Antarctica Expedition Photo Trip Report

[JimmyBo]

Antarctica Expedition

 

I was fortunate enough to accompany my Dad to the most southern continent in the world...Australia...I mean, Antarctica. We took an expedition ship (and it's not called a cruise ship and you'll see why if you continue ready the updates to come) from the most southern city in the world, Ushuaia, and traveled across the Drakes Passage to the beautiful continent. There are no roller coasters or any theme parks in this update, so if that's what you're looking for then stop reading now. If you are looking for something that not many people experience in their lifetime (only 30,000 people visit the continent each year) and want to see some amazing scenery, cute animals and put up with my sarcasm then continue reading.

 

Day 1- Buenos Aires

 

We left San Diego airport, connected in Atlanta and then headed down to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I must say that the Delta Comfort Plus Seats are an amazing upgrade and anything that offers free booze is worth the extra $60. We arrived in Buenos Aires after not much sleep on the plane but instead of taking a nap, we decided to see the city. We walked around to several landmarks around our hotel. They were having some LGBT parade at "The Pink House" the day we arrived and there were also a couple riots that happened that night (long after we fell asleep but we heard about it in the morning)

 

The next morning, we were given a breakfast at the hotel by the Quark Expedition Team and then they transported us to the airport. We ere on our way to our ship!

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Day 1.

Our bags are packed an we're ready to go

Best part of Delta Comfort seats is free booze

Our hotel was within walking distance to "The Pink House"

"The Pink House" is the Argentina version of the United States' "White House"

It's so PINK!

Even before their female president, it was pink.

Some statue

This was a Christopher Columbus memorial statue. For reason, the Argentinians love him. He only slaughtered a million natives to claim the Americas...no big deal.

This Cherry Blossom tree was so pretty. But then it decided to poop all it's nasty cherry juice all over us as we walked under and it ruined our clothes.

Bird is the word!

A view of the Obelisk

Really narrow streets in Buenos Aires

The Obelisk is a national historic monument and was built to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of the city (thanks Wikipedia). In other words, it's in a giant roundabout that looks like Times Square

They even have huge signs like Times Square

Gotta have McDonalds!

Sadly, this Luna Park was a theater and did not contain any rides like several other Luna Parks around the world

Now we venture to "The Docks" where they have old a new mixed together

Buque Museo Corbeta ARA "Uruguay" (also known as a boat museum)

Pedestrian bridge that rotates to let tall ships pass. Pretty cool engineering feat!

A monument for Taxi Drivers. And after being in several taxis in Buenos Aires...they need several of these monuments because I don't know how the taxi drivers stay alive with the way they are driving!

Laguna de las Gaviotas (also known as malaria lake)

That night, I needed a Coke and was so pleased that it came in a glass bottle. So delicious!

The next morning, we said goodbye to our last "non-moving" bed for over a week.

And we're off to Antarctica!

[JimmyBo]

Days 2 and 3 - Ushuaia, Argentina and the Drakes Passage

 

As we last left off, my dad and I just had breakfast and we were headed for the airport. We were given our plane tickets for a Private Charter Flight with other people flying from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia that were on our Expedition Cruise. We flew over the Andes Mountains and then landed at the most Southern City in the world. They call their city "Fin del mundo" which means end of the world. We had some time before we had to be on the ship so we walked around and found a Maritime and Prison Museum. They had transformed a former prison into a museum and it was ingenious! Each cell had a different exhibit! Seriously, genius idea! They had one section where they hadn't refurbished anything and it was pretty terrifying and creepy. The bathroom was scary as hell!

 

We finally arrived on our ship, the Ocean Endeavour. This was not your typical cruise ship. It was a lot smaller and only had 163 passengers and 125 crew. It took us probably about 20 minutes to walk around the entire ship. This was going to be our home for the next week! That night we met our Expedition Team and we went through several briefings about what to expect on the cruise and what animals we may see, but most importantly...what to expect from the Drakes Passage the following day.

 

The Drakes Passage is the roughest seas in the world and we earned our right to Antarctica. The Drakes Passage is the little piece of ocean between Argentina and Antarctica. That day, I spent most of the day in the cabin laying down because I get horribly sea sick. Laying horizontal is the best thing for me when in rough seas. These seas only had 18-25ft swells and constant winds over 50mph with gusts reaching 70mph. Some people did sea a ton of sea birds but no whales on this trip down.

 

That night, when we had dinner, the ship was swaying constantly from side to side at a steady 10 degrees either way. Then, there was one sway that went a little too far and everyone's dishes and glasses fell off their tables. My dad fell off his chair and another lady fell off hers and sliced her hand open on some broken glass. Just when we thought it was over, the ship swayed the other way. Everyone was thrown off guard by this but the great thing about this cruise and the people on it, everyone started helping everyone else out that needed help. The Expedition team (which was a different group than the crew) came into the dining hall to help everyone out. I think if this happened on a normal cruise, there would have been lawsuits, people wanting to be airlifted out, and probably worse. The best part, the only thing that survived on out table was my dads wine, which was served in a Scotch glass. I guess they know how to make scotch glasses!

 

It was a great story for the Drakes Passage, but we were all ready to see some land. And the next morning, we finally saw it.

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Days 2 and 3

Boarding our Private Charter Flight! We had the second row

Free food. It actually wasn't that bad.

Flying over the Andes Mountains

There's Ushuaia. The airport is that island in the middle of the bay

The famous "End of the World" sign

This is the only place where the Andes goes from West to East rather than North to South

A map of the Maritime and Prison museum

An old Prison transformed into a museum.

This penguin exhibit was in a location where the old bathrooms used to be.

One thing I learned about Argentina, they loved miniature models of everything. From trains to planes to full landscape pieces, models were everywhere in the touristy areas.

Model Plane

This is the area of the prison that hasn't changed from when it was still in use.

I think I see a ghost!

The prisoners used this train (not this exact one, but one like it) to travel across the city and cut down trees for the lumber industry in the area.

That's the Argentinian Navy Fleet...pretty impressive!

Here's the Andes. This is Ushuaia's summer and it was a scorching 42 degrees. People were wearing shorts and t-shirts.

More mountains

Our ship was the one in the back...the taller one.

The mountains in the background are in the country Chile, across the bay. The ship in the foreground was the other Quark Expedition ship that left at the same time as us.

The brown houses are the original Navy housing from the early 1900's

We are on the ship and now it's time to say good-bye to land for a couple days

That bird is huge! It's bigger than the mountains!

This was the other ship and we "raced" across the Drakes Passage...we won by a day.

After going through "Adventure through Inter Space" we shrunk down and we all fit onto this cute model of our boat.

Here's our cabin for the next week.

A view from our window!

Yay! I'll be able to see the horizon so I won't get sick. (Yeah, that don't work out so well...)

This is the longest hallway on the ship. Our room was 5041

Juice Bar where you could get smoothies pretty much anytime you wanted. But since it was cold out...no one was really there.

Yoga Lounge...This was the only time I saw this place.

Restaurant, where we had an exciting night on the Drakes Passage (read above if you haven't already)

Stairs down to the Mud Room

What's the Mud Room? It's where all our gear for when we travel on land is stored. Parkas, boots, gloves, long johns...everything to keep us warm.

Everyone was assigned a locker and our Parkas were waiting for us!

My dad was super excited about his Parka.

First night's dinner was meh...

Very small portions.

Dessert wasn't bad. This was my last meal for about 24 hours because......

The view from our cabin.

Back to sickness

At least they had snails for dinner

This is what my food look liked right before it fell off the table.

Some people did see some amazing birds. The Albatross is a HUGE bird and seeing it out in the vast ocean doesn't do it justice. These things have 6-8ft wing spans when fully matured. (Photo Courtesy of Adrian Boyle)

Amazing birds glide out in the ocean almost their whole life. That's why they're called the wandering Albatross (Photo Courtesy of Adrian Boyle)

The Drakes Passage (Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

[cfc]

Looks like an amazing trip so far--and the accommodations were probably better than your average Carnival ship.

[jedimaster1227]

This is a really awesome trip report Jimmy! I honestly had no idea that vacations like this were even an option, and while it doesn't look like my first choice trip, I'm glad we're getting to experience it through your eyes here on TPR! Thank you so much for sharing!

[jray21]

Really cool trip! I'd love to do one of these some day. Can't wait to see more!

[robbalvey]

Great stuff!

[Jew]

Awesome stuff! Can't wait to see more...

[RaceBoarder]

Not something you come across every day... Looking forward to hearing about your experience

[larrygator]

JimmyBo

 

One of my bucket list trips, loving the report.

 

So lucky to have snails for dinner

[Guy T. Koepp]

So excited to see the rest of this trip report. Please let there be penguins pooping! Please! Please! Puh-hu-leeze let there be penguins pooping!

[JimmyBo]

Day 4 - South Shetland Islands (more specifically, Aitcho Island)

 

We woke up and we finally saw icebergs! After a loooooong night of not much sleep due to the sleep swaying from side to side (nearly fell out of my a couple times) we looked outside and saw the beginnings of Antarctica...icebergs! We had a hearty breakfast, got our layers and layers of clothes on and headed for the deck to take in the scenery. It really was something you can't explain but it was so amazing on the vast amount of ice in the ocean. Our ship headed for a destination where we would get off to meet our first animals face to face.

 

Aitcho Island. This was the first destination and everyone was so excited to get off the ship to see the penguins. Antarctica has very strict rules and only 100 people are allowed on shore at a time so we had to takes turns. They separated everyone into 4 groups, so 2 groups went on shore while the other 2 groups went Zodiac cruising. We were part of the group that did the cruising and it was great seeing seals, penguins and icebergs a lot closer than from the ship.

 

We finally made it ashore and holy crap....there were thousands of penguins! Penguins are noisy, smelly, and horrible walkers. They are crazy fast in the water (we got to see some jump out of the water onto land) but when it comes to walking on land, they are really "special". This island had 2 different types of penguins, Gentoo and Chinstrap. We got to see some Chinstrap penguins fight over a female while the Gentoo penguins were the "gentle" penguins.

 

After about a little over an hour onshore we had to head back to the ship. I think that night everyone onboard was so excited that we finally got to see penguins. Everyone was talking about how awesome today was and how amazing it will be to do this every day until it's time to head back. Little did we know, Mother Nature had other plans for us the next day.

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Day 4

We wake up and see icebergs! We are finally closer to Antarctica

Ice everywhere

The captain headed straight for the ice sheet and steam right through it. The boat had extra iron plating in the front for ice breaking.

Everyone was out on deck taking pictures (Yes, there was a Chinese tour group and they were not very friendly to anyone on board and were very demanding every day)

Our first site of real land was "Table Island". Not sure why it's called that...

Another side of the South Shetland Islands

Dad finally made it to the Antarctica Peninsula

Here's me...cover in layers because it was freaking cold!

Icebergs just floating around

Hello Mr. Iceberg...coming to crash into our boat? See you in a couple days (no joke...there will be pictures....)

The sun finally came out and the scenery just got that more awesome

So much snow

Pictures really don't due the scenery justice. These peaks are enormous and come right up to the ocean.

It really turned out to be great weather

We have finally arrived and the ship let down it's anchor. This was our view from our window...not bad!

The Expedition Team started to get the Zodiacs off the ship and went ashore to set up a trail for us the walk on.

We had the Zodiac cruise first. This is Dad and our guide today, Ryan.

He took us up real close to some of the icebergs. They were so blue!

We saw a Leopard Seal chilling on the ice flow

The yellow parkas are all the guests while the red parka was usually the Expedition Team Member. Here is another Zodiac cursing around. They usually fit about 8-10 people in them.

What are those things that look like rocks?

They are called Weddell Seals...and type of seal I've never heard of until that day. This was the type of seal we saw the most.

Albatross and Snowy Petrel roam the skye above us.

We finally arrive on land...PENGUINS!

These 2 performed a little dance for us.

This dude was just too tired and too fat to walk anywhere.

Thousands of penguins on this little island

These are the Gentoo penguins

The Expedition Team set out a path and we had to follow it but we always had to give at least 15 feet to a penguin. If you sat down, sometimes they came right up to you.

The red flags are the trail. There are areas where there's a "Penguin Highway" and that's where the penguins would always cross the trail.

This little dude is thinking about crossing.

Penguins are slow thinkers...they think about what they want to...then process it...then take about a step...then think some more...then think...then think...then they just go for it!

His wings are puffed up and he's ready to go!

There he goes! Crossing the path!

And he runs away...

Now his friends are following in his footsteps

Here's the Chinstrap Penguins. These guys were running after each other because they were fighting over a female penguin.

This guy was directing traffic.

The difference between a Gentoo and a Chinstrap.

Dad and the penguins!

This is an Elephant Seal...they are fat, slow and this was a female waiting for someone to come and.....use your imagination.

This little guy is already started to collect rocks for his nest. The males the collect rocks, make a nest that will impress the females and then they make baby penguins.

I don't think that Elephant Seal will mate with you little man....

Penguin footprints!

Here they are making baby penguins...

One last look at Aitcho Island and penguins.

Time to head back to the ship.

The Zodiacs head back to the ship and it was a very successful first day!

Here he is just chilling around...after eating some food (Photo Courtesy of Karen Quigley)

These guys are crazy mean if you get close to them (Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

Isn't he cute! (Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

[JimmyBo]

Day 5 - Half Moon Bay and Deception Island

 

Well, Mother Nature was not kind to us. We woke up the next morning at our first destination, Half Moon Bay (which actually has a street view on Google Earth) for the day but we found ourselves with some aggressive weather. The wind was gusting at about 75mph. So after the Expedition Team announced we would not be going ashore here, we head to our next destination...Deception Island.

 

Deception Island is a volcanic caldera and it has a very narrow passageway to reach inside the caldera. The Captain wasn't sure how the weather was going to be but we still headed there anyway. Upon arriving there, the ship navigated through Neptune's Bellow (the name for the narrow passageway) and then came around a bend and saw a huge ice shelf. Then the Captain did something no one thought he was going to do...he was going to punch through the ice. He didn't make it very far but it was still awesome to see a huge ship punch through ice. Since we were not able to go on land today, everyone was able to go to the bow of the ship and we took a group photo of everyone with the ice shelf behind us.

 

Even though we didn't make it on land today, everyone was still in high spirits because of the first day and all the animals we got to see. The next day would be the best day of the trip and an animal that not even the Expedition Team had seen before in that area of Antarctica!

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Day 5

View from our window

The birds were soaring in the high wind gusts

ICEBERG...RIGHT AHEAD!!!! (I bet you were wondering when that reference was coming in this report)

The Captain was looking at Deception Island and the weather did not look promising.

We are getting closer and the sun is out...good weather, right?

The volcanic Caldera which collapsed some thousands of years ago.

This is the cliff face in Neptune's Bellows, the narrow passageway to get into the Caldera.

Well...there's the ice shelf. Looks like we can't go any further.

The Captain decides to try and break the ice.

It breaks off in puzzle pieces...but we finally come to a stop

Now everyone gets to stand at the bow of the ship and we get to take a picture.

The weather turned for the worst. An Argentinian Naval Fleet came to pick up some of the researchers that were stationed on Deception Island

Here's the research station.

Oh my god! It collapsed! Just kidding, this was an old whaling station. There were several of these stations all throughout these islands.

That's nights appetizers...some type of vegetable fritter

And then some more meat!

It was amazing to see them come so close to the water but they just glided over all the swells (Photo Courtesy of Paula Talaba)

Petrel flying in the breeze (Photo Courtesy of Paula Talaba)

It was cold and very windy!

We make our way to our next destination.

I think it's windy...

Deception Island in the distance

On our way to Deception Island

A lot of people were able to stay at the front of the ship until the Captain decided where to go next.

Group Photo (I'm the one with the "I Love You" sign near the back left) (Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

[DoinItForTheFame]

Reading and looking through your report has officially put this trip on our bucket list. Can't wait for more!!

[jray21]

I'm loving this report! The icebergs and animals look amazing!

[viking86]

Now this is a kind of trip report you don't see every day. Awesome stuff, looks like an amazing trip! Some fantastic pictures as well! Looking forward to the next part.

[Guy T. Koepp]

Jimmy! This is so awesome! Talk about the event of a lifetime! I am now putting this on my must do before I die list.

 

And Penguin porn! You rock man! That's better than Penguin Poo.

[DJeXeL]

Wow. Blown away by this trip report! Thanks for sharing.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

Beautiful pictures, this is amazing! I'm excited to see what new animal you guys got to see

 

Looks so cold but seeing your report actually makes me want to do this someday!

[JimmyBo]

Day 6 - Part 1 - Cuverville Island

 

This was the best day of the trip! We had amazing weather and the animals were in full swing at the 2 stops we were going to be at today.

 

The first part is Cuverville Island. This island has the largest Gentoo penguin colony in Antarctica. We got to spend 2 1/2 hours on the island walking around the penguins. This is where we got to see the penguins jumping out of the water and onto land. Some of the penguins were not so graceful when it came to getting on land. Some of them smack their faces on the ice and splashed back into the water. It was awesome! The amazing thing was that since we were there in the early part of the season, most of the penguins coming ashore have been in the ocean the entire winter and are just now making it to land.

 

After walking around the island, we got to do a Zodiac cruise around the island. The icebergs, glaciers and the sheer cliffs around the island were just stunning! We got to see a poor little Adelie penguin end up at the wrong colony. He is suppose to be a lot further South but decided to stop on this island. He walked around for a little bit but then after calling for his mate and didn't hear anything back, he went back into the water. After cursing around the island it was time to head back to the ship and we headed for our next destination.

 

Both my Dad and I decided that Cuverville Island was the best stop of the trip. Although, the next stop would have something that no one, not even the Expedition Team leaders, would expect to happen in that part of Antarctica!

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Day 6 - Part 1

We are on our way to the next stop!

While on our way to the next stop, the scenery was just unbelievable

We made our way through the Errera Channel to get to Cuverville Island

Snow and Glaciers everywhere

If anyone's been to Glacier Bay in Alaska...that is nothing compared to Antarctica. Think of Glacier Bay x1000 and I'm not kidding!

The Captain and the Expedition Team leaders looking for our next stop.

Icebergs just floating by the ship. See you in a couple days! (Photo Courtesy of Paula Talaba)

A view from the bridge. What was awesome about this cruise was that the bridge was open everyday, almost at all times for anyone to walk inside. You are asked not to disturbed the Captain or his crew but I thought it was amazing that you could walk in the bridge!

There it is...Cuverville Island.

I think penguins are here...

The backdrop was just stunning

Glaciers are everywhere so they don't name them like in Glacier Bay in Alaska

The pictures don't foo the scale of these things justice...they are HUGE!

Dad and Cuverville Island behind him.

Me and Cuverville Island

The Expedition Team getting the Zodiacs ready to go ashore.

Penguins swimming in the water

Penguins "porpoising" out of the water (Photo Courtesy of Sam Crimmin)

Out of the water and onto land!

This little guy smacked his face and fell back in. We watched this for about 20 minutes...it was hilarious!

These guys were smart and just walked out of the water and onto land.

Here's the line to go through customs before they can enjoy the island.

Penguin Parade

This dude is fat. I think he ate too much food!

Mother Nature in action!

Paparazzi Police waving us away.."Nothing to see here, move along!

And he just walks away when he's finished...classic.

This guy's confused. That's a rock...don't try and make babies with rocks.

This is only a portion of the penguin colony

This guy a screaming for his mate (Photo Courtesy of Gart Klein)

I'm with penguins!

Little guy is coming ashore for the first time this season

My dad and I find a spot and we just sit down and rest. This is part of my view.

This is the other part of my view.

Penguins walking down the hill.

More and more penguins!

This little guy is an Adelie Penguin. He is supposed to be a lot further South but stopped here for some reason. He was trying to call for his buddies but of course, no one answered.

After not hearing anything from anyone on this part of the island, he headed to a different area. We will see him later.

Well hello there little guy.

Penguin feet!

Time for our Zodiac cruise!

We traveled around to the other side of the island...

...where there were thousands more penguins.

Here's our little Adelie still looking for any of his friends.

He finally realized that he was in the wrong place and swam away.

Desktop Background

Amazing Ice formations.

Glacier ice

I Have about 100 of these types of photos because each iceberg is unique in its own way. None of them look the same but they are all just so awesome to look at.

On our way back to the ship we got to see another Weddell Seal (Photo Courtesy of Paula Talaba)

Time to head back to the ship!

[coasterbill]

This thread is awesome. I'm so jealous.

[JimmyBo]

Day 6 - Part 2 - Paradise Harbour

 

The next stop on Day 6 was Paradise Harbour and it was a place where we would only do a Zodiac Tour, no expedition on land.

 

Paradise Harbour was a unique place. The ship anchored next to an enormous glacier coming into the ocean. There was also an old Research Base there. The story behind the base was that back in the 80's, a doctor stationed at the base was almost done with his tour and was due to come back home on the next supply ship. When the supply ship came, they said that he had to stay for one more year to con tune the research. As the supply ship was leaving, the doctor set fire to the base so the supply ship had to come back and pick him up. He then was able to return home. Pretty quick thinking.

 

During our Zodiac Tour was when we saw an animal that no one was expecting. Our Zodiac was looking at some birds nesting on a cliff when our guide received word that a pod of some type of whale was near another group of Zodiacs. She quickly turned the Zodiac around and we headed straight for the pod. Everyone was looking off into the distance and then all of a sudden a whale jumped out of the water...then another...and another...seven times this happened. No one on the expedition team knew what type of whale it was at that moment but when everyone came back to the ship and they started looking at all the pictures and videos everyone captured, they determined that it was an Arnoux's Beaked Whale (pictures below). Once they determined that's what it was, they told us in a briefing that they never knew that that type of whale came to the area we were in, swam with the number of whales that we spotted in the pod (at least 12) and never knew them to breach out of the water as often as they did. What was really exciting was that we got to experience something that absolutely no one on the ship got to experience before. It was incredible!

 

The following day was the day my dad was looking forward to the most...it would be the day where we actually set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula. All other days have been islands, but the next day would be when my dad could finally cross Antarctica off his continent list!

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Day 6 - Part 2

We leave Cuverville Island and head for Paradise Harbour

The ship is anchored and the Zodiacs are waiting for us.

Glaciers all around us.

Wind blowing off the peninsula. You don't want to be caught in that snow...the expedition team says that the wind when it blasts down the cliffs can reach hurricane speeds.

More wind-blown snow

Sheer cliffs with a snow top hat.

We finally get on our Zodiacs.

This is Pam. She was our tour guide today and she was awesome.

This is the base I mentioned in the text above.

It is no longer a research station and a colony of penguins has taken it over.

I think the penguins want to move in.

This is a Blue-Eyed Shag. The blue around their eyes only forms during the summer months.

Now he's just showing off.

Around the cliff face there were about 50 nests of Blue-Eyed Shags. The female is already in the nests and probably sitting on her eggs.

More glaciers and ice

We traveled through the sheet ice. Once in the middle, Pam turned off the engine to the Zodiac and the sound of the ice around us sounded like rain drops and ice breaking. It was very eerie.

Those are baby birds back in the cliff.

The blue stuff in the cliff is Copper. I'm so glad that no mining has taken place in Antarctica. In Arizona, if anyone sees that blue stuff they see dollar signs and instantly start mining the rock.

Reflection.

It looks like it's about to topple over but it will probably take a couple 100 years before it finally falls.

More glaciers

This little guy was just chilling on the ice flow (Photo Courtesy of Paula Talaba)

Icebergs!

The part of the iceberg under the water (the bright blue) is called the tongue. 70% of an iceberg is underwater.

Pretty cool, and deadly, stuff.

Here it is...the Arnoux's Beaked Whale (Photo Courtesy of Karen Quigley)

This was about how far we were when we saw it. Some other Zodiacs were a lot closer. (Photo Courtesy of Karen Quigley)

This picture was taken from one of the kayakers (Photo Courtesy of Joost Kersten)

It was truly an amazing sight to see! (Photo Courtesy of Andrea Vasquez)

This gives you a scale of how huge the glaciers really are.

After everyone calmed down after the whale incident, Pam told us about the different types of ice found in the ocean.

We actually took some of this ice (and another huge piece) to the bar and for the rest of the cruise you could order drinks with "Glacier Ice". Glacier ice was awesome because there were tiny air pockets in the ice cube and when they melted and it was in your mouth, it felt like pop rocks. It makes a drink that much better!

That nights appetizer...quiche

Lamb Chops!

A very bland tiramisu

Edited December 20, 2015 by JimmyBo

[larrygator]

Your pork chop looks like a lamb chop!

 

My apologies if you already answered this question. How many guests were on your expedition cruise?

[JimmyBo]

Day 7 - Neko Harbour

 

We finally got to set foot on the actual Peninsula!

 

My dad was very concern that we would only be visiting islands around Antarctica and not actually set foot on the main continent. He was saying that he wouldn't count getting the continent until he set foot on land. Well...he did. We got to hike on the continent too. There was another colony of Gentoo penguins (and they were diving into the water when we arrived) but the main thing was to hike to the top of the area we were in to get a view of the surrounding Harbour.

 

Neko Harbour is another area where about 17 glaciers come into the ocean. Our tour guide Dave said that they don't name glaciers here like at Glacier Bay in Alaska because they would run out of names. Plus, having a name of Glacier A, Glacier B, Glacier C, is just boring so they are not named. We also got to see a minor glacier calving (which is when part of the glacier falls off into the ocean). The sound of glacier calving is like thunder. It was pretty funny because once you hear the thunder clap, everyone turned to the glacier near the landing site to make sure it wasn't a huge calving and we would get a tidal wave.

 

The afternoon we stayed at Neko Harbour and did a Zodiac cruise to see more icebergs, glaciers and more seals.

 

The following day would be our last day we would set foot on land before we had to make the trek back north to Argentina.

 

See pictures below for additional remarks from Day 7

Hello Neko Harbour

There's our landing site. See that trail of people heading to the top? That would be us in a couple hours. They only allow 100 people on Antarctica at a time and we were the second group this day.

They made it to the top!

Glaciers coming into the ocean

So many glaciers!

Icebergs were all over Neko Harbour from the glaciers calving.

This is Dave, he was hilarious (and the only American on the Expedition Team)

An Icebergs butt crack

We did a Zodiac Tour before we headed ashore. Here we are heading through more ice sheets

This little bird is resting on a piece of ice

This is a "Skua". He steals baby penguins and eats them. Sadly, it was too early in the season for us to see that happen.

More Glaciers

This sort of gives you a scale of the size of the Glaciers

Black Ice. This is the type of ice that we could use for "Glacier Ice" in our drinks at the bar.

Another picture to get a glimpse of the scale of the cliffs and glaciers.

Now we head to the landing site for our turn to set foot on the peninsula.

These little guys came down to greet us.

They were thinking about jumping in.

JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!

I think he's about to belly flop!

Penguins really CAN fly!

ANTARCTICA!

We are greeted to the continent by hundreds of penguins.

As you've probably guessed by now, all that pinkish/reddish/brownish stuff is their poop.

Two little love birds.

This was the Glacier that we heard/saw calving.

Penguins everywhere!

A view from the top, looking down on the Glacier and the Harbour.

The wind blowing the snow off the peninsula.

This guy's got a rock for his nest.

Some penguins already are trying to make nests in the snow. Little do they know that the snow is going to melt and they have to start over with rocks.

Penguin Head

More mountains covered in snow

A look from the top.

I think that iceberg might hit the ship! (Not that one, but one will hit our ship in a couple days!)

Zodiac cruising, we see an ice cave.

Ice Caves are awesome!

More icebergs that broke off the glaciers.

The colors are just CRAZY!

This was cold "Green Ice" (although the picture didn't come out very well) but it was green because of the algae.

The picture above was taken when I was taking this picture!

More seals!

Here they are in all their blubbery goodness.

He's so cute!

After we pick up some more Glacier Ice, it's time to head back to the ship.

Best dinner of the cruise...Salmon!

Awwwwww...how adorable (Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

(Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

Avalanche! (Photo Courtesy of Paula Talaba)

Ready, Set, DIVE DIVE DIVE. (Photo Courtesy of Sam Crimmin)

Here's our Expedition Team getting stuck at Neko Harbour when the tide rolled out! (Photo Courtesy of Sam Crimmin)

I was in the Zodiac in this picture, I'm in the back left (Photo Courtesy of Sharyn Lie)

I think they just ate some penguins! (Photo Courtesy of Quark Expeditions)

[JimmyBo]

^^Larry, 163 passengers and 120 crew. And thank you for correcting me...they were lamb chops.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

Those beaked whale pictures are AWESOME! That is so freaking cool! There are so many species of whales that we know little to nothing about (with a few that we only have vague sightings of and don't really know if they're real) and I find it so fascinating. You never know what you might find and that's so cool that you got to be a part of a "first" for the expedition!