Paradise Bay and the Kodak Gap. Just the names of two spots along our third day of cruising through Antarctica gave us an indication of the beauty that was to come. The morning began with a relaxed breakfast as we approached the entrance to Lemaire Channel, aka the Kodak Gap, among other nicknames. Again, our weather was a bit overcast with some clouds hanging just below where the mountains seemed to peak, but it was calm enough to provide some nice cruising conditions. This entrance to Paradise Bay is many peoples' favorite part of their Antarctic cruise, providing some of the most spectacular beauty in all of the continent. Passing into the straight, I hurried through my breakfast, put on a few bits of warm clothing and headed up to the top deck to enjoy the views. I was a bit cold, but I had the top deck to myself most of the time, watching the high mountains pass by both sides of us in the fairly narrow channel. A few dolphins appeared around the boat from time to time, drawing a few passengers out from the warm dining room and its nice views, but for me, it was more about the never-ending scenery. If the sun had been out, it would have been incredible, but even with the mystical fog, I enjoyed the quiet and solitude, watching the walls pass by on each side.
We eventually made it through the pass down to the Southernmost point of our cruise, Yalour Island. Some cruises add another day or two to the itinerary to simply cross the Antarctic Circle, but ours was not one of those, with our main objective of Yalour Island being the chance to interact with the large colony of Adelie penguins living there. Thus far, we had mostly seen Gentoo penguins, with a few Chinstrap penguins mixed in, so these little birds would be about the same size as their knee-high brethren, it would be something different, and another great excuse for another excursion off the cruise ship and onto one of the numerous little islets dotting the long Antarctic peninsula. It was another very quick ride in the Zodiac late that morning, dropping us off on the rocky portion of the island where a few nearby seals took notice of us, ignoring us at first and then deciding to slip away into the water after posing for a few too many pictures. Because most of the land masses are covered in snow and ice, and the overhanging snow could give way at any time and also make a slippery landing, we always had to find a small rocky cove or beach on which to make our stops. On the island, we wandered around the small patch of snow and rocks for about an hour, watching the little groups of penguins waddle past us, occasionally opting for sliding on their bellies during some of the downhill portions, a much more graceful look for these birds that are often awkward on land, opting between waddling and hopping around with measured jumps from rock to rock.
The Adelie penguins aren't as common as the Gentoo penguins, so it was a treat to see them, and they are more of a pure/traditional black and white mix that you'd expect from a penguin, almost uniformly black on the back and sides and white on the front with a darker bill, as opposed to the Gentoos who have a white spot on the top of their heads, a larger white coloration on the front/stomach, and a bit of an orange bill. Watching the little penguins make their way down to the rocks, some scurried along and others took their time, making the final cautious hops and steps over the large rocks and finally sliding into the water and disappearing into the darkness.
After another impressive three course lunch, we headed back North, again passing through the impressive Lemaire Channel before reaching the area of Pleneau and Hovgaard Islands where we'd embark on another Zodiac cruise to take in the sights. The weather was still dark with a tiny bit of drizzle coming down, but with calm waters and little wind, that certainly wouldn't be enough to keep us from getting out to see more of the continent. Piled into our groups of 10-15 people per Zodiac, we all boarded our boats and headed off, wondering what we'd see on this round. Having grown a bit accustomed to the sheer spectacle of some of the ubiquitous mountains and snow patches, the ride started off a bit slow for most of us, as the dreary weather and wind generated from zipping through the cold air weren't ideal, but we still found a few wonderful sights, beginning with another penguin rookery, a few seals lounging on icebergs and another closeup of a jagged glacier face with caverns, nooks and protrusions in every direction. The interesting thing about the penguin rookery is that they're easy to spot from afar, as they will always have a different color in the snow, usually either a gray patch or a red/pink color generated by some algae that grows near them in the snow, breaking up the whiteness of the hillsides. Not that this little outing wasn't beautiful in its own right, but it had a lot to live up to after our first few amazing days.
Some of the passengers were getting a bit cold and weary, but then things began to pick up. As we caught back up to where the ship was meeting us, we entered an incredible area dotted with large, sculpted icebergs. With our maneuverable Zodiacs, we were able to quietly slip in and out of the narrow openings between a few of the amazing icebergs, most about the size of a small house above water with around 80% more of the area below water. In the calm water, you can often see the iridescent blue of the glacier jutting down below, fettering off into the deep. Different shapes and sizes of icebergs appeared all around, some with picturesque archways melted away, others with pointy spires and jagged edges, some with pock marks like a golf ball, some with visible gashes along the top or sides, picked up while sliding along the glacier before being deposited into the water, and some smooth as...well, ice. One even had two parallel blue streaks running diagonally the entire length of the iceberg, apparently a gash that had refilled with another flow of water before refreezing and creating a different type of ice. At one point, we found a fabulous iceberg that had melted away into three-quarters of a circle, large enough to allow us to enter inside and do a tiny loop around the interior, taking in the beautiful views of the light blue ice against the grey skies. Each iceberg was completely different and yet enchanting in its own way. Finishing up after half an hour in the area, we passed one last group of amazing icebergs and headed back to the ship, again greeted with warm hot chocolate and the friendly crew.
Moving further North, we came to another base, this one being Port Lockroy, owned by the English. This was another of the bases created mostly to fortify colonial claims to the continent, establishing a settlement, post office and observation base for the English in Antarctica. Situated in a scenic spot in a narrow channel, the tiny huts are dwarfed by the massive white backdrop of the continental land mass. As another rocky island just off the coast with a slight hump in the middle, it also has its share of resident penguins who appear anywhere they find rocky outcrops in which they could lay their eggs and raise their young. We offboarded the ship again, landing on the island and immediately finding ourselves surrounded by curious, almost habituated penguins. Port Lockroy has a little bit more to offer the visitor than the previous Chilean base, in the form of a better gift shop, a functioning post office for sending post cards, and, most importantly, an interesting museum that preserves the original hut with kitchen, bedrooms and communication rooms still stocked and intact as they were when the first settlers lived there. I was even allowed a glimpse into the new building where the current workers reside during the summer months, a small, half cylinder with a basic looking kitchen and large living room. Since this was one of the very last cruises of the season, we were also picking up four of the workers from the base and taking them back to Argentina, finishing up their four month stint working at the base.
On the minuscule island, I wandered around, finding many penguins underfoot, again in various stages of molting and activity. A few of the young ones squawked and chased each other in circles, practicing a bit of territorial behavior that would be useful in the coming years during mating season. Meanwhile, others stepped forward, pecking at my white boots and tugging at a few of our jackets to try to figure out what sort of creatures we were. Half of the island is currently off-limits, as the British group is attempting a study to compare the group living amongst the workers to a group that is a little more unaffected by any human interaction, trying to measure any effects of this co-habitation. Dusk was soon setting in, so we had to leave the cute little penguins once more, heading back to the boat where we actually ended up anchoring in the bay for most of the night, allowing the workers enough time to close up the base and gather their belongings to head home after the long summer on the island. Despite not even having a row boat to get across the tiny stretch of water to the mainland, the workers actually claimed that they didn't feel at all isolated, with plenty of research to keep them busy and almost daily stopovers by one cruise ship or another making its way in or out of Antarctica.
Another amazing day in Antarctica was now behind us. It already felt like we had seen so much, while there was still plenty of anticipation of what remained. A lot more food and card games ensued before finally deciding to let the night come to an end, and I headed back to my room, again just as excited about my next day on this wonderful voyage.
(Our first stop for the day was Yalour Island, the Southernmost point of our voyage. This crabeater seal was on the edge of the shore to greet us, though I didn't understand what he said. Maybe French or something.)
(The main attraction of Yalour Island is the large rookery of Adelie penguins. About the same size as the Gentoos, but they are more of a pure black and white with dark beaks. Simple yet elegant.)
(Not very frightened by people, even with close encounters, many of them simply relaxed on the rocky island as we passed by. One unfortunate passengers also thought she was stepping on just a tiny bit of mud on the way back, finding there really isn't much mud in Antarctica and falling in up to her knees in penguin droppings. Luckily Marc was there to help pull her out while her newlywed husband laughed and took a picture before offering a hand.)
(In the afternoon, we took a Zodiac cruise around Pleneau and Hovgaard Islands. Given that we'd already seen some incredible scenery, the cold, damp afternoon started off a bit slowly, but things picked up when we got to a beautiful piece of water filled with tons of oddly shaped icebergs.)
(A few groups of penguins popped up here and there, causing us to pull out our cameras for a few shots. Here, the Chinese group tries to capture a couple of them. Capture them on film. Geez, what were you thinking?)
(Another amazing glacier up close. The different shades of blues and whites depend on how much air is still within the ice. Whiter=more air. Just like jumping. Or maybe not.)
(One of the many beautiful icebergs from our Zodiac. We went into an area full of these strangely shaped icebergs, and it was fantastic.)
(The vertical streaks down the side of this iceberg would have been from when it was sliding along the front of a glacier, being dragged along the rocks.)
(That's me posing just before we entered into the middle of a massive, nearly circular iceberg, creating a mini-ice amphitheater. No concerts that day, though.)
(Despite the less than ideal weather, cruising around these icebergs in the Zodiac for 30 minutes or so was amazing.)
(That's my Zodiac, taken in this picture by Cecilia. If you look really, really close, I'm on the opposite side, 2nd from left. It's not really worth looking that close, though. Just trust me._
(Who doesn't love these big blocks of ice? You can just slightly see the blues underneath the water as well.)
(The British base on the Antarctic peninsula, Port Lockroy. This one includes a few researchers, a tiny store, a nice museum and a functioning post office. We also picked up a few workers there, going back home after the end of the season.)
(As with most rocky spots along the coast, penguins run the place. On the base, they are doing a study to see if there are any adverse affects to the cohabitation, with one part of the small island off limits for the other sample group.)
(Gentoo penguins wander the entire place, hardly aware of the humans passing among them.)
(One with a bit of a molting mohawk on the left and a more relaxed pose on the right. These penguins come in all styles.)
(Fluff ball.)
(This mother was regurgitating for her young chick. Apparently he's too lazy to get food on his own. Pathetic.)
(As close as penguins ever get to flying, here's one jumping off a relatively high rock. It must have been such a thrill.)
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