winds around 60 knots, with gusts pushing close to 70. Fun fact: A knot is a unit of speed used in aviation and maritime navigation that equals one nautical mile per hour (about 1.85 km/h or 1.15 mph). The term comes from early sailors who measured a ship’s speed by counting […]
With the help of the doc’s meclizine recommendation, we had the best sleep of the entire trip. We even missed our first breakfast. The outer decks were closed due to weather, which is fairly standard during Drake Passage sea days. For context, this is 4-meter seas. A lot of people worry about the number […]
This was the first time that our expedition had Antarctica embarkation in Buenos Aires. On previous expeditions, the expedition started in Ushuaia. We weren’t sure what to expect, and if this starting point would be a positive or a pain in the a$$. Neither of us slept much that night. We had already experienced several […]
After three days in Chile, we continued on to Buenos Aires. Our target? A two night stay at the Hotel Emperador Buenos Aires. This part of the trip wasn’t about wildlife. It was about logistics, a bit of comfort, and, as it turned out, an empanada crawl through the city. Our search for Buenos Aires […]
We woke up to pouring rain. Normally that would have dampened the mood, but we were still glowing from the day before. Penguin number thirteen, the Fiordland crested, had delivered in spectacular fashion. Now the focus shifted. The entire trip had been built around Snow Hill. But first, we had to find a Humboldt penguin […]