The Silent Vastness

When people go to Antarctica they do this for several reasons. Already the remoteness is tempting, we do have a tendency toward the rare, unaccessible; maybe it is a welcome escape from the dreaded mediocrity of life. We like exotic, be it tropical or - like in Antarctica - very, very cold.

Some want to go because this continent is missing in their collection, some just want to see penguins in their habitat, some love ice.

Whatever the motivation, each of us had a first idea of how it might look like before we went.

It is probably not too bold to say that every single traveller’s expectations were exceeded by far. This continent is beyond all imagination. If you let it happen, if you are open enough to let Antarctica get to you, you will be returning home as a different person.

Two great examples of the Mighty White we visited today. In the morning we went to Neko Harbour, a truly grand arena of glaciers that are coming down in a steep angle from all sides, looming over the beautiful bay, every now and then, under great noise, sending an avalanche downhill or a big chunk of iceberg into the water.

The penguins are absolutely unfazed by the splendor of this place and go about their daily wash right in front of our feet. They live high above the bay, using the only rocky outcrops they could find for their breeding activity. We wonder if they are aware of the incredible view…

FRAM acts one more time as the mothership for our activities, Cruising and Kayaking. Whereas the latter enjoy total silence at sea level, the cruisers span quite a distance and are even lucky towards the end, spotting a Minke Whale next to the boats.

From here we go one more time through the utterly scenic Errera Channel, to reach Cuvehrville, the island of peace. Well, that’s what we call it - once you climbed up the hill above the beach and look down onto the unlimited parade of icebergs, sporting all shades of blue and turquoise, blinded by the myriads of reflections of the sun on the water, you lose the intention to speak. It is like a friendly spell, everyone who arrives takes one look and stops talking. The eyes are resting on the enormous mountains in the background, the ears are only receiving what nature has to offer. And inexplicably relaxed we return to the landing site, either on foot all the way or - like many do - sliding on our backsides.

A particularly magnificent day comes to an end.

In the realm of the Gentoo

Our two destinations today are home to colonies of Gentoo Penguins. The first, located in the fairly called Paradise Bay and on mainland Antarctica, is also occupied by the few building of the Argentinian Brown Base, once called Almirante Brown Station. 

A Polar Cirkle Boat cruising offered some of our guests the opportunity to have a closer look at the icebergs and wildlife in Paradise Bay. 

The rest of us admired the views from top of the approx. 100 m high hill right behind the station, and remembered our childhood days by sliding our way down. 

The Gentoo Penguin colony near the settlement has increased in the last few years, now numbering some 100 individuals. They were, like many other penguins in the same area, patiently waiting for the snow to melt in order to build their nests and start the breeding season... 

But they are not waiting with their wings crossed! We witnessed a lot of “practicing” during our stay there. 

Blue-eyed Shags also nest on a nearby cliff, we saw them flying all around the station carrying nesting material on their beaks back to the colony.

Danco Island is located in the southern part of the very scenic Errera Channel, off the western coast of Graham Land. The Gentoo Penguin colony here is bigger, with some 2000 breeding pairs, and they are distributed in two main areas. 

The first large group is located on the northwest slope of the island, and the others found their way to the very top of the island, some 170 m high. Up there, snow has melted and some eggs were already to be seen on the nests. 

Some of our very sportive guests circumnavigated the 1.6 km long island on kayaks, while others were given a nice tour comfortably seated on the Polar Cirkle Boats.

Last but not least, camp was set up at around 9pm and a lucky few could experience a night out in Antarctica. Some slept more than others, but all had the chance to hear the sounds of Antarctica in a small group and for a long time: calling penguins coming and going, curious Snowy Sheathbills flying around the campground and landing on the tents, as well as the noise of the icebergs moving with the currents.   

Half a Moon and a full volcano

After a day at two stations we go definitely nature today.
In the embrace of the mighty glaciers of Livingstone Island lies the long and crescent-shaped Half Moon Island, a very descriptive name if you look at it from above. It resembles a semi-volcanoe and, point of fact, it might well be just that. The landing there is an easy one, a sheltered shore with many a chinstrap penguin giving us a welcome at the beach. And on approach we notice two large shapes on the snow - sleeping Weddell seals, totally unfazed by our presence.
So we were watching the tiny brave waddlers carry pebble after pebble to lofty heights in order to build their nests, a tedious task considering they need about a thousand of these…
And that was just the morning landing, the day is far from over.
Just around the corner, not quite but almost in the middle of the Bransfield Strait, lies one of the most stunning phenomena in Antarctica - Deception Island. The name isn’t given just like that: Seen from any direction, the island is a high-walled fortress and anything but inviting. But look at it from the South-South-West you’ll notice “Neptune’s Bellows” a narrow entrance, a tricky passage. Once you braved it, however, you enter the immensely well sheltered Port Foster. And when you are in there, you are navigating inside an active volcano - in Antarctica!
The large caldera has several active research outposts, but it also sports some very picturesque abandoned stations from the past, the most scenic being without a doubt Whaler’s Bay.
After a period of land-based whaling the protected harbor was home to the British Station B, where not only significant research was carried out, but also the first ever flight in Antarctica took place in the 1950’s.
The eruption of 1970 smashed the base, and no British activity has taken place ever since. But it remains a site of adventure, and today the scenery was suitably decorated up by the strong winds that drove the snow across the rusty ruins and installations. Untroubled by the weather were the skuas who have one of their favorite bathing sites here.
Well, some are always compelled to push things a little farther. And so a intrepid group of adventurers started a walk that seemed near impossible: Across the crater wall down all the way on the other side to Baily Head. On a fine day this is a terrific hike that takes about three to four hours. Today, however, the daring party had to fight heavy snow under their boots, violent, blizzard-like gusts blasting the snow in their faces, and a visibility under ten meters.
They wouldn’t quit, they just wouldn’t, until they reached the very crest. But that was as far as things went, every single step further would have been totally irresponsible. And that is what we don’t do. So the only option was to turn around and go back down. But the memories will last forever, of a snowstorm inside a volcano in Antarctic
Well, what can I say? Just back down at the beach, some of the group went swimming… How nice to travel with thrill-ready people!

Station day

We had our first landings in Antarctica today. Although is was quite cold, -4°C, and lightly snowing, there was no wind and the visibility was also quite good, perfect conditions!

We arrived at King George Island at around 8 this morning, this is the largest of the South Shetland Islands and also home to the biggest collection of scientific stations in Antarctica. Our first destination was Admiralty Bay, where two stations are located, the Brazilian Ferraz Station, and our goal, the Polish Arctowski Station.

The station is named after the geologist Henryk Arctowski, he was a member of the first truly scientific expedition “Belgica” (1897-99) to Antarctica under the command of Adrien de Gelache. The station is near the Point Thomas Antarctic Specially Protected Area, which is off limits to visitors. Here, Adelie, Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins breed, making it a unique place for comparative studies on their breeding biology.

We had the chance to see all three species resting on the beach before their final hike up to the colony, as well as a Skua feasting on a stolen egg.

We also had the possibility to see for ourselves the living quarters of the scientists from many nationalities that spend the austral summer here.

During lunch the ship repositioned to Maxwell Bay on the western extremity of King George Island. This bay is home to Russian, Chilean, Uruguayan, Korean and Chinese Stations, and the latter, the Chinese Great Wall Station, was our second destination of the day.

It was built in 1985. This station can accommodate up to 80 scientists during summer, and the wintering team is always composed of 12 to 14 members.

The weather didn’t change much, as we arrived, snowfall was constant and the visibility very limited. But as always in Antarctica, conditions changed trough out the landing and by the end it stopped snowing and we had a clearer view of our surroundings. There is little wildlife around the station, therefore we focused on visiting the facilities and hiking up a nearby hill that offered astonishing views of Maxwell Bay.

 A little group of 15 passengers went of on a snowshoe adventure up on the Fildes Peninsula behind the station.