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Published: April 17th 2024
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Every day just kept getting better and better and today was amazing.
We had an earlier breakfast than usual and our group D was among the first to board the zodiacs around 9:30am. The weather conditions were ideal for us, so even the third kayak group got to go out and started before we did. We were supposed to go to the Useful and Danco Islands, but the weather conditions were not great, so we instead journeyed to
Cuverville Island which changed some of the timelines around. No problem for me getting ready today! I was about to go see some penguins!
This was amazing. We did a zodiac landing and got to wander around the island which has a huge colony of Gentoo Penguins, one of the three types of penguins we would encounter and the one that has the most prominent tail. It is so interesting to note that I can now tell the three penguin types apart! Anyway, we landed at the rocky beach and we immediately started up the short trail the expedition team had cleared for us, with me wanting to walk up before too many people arrived. From here, we had some of
the view points mostly to ourselves, with great views of the bay and ship. Not to mention, we passed a few small groups of penguins, many of which were young and moulting. This means that they are not waterproof yet and cannot swim, so they are still fed by their parents. They were so fluffy!!! It is hard to convey in words or photos just what an experience this is - it was so quiet, clear, and the snow covered peaks in the distance were so white and pure. We stood at a rocky outcrop and just enjoyed the peace.
When we walked back down the path, we joined the rest of the people at the other side of the beach for a closer view of the larger colony of penguins. There were so many! We got tons of photos. As usual, the expedition team had timed everything perfectly and 80 minutes was plenty for us to enjoy it and when our time was almost up, I was ready to return. We watched Borat and then went to lunch. While waiting for the other groups to return and after lunch, we saw lots humpback whales and swimming penguins!
Our next stop was at
Patagonia Bay, where the kayakers were being assembled and we waited for the next excursion. The seas were calm and it was not very cold. Australian Tony was our zodiac driver and he is quite memorable. There was a lot of ice and beautiful views, including a huge iceberg with beautiful layered blue ice. I was sitting next to Tony in the back, so my views were hard to see at times, twisting in my huge parka and turning my head. The highlight was coming across a leopard seal sitting on a large chunk of floating ice. Tony told us how vicious they could be, and they are basically only below Orcas on the apex predator chain of Antarctica. The only known human fatality was a snorkeller or diver here who was dragged down to 80m and essentially was killed by drowning.
We got back to the ship just in time for tea time, our first experience with it here. We had gone up to the Dome Observation Lounge and we got a stack of plates with bite sized snacks. L combined some loose tea ingredients for me and I drank from a cup
the size of my head! It was yummy. In the meantime, the second round of zodiac excursions were still on the sea and we were able to watch. One lucky boat was very near a humpback whale that was feeding and he was just so active!! You could see it diving and flipping repeatedly. Later, we saw a group of three, including one possible calf, that were doing the same. Those of us up on deck were mesmorized for about an hour. Just absolutely amazing.
We enjoyed our nightly debrief, had a nice dinner (vegetable kafta and piri piri chicken for me), before returning to our stateroom. We did have a small nightcap of a glass of amarula each before going to sleep.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Penguins
I never tire of penguins. They bring a smile to my face.