South Shetland Islands

Our last day in Antarctica is being spent in the South Shetland Islands before we head north through the Drake Passage. After a little rain yesterday, the weather has turned gorgeous again with mild temperatures and sparkling sunshine.
It’s incomprehensible that all the water we are sailing through will be completely frozen in a couple of months.
Today we saw chinstrap penguins and fur seals.
When walking about on land, occasionally we would hear a huge sound like cannon-fire. That sound is ice breaking-we have never been able to see the occurrence, but the sound is thrilling enough.
It’s awe-inspiring to see so much earth that has never been touched and is so pristine. What we have seen seems enormous, but in actuality, it is the very top of the peninsula of Antarctica.
The continent of Antarctica is about 1/3 larger then the land mass of the continental United States.
So today we will give up our boots and heavy clothes as we move north to warmer areas (sounds backwards, doesn’t it?).Read more