Wednesday, 3rd. February - at sea Drake Passage

Here is a wonderful quote from the Albatross Monument, Cape Horn

'I am the albatross that awaits you at the end of the earth. I am the forgotten soul of the dead dead sailors from all the seas of the earth who rounded Cape Horn, they did not die in the fury of the waves, but fly today on my wings towards eternity in the cry of the Antarctic winds'

Deception Island

Hello everyone, I am still getting used to uploading photos. Here are, I hope, the photos of Deception Island and Hannah's Point.

1st. February - Whalers Bay, Deception Island, Hannah Point, Livingston Island

8:30am We were invited up to the bridge to watch the Captain navigate through Neptune's Bellows a narrow passage - 1800 feet wide - and very treacherous with rocks under the surface of the water. We were told to maintain silence as there were to no distractions for the Captain and crew as we entered the flooded caldera.

Landed on the beach at Deception and a young man from Arizona took a polar plunge - a quick one.

This former whaling station put us all in a somber mood when we contemplated the huge tanks which were used for storing the whale oil. A black mud beach and very windy.

Livingston Island. We went ashore in the afternoon and saw Chinstrap penguins for the first time. THere were a few Macaroni Penguins amidst the Chinstraps.

A major highlight for m was the following stop at Hannah's point where we saw a large group of belching, farting Elephant seals. They seemed to be quite happy wallowing around in stuff that had until recently been inside them. These were 2-3 years olds who come ashore to moult.

We sa Giant Petrels - great white, snowy birds as large as geese. We watched having a bath close to shore preening and grooming h/herself.

We saw a skua feasting tearing it apart really - on a baby chick. These predatory birds cruise around the penguin colonies waiting to pick of chicks.

We saw a few Fur Seals and a Weddell seal who was simply to lazy to move away when we approached - in faat h/she yawned the closer we approached.

1/31/2010 Port Lockroy and Paradise Bay

9 am. The Base Commander came aboard to give us a briefing before we went ashore.

Penguins everywhere and this is the closest we have been to them as they are clustered around the buildings at the Port. It was quite wonderful to be so close to them (Gentoos) . They have no fear of humans at all and in fact are quite curious. The have dark yellow feet with very long claws. Some Shags were among the penguins and Snowy Sheathbills which, rumor has it, eat anything (you don't want to know!).

After a landing at a Argentinian base which was very well kept up. The Gentoo penguins around the base had very large chicks. We crossed the Gerlache Strait to Paradise Bay. The wind was near gale-force but the bay itself was nice and calm.

After dinner we were told that we were off to the South SHetlands.

1/30/2010 - Prospect Point, Fish Islands, Mutton Cove

5:30am - awakened by the noise of the ship crashing through the ice. I went up to the lounge to have a cup of tea. The sea was full of ice from large bergs to brash ice. This is the most desolate place. The mainland is very close to the ship. Shortly after breakfast we set off in the Zodiacs and were able to land on the mainland. We saw a small group of Adelie penguins. We cruised around in the Zodiacs and saw some spectacular blue bergs. It even snow - big, fat flakes which made a patting sound when they hit our clothing and the rafts.

After lunch we were off to Mutton Cove where we cruised around until we all felt cold. Back to the ship where the chef had prepared an outside barbecue on the deck outside the lounge. I think that the early explorers lacked some imagination when they named these beautiful, wild, desolate places.