Jim and I left the US Nov 18 and arrived into Buenos Aires Nov 19, 2016. We spent one day walking the area near our hotel.Nov 20 we flew to Ushuaia, Argentina which is the "Southernmost City in the World". Puerto Williams, a Chilean settlement, wanted the title in 1998 but Argentina still claims Ushuaia. We arrived on a Sunday and left Friday, Nov 25. Ushuaia is located on the Beagle Canal or sometimes called Beagle Channel.
We met a couple from Colorado and we drove with them up to Glacier Martial. We hiked up with them to the glacier.
We toured the Galeria Temantica History Fueguina. We learned about the Yamanas, Shelknam and Haush native people, the European sailors, the story of Ushuaia Penitentiary and the adventure of Ernest Shackleton in Antarctica.
Susan and Jon Blake, friends from Palm Coast, joined us on Nov 23 (Wed) until we returned home to US. We took the El Tren Del Fin Del Mundo, End of the World Train, ride into the park, walked for awhile, and then took the train back toward the city. This is a historic steam locomotive that would take convicts into the forest where they would chop trees during the day and then return to a prison located in Ushuaia. There was a prison there form 1896 to 1947, and they had about 540 regular and political prisoners.
Thanksgiving Day was spent lounging around our hotel. We enjoyed the heated pools and sauna with Jon and Susan.
Friday, Nov 25. We embarked onto the Poseidon ship, Sea Spirit. The ship is 90 meters long, beam of 15 M, draft of 4 M, speed 14.5 K, and capacity of 120 passengers and a crew of 70. The crew was represented by 17 different nationalities.
Once aboard we had a welcome meeting, safety briefing, and lifeboat drill. We left the dock at 6 p.m. We had dinner aboard the ship as we set off into the Beagle Canal and then Drake Passage. The Drake Passage connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean. It took two days to go through the passage.
Nov 26 was a day at sea.
Information: Why Antarctica? The physical isolation protected Antarctica from human discovery until the early 19th century, but its existence was predicted long before its first sighting. Ancient Greek geographers had hypothesised that there should be a southern continent to counterbalance Arctic lands, and the name Antarctica derives from the Greek words ‘anti’ and ‘arktos’ meaning opposite the bear – the Great Bear constellation in the north.
Activities: Lectures on Introduction to Antarctica, A Birdwatcher's Guide to Antartica, Flying Sea Birds, and Basics on Photography.
Nov 27 was a day at sea.
Information: The Antarctic Convergence (or Polar Front) is the where the warmer waters of the north meet the colder, denser, less saline waters of the south. As the colder water sinks beneath the warmer. Found between 40 degrees S and 60 degrees S, the convergence is an ever- changing frontier. It is the biological limit of the Antarctic ecosystem and anywhere south of the convergence is known as the Antarctic Ocean.
Half Moon Island. Half Moon Island is a 2km long, crescent-shaped island in the shadow of the
picturesque mountains and glaciers of nearby Livingston Island. It has a large
chinstrap penguin rookery. The serrated and crevassed cliffs are also home to Antarctic terns, kelp gulls, snowy sheathbills, and Wilson’s storm petrels. Down towards the western end of the beach is
Argentine Camara station with its huge Argentine flags emblazoned on the orange buildings. The station operates as a summer
base only.
Activities: Lecture on The Weird and Wonderful Glaciers of Antartica, and lecture on Penguins.
Landing at Half Moon Island. First landing! Started off cloudy but then cleared to show off fantastic views of the surrounding area. Gentoo and Chinstrap colonies. Even a cheeky Macaroni penguin. We a saw an Emperor penguin at the beach, a very rare sight. Even the expedition staff were amazed.
November 28, Monday.
Information: Mikkelsen Harbour / Cierva Cove Antarctica
Cierva Cove is a deep inlet on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, surrounded by rugged mountains and dramatic glaciers. The bay has a parade of icebergs, some having calved off the local glaciers, and others blown in by the prevailing westerly winds. There is an Argentinean base at the entrance, Primavera, which is still used occasionally. This site is known for its collection of stunning icebergs and abundance of leopard seals.
Activities: In Mikkelsen Harbuor we have a landing in high snow but steps and paths make the landing possible. We see Gentoo Penguins, an abandoned Argentine hut and Weddell seals lying on the snow. In Ciera Cove we cruise with the zodiac through lots of ice and huge icebergs, see the Primavera Station and the Gentoo highway up the rookery beside the station. There is a lot of brash ice at the glacier front which makes an amazing experience.
November 29, Tuesday
Information: Cuverville Island and Neko Harbour
Activities: Lecture on The Weird and Wonderful Glaciers of Antartica, and lecture on Penguins.
Landing at Half Moon Island. First landing! Started off cloudy but then cleared to show off fantastic views of the surrounding area. Gentoo and Chinstrap colonies. Even a cheeky Macaroni penguin. We a saw an Emperor penguin at the beach, a very rare sight. Even the expedition staff were amazed.
November 28, Monday.
Information: Mikkelsen Harbour / Cierva Cove Antarctica
Mikkelsen Harbour is a 3km wide bay, discovered by Nordenskj ld on his Swedish Antarctic Expedition of
1901-1904. The harbour later was used by whalers for mooring factory ships. It is named after the
Norwegian whaler Captain Klarius Mikkelsen. Very unusual for these times, Mikkelsen was accompanied by
his wife Caroline who later became the first woman to set her foot on Antarctica, at the Vestfold Hills, on
20th February 1935. In Mikkelsen Harbour we find the tiny, flat and rocky D’Hainaut Island (less than 1km).
On the island, we find a gentoo penguin colony, a few unoccupied huts from Argentina, a radio mast, a boat
and whale bones.
Cierva Cove is a deep inlet on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, surrounded by rugged mountains and dramatic glaciers. The bay has a parade of icebergs, some having calved off the local glaciers, and others blown in by the prevailing westerly winds. There is an Argentinean base at the entrance, Primavera, which is still used occasionally. This site is known for its collection of stunning icebergs and abundance of leopard seals.
Activities: In Mikkelsen Harbuor we have a landing in high snow but steps and paths make the landing possible. We see Gentoo Penguins, an abandoned Argentine hut and Weddell seals lying on the snow. In Ciera Cove we cruise with the zodiac through lots of ice and huge icebergs, see the Primavera Station and the Gentoo highway up the rookery beside the station. There is a lot of brash ice at the glacier front which makes an amazing experience.
November 29, Tuesday
Information: Cuverville Island and Neko Harbour
Cuverville Island supports one of the largest known gentoo penguin
colonies. This can be apparent from miles away given the right wind
direction. Early in the season, snow cover impedes but doesn’t stop
penguins accessing their nests and an intricate network of “penguin
highways” is carved into the snow. The shallow waters between Cuverville
and Rongé islands often trap and ground icebergs. Up from the rookery at
Cuverville, steep cliffs lead to the island top. The cliffs are also home to skuas
that are vigorous in defending their well-hidden nests.
Neko Harbour
It is one of the rare places in the Antarctic Peninsula area where one can come ashore on the Antarctic mainland. The bay is splendidly scenic and fills with castellated icebergs and wildlife in the long days of the summer. Nestled at the bottom of the bay is Neko Harbour, named for a whaling ship which anchored there in the early 1900’s.
Activities: We attempted a landing at Useful Island but the weather closed in and the wind got the better of us. The scout boat returned, there was too much ice at the landing site.
We arrived in a bay surrounded by glaciers. The small but steep landing site showed us the way to an amazing view point above Orne harbour. The wind was stable but strong, 20 knots. CONTINENTAL LANDING!!!
November 30, Wednesday
Information: Whaler ́s Bay
Neko Harbour
It is one of the rare places in the Antarctic Peninsula area where one can come ashore on the Antarctic mainland. The bay is splendidly scenic and fills with castellated icebergs and wildlife in the long days of the summer. Nestled at the bottom of the bay is Neko Harbour, named for a whaling ship which anchored there in the early 1900’s.
Activities: We attempted a landing at Useful Island but the weather closed in and the wind got the better of us. The scout boat returned, there was too much ice at the landing site.
We arrived in a bay surrounded by glaciers. The small but steep landing site showed us the way to an amazing view point above Orne harbour. The wind was stable but strong, 20 knots. CONTINENTAL LANDING!!!
November 30, Wednesday
Information: Whaler ́s Bay
The most recently active (1967, 1969 and 1970) volcano in the
Antarctic Peninsula region is Deception Island, to the south of the
South Shetland Islands. The island contains an 8km wide volcanic
crater flooded by the sea that now forms a central lagoon called
Port Foster. Whaler ́s Bay is the small bay first encountered to
starboard after passing through a narrow opening called
Neptune ́s Bellows. The whaling captain Adolphus Amandus
Andresen established in 1906 the first whaling floating-factory at
Deception Island.
Activities: Whalers Bay. A tranquil landing site, with snow and light wind. The old whaling
station appeared gloomy and silent thought the snow. A pleasant hike to a view
point as well as along the beach to Neptune’s window. Polar plunge, but with a
twist, the sand is warm underneath.
Telefon Bay. An active part of the volcano. A long hike to the crater and up to a viewpoint. A seal lay in the crater, a strange one. Maybe it fell. A third polar plunge for the brave ones. The weather quickly closed in, winds gusting to 54 knots but everyone was back onboard soon. Captains cocktail in the evening.
Dec 1, Thursday
Information: The Antarctic Sound lies between the very tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and D’Urville, Joinville, and Dundee Islands. The sound was not named for its location but rather for the ship Antarctic which sank near here during Otto Nordenskjöld’s 1903 Swedish South Polar Expedition. Huge tabular icebergs from the ice shelves in the Weddell Sea are brought here in the Weddell’s gyre-like currents. Known as “Iceberg Alley” by expedition team members, it is an astonishing assortment of floating ice both large and small. Although the 48 kilometre-long (30 mile) sound is often difficult to penetrate by ship, it offers the most impressive array of ice that we are likely to see on our journey. The area is home to a high concentration of Adélie penguins with estimates as high as 500 000 nesting pairs.
The Argentine Base Esperanza was established at Hope Bay in 1951 and has been a focal point for the Argentine sovereignty claim to the Antarctic Peninsula area ever since. In the late 1970’s, they began bringing women and children to live there year round and the first Antarctic birth was recorded here in 1978. The base consists of a series of low, orange-colored buildings including a school, community center, post office, and chapel as well as laboratories. There were souvenirs for sale in the main building. Hope Bay was named in honor of three men from the Swedish South Polar Expedition 1901-03 who spent a grueling winter marooned here surviving on nothing but seal meat, penguin stew, and a single bottle of Aquavit. The small stone hut that they built can still be seen and has been somewhat restored by members from Base Esperanza.
Activities: Ship cruise in the Antarctic Sound. Finally the wind started to drop and we could make our landing at Esperanza Station (Argentina station). We had a tour of the base and after tea and cookies. The only base in Antarctica to have children, they even have a school.
Brown Bluff. We had an exceptional landing here, the grounded icebergs with Weddell seals on top made for great photos. A short hike over the moraine gave spectacular views of the glacier. There we saw Adele penguins.
Dec 2, Friday
Information: Arctowski Station / Aitcho Islands Antarctica
Named for Henryk Arctowski, geologist on Gerlache’s 1897 Belgian Antarctic Expedition, Poland’s Arctowski research station is on the shores of Admiralty Bay, King George Island. The bay was once home to Admiralen, the first factory whaling ship in the Southern Ocean and whalebones still litter the beaches. Base staff at Arctowski built an information centre so that tourists could continue to visit the station without interrupting ongoing work. The Adélie penguin rookery is designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest and cannot be entered by visitors.
Telefon Bay lies in the
northwest side of Port Foster, Deception Island. It was named
after a salvage vessel that moored in the bay while waiting for
repairs, in 1909. The prominent ash cliffs that form the east and
west sides of the valley are remnants of an older crater that was
modified during an eruption in 1967, which broadened the valley
itself. Relict heat still affects the beach and has caused local orange staining of the rocks exposed there.
Telefon Bay. An active part of the volcano. A long hike to the crater and up to a viewpoint. A seal lay in the crater, a strange one. Maybe it fell. A third polar plunge for the brave ones. The weather quickly closed in, winds gusting to 54 knots but everyone was back onboard soon. Captains cocktail in the evening.
Dec 1, Thursday
Information: The Antarctic Sound lies between the very tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and D’Urville, Joinville, and Dundee Islands. The sound was not named for its location but rather for the ship Antarctic which sank near here during Otto Nordenskjöld’s 1903 Swedish South Polar Expedition. Huge tabular icebergs from the ice shelves in the Weddell Sea are brought here in the Weddell’s gyre-like currents. Known as “Iceberg Alley” by expedition team members, it is an astonishing assortment of floating ice both large and small. Although the 48 kilometre-long (30 mile) sound is often difficult to penetrate by ship, it offers the most impressive array of ice that we are likely to see on our journey. The area is home to a high concentration of Adélie penguins with estimates as high as 500 000 nesting pairs.
The Argentine Base Esperanza was established at Hope Bay in 1951 and has been a focal point for the Argentine sovereignty claim to the Antarctic Peninsula area ever since. In the late 1970’s, they began bringing women and children to live there year round and the first Antarctic birth was recorded here in 1978. The base consists of a series of low, orange-colored buildings including a school, community center, post office, and chapel as well as laboratories. There were souvenirs for sale in the main building. Hope Bay was named in honor of three men from the Swedish South Polar Expedition 1901-03 who spent a grueling winter marooned here surviving on nothing but seal meat, penguin stew, and a single bottle of Aquavit. The small stone hut that they built can still be seen and has been somewhat restored by members from Base Esperanza.
Activities: Ship cruise in the Antarctic Sound. Finally the wind started to drop and we could make our landing at Esperanza Station (Argentina station). We had a tour of the base and after tea and cookies. The only base in Antarctica to have children, they even have a school.
Brown Bluff. We had an exceptional landing here, the grounded icebergs with Weddell seals on top made for great photos. A short hike over the moraine gave spectacular views of the glacier. There we saw Adele penguins.
Dec 2, Friday
Information: Arctowski Station / Aitcho Islands Antarctica
Named for Henryk Arctowski, geologist on Gerlache’s 1897 Belgian Antarctic Expedition, Poland’s Arctowski research station is on the shores of Admiralty Bay, King George Island. The bay was once home to Admiralen, the first factory whaling ship in the Southern Ocean and whalebones still litter the beaches. Base staff at Arctowski built an information centre so that tourists could continue to visit the station without interrupting ongoing work. The Adélie penguin rookery is designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest and cannot be entered by visitors.
Aitcho Islands
One of the more curious appellations in the area, the Aitchos were named for the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office or “H.O.” Lying in the English Strait between Robert and Greenwich Islands, they offer some of the most dramatic scenery in the South Shetlands. Icebergs drift past the volcanic plugs and spires and sheer cliffs give way to huge, green moss beds. The islands are home to nesting Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins as well as southern giant petrels and elephant and fur seals are regular visitors.
Activities: A very relaxed landing at Arctowski Station (Polish station) with a long walk along the beach to the Adele colony, a Antarctic Specially Managed Area. The station leader was very inviting into their base, we had more tea and cookies and sent a lot of postcards.
Barrientos Island. We enjoy our last landing, a walk between the Chinstrap and Gentoo Rookeries also Brown Skuas are great to watch between the penguins. The wind picked up just after landing and made a fun wet ride back to the ship.
Dec 3, Saturday - day at sea
Information: The Drake Passage
The passage receives its name from Sir Francis Drake. He was an English Captain and a vice admiral. Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580. In 1578 he sailed his ship through the Magellan Strait, but on the other side in the Pacific Ocean, he encountered severe weather and was blown to the south of Tierra del Fuego, then east around Cape Horn and strait out in to the Drake Passage. It then became obvious that Magellan's "continent" was merely a series of islands at the tip of South America. If there was a southern continent, it had to be much further south.
Activities: Lecture on Scott and Amundsen: The Race to the South Pole, Antarctic Ecology and How It Has Changed, Antarctica vs climate change: a giant with feet of clay, and South Georgia: My Year South.
Dec 4, Sunday - day at sea
Information: “I am the albatross that waits for you at the end of the earth.
One of the more curious appellations in the area, the Aitchos were named for the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office or “H.O.” Lying in the English Strait between Robert and Greenwich Islands, they offer some of the most dramatic scenery in the South Shetlands. Icebergs drift past the volcanic plugs and spires and sheer cliffs give way to huge, green moss beds. The islands are home to nesting Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins as well as southern giant petrels and elephant and fur seals are regular visitors.
Activities: A very relaxed landing at Arctowski Station (Polish station) with a long walk along the beach to the Adele colony, a Antarctic Specially Managed Area. The station leader was very inviting into their base, we had more tea and cookies and sent a lot of postcards.
Barrientos Island. We enjoy our last landing, a walk between the Chinstrap and Gentoo Rookeries also Brown Skuas are great to watch between the penguins. The wind picked up just after landing and made a fun wet ride back to the ship.
Dec 3, Saturday - day at sea
Information: The Drake Passage
The passage receives its name from Sir Francis Drake. He was an English Captain and a vice admiral. Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580. In 1578 he sailed his ship through the Magellan Strait, but on the other side in the Pacific Ocean, he encountered severe weather and was blown to the south of Tierra del Fuego, then east around Cape Horn and strait out in to the Drake Passage. It then became obvious that Magellan's "continent" was merely a series of islands at the tip of South America. If there was a southern continent, it had to be much further south.
Activities: Lecture on Scott and Amundsen: The Race to the South Pole, Antarctic Ecology and How It Has Changed, Antarctica vs climate change: a giant with feet of clay, and South Georgia: My Year South.
Dec 4, Sunday - day at sea
Information: “I am the albatross that waits for you at the end of the earth.
I am the forgotten soul of the dead sailors who crossed Cape
Horn from all the seas of the world.
But they did not die in the furious waves.
Today they fly in my wings to eternity in the last trough of the Antarctic wind.”
- Poem inscribed on albatross sculpture at Cape Horn
Activities: Lecture on the daily life in an Antarctic research station and whales and dolphins in the Southern Ocean. We had our farewell cocktails, slideshow, and dinner.
Map of our route below and our total distance was 1804 nautical miles.
But they did not die in the furious waves.
Today they fly in my wings to eternity in the last trough of the Antarctic wind.”
- Poem inscribed on albatross sculpture at Cape Horn
Activities: Lecture on the daily life in an Antarctic research station and whales and dolphins in the Southern Ocean. We had our farewell cocktails, slideshow, and dinner.
Map of our route below and our total distance was 1804 nautical miles.
Tuesday, Dec 6, Jim and I visited the maritime, prison, Antarctica museum and gallery (Museo Marítimo y del Presidio de Ushuaia).
Wednesday, Dec 7, we flew from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Buenos Aires, Atlanta, and then Jacksonville. As always, it is good to be home. Until our next trip........
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