Dear Friends and Family,
When you think of Antarctica, what images do you conger up in your mind? Well, for us, it was snow, glaciers, icebergs, cold temperatures, penguins, whales, and no land animals. We weren’t disappointed. After two days at sea crossing the top of the stormy Weddell Sea, we arrived at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula with our expectations realized. Our first stop was Brown’s Bluff on the Antarctic Sound 9 miles south of Hope Bay on the eastern side of Tobarin Peninsula.  The 2,225 foot bluff is a glacial volcano embedded with lava bombs.  We were greeted by Adelie penguins.  They have a black head and beak unlike the Gentoo penguins that have a white eye patch. Both species are brush tail penguins. Before we arrived we sailed past huge tabular icebergs which were several stories high and not the sort of thing you would want to run into. As we were landing, we spotted a leopard seal sleeping on the ice with a group of very brave penguins not far away. The leopard seal is usually very illusive and its primary food source is penguin.  The seal must have been very full, as it could care less about the penguins. On our walk through the colony of penguins, we were able to touch the tidal glacier.  These glaciers are stories high and often calve into the sea.

Next landing was at Mikkelsen Harbor a place that was previously used by whalers for mooring their factory ships. Today there is an unoccupied Argentinian refuge hut in the bay and a big Gentoo colony.We were able to see chicks of different sizes, plus Fur and Weddell Seals. We actually watched penguins stealing rocks from other nests to bring to their own rock nest. We took a zodiac ride around the beautiful icebergs too.

2nd day in Antarctica was a landing in Clerva Cove, a deep inlet on the Western side of the Antarctic Peninsula on the south side of Cape Herschel within Hughes Bay.  The bay is surrounded by rugged Mountains and dramatic glaciers. This site is just off the Gerlache Strait and often has a parade of icebergs some having calved off the local glaciers and others blown in from the strait. The Argentinian Base called Primavera is located on one side of the bay. This area is an important nesting site for 12 species of birds plus Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. The Chinstrap, is easily recognized by the small black line under its chin. Since the landing site was small, we also took a zodiac ride around the bay to get up close to the tidal glaciers, icebergs, and even Crab eater seals.

To the right, is Neko Harbor which lies on the eastern shore of Andvord Bay.  It was named for the floating whale factory ship, Neko, which often used this sheltered bay. This was a continent landing, instead of an island landing, and is home to about 250 breeding pairs of Gentoo penguins. Neko Harbor is notorious for its calving glaciers which we were lucky to safely observe.  We had quite a climb in the snow to view the huge colony. Gentoos and most penguins lay two eggs each year.  On this colony it seemed liked both eggs hatched as there were lots of chicks squawking everywhere. The mounds behind us in the picture is the extent of this huge colony.Boy did it smell too, we could smell the penguins before the ship even moored in the bay. Some silly Brit passengers were trying to have a photo made for their next Holiday card, however we did mention that Antarctica was the wrong continent for Santa Claus! After our on land excursion, we boarded a zodiac for a cruise among the icebergs again and were treated to Humpback whales swimming very close.  What a day!

Deception Island is a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1967 when the British Antarctic Survey base (Base B) was narrowly evacuated. So we sailed into Whaler’s Bay which is through Neptune’s Bellows or the narrow entrance to the cauldron which is a bay now. The bay was the result of the volcano exploding and in the 1900’s was where whaling activities took place. There was a Norwegian whaling station before the British Base B. The British built an “S” shaped runway and it was a center for aircraft operations in 1955-67 as well as meteorological and geological research.  Winston Churchill manned the station during WW II to prevent the Nazi’s using it as a place to hide and attack ships around South America and in the Southern Ocean. The location reminded us of Crater Lake in Oregon, without the trees of course. We were led in the pouring rain by Seb for a wonderful historical tour of the site which is now left to ruin. There was the occasional fur seal around and a few birds but no penguins to greet us.

Our last landing on the continent  was on Half Moon Bay Island which lies in the entrance to HalfMoon Bay between Livingston Island and Greenwich Island.  The island is 1.2 miles long and is crescent-shaped and home to about 2000 breeding pairs of Chinstrap penguins. Other birds such as the Antarctic terns, skuas, kelp gulls, and Wilson’s storm petrels ad blue-eyed shags also breed on the site. We watched in amazement as the Chinstrap penguins climbed steep rocky hills to get to their nests. We thought these penguins could also be named Rock Hoppers! Finally the 50 mile an hour winds drove us all back to the zodiacs and our ship.

Drake’s Passage, the roughest sea on the planet, was where we spent the last two days of our adventure.  We were lucky as we were throughout our journey with fairly calm seas and good weather.  This has been a trip of a lifetime, a 10 out of 10 experience. We highly recommend this excursion to all of you so add it to your “Bucket” list.  Polar Latitudes, the company we cruised with was fantastic. After 20 days at sea, we leave the ship in Ushuaia and head for Mar De Plata on the Argentinian coast.  Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and remember to be good to yourselves.
Cheers,
Susan and Jim