WE HAVE ARRIVED! Time to explore a tiny piece of our last continent, the polar dessert called Antarctica, and see what all the fuss is about.

This land of extremes, almost totally covered in ice, is divided into two pieces: East Antarctica, home to the South Pole, and West Antarctica. They are separated by the Transarctic Mountains with the East being in the Eastern Hemisphere and the West being in the Western Hemisphere. The East makes up about two-thirds of the continent and in general has a more punishing climate. We have spent our time in the northwest corner of the West exploring the Antarctic Peninsula where the climate is as favorable as it gets down here.

Our days were organized around getting all of us on the water or to shore. Lectures and documentaries to augment what we were seeing were offered in the evenings. I’m a bit more of a sucker for these kinds of things than Dan, so I attended as many as possible. Lectures were offered on the history of penguin research (early 1900s); whales and how to tell them apart; birds that scavenge for penguin chicks and eggs; and krill, the keystone species in these waters. The documentaries ranged from animals that have adapted to thrive in snow to sea life in Antarctica to the fragility of this continent’s eco system to the difficulties faced by the research stations down here.

The weather, no surprise, is quite moody and fickle, so depending on the wind, ice, and the choppiness of the water at each stop we got to either go ashore or take a zodiac ride along the coast. Sun, fog, wind, snow, calm seas, and rough seas changed constantly, so outings were postponed, cancelled, and resumed from hour to hour. Besides zodiac adventures Dan and I also had three opportunities to ride in one of two special operations boats which sit higher in the water and go farther from shore.

We made five stops in and around the Antarctica Peninsula: Fort Point, Yankee Harbor, Mikkelson Harbor, Wilhelmina Bay, and Recess Cove. Viking staff provided walking sticks when stability might be an issue. All landings were wet meaning we stepped off the zodiac into ankle-deep water. Thank you Viking for the use of waterproof boots!

The views were majestic, breathtaking, and otherworldly. Glacier after glacier meeting the ocean at water’s edge. Up close they look like walls of beautifully sculpted ice. Bald mountain tops and those smothered with snow and ice form the backdrop for everything. Sun on the snow and water sparkled and cloudy weather offered shadows and lots of contrast. There were icebergs galore, large and small; specialized sea birds scanning the water for a meal; porpoising penguins, so charming … and fast; birds scouting out rookeries looking for the opportunity to swoop down, scoop up an egg, and fly away. One morning I woke to see a lone penguin standing on an ice flow right below my window. I almost expected him to wave. Snowy white sheathbills, a migrating bird that flies down nonstop from up North, blended in beautifully with the snow given away only by their black beaks and feet. Spectacular.

Going ashore is our favorite. We had the chance to visit two Gentoo penguin rookeries and see up close their nests made of rocks. The little guys walked Charlie Chaplin style feet away from us and seemed unconcerned by our presence. Some were lying belly down on snow or patches of rock while others sat on this year’s egg(s) and others goofed off near the water’s edge.

One stop we trailed one another up a snowy path to the top where we had a view of a rookery and the surrounded-by-glaciers harbor. There is a small refuge building on the island, whale bones, and a water boat used by whalers once sunk but later washed ashore where it has sat in this dry cold for close to 100 years.

My birthday brought one surprise after the next. I was up early and enjoyed the solitude of the ship and views of playful penguins congregating on huge slabs of sea ice and then abandoning them only to pop back up out of the water again and again and again. It’s impossible to get too much of this kind of cute. The sea ice near shore was intact, so the captain decided to attempt to drive the ship into the ice so that we could walk directly off the ship and onto the ice. I had no idea that was a thing. He tried two times, but the ice was too soft resulting in too many cracks, so he went to plan B which was to take us to the sea ice by zodiac. The expedition team went first to tap down a trail (by using snow shoes) on the snow covered ice. Tiny snowflakes that dissolved once they hit our jackets were mixed with sun, fog, and overcast skies. The water was as still as glass with only a soft breeze. Ideal weather. Although we’ve seen a few blows letting us know whales are in the area we had yet to see any actual whales until this afternoon and at dinner when one swam right by the window. The dining room is at water level, so it was a thrill to look up and see the huge black back humping out of the water. Speaking of dinner, Dan arranged for a table for six and asked two couples we’ve met onboard to join us. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day.

Today is our last before heading back to South America, and it was glorious! The treat was actually putting our feet on the continent of Antarctica. (Up to now the stops near here are part of the South Shetland Islands. Really.) The staff went ashore and hacked steps into the snow and ice and then made a trail for us to follow. Flags were placed along the trail for our picture taking pleasure. One indicated the year, one had the map of Antarctica, one had ‘Our 7th Continent’, and one said ‘I was Here.’ We took picture at all of them. Getting to shore on the zodiacs was like riding though a sculpture garden with iceberg after iceberg all uniquely shaped by wind, sun, and water. The sun came out after lunch and stayed with us until sunset, the longest it’s hung around. Dan’s and my last adventure of the trip was taking a special operations boat ride. What did we run into but humpback whales! For the most part they swam near the surface in pairs and looked like little black submarines coming up for air. They dove and gave us glimpses of their huge backs and gorgeous tails. The big thrill was when one swam right at the boat and surfaced within inches of my side of the boat.

Around dinner time we started our return to South America. The sail-away was the best so far with gorgeous views of icebergs, sea ice, mountains blanketed in white, and calm milky aqua water. Around 10:00 the captain came on to announce that we were going to do a 180 and pursue a small pod of orcas. We did just that and had fun watching five whales for half an hour. What better way to cap off these last four days.

Sunrise: 2:40. Partly sunny and breezy. Sunset: 11:30.

From the captain:
What should you expect to pay for a good sleigh?
Answer: Nothing, it’s on the house.

… Fun Facts …

The average thickness of the ice blanketing Antarctica is 1.2 miles!

The lowest temperature ever recorded on planet Earth is -128.6 F
and it was recorded in the frozen wilderness of East Antarctica.

West Antarctica is one of the most rapidly warming areas in the world.

Seventeen major expeditions were launched from 10 countries during what it called The Heroic Age of Antarctica Exploration which started at the end of the 19th century and ended in 1917.

There is no government in Antarctica.