A Necessary Stop in South Georgia We woke to the ship anchored off the coast of Gritviken, once a bustling whaling station and now the administrative centre of South Georgia. Expedition ships are required to visit Gritviken for biosecurity checks and to clear customs. Every crevice in our muckboots and every patch of velcro was […]
A Sad Day for Wildlife In the afternoon, we moved to Gold Harbour, home to a massive King Penguin colony. Last year, Gold Harbour was the highlight of our expedition—the weather had been perfect, and the sheer number of penguins was overwhelming. Nothing could live up to that day. With Gold Harbour closed for landings […]
Arriving in South Georgia As we continued our journey through the icy waters around South Georgia, we were still spotting icebergs in the distance. Low clouds blanketed us as we approached Cape Disappointment, and by the time we entered Drygalski Fjord, the cliffs were almost entirely obscured. It was a surreal sight, with the mist […]
Finally, Some Down Time After leaving Elephant Island, it took us two full days of sailing across the Scotia Sea to reach South Georgia. These were quieter days, filled with lectures, naps, and the growing realisation that it’s impossible to avoid germs on a ship—I could feel a bit of a cold coming on. Despite […]
Wait, We’re Stopping? The day started with half a Dramamine, “just in case,” as the weather maps didn’t look too promising. I stayed in our cabin to watch a lecture—though I have to admit, combining it with Dramamine made it hard to stay awake. Late in the afternoon, we received a surprising announcement: we […]
No Rest in the Wild Our morning began at Danko Island, where we were greeted by light, fluffy snow and a gentle breeze. From the ship, we could see the Gentoo penguin colony perched atop a snow-covered mountain covered in a labyrinth of penguin highways. Andy originally planned to skip this landing and stay on […]
Waking Up Filthy We woke up cruising the Gerlache Strait with the weather turning “filthy” upon our arrival at Useful Island. This was one of those days that reminded us of the key lesson of expedition cruising: there’s no set itinerary, only a plan—and then there’s Plan B, C, and so on. While we’d been […]
Hiking to an Adelie Penguin Colony In the afternoon, we traveled to the Yalour Islands, renowned for their Adelie penguin colonies. After a brief hike from the landing site to a nearby plateau, we observed numerous colonies. Each rocky patch appeared to host its own penguin neighborhood. We watched the penguins as they moved between […]
We woke up anchored at the southern end of the Argentine Islands, greeted by the sight of six humpback whales feeding as we enjoyed breakfast—a magical start to the day (even if we didn’t have our cameras with us!). A long zodiac ride brought us ashore, accompanied by a playful escort of cormorants (or shags, […]
A Stunning Start to the New Year We woke up to another stunning day in Antarctica—clear blue skies, no wind, and perfect stillness. It felt like the world was holding its breath as we floated well south of the Antarctic Circle. According to the radar, we were still the southernmost passenger ship on the entire […]