Drake shake

Yes, this morning we experienced the wilder side of the Drake Passage: at dawn we were awoken by the violent thrust of stormy winds that almost threw us out of our beds! We had a respectable 10 in the Beaufort scale, which means we were treated to gusts of wind of up to 100 km/h, and waves of 9-12 metres. In other words, a decent storm.

Luckily, in the course of the day the seas calmed a lot, and by noon the sun came out – and with it, everybody on board MS Fram. Indeed, people were happy to be able to venture out to the open decks and get a bit of fresh air after the jumpy ride of the morning. And yes, we were accompanied by the ever fascinating birds that roam these waters.

At the end of our voyage of discovery we approached Tierra del Fuego on a wonderfully sunny afternoon.

Drake Passage

Farewell to Antarctica as we set off across the dreaded Drake Passage bound for the continent of South America and our final port of call, Ushuaia. The seas were calm and the sun actually broke through the cloud layer. The day was a quiet one at sea: lectures continued on various topics as well as tours of the bridge where the Captain answered a myriad of questions about our floating home.

Flocks of pintado petrels, a few albatross and other seabirds glided around the ship. We caught a final glimpse of an iceberg in the morning: a whitish dot low on the horizon. Our memories are rich with the things we have seen and experienced and we have made many new friends.


The evening was rounded off by the Captain’s dinner where the gallant officers and crew and intrepid staff gathered in the dining hall to wish us safe journeys.

Yankee Harbour and Half-moon island

This morning we traversed the Bransfield Strait heading to the South Shetland Islands. The sea was calm and a bit foggy, but we could make out the rocky outcrops of Deception Island and had a wonderful view of Livingston Island as we sailed past.


We landed at Yankee Harbour, a long spit of gravel that reaches into the sea from Greenwich Island. It was a fabulous landing for experiencing wildlife: we saw two giant petrels feeding on a dead fur seal, a bunch of juvenile elephant seals huddling on the beach against the cold wind, several Weddel seals, and, naturally, yet more gentoo penguins!

We closed the day in Half-moon Island, where passengers were delighted to finally see their third penguin, the chinstrap. Skuas maintained vigil overhead as we left this, our last landing of the trip.

Jougla Point, Port Lockroy, Lemaire Channel and Petermann Island

That is correct – we managed to squeeze in a lot of good things this day! We started in Jougla Point, where we were able to see the many whale bones scattered around this islet. We were also happy to see the first gentoo penguin chicks of the season, peeking from underneath their parents, still sporting the eggtooth with which they broke the shell.

Port Lockroy was interesting, because it brought an historical perspective to our journey – we learnt what it was like to live and work in the Antarctic in the 1940s through the 1960s. Oh, and we had a chance to send postcards and buy stuff!!

Thirty lucky passengers had the opportunity to cruise in our Polar Cirkle boats on the southward leg of the Lemaire channel – this is a very nice way to see the imposing walls of this scenic spot, which we have been offering as an extra to our passengers.

We closed the day with a beautiful landing at Petermann Island, the southernmost point of our journey. There we saw Adélie penguins, which also had some chicks – and giant petrels trying to include the former in their supper menu!