When I was 16, I left the North American continent for the first time with my mom on a tour to Europe. In the last decade we started traveling together again. We first ventured off to Asia, then Africa, Oceana, and recently South America. Now we finish off with the final continent: Antarctica! We explored the frozen continent with the Norwegian cruise company: Hurtigruten in December of 2018.
Day 1: At 2 pm we boarded the Midnatsol and got to know the ship. Just after 8 pm we set sail out of the Beagle Channel towards the Drake Passage. I awoke in the middle of the night to a rocking ship wondering how rough the infamous Drake would be.
Day 2: We were lucky, the Drake was good to us. Our waves were only 4-5 meters high. However this still caused a decent rocking to the boat and many people were struggling with seasickness. All day we gathered boots, coats, and got prepared for Antarctica.
Day 3: We were ahead of schedule and successfully made it through the Drake Passage around 2 pm. The ship arrived at Half Moon Island where we planned on our first landing. Rain, wind, and a good swell met us at Half Moon Island. About half of the passengers made it out to the island where they were greeted by Chinstrap Penguins. Unfortunately my mom and I were not so lucky. The wind picked up and they had to cancel the landings. The boat set sail again.
Day 4: We awoke early to watch our entrance past towering cliffs into Deception Island. A few whales were swimming along with the boat and I caught a tail flip of one diving down.
Deception Island is actually an active volcano. We entered the caldera… which is the collapsed middle of the volcano. Now smaller volcanoes rise from the sides. The last times these volcanoes erupted were in 1968/1969 when whaling camps were still located here. A few buildings and machines remain as ruins on the island to remind us of its past.
We actually made it onto this landing. We walked our first steps on an Antarctic island and found a group of 4 Chinstrap Penguins! We also saw a leopard seal and a young elephant seal.
The highlight of the day was the Polar Plunge!! Even my mom braved the challenge. The water was icy cold and snow was falling, but the hardest and coldest part is trying to dry off and redress in the just above freezing temperatures.
Day 5: We awoke to icebergs floating outside our window! We had made it to the Antarctic Sound and planned to visit Brown Bluff. It was blue clear skies… but unfortunately lots of wind and swell changed the plan. We spent a good portion of the day sailing to different bays in the Antarctic Sound while surrounded by icebergs and snow covered land. The captain tried 3 different locations before finding Petrel Cove where we still couldn’t land but could take a short cruise to see the colony of Adelie penguins on shore.
That night I watched the sunset as we cruised past huge tabular icebergs and saw penguins catching a ride on some small icebergs.
Day 6: We tried again for Brown Bluff but there was still too much swell, so we headed for Esperanza Station in Hope Bay. This is an Argentinian research base. One of the Argentinians showed us around a bit and then we watched the Adelie penguins that reside alongside them. This was our first time stepping foot onto the Antarctic continent!
In the late afternoon we headed back out into open water. This time we were met with larger waves. It would be a rocky night as we headed back over the top of the peninsula and south towards Cuverville Island.
Day 7. My favorite day in Antarctica… (and my birthday). We first had a landing where thousands of Gentoo penguins were nesting. They would come check out the people, then waddle back to their pack. There was a tall hill I hiked up to see another group of penguins and look out over the bay.
As soon as we were back on the ship it was time for a cruising expedition. On zodiac boats, we circled the huge, enchanting icebergs of various designs and shades of blue inhabiting the bay.
Back on board, another great dinner buffet was served. Then I packed up my things for a sleepover on the snow. A few lucky passengers were able to add on camping in Antarctica. At 10 pm we cruised back to the land and dragged our equipment through the snow where we set up our red tents. Then the expedition team gave us a fascinating tutorial on the Antarctic porta-potty.
Afterwards, most of us hiked up the hill near a penguin colony. We were allowed to sit and watch these funny little birds. Multiple times a few would come up and check us out. One even tried to take a bite of one man’s boot. Sometime after 1am, we headed back to our tents to sleep under the still too bright night sky.
Day 8: My Norwegian tent mate and I awoke at 5:45 to heavy snow falling in the campground. We broke down camp and waited for the boat to return and send crew to fetch us.
Once on board the Midnatsol, we had breakfast with mimosas and the ship headed south. The plan had been to land and kayak near Port Lockroy. Ice blocked every channel the captain tried for and we just watched snow fall over ice covered water all day.
Day 9: Our final day in Antarctica. We spent the day in Paradise Bay at Gonzalez Videla. We had a zodiac cruise around some icebergs followed by a landing.
This was our second continental landing and the area is a Chilean base. There were hundreds of nesting Gentoo penguins all around the base including one that stood out from the crowd. She is an isabelle penguin, meaning she is lacking pigment in just her feathers, rather than an albino which completely lacks melanin. It was cold, windy, and very icy on this landing. So while we loved watching the penguins, we were ready for the warmth of the ship afterwards. There were also a few weddell seals resting on shore.
In the late afternoon we pulled up the anchor and started heading north towards the Bransfield Strait which rocked the boat with 5-8 meter waves. During the night we would enter the Drake Passage again. Late in the evening we watched the crew show, where crew members performed dances and sang.
Day 10-11. It took 2 days to get back to Argentina. They were relaxed days except you had to hang on to walls and railings while walking around the boat to stay steady. Our Antarctica adventure has come to an end.
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