Paradise City

"Take me down to the Paradise City where the moss is green and penguins are pretty...". Guns and Roses (mostly)

I think Antarctica holds different charms for different people. You can't fault those who feel the rugged mountainous landscapes are the best with their snow capped glaciers. Some say it's the icebergs floating everywhere - each one it's own special structure. It would be hard to argue with those who love the whales the most, as they magisticly weave in and out of the water, their flukes calmly dropping below the surface to power them ever forward. For birders all the beautiful petrels, gulls and albatross top the charts. For me though, it's the penguins - they are as industrious as they are humourous. I have not yet tired of watching them, being bemused by them, admiring them.

This morning we are going to Danco Island, the weather is cloudy, cool but mostly calm. Neil is a bit under the weather with a cold, so is going to rest. We make landing just down from a penguin colony. The beachfront nests offering the Gentoo settlers great views and easy access to food, at the expense though of limited protection from storms and leopard seals.

The guides have set up a three stage hike; after walking to the first stage up the steep, icy trails I had a decision to make, keep going or get some extra penguin time down by the landing spot. I am amazed I am the only one who thought that this was the smarter choice so I head back to the boats, sit beside Liz and we silently watch the penguins enter and exit the water, parade around the boats, feed the young, find and steal nest stones, play and socialize. They are mindful but not bothered by these two quiet humans sitting on a zodiac. The only other sounds being the intermittent thunderous crash of avalanches reverberating through this narrow passage of water between the island and the peninsula.

Sadly our solitude is broken as others return from their hikes. A small group of us head out to look at bergs and seals. The ever eagle-eyed Liz spots a big leopard seal stretched out on a bergy bit. Then it's time to go back for lunch.

This afternoon the zodiac pushes through and also over both brush ice and small growlers as it leaves the Polar Pioneer on its way to Paradise Bay. Lots of scraping and bumping.

We are with skilled but fearless Mark for this trip. Typically Paradise Bay is one of the highlights of an Antarctic trip, but the snowfall and low cloud cover take away the dramatic high glacier vistas.

But what we lose in mountain scenery we add with dramatic Antarctic ambience. Glaciers at every turn waiting to drop the next big iceberg into the Gerlache Straight. Seals hitchhiking a passing bergy bit, Artic and Antarctic terns collectively deterring skua and gulls from plundering the babies from their steep cliff side nests.

We quickly stop at Brown's Station, an Argentinian summer research centre and because we are with Mark and Liz we have another close encounter with a couple of humpback whales.

We get back in time for a ritual on the Polar Pioneer - the Polar Plunge. For days people have talked about the plunge in hushed tones - "are you doing the plunge Chris?", "Neil, how cold do you think the plunge will be?".

Last night the guide leader said those doing the plunge this afternoon will get a healthy shot of vodka.

For some reason I was the first person to make the plunge, it's not that I wanted some cheap vodka that badly but I figured I would probably regret if I didn't go. Nobody wanted to go first and that's how I was the first to walk the plank.

It's really not that cold if you just jump and don't think about it. It was also very safe and thankfully they moved the ship away from the brash ice. In the end half the passengers made the plunge. With eighties dance music playing, it was very fun.

Neil, who absent the cold was planning to make the plunge, had a scotch waiting for me replete with the oldest of glacier ice that the crew found floating in the water. While there is no way to prove it, the ice in our drinks likely predates the arrival of humans.

Tomorrow we will visit some islands in the South Shetlands and by tomorrow night we will venture into the Drake. Wish us one last good sleep!!Read more