I arrived to the Antarctica Peninsula on a glorious sunny day. Although I was prepared for a rough and tumble voyage across the Drake Passage, it turned out to be a very smooth sailing. Everyone could not believe it. No barf bags in the hallways, no one even seemed seasick - a bit disappointing. I was quickly reminded that we had to repeat the trip back - so maybe we wouldn't be so lucky the second time around.
Temperature was about +2 degrees Celsius (36 Fahrenheit). Yes there are fairly moderate temperatures during the Antarctica summers. The wind is the one factor that can make it feel cold. If the winds are strong, dress warmly. Sunrise is at 3:30am and sunset 10:30pm
My first day in Antarctica was going to be a busy one. Kayaking in the morning and a hike to a Chinstrap Penguin colony in the afternoon. I looked out in the bay and couldn't believe I was actually going to be kayaking amongst icebergs !! Wow what an incredible opportunity. Put on my full wet suit and headed to shore.
The two kayak instructors (Thomas & Philipe) were very careful about safety and instructions. They kept a close eye on everyone. We kayaked along a spectacular shoreline before heading out to circle around a large iceberg. The time went by to quickly - great activity.
There was a snowshoeing activity going on at the same time. Pretty cool backdrop as we kayaked by.
Chinstrap Penguins
Our itinerary has us visiting two different penguin colonies, the Chinstrap and Gentoo. I won't go into to much detail about the habits of these penguins in this blog. I'll cover that more in my Gentoo post. They are very similar in size and how they organize their colonies. Want to know the difference between the two, check out the chin on the penguin below.
The Colony
Breeding Season - No Privacy, But Who Cares
Weddell Seals
I had a surprise when I hiked to the other side of the island - several Weddell seals. As you can see, they were definitely in the chill out mode.
Next post from this trip.
