Brown Bluff and Devil Island, Antarctica
What an incredible way to begin our land adventures in Antarctica! We landed on the Antarctic Continent in conditions that were wonderful – cold, blowing snow, and a biting wind. Once on shore we walked to the rookeries where we saw both Gentoo and Adelie penguins. Each species had chicks on the nest. Further up on the bluff we saw nesting kelp gulls.
In the afternoon we shifted our location to Devil Island, a marvelous little landing spot, where we were greeted by thousands of the locals – Adelie penguins. Nearly eighty of our party climbed all the way to the top of the island and a few of the heartiest scaled the second peak as well. Everyone had ample time to watch the antics of the penguins at the rookery. As we left the island we explored nearby icebergs by Zodiac.
The evening’s activities began with recap, in which the naturalists talked about various aspects of the sites and events of the day. That was followed by a gala New Year’s Eve dinner in the dining room. Dinner was interrupted by great excitement – Orcas! The dining room emptied as people made mad dashes to their cabins for parkas, gloves and cameras. For the better part of forty minutes we watched the pod of orcas while our naturalists, especially Ingrid Visser, told us about the action that was before us.
After dinner and orcas we heard the story of Otto Nordenskjold’s Antarctic expedition of 1901-04, with several passengers playing starring roles as Snow Hill, Paulet Island, and Hope Bay.
We gathered in the lounge to welcome in the New Year. For many of us it was a once in a lifetime event – seeing in the first day of the New Year while here on the last continent.
What an incredible way to begin our land adventures in Antarctica! We landed on the Antarctic Continent in conditions that were wonderful – cold, blowing snow, and a biting wind. Once on shore we walked to the rookeries where we saw both Gentoo and Adelie penguins. Each species had chicks on the nest. Further up on the bluff we saw nesting kelp gulls.
In the afternoon we shifted our location to Devil Island, a marvelous little landing spot, where we were greeted by thousands of the locals – Adelie penguins. Nearly eighty of our party climbed all the way to the top of the island and a few of the heartiest scaled the second peak as well. Everyone had ample time to watch the antics of the penguins at the rookery. As we left the island we explored nearby icebergs by Zodiac.
The evening’s activities began with recap, in which the naturalists talked about various aspects of the sites and events of the day. That was followed by a gala New Year’s Eve dinner in the dining room. Dinner was interrupted by great excitement – Orcas! The dining room emptied as people made mad dashes to their cabins for parkas, gloves and cameras. For the better part of forty minutes we watched the pod of orcas while our naturalists, especially Ingrid Visser, told us about the action that was before us.
After dinner and orcas we heard the story of Otto Nordenskjold’s Antarctic expedition of 1901-04, with several passengers playing starring roles as Snow Hill, Paulet Island, and Hope Bay.
We gathered in the lounge to welcome in the New Year. For many of us it was a once in a lifetime event – seeing in the first day of the New Year while here on the last continent.
