Blogs from Antarctica

At 7am, we arrived at Portal Point on the Reclus Peninsula, on the west coast of Graham Land. I was in the Dome and it initially looked like bad weather, but it quickly cleared. The kayakers were taken out first, while the groups were sorted with their times. We would be back at the end of the first rotation. This was our last excursion and we were excited as this would be the time that we could set foot on the actual continent of Antarctica! No asterisks for those super serious people who judge your adventures in the future. Plus, it would be L's 7th continent and we would have the opportunity to pose for photos with the flags to make it "official". We had 90 minutes at the site which was the perfect amount of ... read more

I woke fairly early and was finally starting to feel better after my pesky cold. Thus, I started my new routine: I would get a cup of hot chocolate from Paula's Pantry when it opened at 7am, then go up to the Dome Observation Lounge to read and relax for an hour on my own before we would get breakfast. I am pretty sure we were in Neko Bay that morning, though, as usual, plans change and did that day as well. Typically, I had the lounge to myself and today I was the only person up there, about to go back to my room, when I saw some swimming penguins. I enjoyed them for a couple of minutes, then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Did I see a whale breach ... read more

This morning, our first excursion of the day was a zodiac ride around the ice crusted bay near Berthelot Island. The swells were pretty good, but the waves and wind were minimal, so it was actually a very nice morning. Which was good since I was a wee bit hungover - L had to zip me up into my parka because I just.... couldn't. Even the second group of kayakers got to explore the area. However, we were unable to make a landing, which is why we just got to enjoy the zodiac. We were among the first set of the main group to go and set off fairly early. We had two guides with us and one was learning how to drive the zodiac. And she had a bit of learning experience ahead of her ... read more

We left the Falklands with 4 days in a row on board as we head south towards Antarctica. Don and I decided to spend the first day bar hopping - starting in Good Spirits and proceeding to the Wheelhouse, Crooners, The Explorer, Fusion and finally to Skywalker way up on the 16th deck. Our timing was not good as we were caught up in the Drake Passage with waves and swells ranging from ten to fifteen feet. Don and I were not sure whether it was the rocking of the boat or the number of martinis we had that contributed more to our rough feeling. Following the map, our first stop was Elephant Island. We left the Falklands at a latitude of 52S and were planning on reaching 65S. The weather dropped to around freezing as ... read more

The Antarctic Experience Day 1 The Daily Program had an earlier start time than usual on February 1, 2023 – 7:00 AM. The entry was “Volendam Cruises Dallman Bay, Antarctica!” Yup, we had finally arrived at the first of the two destinations that led me to take this cruise in the first place, the other being the Amazon River, and this was the first of four days we would be cruising the waters of Antarctica. All our cruising would take place on the Antarctic Peninsula – on the north side of the island continent and that portion closest to the southern tip of South America. Now that I think about it for a nanosecond, where can one go from Antarctica BUT north??? The Daily Program listed the geographic locations where we would be cruising and the ... read more