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Just off our landing point at Cuverville Island, a Leopard seal is patrolling in the shallow waters. David Drummond, our ornithologist, tells us to watch out for it because it's going to "make a real mess out of one of these penguins". Skuas are nesting further up the hill, pouncing on Gentoo eggs and chicks whenever they get the chance.This part of the Lost Continent is brimming with life.
The penguins are such a joy to watch. On land, they may seem clumsy, but in the water they are extremely agile and fast swimmers. Every so often, one shoots out from the water and tries to land on an iceberg. Unfortunately for them, the angle they land makes it very hard for them to stay on the iceberg so they often hit the iceberg flat on their bellies and slide back into the water immediately. And on and on they try until they finally manage to stand up on the piece of iceberg. Fascinating.
Our first landing in the Antarctic Peninsula is Cuverville Island, a Gentoo penguin rookery just off a bay full of the most fantastic icebergs. Let me just say one thing: every picture you see of Antarctica is pristine and white; the penguins are adorable and very huggable. What they don't tell you is that they smell-- a lot. In fact, you smell 'em before you see 'em. Technically, it's the guano that's causing the commotion. And as the zodiac brings us closer to shore, we see that the snow is not in fact all that white, but is tinged by the guano into more of a salmon shade of pink. Where there isn't snow, bright orange lichen and green moss cling to the bare cliffs. It is, as we soon discover, not just a world of blue and white.
As I've mentioned in another tip, Antarctica is a place of imagination. Can you see a fallen Greek temple in this glacier?This is a reminder of the importance of zoom lenses/cameras that have SLR-like capabilities. This piece of glacier is a tiny fraction of the glacier in the previous tip. Camera jargon: taken at 200mm zoom plus 1.4x extender
Paradise Bay is also an excellent location for a zodiac cruise. You will be able to see a big colony of blue-eyed cormorants and probably witness amazing glacial calvings as well. Just to provide a sense of scale from these massive glaciers, the little black speck on the left of this photo is a zodiac. (Full view of photo needed)If you are going to Antarctica with Quark, you may find a lovely surprise from the hotel team during the zodiac cruise! I'll leave it to you to discover what it is ;-)
The Lemaire Channel is about 6 kilometers (4 miles) in length and, at its narrowest point, about 500 meters (1600 feet) wide. This is a good opportunity for some bird watching; I was able to see a lot of brown skuas like the one here. Other things of note here include small groups of penguins and icebergs calvings. There is also Cape Renard which is nicknamed Una's ***. But I think if you can see it on a good day you will start to understand why.I personally found the cracks and crevasses along the channels to be the most fascinating. So many shades of blue!!
Paradise Bay is actually officially known as Paradise Harbour but this little point of confusion often gets overshadowed by the fact that this, like Neko Harbour, is an actual landing on the Antarctica continent proper! There's a little hike up at Paradise Harbour that will reap great rewards: sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding bay and stunning mountains. After the hike, you can slide back down to the bottom of the hill on your butt. Very fun, though a little scary because there's not that much space between the "slide" and the edge of a steep slope. As you can see in the photo here, the climb is steep at times (the black dots on the left are people! We are so far away...)PLEASE do not stray at this landing. There are lots of crevasses that you wouldn't know about until you step into them. Following the path marked by your expedition leader. Interesting anecdote: a fellow...
4You may have heard of the Lemaire Channel even before the trip, and indeed its reputation is well deserved. On a good day, the Lemaire is stunning beyond compare. The dark mountains looming on the sides of the channel are etched with deep lines as if they were cut with a giant knife from heaven; the reflections are beautiful to a fault. When I visited, the Lemaire was shrouded in the mist, creating another type of atmosphere altogether. No matter how you encounter the Lemaire, be sure to be up on deck when the ship first enters the channel. The ship heads straight towards an impossibly narrow gap and the symmetry of the mountains on both sides are simply stunning. No wonder the photogenic Lemaire is dubbed the "Kodak Gap"/"Fuji Funnel".
If you want to hear the -sound- of silence, Pleneau Bay may be a good prospect for it. As Julian, one of our zodiac drivers, said at the very end of our trip, "when you are caught up in the busy everyday world, remember the silence of the world of Antarctica when the zodiac motor has been turned off." It is, truly, something to be experienced in person.
Pleneau Bay is most famous for its iceberg graveyard, where chunks of old iceberg float about in the dead silent waters in the most fascinating shapes and forms. This is where you will typically get the chance to go on a zodiac cruise. In addition to seeing icebergs, you might also be lucky to catch a leopard seal. However, dress properly and be prepared for the changes in the weather because you will be sitting in a zodiac for 90 minutes (at least, this was the case on Quark's Orlova). During my zodiac cruise, the weather turned a little foul -- we had rain and LOTS of saltspray. Naturally, the combination of water from up high and from the sea made it a very wet experience. So remember to dress warmly and wear thick/two pairs of socks. Being stuck out on the cold for 90 minutes, no matter how stunning the icebergs are, is just no fun.
Reviews and photos of Antarctica attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Antarctica sightseeing.
Q: Hello, I'm so excited about my trip to Antarctica on 2/19 on Quark. Questions for those who've been there - 1. packing -...
A: There is a tiny place on Deception Island, where the ground is so hot that you can dig out a hole and let the sea-water in that will allow you to take a bath in hot...
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