Monday, February 10, 2025
January 23rd was another beautiful day in Antarctica. It began with us being up around 6AM, out on the front deck of our ship, watching whales and sipping hot chocolate. What a way to start the day!
This morning we were blessed to see a pod of whales feeding nearby.
Following another delightful breakfast, we proceeded in our zodiac towards our morning destination at Neko Harbor. We had another large colony of Gentoo penguins entertaining us here. They are just so much fun to watch. We had two of the penguin researchers with us “professionally” counting penguins and their nests. Neko Harbor has been classified as an important bird and biodiversity area because it supports a breeding colony of more than 250 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins that nest on the hill near the beach to avoid risk of being washed away by the large waves frequently generated from the calving of the nearby glacier. We hiked up toward that glacier making sure we were avoiding the penguin highways. At the top this was the one place where we were allowed to sit down in the snow, relax and just soak in the views. On this landing, back down at a lower level, and around a curve, there was a quiet zone – an area where everyone would refrain from talking and just listen to the sounds of Antarctica. (The penguins were never quiet.) Our quiet zones were designated by the crew at various locations on various days just to remind us to be quiet and try to take it all in. “Taking it all in” when in such a massive, beautiful, and totally knew to us environment was pretty much impossible – but we did our best.
Gentoo penguins use pebbles to build their nests and use them to attract mates.
It’s always fun to watch penguins walk. They are much better at swimming.
Today was a very exciting day for the four of us because we learned this was this night we would be doing our overnight exploration on Antarctica. We would be camping on the continent! After lunch we had a mandatory briefing and training on how the excursion would go and we were given all our gear and instructions. Then we went back out in our zodiacs for the afternoon cruise.
The Captain had moved us to Paradise Bay during lunch and our briefing time. Paradise Bay is one of the most beautiful and pristine spots in all of Antarctica. (And we were actually here!) “Mountains and glaciers reflect off the calm water, and it’s a perfect place to soak up the peace and stillness of Antarctica.” Unbelievably amazing. Another vista that brought tears. Additionally, we saw whales, birds and a leopard seal. While being immersed in all the beauty, it seemed to suddenly begin to get foggy.
We headed back to the ship and noticed that the fog was getting worse. We had another briefing shortly before dinner and got the bad news that the overnight camping on Antarctica was off. The new forecast called for dense fog and below freezing temperatures – freezing fog. Our guide told us we would be frozen popsicles by morning if we camped out. As disappointed as we were (the campout was high on our list of must do items) we understood and appreciated that they were taking good care of us. So that evening everyone visited in the lounge for a while.
RVing With a Purpose 