Antarctica 3: Smith & Snow Island

Somehow I've had some trouble falling asleep and I felt a bit tired in the morning. Might also still be the side effect of the patch that is supposed to last for 72 hours... After getting ready we went up to the lounge for a coffee before breakfast. The breakfast items had changed a little bit compared to yesterday but we managed our portion better 😁 Directly afterwards there was a lecture about penguins 🐧How to identify the species and about their behavior. Really interesting and informative, so if that's possible we're even more excited about it now ☺️
Then we had some time to spent on deck, looking out for wildlife. Except for the many different sea birds, nothing to report yet though. There had been briefings on kayaking, diving and camping. We had tried to sign up for these extra activities but they were already full. We ended up on the waiting list though from which they had a raffle for spots that had been cancelled. It would've been nice but we're just happy to have the opportunity to go to the Antarctica 🤩

We got our boots for the shore and zodiac excursions and then had lunch from the buffet. There we were joined by two older men which turned out to be father and son. Afterwards we went to the lounge to drink a coffee and rest a bit. One of the other guests came to the lounge and said that there was a whale sighting. So we watched for another 20 minutes but "only" saw some birds and seals 🦭 next to the ship. The most important item of our day plan was the biosecurity: Everything, including the boots we received earlier, that we're going to wear on the shores of Antarctica needs to be checked and cleaned to make sure there will be absolutely no contamination. It went pretty quick and we're ready to do the excursion on land tomorrow 🤩

When we came back to the lounge we saw first time land since leaving the Beagle Channel. The two smaller islands, Snow and Smith Island formed the gateway which we passed at 4pm, getting closer to the Antarctic mainland. We spent a bit time on the bridge and saw whales in the distance blowing out 🐳
The last lecture for the day was from a Polish crew member who studies glaciers and informed us thoroughly about ice 🍦🧊 But before we had first received a tasty little cone with ice cream 🥰 At the daily recap they informed us about the planned activities for tomorrow with a shore landing and zodiac cruise. Then it was time for dinner 🍽️ We sat again with the father-son (Greg and Joe) duo from lunch and continued our conversation. They are a great company, easy to talk with and friendly. The son had hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2004 so we had a common interest. Dinner was once again absolutely delicious!

In the lounge we got a hot chocolate and chatted a bit with the people there until we went to our cabins early. Tomorrow will be a busy day and we plan to get up for the first sunrise over the Antarctic continent at 06:20am 🌅Read more