There is so much to talk about my Antartica trip, and this serves as a quick journal on where I was and what I did each day. I have added the coordinates for each location, not normally very important, but it is for bragging rights when you're in the Antartica.
Here you will see a snippet of each day and what you can expect to see in the coming months on my blog. I still have many stories to tell, about the land, the wildlife and people, particularly the 17 strong expedition team without whom I would not have these amazing memories.
Barrientos Island
3 December pm
-62.406500,-59.740200
The Barrientos Island is part of the South Shetland Islands and is the entrance to the Antarctica mainland. It was a truly amazing experience to see the wildlife up close and personal.
Portal Point
4 December am
-64.500700,-61.765500
My first step on Antartica mainland along with my fellow cruisers. I know many live in heavy snowy countries, but I think the feeling of trekking on snow here feels very different, both physically and emotionally. A privilege to be cherished.
Recess Cove
4 December pm
-64.490500,-61.533200
Sometimes we just cruise around in the zodiacs to see what nature brings to us. There are always surprises, and they're always nice ones such as these sea ice, frozen ice formed by the sea water.
Melchior Island
5 December am
-64.326300,-62.974400
Base Melchior was the first outpost established by the Argentines in 1947. Fernando, our expedition guide on the right used to be stationed here in his younger years. He was telling us how sad he was when he had to leave, and promised himself he would return to the Antarctica one day. It took him 15 years to achieve this dream. Natcho, on the left is the cruise photographer. I can't wait to get the official photos and video from him in a few weeks time.
Orne Harbour
5 December pm
-64.629700,-62.548000
This was the only outing where we had bad weather. It was overcast when we got into the zodiac, and by the end of our one hour cruise, it started to drizzle with snow. You can see the water drops on my fellow cruiser's head. That said, it was an alternative experience, to see another side of Antarctica and imagine how harsh conditions could get in the winter.
Lemaire Channel
6th December am
-65.050000,-63.901000
What an absolute stunning day to pass through one of the most beautiful channels in the Antarctica. No wonder it's called the Kodak Gap. This is the view as we approach the gap in the left. The narrowest point is only 1600m and sometimes if there are lots of ice in the sea blocking the entrance, ships have to turn around. Luck was on side.
Plenary Island
6th December pm
-65.103400,-64.046900
This was the hottest day on my Antarctica trip, even though it was only 4 degrees. I had already stripped off a couple of layers before boarding the zodiac, but I was still sweating and had to take off my parka. I did another "I was here" photo as proof of presence for the Hive 😄
Hydrurga Rocks
7th December am
-64.144900,-61.627900
This is a small island with a penguin colony on one end. Then we would walk up a gentle slope to the other end, and pass some seals. You can't see them here, but you will later. Here, I wanted to show you a view of our cruise from afar. The path you see at the bottom of the image is called the seal highway. It's made by the seal as they move across the ice.
Spert Island
7th December pm
-63.863800,-60.976700
It is not easy to visit Spert Island as it is near to the Drake passage open sea and exposed. You have to time it well for the good calm weather. We were blessed for most of the trip with that. Apart from these stunning icebergs, volcanic caves and arches are a famous feature here. I have some great footage of us zooming around in the zodiac.
Astrolabe Island
8th December am
-63.209700,-58.778200
At any one time there would be around 7 or 8 zodiacs out cruising, and each expedition guide would try to take us on the most amazing journey. Sometimes when they spot something special, they will all zoom their zodiac towards it. Can you see who the star is in this image?
Bransfield Strait
8th December pm
-63.041300,-58.480300
In the afternoon, our Captain and the expedition leader, the two most important people on board, said they saw a couple of tabular icebergs on the satellite images and wanted to show us. It's difficult to gauge the size of this as there's nothing to put it in perspective so I won't ask you to guess. This one is 750m wide, and 15m tall. We talk about tip of the iceberg, the tip being around 5% to 10% of the total iceberg. That's how big this is. But if you think this iceberg is massive, wait till I show you the next one.
Half Moon Island
9th December am
-62.594100,-59.916900
Argentina has 13 research bases in the Antarctica. The Camara base is a seasonal base for approx 20 people and is located at the Half Moon Island which is part of the South Shetland Islands.
Deception Island
9th December pm
-62.978000,-60.564400
My final landing was at Whalers Bay on the Deception Island. This is one of the most popular landings in the Antarctica due to its location, landscape and history. Debris is not something one expects to see in the Antarctica. A story to be told in due course.
I've shown you snippets of penguin, seals, icebergs, and amazing landscape. Are we missing something? Something we all love on Hive 🐳 😄. As we all know it's difficult to catch whales attention on Hive and even more difficult to see them in real life. I've saved the best for the last in this post, but have an amazing footage to show you in my future posts.
Stay tuned.
ps I will be boarding my 16 hour flight back home later so replies may take a while, but I'd still love to hear from you
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