Antarctica Cruise Day 10

Today was our last day of explorations leaving the ship. The next time we get off will be in Ushuaia to continue our adventure wherever it takes us.

The morning started at Palaver Point on Two Hummock Island. We had our longest and steepest hike yet. Once we reached the top we had some great views of the bay and the chinstrap colony below. The hike down was a bit more challenging. The sun, which we were very glad to see, hadn't warmed up the snow yet. This meant that the path was icy on the way down, so I slipped a few times, but it wasn't so icy that it hurt so that's fine. Back at the bottom, we visited the chinstrap colony. The chinstraps don't seem like they have as much personality as the gentoos, but they were still fun to watch as they carried their pebbles and waddled around the island. On our way back to the ship from the zodiac, we popped around the corner and spotted some coming down the penguin highways and jumping into the water, and managed to catch some jumping out too!

Our day continued with a zodiac ride in the afternoon at Cierva Cove. There was a ton of penguins and we also spied the Argentinians arriving at their base too. Besides the gentoos, we saw some birds, but unfortunately no whales. We did get to see some spectacular icebergs. Some of them had so many different angles and you'd never know it was the same icebergs. We also rode through some brash ice, somehow not getting stuck, and got some great views of the surrounding cliffs. It was a nice chill way to end our last day of exploring.

Dinner was a South American buffet, and the free wine was flowing. We probably enjoyed the free wine a bit too much, but hey, it's new year's eve and we're on a ship coming back from Antarctica! After dinner we made our way up to the Polar Bear Bar where Steve, the musician, was playing some music. After he did a few sets, the Monkey Eating Eagles came on to play for a while. The most southerly band, it is made up of crew members. They sang some great covers and everyone was singing and dancing along, even Allan (like I said, free wine was enjoyed). All chaos erupted when they played 500 Miles and Kevin the ornithologist started a congo line.

As midnight neared, the crew gave everyone a mimosa and we made our way out onto the deck. We counted down from 10, and then once midnight hit they lit off some tame fireworks on board. We all wished each other a Happy New Year, and I got to kick off 2025 kissing my husband.Leggi altro