Exquisite Beauty and Wildlife of Antarctica..Wow, Wow, Wow

Travel Days 15-16, Expedition Days 7 & 8

Two days have passed, but it has been so busy with expeditions to see fur seals,

crabeater seals, chinstrap penguins,

 crystal clear vistas,

Beautiful rock formations

penguin highways, pastel pink sun dips,

calving glaciers and icebergs,

and today, hump back whales, that I  haven't wanted to take the time to be indoors.

We were headed for the Shetland Islands tomorrow, but a storm is brewing in Drake's passage, so we are sticking close to the shoreline tomorrow for one last day on the peninsula.  We'll let the storm pass and head back to Ushuaia in a few days.

This evening, 49 imtrepid people, jumped off the gangway on deck three for the polar plunge.  I am reporting that we were not in the count.  We heard some pretty good obscenities and it was fun to watch while snug in our polar jackets! Spending a night sleeping on The Antarctic Continent in the snow and ice was a little more tame, and we didn't have to have a defibrilator on hand.

Last Days in Antarctica.
When I don't blog on a daily basis, everything in my mind begins to run together.  Here are some final photos of our last two days cruising through the ice fields and enjoying the incredbily beauty at the bottom of the earth!

Weddell Seal

So Many Whales, Up Close and Personally Sprayed

Leopard Seal - Big tooth Penguin Eater

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Antarctica

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Camping on the Antarctic Continent

Friday, January 22, 2016 - Travel Day 14, Expedition Day 6, Damoy Point in Darien Bay

Today if the weather clears, we will be camping tonight.  This morning however is not looking promising.  Our land exploration has been canceled because of the snow and wind.  Instead we are Zondiac cruising Damoy Point in Darien Bay where we have been enjoying beautiful icebergs, splitting, calving, and cracking.

With the mountain in front of us and large glacier shelf in front of that, we skirted across the flank gazing up at a wall of glacier ice 100 meters high creeping toward the sea.  Once again we enjoyed seeing crabeater seals, large icebergs, and Gentoo pengins, along with an abandonded  airfield high on a ridge (which we really couldn's see) and Argentine buildings and radar station.

This afternoon we are off to Port Lockroy, a rocky island adjacent to the continent. This is generally the last stop north of the circle for most cruise boats. The Port is the headquarters for the United Kingdom's Antarctic Trust.  Because of the number of guests that come through here, there is quite a well equipped gift shop, and a post office from which to mail Antarctic cards.  They also have a courtesy passport stamp to document your stop.  We sent some post cards off, but don't expect to receive them right away...they'll go via England.  Could be up to 8 months!

 As the boat left Port Lockroy, the clouds were closing in behind us to the south, but the vistas in front us were opening up with glimpses of  blue sky and sun light.  We traveled through an area called Neumayer Pass where glacers touch down on the sea, and soaring snow covered mountains reach up through the clouds.  We enjoyed the breath taking views as we headed to an area called Paradise Bay.  If the conditions are conducive, campers will disembark for a night on the ice.

As it turned out, the conditions were conducive, and we gathered up our bivy sack bedrolls.  It's windy so we are dressed for wet weather as we board the Zodiac, after dinner around 9:30 pm.  It is still light, and will remain dusky before the sun rises after midnight.  When we arrive on Paradise, we scamper up a slope with a a gentle knoll that slopes leeward.  The snow from the last snow fall (today), is about 1-2 feet thick.  It's light, dry, and easily packs down with some stomping.

Russ and I stomp down 6+ foot rectangles, build up some side/headwall wind barriers with packed snow, lay out our sleeping gear, make a pit stop in our Antarctic privy (bucket, behind a snow wall, not as cold as I thought and with a fabulous glacial view), hike back to our sleeping area, take some photos, and tug off our boots and outer wear, stow gear under or in the sleep sack with us.  By this time, it is almost 11:00 pm and it is still light.  We stand on top of our bivy bags in our socks, step into our fleece liner, jumping up and down and pulling it high over our heads, and then sitting down and worming our way into the narrow opening of our bivy sacks, pulling the sack over our heads, and and yes falling to sleep..

I had lots of layers on and also brought additional layers that were in a dry bag. Since this was a soft bag, it worked great as an additional pillow.  I also had with me my fleecy, blowup airline neck pillow, that I blew up part way.  Between these two cushy bundles,, I was able to get into some relatively comfortable positions, and slept until 4:30 when other campers started socializing.  Then I dozed for a another hour before mustering the courage to get out of the warmth of my sleeping bag and  repeat the process of worming out of the sack and putting on the outer gear in the reverse order in which I took them off.

We packed up our gear, boarded the Zodiacs, and were back aboard the Diamond by 6:30 am, just in time for a hot shower, change of clothes, and a cup of coffee before breakfast.

All is Well with the Worrall CAMP R's in Antarctica.

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Getting Ready To Camp with the Penguins

Thursday, January 21, 2016 - Travel Day 13, Expedition Day 5
Yalour Island 

This morning it is cold and snowing.  The visibility is quite poor, yet beautiful and the way one would expect Antarctica to be.

On the other hand it is also frustrating, as we can not see the soaring mountain cliffs rising above us in this fjord passage between Yalour Island and the continent.

Trying to gear ourselves up so that we stay warm and dry, composing and snapping photos in polar ice/snow, and wind while also protecting the camera, keeping it warm and dry in a moving zodiac is challenging.  Add in other people in yellow parkas all positioning themselves to take photos often in your sight line is an exercise in extreme frustration.

Gloves on, glove off, lens cap on , lens cap off, steamed up glasses.  Look left, look right, the head turns the parka hood doesn't so one must rotate the entire body in the Zodiac.  Up on the seat, down on the knees, wipe the snow out of the lens.  It certainly gives one deep respect for professional National Geographic photographers who wait months and years with patience and through inclement conditions to take a shot.

While we explored this morning, we saw more Crabeater Seals and a few more Adelie Penguins.  This afternoon we will be moving into Gentoo Penguin rookeries on Petermann Island.

Petermann Island - PM Excursion was quite interesting.  We had an opportunity to disembark from the Zodiacs and get up close and personal with the Gentoo Penguins.  When nesting in the spring, the first flock of Penguins to arrive climb to the highest prominence of rocks where the sun has melted the seasonal snow and make this their nursery.  Late arriving penguins lay their eggs and foster their chicks at the lower elevations.  They are closer to the water.

The penguins in the higher areas have quite a hike up the hill and then look like they are having great fun sledding down to the water, taking turns with their mate in keeping the chicks warm and fed.  Snowy slopes are covered with penguin highways.

The mortality rate for chicks is about 40-50%.  If they are born too late in the season, they may not develop their warm, water proof feathers before winter sets in and their parents leave them.  Some of the feeding chicks are very small and the likelihood of their ultimate survival is slim.

While we were out an about, we saw a cruising sailboat gliding through the snow and mist.

It is so nice to be down here in a warm ship where we can leave dodging icebergs, anchoring, anchor watch, ship's maintenance to the crew.  The downside, is moving on whether you want to or not.

When we returned to the Diamond, the campers (that's us) were issued our camping equipment.  Tomorrow if the weather is fair it will be our first opportunity to camp on the continent.  Our gear consisted of a water proof bivy sleep sack or swag, a foam sleeping mat that goes inside, along with a down s leeping bag and fleece liner....no tents.  We will be sleeping on the ice like the seals.  Can't say this sounds comfortable, but it's a once in a lifetime experience, so we are going for it.

We will leave after dinner aboard the boat, spend the night ashore, and return the following morning before breakfast.  No food, fires, cooking or  remnants of humans are left on the continent.  If one must relieve himself, there is a bucket that is brought back on board.  I think I will stop drinking liquids after lunch.  Dropping your drawers in Antarctic weather outside sounds a bit chilling.

We have been told, that we will only camp if the weather is fair tomorrow.  When we pulled anchor and headed out of LaMere Pass, some of the expedition team heard and saw a minke whale blow (we didn't) and saw some leopard seals on an ice float (we did).  Usually, the scenery here is magnificent, today we can hardly see 50 feet in front of us as the snow and wind blows about.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's in Antarctica

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