Antarctica - Day 8 - Glacier Calving

Another day in Antarctica. Today the plan was to do two landings first on Danco and then in Neko Harbour, followed by an Antarctic BBQ for dinner outside and a little bit of a party on board.

But first things first. I woke up a bit earlier to enjoy the tranquillity of Antarctica outside on the deck before the ship came to life. Being outside for literally only two minutes, I already spotted two pods of whales of maybe 6-7 whales in total. It wasn't even 7am by that point. I literally did not know what to think about this place except that it is majestic. Being here is certainly a huge privilege, but I felt I was making the most of it and couldn't wait what the day would bring.

Shortly after, we had breakfast before boarding the zodiacs to head to Danco for some penguin spotting and to get a beautiful view over the glacial landscape. As soon as we disembarked the zodiacs there was a waddle of penguins on the beach, practically welcoming us to Danco. On the island, we saw for the first time a real labyrinth of penguin highways, which the penguins used to get from the top of the hill down to the bottom. Of course, we had to cross some, but the penguins always have the right of way. Watching them waddle past us at a very short distance was amazing and sometimes they waited for us to clear the path before being on their way again.

Danco Island was a bit steeper and we zigzagged our way up to the top. On the way up, we saw multiple penguins slip and fall on their belly before quickly getting up and being on their way. One penguin seemed to have loads of fun, though, as he just slid down the hill on its belly, looking as if he was having the time of his life. With the snow-capped mountain and our expedition ship in the background it was just a perfect moment to capture on video.

Once at the top, we enjoyed the views over the glacial scenery, taking snaps, chatting to our guides and getting more tips for future adventures (Atlantic crossing from Ushuaia to Cape Verde anyone?). On the way back to our ship, we passed a couple of weddle seals chilling out on ice shelves, seemingly without a care in the world.

After a little lunch break on board and talking with fellow passengers about travel and life, we were, again, on our zodiacs on the way to Neko Harbour, Now, Neko Harbour is not an island, but actually located on continental Antarctica - just in case there was ever any doubt if I ever was properly on Antarctica.

Anyway, that landing would turn out to be the best one so far. Once we arrived, we had two options; left or right. We went right first and got really close to some beautiful Gentoo Penguins. Honestly, they are so adorable, I think I will never grow tired of seeing them go about their lives. Taking photos of penguin reflections, the way they waddle and just stand around to observe nature and, I guess, us, the chicks chasing their parents for food or their clumsy attempts of running fast and navigating obstacle is just too cute to ever get bored of.

Then came the highlight of the landing, the day, and a top 3 moments of this trip. Neko Harbour hosts a couple of glaciers, one of which is very close to the shore. And from our landing site we had the perfect view of the glacier. Now, a glacier is always active, breathing, moving and calving (ie pieces of ice cracking off the glacier and falling down into the water). Whilst we were there, a small piece of ice cracked and fell into the water below, giving way for a much bigger potential calving,

Thus, we stood there for at least 30 minutes with our cameras and phones waiting for the big part of ice to crack off. You know that it could potentially be a unique observation when the glaciolagist (yes, you read that right) onboard is also pulling out his phone. The wait was agonising as we just wanted to explore the rest of the island but, of course, not miss the calving. At least we could watch the penguins playing in the water and on the beach in the meantime.

Then, all of a sudden, there were lots of loud cracking sounds coming from the glacier. And shortly afterwards, not just the big piece of rock that we expected to crack off came down, but a large section of the entire front of the glacier. Falling into the water, it created cool waves heading towards us. The penguins and us went for higher ground, never leaving the waves out of sight. It was a truly spectacular moment and everyone was super hyped up after the anticipation and the ice calving that was a lot bigger than we thought. What a landing.

That wasn't the end of the it, however. After the calving, we walked up a small hill to look at a colony of young penguins (the penguin kindergarten basically), while enjoying a different perspective of the glacier from the top. The sun even made an appearance, bathing our vessel that was anchoring offshore in a bright yellow light.

While that was it for the landing today, there was still more to come in the evening. We had an Antarctic BBQ outside on the ship, with music, food, dancing and of course quite a few drinks. After dinner, they cleared the tables to create a little dance floor that the majority of passengers were just dancing the evening away. It was amazing and surreal at the same time. Dancing to all sorts of songs, while driving past seals chilling out on icebergs, floating pieces of ice in the water and the antarctic landscape unfolding in the distance. It might as well had been the southernmost party in the world at that time.

At some point, it started snowing heavily, and we went up to the bridge to enjoy the heavy snowfall in the bright searching lights of the ship in the dark night. It really was an incredible end to a pretty much perfect day. At this point, this 2-week Antarctica trip was the best trip I have ever taken - and it wasn't even over yet.Weiterlesen