Wine, Penguins & More

  Wine, Penguins & More What a way to end 2023 and welcome in 2024 - on New Years Eve in the afternoon, we landed on D'Hainaut Island in the Antartica Peninsula and walked on the 7th continent.  This was a lifetime milestone for me and one that met/exceeded my expectations.  The island is home to a large rookery of Brush-Tailed penguins that at first glance look like the Gentoo Penguins that we saw earlier in the day.  The penguins pick this place for their nests because of the snow free ground and they are able to lay eggs earlier in the season.  The lazy seals that you will see in the attached images are Weddell Seals - the seals could not be bothered with all of the activity on the island - they simply slept the afternoon away.   The first impression on the island is the constant "banter" of the penguins and the activity to establish their nests.  It was enjoyable to get off the ship and actually be on land for a short hike in the fresh snow. ...

  Penguins On New Years Eve We finally completed the crossing of the Drake Passage and woke-up to an incredible view in a massive cove (Cierva Cove) on the Antartica Peninsula.  The temperature today is 30 to 34 degree with broken cloudy skies.  Our Norwegian guide on the zodiac is named Rune.  The morning zodiac trip is an hour-plus cruise around this scenic cove.  In the afternoon, we take a second zodiac trip and go ashore with our first steps on the Seventh Continent at the "Bottom of the World".   Today, we saw gentoo and chinstrap penguins - no seals, sea lions and/or whales in this cove, but lots of beautiful icebergs.  On average, the ice berg size you see above the surface of the sea represents 10% of the total iceberg "mass".  The colors also tell a story ie, the darker shade of blue means the iceberg is older and the color happens because the oxygen is squeezed out of the ice.  When you see what appears to be a black color iceberg ...