British

Stanley, main town on the Falkland Islands, 2500 inhabitants, plus 500 extra on the rest of the Falkland Islands in the southernmost Atlantic Ocean. It is British on the Falklands. A British warm welcome already on the pier, driving on the "wrong side" on the way from harbour to town, British style pubs, even a British telephone booth and not least British humour.

Besides town visits we went on a set of excursions to choose from.

For example a nature walk around the peninsula that forms one half of Stanley's natural harbour. Local experienced guides explained the local and Falkland's typical wild and plant life.

Another tour headed for the Bluff Cove Lagoon. A place set in a wide bay, in former times just with the weekend cottage of a farmer and his family, with the specialty of having about a thousand of breeding pairs of Gentoo penguins around.

 

Today it is more than a cottage. Land Rovers took us through the rough ice-age sculptured landscape to the lagoon and the penguins.

Since a few years there are even some king penguins that found their place next to the Gentoos.

After a stroll along the beach there was time for not British but Falklandish cookies and cakes. They are served with British tea, or coffee or hot chocolate in a cafe with wonderful view on the high waves that roll onto the sandy beach. And with a bit of luck you can even see penguins in the waves taking the chance of being drifted ashore with them.

After the excursions there was time for a walk in "downtown" Stanley, as well as through the "uptown" streets with their bright and colourful painted houses.

What a pleasant British day far far South.

Falkland/Malvinas bird paradise

 Birds, birds, birds...

And yet more fabulous, beautiful birds awaited us at our first landing today, at New Island. We landed at a small pier after a short boat ride from the ship, and were able to exercise a bit and stretch our legs, as we hiked to the bird colony located about one kilometre away, on the cliff overlooking the vast ocean where all the seabirds take their sustenance from.

 During the short hike, we came across the three types of geese on the island (kelp, upland and ruddy-headed), as well as some cotton-tail rabbits, which the whalers introduced to the island centuries ago.

 A breathtaking scene awaited us at the bird colony: a natural amphitheatre opening into the ocean, flanked by sheer cliffs on both sides - and hundreds of birds breeding there! We saw black-browed albatross, rockhopper penguins, blue-eyed cormorants - and of course, the birds that like to include them in their menus, such as skuas, striated caracaras, dolphin gulls and vultures.

Ushuaia and the first day at sea

We arrived early in Ushuaia and were greeted – as usually is the case – with stronger and colder winds than in Antarctica, as the Beagle channel functions as a gigantic funnel where winds are aligned and accelerated; and the pier is a structure that juts out into this natural wind tunnel.

As we do, we bid farewell to our departing guests and started preparing MV Fram for the incoming ones; it is nice to think that to the newly made friends we are saying goodbye to, we will soon add new ones – as friends are irreplaceable! After having checked everybody in, having performed the emergency drill, and having started cruising down the Beagle Channel en route to the Falkland/Malvinas islands, we enjoyed a welcome toast offered by Captain Andreassen and his crew; the first steps of a new friendship…

After a quiet night, we awoke on our first day at sea overlooking the majestic peaks of Staten Island to our starboard. As we gently sailed past the island and into the open sea, we started getting ready for the adventures ahead: showing our passengers how to don their life jackets and board our tendering boats; offering them lectures on the areas we’re travelling through and lie ahead, as well as the animals and curiosities in them; showing them from the outer decks, the various and gracile birds following the ship; giving them time to start building up the emotion of the wonderful trip we are starting.

 

Drake Lake, part II

Yes: we are experiencing a very calm Drake Passage on the way back to Ushuaia, which is something we are all enjoying. An easy sea day gives us the opportunity to recapitulate the adventures we've just had, to organise our photographs, maybe scribble down some thoughts in a note or travel book, to arrange things in our cabins; and most importantly, gives us the time to allow our minds and bodies to readapt to normal life, after having been to the end of the world...

During the day, passengers had agreeable distractions, such as a tour to the bridge, where Captain Rune Andreassen explained to them how a modern ship such as MV Fram works; or they learnt some new facts during the various lectures offered this day; and, of course, enjoyed the very many and delicious dishes that the galley crew commanded by Chef Johansen prepared and temptingly displayed in the dining hall!

In short, we all enjoyed a calm day to unwind.

But then, late in the afternoon there was Simon’s excited voice again on the speakers: “Whales ahead! At least a dozen if not more. Finwhales!”

Lots of the passengers rushed out on deck 5. And it was Simon’s even more enthusiastic voice announcing: “And there is a blue whale with them!”

During the night to Sunday we crossed the Antarctic convergence northward, heading for Cape Hoorn. The day was filled with more lectures, one of them in specific preparing for our climate discussion in the afternoon. This discussion round with the passengers is one of the favorite meetings onboard.

Later after the discussion we passed by the cape, which is always an exciting moment for all of us and also showing that the trip’s end and time to say good bye are very close.

Camping and cruising, Amundsen-like

Late last evening we put up a tent camp on Petermann Island for some passengers and a few of the expedition staff. The night ended up to be short due to a hike to a view point from where we could see an uncountable amount of icebergs all the way to the horizon. Standing and sitting there without talking and without camera-noise revealed a concert of natural sounds to us, like small waves hitting under or against the ice blocks and bergs, accentuated by a variety of birds’ voices singing and trumpeting into the aquarelle-lighted night.

Today in the morning all other passengers went ashore in groups for a scenic walk on the island and to the penguins and shags that are nesting with a view towards the southern end of the Lemaire Channel.

That is where another lucky bunch started a new adventure: A polar circle boat cruise through the channel heading North. Nature experienced in a breathtaking way. In the end, it was a bunch of smiling faces that came back onboard Fram.

This -we think- was a perfect and fitting way to celebrate the fact that 101 years ago exactly on this date, 14th December, Amundsen reached the South Pole .

And on we went through Neumayer Channel to Goudier Island where Port Lockroy and the British Base A are located. The team of four who maintain the place are always heartily welcoming. Many of the passengers were impressed by the museum in the old Base A main building, others by the gentoos all around the buildings, or by the high mountain range and glaciers that frame the bay and shelter Goudier Island in the midst of it. I personally am impressed by the eyes of the station's crew. Without a word, just with a heart-touching view they say "How nice that you are here." Thank you! And looking forward to seeing you again in a short while.

 

 

 

A whale of a day!

Today we awoke to Simon’s voice over the PA system, letting us know that we were surrounded by humpback whales. We all scurried to get some quick breakfast and get ready to jump on the Polarcirkle boats, as we decided to forego the landing planned for the morning and see the leviathans from close distance.

This was actually a fantastic idea, as the gentle giants were slowly combing their way through Wilhelmina Bay and did not care much for the agitated, camera-totting people aboard the little crafts, and peacefully continued feeding some meters in front of them. It was fabulous to see them corral their prey with bubble cages and then swim upwards, mouths agape to take as many swimming morsels as possible. It was also phenomenal to sense the sheer power of these huge animals, as they gracefully lifted their flukes to plunge for yet more yummy creatures.

In the afternoon, we landed at Neko Harbor, and many of us enjoyed the beautiful view over the glacier next to the hill we had climbed, as well as the wide panorama stretching in front of us: a vast body of water dotted with icebergs, surrounded by tall mountains blanketed in blue ice.

And it had to be Simon again, for he not only has the keenest eyes on board MV Fram, but also seems to be endowed with an uncanny luck for spotting animals: as we were beginning our dinner, he rushed into the dining hall screaming “There are at least 20 orcas ahead of the ship!”. Needless to say, everybody abandoned their plates and hurried out to deck, to see these magnificent creatures glide in front of us. There were, as announced, at least 20 whales swimming in purposeful formation, with several males piercing the dark waters with their impressive dorsal fins. We were so close to them, that we were able to see the characteristic markings of the Antarctic orcas, as well as the strange yellowish coloration imparted to them by diatoms, microscopic algae that bloom to incredible abundance in these waters – and not content with giving the sea a milky aspect, cling to orcas for a ride! What a wonderful, exciting whale of a day…

Astrolabe and Deception

In the morning we went ashore one Astrolabe Island, discovered and named by Dumont d'Urville. We had to manoeuvre between numerous icebergs towards the beach and find a way up a small ice and snow cliff.

Part of the island and reaching out of it is a set of huge rocks that are called the Dragon's Teeth. They framed the iceberg scenery.

Behind the saddle that links them to the rest of the island we found a bay with 30 Weddell seals. There were also groups of chinstrap penguins on many of the rocky patches in the snow and also high up on some ridges.

The landing ended with a polar circle boat cruising between the icebergs and through one of the channels between the Dragon's Teeth back to Fram.

During lunchtime and a following coffee break we headed towards Deception Island. Crossing the Bransfield Strait was a bit like moving on a garden pond on a warm early summer day. That was how flat the water was and how the sun illuminated the scene.

On Deception Island we anchored in Whaler's Bay, for a visit of the whaling station remains and remains of the British Base B as well. Bransfield House of Base B had a lot of snow inside and the roof looks like it is not a long time any more until it will collapse.

One group went on a hike to see the penguins at Bailey Head on the northern coast of Deception, others enjoyed a stroll along the beach to Neptun's window.

A bit later we were joined by another ship. A meeting of new and old it was. The pretty bark "Europa" anchored in Whalers Bay to pick up their group of hikers. "Europa" intends to sail around the world. The visit to the Antarctic is one of the first parts of their tour.

After a bath in the caldera of the active volcano Deception we headed back to Fram and the captain took us safely out through the narrow Neptun's Bellows towards new adventures.