Bright sun blinded my eyes as I peeked out from behind the curtain this morning at 4:30am. It was still blazing at 5:37am so I decided to get up and see what the outside world was like. It turns out it was very icy! Lots of small and medium-sized icebergs in the water and thick snow-covered mountains lined the channel. I snapped photos out on the deck until both my iPhone stopped working from the cold and my camera battery died. Inside for more layers, fresh battery and a cup of hot coffee in the bar before heading out again. At 6:30am the ship entered a lot of sea ice, probably 80% coverage, but we’re equipped for that so we edged through going on 2-3 knots. Our destination was Paradise Harbor and the unoccupied Argentinian research base “Almirante Brown”. The leaders had initially hoped to make a landing here but again the ice was too thick so it was changed to a zodiac cruise, which was just fine. The sun was bright and warm and the wind negligible so the water was like glass reflecting the mountains and icebergs = magical. We had to slowly push our way through the brash ice, giving us lots of time to appreciate it’s colors and shapes which actually made for a very peaceful ride rather than zooming around from one site to the next. There wasn’t a lot of wildlife but we did find a leopard seal sleeping on a floe which was very cool and we spent a lot of time cruising around and around him, trying to get the perfect shot; a cliff of nesting shags, and we cruised right up along the shore under the research base.
Our 2nd excursion of the day turned into a ship’s cruise – the ice is so thick in the channel leading out to sea that the ship needed extra time to navigate it safely so there wouldn’t be time for another landing or zodiac cruise. None of us minded though, as the way is so scenic it’s great to be viewing from the comfort (and warmth!) of the ship.
Afternoon Tea, which only happens on sea days, was moved to the foredeck so we could continue watching the fantastic views. They had hot clove tea with a splash of rum and those huge chocolate cookies that we so love, as well as music blasting and the crew got the guests out dancing. A short while later Nate announced over the P.A. that the second emperor penguin sighting of our trip was happening just off our port bow. I ran out to our back patio and was able to get a whole slew of shots of it before the captain ran over its iceberg! To be fair I think the wind was pushing the ship into it but I hope it managed to get away!
P.S. This was the first Emperor penguin that the ship’s captain has seen in 20 years sailing these waters so for us to have seen 2 this trip is amazing!
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