Sigh... Our Last Landing :^(

Cruising in the Errera Channel

It has been phenomenal.  Our adventure in Antarctica has exceeded all of our expectations and our last landing at Danco Island did not disappoint.  First of all, our good luck with the weather continued to hold as it was largely sunny all day with very little wind.

Danco Island and Gentoo Penguins

We were given an extra long time on shore here on Danco.  We were only doing one landing today so we had time to make it a long one.  No one complained.  We would've taken even more time on this beautiful ice-bound rock.  

Danco is the site of a large Gentoo Penguin colony and is situated in the middle of the beautiful Errera Channel.  Snow has been late in leaving this part of the peninsula this year with the result that some of the areas of the colony that would normally have content, nesting birds were abandoned.  In addition the entire colony on Danco was behind schedule.  It is likely that a high number of the chicks will not fledge in time.

On Danco it is possible to hike up to the top of the island where there is a terrific view of the Errera and Cuverville Island just to the north.  

Kayaking with Humpback Whales in Errera Channel

For most of the landing we could see three Humpback Whales lounging in the Channel.  They were often very close to the ship where people from both the ship and the shore had excellent views of the whales.

The lucky ones that chose to go kayaking, or on a Polar Cirkel Boat excursion had amazing views of the Humpbacks.

We waved goodbye to Danco at around 16:00 and enjoyed an amazing evening sailing across the Gerlache Strait and then on into the Bransfield to Drake Passage.

Later in the evening we were entertained in the observation lounge with an enthusiastic show put on by many of our talented crew members.