We left Ushuaia, Argentina at 6pm on Friday evening aboard the MS Fram and navigated the Beagle Channel and out into open waters within a few hours. Our two-day passage across the infamously rough Drake Passage was relatively uneventful. We saw some large swells but neither of us suffered from the seasickness that other passengers felt. We spent the time exploring the ship, using the gym, and preparing for our first landing in Antarctica.
We set foot on mainland Antarctica in our very first Antarctic landing at Neko Harbour on Monday, February 27, 2017 . With an early 7AM start, we were amidst hundreds of Gentoo penguins as the sun rose over the snow covered mountains. Our 90 minutes on land allowed us to see the penguins up close and personal under great weather conditions.
Gentoo penguin
We’ve been told numerous times that this is an expedition, which means we must be flexible and let nature dictate where we go. So, after returning to the ship we sailed toward the Lemaire Channel, which is supposed to have spectacular scenery. On the way the ship’s crew learned that the channel was blocked with ice so we went a different route. On the way, snow started falling and the visibility shrank to almost nothing.
Soon we arrived to Doumer Island, where we went ashore in a snowstorm to find thousands of Gentoo penguins and an abandoned research station. Even though it was snowing, we were warm in our gear and enjoyed a long walk around the island. Our highlight at this stop occurred when we were boarding the boat to return to the ship. Less than a few yards from our small boat, a penguin flew out of the water followed by a fast moving leopard seal in pursuit. Leopard seals are considered top predators of penguins, and they have attacked humans on several occasions. To see one up close and in pursuit was certainly a thrill! We were up close witnessing the food chain with its life and death consequences. This time, the penguin survived. Unfortunately it happened so fast we didn’t get a photo.
On our second day in Antarctica, Tuesday, February 28, 2017, we joined 10 other shipmates on a guided kayak tour of Paradise Harbour. After being fitted with a dry suit, we were taken by Polar Circkel boat to a calm beach where we got in our kayaks and began our adventure. We have our own two-person kayak at home and have quite a bit of experience paddling. Still, we’d never kayaked through and around large chunks of ice, some of which had Crabeater seals lounging on top.
Kayaking in Paradise Bay
Getting up close to the icebergs allowed us to see the depth to which these large bergs extend under the water. After about an hour and a half of peacefully gliding through the beautiful bay, we turned back towards the shore and boom!!! The winds picked up, the waves grew, and boy was it a rough paddle back! At one point the tender boats came out to rescue members of our group but we were able to make it back to shore safely. It was cold, wet, and uncomfortable, but Steve did a great job of keeping us moving forward and we survived!
In the afternoon we sailed through a beautiful strait, seeing seals, penguins, and whales along the way. We reached our afternoon landing area, Cuverville Island at about 4:30 p.m. and waiting our turn to go ashore. On the ship we are broken into 8 groups of about 35 people each. When your group number is called you go to deck two, get your muck boots and life preserver, and board one of the Polar Circkel boats to the landing spot. Sometimes the landing is on to rocks and other times it is onto a rocky beach. At Cuverville it was an easy landing on a beach, where we were met by one of the largest gatherings of Gentoo penguins in Antarctica.
One of the last humans on Cuverville Island
Because it was late in the day, we enjoyed a beautiful “sunset” and were some of the last people on the island before we had to go back abroad the ship.
On our final day in Antarctica we visited Deception Island. This was a cold and windy stop, but really interesting. After a start and stop as to whether we were going to be able to enter the collapsed caldera, the winds died down enough for us to enter the narrow channel named Neptune’s Bellows. Once inside the bay we visited the historic Whaler’s Bay. Once a Norwegian whaling station, which operated between 1912 and 1931, the site became a British base in 1941 as part of a secret WWII operation. In 1969 the then research site was destroyed by a mudslide triggered by a volcanic eruption in the active volcano. The volcano is still active and monitored consistently.
We walked the length of the beach up to Neptune’s Window, a windy overlook to the sea. Along the way we had to be careful not to disturb the many fur seals that were making the beach home. The original plan was to use this beach as the site of the “polar plunge,” and Steve was prepared to go swimming. Unfortunately the number of fur seals in the area prevented us from taking that challenge.
Next stop: South Georgia Island, a two day sail across the Scotia Sea
We’ve now seen it from our bedroom window at all hours of the day and night and up close from Laguna del los Tres. Our hike was long and at times grueling, but totally worth it! The final kilometer was a steep 400 meter climb up rocks and scree in a pretty fierce wind. But, once you got to the top, you forgot about the challenge of the climb. Seeing Fitz Roy up close is why we travel so far.
It was a bummer but at least we had a few good days of hiking with great views. Many hikers come for just a day or two and never see the mountaintops. Our advice: come and stay for awhile! This little mountain town is peaceful, slow-paced, and very cool.
