South America

64.25°S 62.5W

Wilhelmina Bay may have just been the highlight of the trip.

We went whale watching by zodiac in the afternoon.

The usual process is to be called down to the mudroom, put your gear on, wait to be called, do partner safety check, be checked by the guides etc. The process can take some time, and although no corners were cut, we were being told by our guides to hurry as much as possible, go, go, go!

We scrambled into the zodiacs and were treated with what I can only be described as wildlife encounter so intimate and close-up as to be spiritual.

We went out to our spot and first we were investigated by a pod of up to 20 orcas. As you can see from the video (Credit to our amazing expedition leader and whale biologist Marilia), they were extremely inquisitive and curious, and we were as close as I think you'd ever want to be to an animal with 'killer' in its name.

After the orcas left, we continued, and approached some whale blows we saw in the distance. Our zodiac driver stopped at the usual safe distance and we waited, and AGAIN, the humpback came so close to us you felt like you could touch them.

They were playing with us, making calls when they came up for air, splashing their fins and tails, giving us everything (and more) we could have asked for.

Our guide said that in his 17 years of Antarctic guiding, he had never seen anything like it. It was deeply moving to have been so close to such a huge, majestic creature.

When they did finally go on their way there were tears, hugging and many, many thanks to our incredible guides.

My only regret is that I can't post more here, (I'm limited to 2 videos).

So I will post what I can for now, and we will make a compilation when we get some time to try to convey the magnitude of this experience.

Just incredible.

Back aboard the ship that evening we all did the Polar plunge! The water temperature was -0.3 degrees (yes, you read that right). They tied a rope on to us, just in case, had some amp up music going in the mud room, and treated us with a shot of Vodka after completing the feat.

Yes it was cold, but damn do you feel good!

That evening we celebrated a birthday with the group of friends we had made on board the ship.
Us, a Canadian couple from Toronto, a Brazilian couple from Miami, and 2 Australian couples all bonded pretty early on on the voyage (something I will talk more about later), and everyone had a great time on our new friend Mikes birthday, some even said it was the best day of their lives.Читать далее