As The World Turns... L
Getting ready - Brian's kit
Getting ready - Paula's kit
After three consecutive legs of flying we've made it to Punta Arenas, South America. We have two nights before boarding and starting our Antartic adventure.
Apparently there was an artist working as barista making Paula's macha green tea :-D
Strolling the streets of Punta Arenas, Chile
Strolling the streets of Punta Arenas, Chile
Cleaning all our personal gear that will be ashore while in Antartica
Boots... boots... and more boots! We arrived early to fit and collect our boots, pants, and jackets.
Light snacks and lunch bits after cleaning our personal gear
This recently restored 100y old building has a new home as client HQ for A21.
Monument to the Crew of the Schooner Ancud (Monumento a Tripulantes Goleta Ancud)
Circunnavegación Sculpture on the waterfront in Punta Arenas.
Hanging out at the Punta Arenas airport as we await our final flight to Antartica to board the Magellian Explorer. We'll be wearing all our weather gear, including boots, for this final flight.
Everyone hanging out waiting for our final flight to King George Island.
On the tarmac in Punta Arenas to head to Antartica!
Landed and disembarking at Frei Station, Chile, King George Island, Antartica. Note the gravel runway and tarmac area is essentially as strong (or stronger?) than concrete.
Antartica Peninsula Context Map
Diego fitting Paula (and may others) with their PFD
All kitted up and ready to hop in the next zodiak and board the Magellan Explorer in the distance..
The requisite Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) drill shortly after getting underway. Of course survival suits are provided in each cabin but those weren't required for the drill.
Our home for the next few nights.
Spotted our first iceburg a few hours after departing Frei Station.
Cruising the Bransfield Strait and taking in the view from Deck 5.
Sunset on the Bransfield Strait heading south from Frei Station, Chile, Antartica.
Life aboard the Magallean... change yer shoes for boots and a life vest before heading into the zodiak
Cleaning rituals to reduce contamination between shore excursions. Sanatized leaving - scrubbed clean arriving.
First shore excursion to Hydruga Rocks
My first penguin photo in Antartica. Sadly, not enough features to make a positive ID as to specific species.
Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae). We saw several varieties of penguins, make note of the area around the eyes for material differences.
Kayakers try to catch up to the Magellan Explorer before she weighs anchor :-D
Why did the Chinstrap Penguin cross the rocks...
After pausing to grab a quick drink this chinstrap pengin seemed to be pausing to reflect and deciding what would come next.
...fill in your punch line of choice :-D
Trolling for kayakers? I wonder if Andre caught any? :-D LOL
Antartic iceburg are wonderous in their miriad of formations. That single cube on the edge of tumbling reminded me of a marshmellow as we made our zodiac tour
Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) with a gaping yawn relaxing on the antartic ice.
everyone taking in the scenery and wildlife
Antartic iceburgs are massive and look even larger reflected in the calm water as we cruise by in our zodiak.
the scale of this vast landscape is immense
We had numerous humpback whale sightings during our trip
wonderous shows as they feed on krill abundant in the Antartic
The fluke of each whale is distinct acting as key ID tag.., akin to a whale fingerprint
A small huddle of penguins on the ice as a smaller raft approaches
0630 - the sunrise starts to kiss the icey peaks as we approach Lemaire Channel
0700 - the sunrise has cleared the ridge behind me (our port size as we're south bound)
0730 - Lemaire Channel separating Booth Island from the Antartic continent is 800m (0.5mi) at its narrrowest. First navigated in c.1898... and most recently - this day :-D
Port Charcot on the northern coast of Booth Island
Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) CHARGING toward me :-D No, but they do move at a fairly good clip - this one was getting ready to make a left turn...
Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua)
Gentoo Penguin enjoying the view. His buddy bottom right photo bombed his kodak moment :-D LOL
Paula checking out the rare sighting of a King Penguin
King Penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) at 70-100cm towers above the Gentoo Penguins in the area. This was a rare and odd sighting. For context the King Penguin is the second largest penguin species, only slightly smaller than the Emperior Penguin.
A waddle of Gentoo Penguins out for stroll on their personal interstate highway
a humpback whale amoungst a raft of penguins
Grey, white, blue and near black. The size and arrangement and contrast of these antartic iceburgs with the grey skies and icy blue reflections seemed magical to me as we cruised by.
An Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) plays amoung several zodiaks
Trying to give some scale to the iceburgs. The Magellan Explorer is 90.7m long and her bridge is 12.85m above the water. Iceburgs show approx. 10% of their total height above the water.
The small black blob far left is the Magellan - and the iceburg it's infront of is taller...10% above 90% below is a general guide
A21 crew - ships Dr left - expedition guide Diego Bravo right
Part of the A21 team of guides aboard the Magellan Explorer
A terrific evening for a BBQ on the aft deck!
Guides and guests enjoying a candid moment
guided reflections
Leopard Seal - Hydrurga leptonyx. Nice teeth... I wonder if he had a dental plan :-P
A bright and sunny 0930 morning in Antartica :-D The cloudy sky was magical.
We have officially landed on the contintent of Antartica
Mountains of snow and ice along the Antartic coast light up as the clouds cleared on an icy morning. It reminded me of an icecream cake
Even the crew are taking advantage of this terrific weather to gather some breathtaking shots.
Humpback whale diving for dinner... on average they consume 4,400 – 5,500 pounds of plankton, krill, and small crustaceans daily
We passed through Neptunes's Bellows...
... at Decpetion Island, a "usually safe" natural harbor, which is occasionally affected by the underlying active caldera...Remembering when this was an active Whale Harbor circa1900
... was a 1900's whaling station...
Long abandonded whale oil tanks on Deception Island. The distant person and building between the rusty red tanks caught my eye as it had wonderful contrast in the falling snow. In an abstract sense it reminded me of old rurar Alberta grain silos in the winter.
A combination of: hydrothermaly heated sea water from the active submurgerd caldera in the bay + cold air + black volcanic beach sand + a dark very large seal yielded a surprise as we strolled the beach!
Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) Wt 3.2-5.3kg, ht. 68-77cm. Generally best identified by its white face and black bill rather than the chinstrsp, which is potentiay difficult to see in the field, but readily visible in the model standing far left and laying center frame :-D
A sylish molting mohawk with a bit of a beard :-D
Group shot after I helped the young gentleam down from the slippery viewpoint in the background of the short hike.
Sunrise on the bridge of the Magellan Explorer
Morning of departure
Tressa and Paula aboard the Magellan
Back in the bay at King George Island
Looking back to Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva which began operations in 1969 as a meteorolgical centre
Back on mainland Punta Arenas.
Explorer's Certificate - Paula
Explorer's Certificate - Brian
Selfie - because Paula says there aren't any photos of me on these trips :-D
Having departed Antartica we head on our next leg of the Journey... Rapa Nui (Easter Island) here we come.
