We had just finished our evening recap & briefing meeting and were heading to dinner when Captain Dag’s voice came over the public address system. Two guests needed serious medical treatment, he told us, and the ship had to change its course. The upcoming morning’s planned glacier hike on Niko Island would be cancelled. Instead, … Read More
Today was cold! The crystalline blue sky and seemingly endless sunlight of our first days in Antarctica had dissolved into an ashy gray shroud. Snow was lightly falling as our zodiac sped through Paradise Bay. We were headed to González Videla, a Chilean base on Waterboat Point. Unlike our previous island landings, Waterboat Point is … Read More
“The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It crack’d and growl’d, and roar’d and howl’d, Like noises in a swound!” ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Our zodiac slowed to a crawl as we made our way around what seemed to be a never-ending waterway of … Read More
They call it Kodak Gap. A narrow, iceberg-filled passageway that is one of the most photographed places in Antarctica. Barely a mile wide and just seven miles long, it’s a world unto itself, with steep rocky cliffs, magnificent glaciers and the stillest of waters. With icebergs at every turn, it’s a challenging place to navigate, … Read More
Gentoo penguins seemed to be everywhere on Cuverville Island. With their distinctive white stripe on the top of their heads and their bright orange-red beaks, they were quite a spectacle, climbing over the rocky terrain, waddling into the water and collecting pebbles for their nests. With 6,500 breeding pairs, it’s the largest Gentoo colony in … Read More
“Who will buy this wonderful morning? Such a sky you never did see. Who will tie it up with a ribbon And put it in a box for me?” ~ Lionel Bart, Who Will Buy? I couldn’t believe the shades of blue. It was as if tablets of Easter egg dye were being dropped into … Read More
“Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.” ~Sir Francis Drake The boom was loud, jolting us from our sleep. It was the middle of our first night in the Drake Passage, and the gently rocking waves of early evening had become more intense, with seconds between their rise and fall, like hang … Read More