Antarctica: South Shetland (Day 8)

~ youkyong ~ 2 Comments

November 2019  [by Bill]

29-1 - Edited

Here’s the description of the Day 8 visit to South Shetland given by the tour company:

Day 8: Scenes of South Shetland

The volcanic islands of the South Shetlands are windswept and often cloaked in mist, but they do offer subtle pleasures: There’s a wide variety of flora (mosses, lichens, flowering grasses) and no small amount of fauna (gentoo penguins, chinstrap penguins, southern giant petrels). In Deception Island, the ship plunges through Neptune’s Bellows and into the flooded caldera. Here you find hot springs, an abandoned whaling station, and thousands of cape petrels – along with kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns. A good hike is a possibility in this fascinating and desolate volcanic landscape.

 
File:South Shetland Islands location map-fr.svg - Wikimedia Commons

And here’s what Bill remembers:

Deception Island

– zodiac boat 10-minute trip to the shoreline was fairly choppy, some white caps, wind blowing some spray into the small 7 meter rubber boat

– dormant volcano 

– hiked up to and around the crater

– last eruption December 4, 1967 – 

– 25 MPH wind gusts

– 4 degrees

– overcast 

– 4 large Weddell seals sleeping close to the water on a sheet of snow and ice

Antarctica Voyage by Bill: 2019

Antarctic Peninsula (Day 4 – 7)

~ youkyong ~ 3 Comments

November 2019  [by Bill]

enter1

On the morning of November 25, we were now in the Antarctic, as you could see small ice formations in the water, icebergs, and land. After sailing for 2 1/2 days, to finally get into the Antarctic, well, the excitement on board was very apparent, including myself.  I was pumped up.

enter2enter3

It took all day and into the early morning to navigate and finally set the anchor off of our first landing area.

Cruise route

November 26

Today we took a Zodiac rubber boat, which holds 10 people, from the ship to the first of 2 different locations.

In the morning, we heading to Orne Harbor (kinda like a cove/bay type of area), where we hiked 25 minutes, zigzagging/switch backing up to the top of a moderate snow covered hillside.

From this vantage point, the views were amazing, looking over the 2/3rds protected cove area, plus we could also see the next place we’d be going, Cuverville Island.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One of the rules you learn about is not to block or get too close to the penguin highways, which are basically pathways penguins follow after each other creating a clear natural “highway”. We were told to give the penguins at least 15-feet of space, but if the penguins come closer to us, that was fine, as they are naturally curious.

The weather was fairly nice today, not very windy in the protected 2/3’s cove area, ideal for a day on the snow and ice.

IMG_7755 - Edited

November 27

We took the Zodiac boat to Paradise Harbor, visited Brown Station Base, hiked straight up to the top (with a fun slide down to the bottom), and Skontorp Cove.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

November 28

Went to Port Lockroy. Visited Britten’s old Port Lockroy Research Station which is now a museum & contains the most southern post office in the world. Visited Jougla Point, Damoy Point, and Dorian Bay.

Tossed a Frisbee around – 7th continent for this frisbee (former property of Diamond Comic Distributors) and my 132nd country visited…so far!!!

Turkey and ham for dinner to celebrate the US Thanksgiving Day

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Antarctica Voyage by Bill: 2019

  • The Ship
  • Getting There: the Beagle Channel & the Drake Passage (Day 1 – 3)
  • Antarctic Peninsula (Day 4 – 7)
  • South Shetland (Day 8)
  • Return Journey (Day 9 – 10)

 

Antarctica: Getting There (Day 1 – 3)

~ youkyong ~ 4 Comments

November 2019  [by Bill]

 

It takes from the evening of November 22 through the morning of November 25 to sail from Ushuaia, Argentina to actually get to the Antarctica.

ushuaiaport

We first sailed through the Beagle Channel on the evening of November 22, which carries in width from 1/2 to 2 miles.

beagle1 - Editedbeagle2 - Editedbeagle3 - Editedbeagle4

As soon as you get through the Beagle Channel, you enter into what most consider some of the roughest oceans in the world, the notorious Drake Passage. We had been told on several occasions that we should either start to take our sea sickness pills, put on patches, or something fairly new, special wrist bands, to hopefully help fight off getting nauseous. I had brought pills with me, even though I can’t ever remember getting sea sick, just in case.

drake1drake2 - Edited

As it turned out, both the Beagle Channel and the Drake Passage were fairly calm, much to everyone’s absolute joy. The expedition leaders all commented that usually the waves are rough, and it gets very windy. We were so lucky.

drake3 - Edited

Antarctica Voyage by Bill: 2019

  • The Ship
  • Getting There: the Beagle Channel & the Drake Passage (Day 1 – 3)
  • Antarctic Peninsula (Day 4 – 7)
  • South Shetland (Day 8)
  • Return Journey (Day 9 – 10)