A lone penguin stretches and seems to take in the view.
Many tourists visiting Antarctica fly one way and cruise the other. That is exactly what we did. We flew from Punta Arenas, Chile to Antarctica and cruised the Drake Passage to Ushuaia, Argentina on our return. However, just getting to the take-off point for Antarctica from Punta Arenas is no easy task. Weather conditions flying from Punta Arenas are very uncertain, casting doubt on any planned take off. The weather window must be constantly studied and adjusted.
Sometimes the weather changes so quickly a plane in the air, halfway to Antarctica, must turn back due to unforeseen squalls. While in Antarctica, we experienced one of these very sudden and frightening changes of weather. As a safety measure for each of our two daily Zodiac landings, the ship crew brings ashore water, food, tents and sleeping bags for all to overnight if required.
Our leaders told us to never be assured you will get to Antarctica until you have wheels on the ground. So what does one see when flying into King George Island, north of Antarctica? Mostly baron rocks, a gravel runway and icebergs. What is the flight like going to King George Island. Here is a 1 minute 45 second video of our landing.
Flight Landing on King George Island where we catch our cruise ship, the Greg Mortimer.
Greg Mortimer Cruise Ship
We were aboard the Greg Mortimer expedition cruise ship, which is built for these types of iceberg adventures. All rooms had balconies and very good food. It was not your normal cruise line as sleeping late was not an option. There was a shipwide wake up call early every morning. Sometimes before sunrise. Two Zodiac excursions every day, morning and afternoon. I was with a photography group, but other people aboard went hiking, kayaking and scuba diving. The photographers searched for animals and icebergs.
This boat design is called the Xbow design. Personally, I saw no improvement in the rocking or stability of the boat as we crossed the Drake Passage. At times we were still literally bouncing off of the walls in the hallway. For a couple days there were also the ubiquitous barf bags tucked about the ship. Here is a link to Aurora-Expeditions purpose built cruise ship. Aurora Expeditions
Every day there were two Zodiac trips, morning and afternoon. Some passengers would go for extended hikes, snorkeling or photography, like our group. There were maybe 100 on board and my photography group made up possibly 25. Our Zodiac trips were not always a landing, sometimes we simply cruised a harbor looking for icebergs.
“Endurance” Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
The book “Endurance” was self imposed required reading for this trip. I found it so interesting I finished the book prior to landing in Antarctica. An amazing story of some very tough men surviving in unimaginable conditions. Plus, they did not get their gear at REI, nor was it waterproof. By coincidence, the Lisbon to Newfoundland cruise we were on just prior had a series of lectures on the discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance ship 107 years after it sank in the Weddell Sea. (one of several blogs on that voyage: Lisbon to Newfoundland Cruise)
The book cover photo looks like it is a negative, but that is a result of the flash of the camera against the Antarctic night. The ship had been locked in ice for months with the ice crushing the ship’s massive super strengthened hull. They sailors eventually removed what they could salvage and pulled these supplies across the vast Antarctic.
Haunting image of the ship Endurance.
Our Greg Mortimer cabin.
I indeed felt odd, sailing the Weddell Sea, crisscrossing the paths where these valiant explorers struggled to survive on seal and penguin meat for 20 months while I dined in luxury and sped about in Zodiacs.
Oh well, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do….
First Zodiac Exploration, Paulet Island
I’ll be presenting our Antarctica photos and experiences mostly in the order in which we experienced them. I’m not grouping all the seals in one post and whales in another. Paulet Island was our first landing. It is a site where yet another shipwrecked group of explorers survived a winter. There is a freshwater lake in the middle of this island, which helped the men led by Otto Nordenskjold survive.
Notice the crazy non-photographers making their way up the steep hill in the distance on the left. This is the fresh water lake which helped the shipwrecked crew of Otto Nordensjold survive a winter.
With so many cormorants about, you know what birds do. Yes, this island and most of the others had quite a terrible smell. Much guano about… There are few animals to eat the dead, so they too stench up the landscape.
With little else to photograph, I tested the eye auto focus function on my Sony. It never seems to work as well as it does on Nikon or Cannon cameras. However, I was able to catch many Antarctic Shags in focus coming in at what appeared to be a crash landing. At 12 photos a second, hundreds of photos quickly accumulate. They eventually need to be examined, kept or deleted. All quite tedious.
The cormorants appear very clumsy in landing but always seemed to be successful.
Up close and personal to the Antarctic Shag. Could be a blue-eyed cormorant, but I’m sticking with the shag.
Punk rocker Adelie penguin. They were near the end of their molting stage, getting rid of all the fluffy down feathers will allow them to swim and hunt by wintertime.
Check out the one long whisker of this seal.
Evening in the Antarctic
Some of the photos taken on this second evening in the Antarctic are so full of contrasting colors, I found no way to properly develop them into something believable. Other scenes were quite serene and subtle.
The decks were full of people who had never seen icebergs of this size, dwarfing the ship. Of course there is nothing in the frame for size comparison…
As we settled into the evening, glorious sights were still to be seen. Lots of unanswered questions regarding these icebergs. How long have they been floating about, trapped in the currents of the Antarctic seas? How old are they? Any penguins aboard?
So goodnight from our second night in the Weddell Sea of the Antarctic.
You have a way not only with photography, but with words. I personally cannot determine which photo I liked most, or even which of your adventures I like most, but they are intriguing one and all. Merry Christmas to you and Gayle, and thank you again for sharing.
Thank you for sticking with me, Lou. The Antarctic adventure photos get MUCH better. Then comes Bolivia (not so good) then Iceland, Badlands of New Mexico then Europe. I’ll be posting for weeks to come.
So no seal or penguin meat was on the menu for you? Don’t ya wanna experience the real “flavor” of an Antarctic expedition? 🐧🦭🍽️
I experienced the real smell of the Antarctic seals and penguins. Not very appetizing.
I have not visited your pages in a while, Harold, but this one is very nice! Wonderful photos as usual. Inspiring. I am headed to Antarctica in mid January. Not on small excursion vessel as you did, but Princess Land and Sea. I do hope to get some similar photos.
I should have two more Antarctic blogs before you depart. Seeing whales up close was the best part.
Thank you for the birds 🙂
Dramatic contrasts indeed.
Have not been in a Zodiac in many years and only in the waters of the Straights of Georgia and Labouchere Passage and various inlets on the BC mainland coast and Vancouver Island.
In an upcoming Antarctica post, you will see a leopard seal attack our Zodiac. Thank you for continuing to look at my posts.