Antarctica - Day 6 - Kayak With Icebergs

This morning it was time to get as close as possible to the Antarctic water without actually being in it. In other words, it was time to go kayaking. It's something that I have looked forward to and the spot where we would do it, looked picture perfect.

Even before we went into the kayaks, we had already seen multiple whales popping up, penguins swimming in the icy water and icebergs cruising around at a glacial pace. I couldn't wait to go into the kayaks and explore this area from another perspective.

So, we got suited up in special kayak gear and ready to hop into a zodiac that would take us and the kayaks to the starting point of our kayaking adventure. However, we were just about to go down the gangway to the zodiacs, when, for the first time in my life, I saw a whale breach the water (ie, going up high and splashing into the water), I mean, the kayaking hadn't even started and I already had the first highlight of my day. Wow!

Then it was time to go kayaking. So Meghan (my Kayak partner) and I jumped into a kayak and after a little 'driving' test to see if we have what it takes to stir a kayak we were off to chase whales, penguins and icebergs. One of the first sightings of our kayak trip was a minke whale, which we saw from not too far away how it lifted up its fluke to dive down deep. It was a majestic sight - picture a tail in the air, icebergs all around, the ship in the distance and penguins jumping in and out of the water. And us in the kayaks. A truly magical moment.

We chased a few more humpback whales afterwards, but unfortunately, none of them showed us their fluke, but just a little of their backs as they went down to feed. That said, to see whales from a kayak in Antarctica was incredible.

Once we could not spot the whales anymore, we decided to explore the area and in particular its icebergs. The rules normally dictate that we should keep twice the distance from an iceberg compared to its height, but who can really measure that from a kayak. Obviously we did not go too close to the big ones, but for the smaller ones we got relatively close to truly admire its colours - especially the shiny dark intense blue that is impossible to describe. I always loved white and blue but the combinations of both in an iceberg is just ridiculously stunning.

Towards the end of the 2-2.5h kayak excursion our hands and feet were definitely cold and we were happy to warm ourselves up with some nice hot chocolate and a delicious lunch. By now, it was only half a day.

Thus, after lunch and some relaxing time, at 2.30pm, we all got ready again to jump into the zodiacs to make landfall on an island. Yeah, if you thought I would go on a relaxing luxury cruise, you were wrong. It's full-on action time during the entire day. I absolutely love it!

Anyway, Peterman Island. We had roughly 2h to explore the island and its inhabitants - mainly Gentoo but also a few Adele Penguins. After three days of seeing penguins, one might think that I would grow tired of seeing them, but not at all. They are too cute, too clumsy, too adorable and too fascinating to watch. The way they walk, the way they feed, the way they jump, the way they just stand around with their wings stretched out is simply beautiful. We are also lucky with all our guides as they are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable about animals, the history of Antarctica and future trip ideas (who wants to go snorkling with Orcas in Norway in mid-November?).

But yeah, that was day 6 on my trip to Antarctica. After dinner, a couple of us sat together in the lounge with a few glasses of wine and simply talked about life, travel, Antarctica, all while watching the white continent pass by outside the window. At this point, I was very tired, but happy tired. And I felt that this is not the last time I would come to this continent. It is way too amazing to visit it just once!Read more