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Published: March 22nd 2010
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This is going to be a hard blog to write because words can´t really do it justice. People say that a lot, and you hear it from the advertising for Antarctica, but it really is true.
We boarded our ship, the MS Expedition, on the 13th March, and ahead of us lay a two day voyage across the Drake Passage. The ´Drake´ is notorious for its storms and rough seas. Crossings are usually very unpleasent and its known as the ´Drake Shake´. We however were very lucky and on the way over had the opposite (the Drake Lake). The weather was so good that we arrived in our first port of call half a day early. The voyage over was spent listerning to lectures about the geography, history and biology of Antarctica, as well as bird, whale and iceberg watching from the boat. We saw dolphins at the front of the boat and fin and bottlenose whales as well as wandering albertrosses and petrels.
The first stop was at the Aitchoo Islands in the South Shetlands. We landed on the islands and saw penguins (Chinstraps and Gentoos) everywhere. The island also had four species of seal - Weddell (x1),
Fur (loads), Elephant (x1) and Leopard (x2). Most of the seals lay around on the shore, however the Leopard Seals where busy hunting penguins, and we saw both seals catch, kill and flail unlucky penguins.
Over the next couple of days we cruised through a number of island chains, occasionally stopping off and visiting the islands, as well as touring along the edge of pack ice and islands in small boats called ´Zodiacs´. The second day was spent Zodiac cruising and visiting Danco Island. On the third day we visited the Lamaire Channel (aka Kodak Alley due to the stunning views) and saw Minke Whales from the boat before visiting a former British and now Ukranian research station on Galindez Island on Galindez Island. The homemade vodka was pretty good! We then took a hike up a hill near the station on a beautiful day and it was here that I proposed to Tracy. Later that day we took another Zodiac Cruise and saw Leopard Seals, Crabeater Seals and Humpback Whales. We also got some 10,000 year old glacier ice for the drinks on board later that night!
On day four we stepped on the Antarctic Continent itself
at Neko Harbour and then cruised up to Whillemina Bay. The landscapes were absolutley stunning and over a period of 5 hours we saw around 50 Humpback Whales swimming, resting, feeding and playing. Some were so close to the ship that they were swiming underneath it! We also saw Leopard Seals, Crabeater Seals and penguins swimming across the bay.
On our last day we headed back to the South Shetlands and visited Deception Island - an active volcano calderia that you can sail into. This island was the base for a lot of Whalers as well as British (BAS) Research bases. The industry and buildings that this has left behind are a stark contrast to the the rest of Antarctica which is so untouched. As we left the island, and whilst having lunch, a pod of Killer Whales swam past in the distance.
That night we sail back north and over the next 24 hours had to pay the Drake Tax. The storm was so bad at one point that the swell was approx 14m. Everyone was confined to their rooms and most, if not all, were seasick. It was not pleasent - but we had all been
incrediably lucky with the weather up to that point.
Now we are back in South America and heading to the Torres del Paine in a couple of days. Hope all are well. xxx
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