Antarctica 4: Portal Point

We got up at 6 to see the first sunrise on the Antarctic continent 🌅🤩 Even though it was just a slow change in colour, the ice looked just fantastic! It was difficult to pay attention to the sunrise though because there were large groups of Humpback whales all around the ship 🚢🐳 They came super close and were easy to spot in the calm waters near Portal Point. Afterwards we had a coffee in the lounge until the breakfast buffet opened where we had a decent meal :)
Then we got ready for the excursion to Portal Point. As our ship operator is part of the IAATO (...) that stands for protection and sustainable tourism in Antarctica. One of the requirements is that only 100 persons are allowed to go on land at any time. Therefore all the people on board were sorted into two groups and when one is on shore the others are doing a zodiac cruise.

We were the ones to go on shore first and when we set foot on the slippery rocks we were on our 7th continent! The welcoming comité consisted of a group of cute fur seals watching us pretty unbothered. The icebergs and shelves were shining intensly blue 🧊 despite the rather cloudy weather. We took a photo with the Antarctica flag 🇦🇶 and then just walked around enjoying the views over the bay with occasional humpbacks breaking the water. When we went on the zodiac we drove up to the same spot and they came super close, showing off their head, fin, flippers and fluke. It was a magical experience! Everyone on our zodiac was holding their breath in awe 🥰 We continued our tour but the whales didn't come that close again. Then it was time to return to the Hondius for a nice cup of tea 🍵

We took off our outdoor gear and made ourselves comfortable in the lounge area. Julia went for a nap while I had lunch and then a little nap 😴 The first stop we had planned needed to be cancelled because the weather conditions were too harsh. Instead we drove to the last spot of the day, Paradise Bay. This took three hours so they put in a lecture about the exploration of the Antarctica and the daily recap. When we arrived we had the opportunity for another zodiac cruise through the ice fields. And almost immediately after starting our tour we found a leopard seal laying on a ice plate. It didn't look very well and had some deep cuts and also bloody ice pieces... But it opened its eyes to watch us intensely before deciding that we're not a threat. On the way to a glacier two Humpback Whales broke through the water nearby. Of course we were immediately hooked and spent the next hour watching them feeding. Seeing these gigantic creatures will never cease to amaze me 🥰 When we got closer to the glacier we and the station next to it we saw a large group of penguins resting on the stones next to the buildings of the station. The Gentoo Penguins living there are beautiful and we would've wished to spend more time with them but we were told that we're going to see more tomorrow 😍🐧 It was fun exploring the ice field and the mighty glacier in the background. We were all glad that we were able to do an excursion again and experience these landscapes and wildlife close up.

After coming back to the ship we spent some more time on the deck on the lookout for wildlife. The penguins bouncing around the ship in the water was a super cute sight, also a whole lot more of humpback whales. After dinner we had a hot chocolate in the lounge and went to sleep soon after. The day has been exhausting but also a very rewarding experience.Read more