Today we ventured into Antarctic sound (named after a ship called the Antarctic that sank there) for our last day on Antarctica. We landed at the site of an old volcano named Brown Bluff. It is named aptly as there are these towering brown basalt rock faces overshadowing the beach. All the rocks on the shore were smoothed-down old volcanic rocks, and I thought they were very beautiful with their different-sized holes where there were previous pockets of hot gas. We saw snow petrels and the best part was Adelie penguins! They are by far the most entertaining of penguins to watch as they have a comic way of walking and movement. For example, they tend to go out into the water as a group because there are leopard seals out there waiting to make them into a nice Adelie snack. So as a group they will walk up to the waters edge but no one really wants to be the first to go in. The first one will hesitate at the shore and all the others will kind of pile into him/her. We also saw snow petrels today but from a distance. And of course, Franz took us on a little hike. Did I mention he is Bavarian?
Antarctic sound is also know for having more “tabular” ice bergs. They have broken off the ice shelf and can be huge. One they told us was 40 m high and about 7 km across. It is hard to tell in the water just how big they are with no external reference but they are rather forbidding. Close up the lines of packed snow are easy to see and the older ones have ice “caves” and more water wear towards the bottom. They don’t have the unique cloud-like shapes of the ice bergs from the outer peninsula.
Anyway, as I am writing there is an island that I can see from the window that is so beautiful. It has land mass (as opposed to just snow), you can see that but it also has this huge dome of packed snow that covers a large portion of it. There are chunks of snowpack that have broken off, like bites off of a cookie. The remaining flat “bite-mark” reflects the golden afternoon sunlight. I guess it’s hard to describe. I also just saw some whales, humpbacks. Two large flukes and a smaller one.
Our last day in Antarctica was marked by a little celebration. It is nearing the end of our trip and I find myself getting a little - kind of like nostalgic but maybe sentimental is a better word. Dinner was fantastic with a “chocolate explosion” dessert theme - chocolate cake, chocolate cheesecake, mousse, eclairs, you get the idea. Pastries extraordinaire. The best were these sliced almonds covered in chocolate, but I didn’t get to try the other stuff so others might disagree. In the bar last night our Turkish bartender invented 10 “mystery shots” that you could order for $3 each. Of course, some people had to try them all which resulted in some excessive staggering, especially after we entered the Drake passage and the room started to sway on it’s own. We also borrowed the karaoke machine from the sailor crew and had a karaoke night. I sang “White Flag” by Dido because of the ship reference, thought it was fitting. I haven’t talked much about the people I am with for privacy reasons but I can say that they are all truly wonderful people with an exceptional capacity for discovery and a love of life.
So now we have two days across the Drake passage. I have decided this time to not take any seasickness medications. Consequently, I am not drowsy which is great. Actually, I haven’t slept at all. I did go to bed around 1 or so but whether it was nausea from the shots (I did NOT have all 10) or from sea sickness, or just the plain tossing that made it hard to fall asleep. So internet is faster in the middle of the night. Figured I would take advantage.
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| Adelie penguin inspecting its charge - most actually have two eggs so not quite sure why there is just one. |
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| This is not photoshop'd but the penguin did this on its own. |
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| Tabular iceberg in the foreground and Antarctica behind. |
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