Crossing the Drake and arriving in Antarctica

The Drake Passage. An 800 kilometer passage between Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands off the coast of Antarctica, known for its stormy seas. I was prepared for the worst. I imagined 2 days straight of sitting in my cabin being sea sick. Well, turns out I was fine. First, our weather was great and second, I seem to not suffer from sea sickness (or the preventative tablets and wrist bands worked). Either way, I was good to go. As I said before, we made our way into open ocean on the night of January 3rd. We spent all day yesterday on the sea. There were a number of lectures: geology, ice, penguins 101, pinnipeds 101. The basics. And then there was the lecture on sea birds. I realised very quickly, I don't really care about sea birds. They all look like various forms of sea gull. Big sea gulls, little sea gulls, black and white sea gulls, dirty (or brown) sea gulls. This is a black and white sea gull (actually called a cape or painted petrel). This is pretty much all I took pictures of yesterday. It was a slow day.

However, the night was fun as we spent the evening in the polar bear pub. And at 11pm went and took some pictures. It was still very light out.


Me, Susanne and Michelle, somewhere in the middle of the Drake Passage

 Ok, excitement today. This morning we were told that we had made really good time across the passage and would likely be reaching the South Shetland Islands sometime mid-morning. And, if weather cooperated, we would be making our first zodiac trip this afternoon. This would be a big bonus, as we weren't scheduled for a landing until tomorrow morning. They weren't lying and we sighted land sometime around 10. It looked cold, but I was super excited. Penguins greeted us, as they porpoised along side the ship. It was pretty awesome.

After lunch, we were told that we would in fact be making a landing on Aitcho Island. We were split into 4 groups (I was with Amundsen - first guy to the South Pole). They can only have 100 people on shore at any one time, and seeing how there are 130 of us, there was some organizing that needed to be done. What ended up happening is half went straight to the landing, and the rest of us did a little zodiac tour. And then we swtiched. It worked quite well.


This would be the crew of solo travellers in the mudroom, ready to go to Antarctica!
Kyle, Brent, Ben, Michelle, Cat and Susanne

During our zodiac tour, we were taken over to see a group of male elephant seals. These guys were around 3 or 4, so haven't grown their proboscis that gives them the name elephant, nor had they grown to the size of an elephant (as they do). They did, however, live up to the name "OBS" (odiferous blubber slugs). On top of it, these guys were molting, not the most attractive creature ever, but you know.

After hanging out with the OBS's for a bit, we were shuttled around to the landing area. Hello penguins! It smelled pretty bad, but I was so excited! I love penguins they are amazing. On Aitcho Island, there are two species of penguins: chinstraps and gentoos. I really like the gentoos, I like the red on their beaks. Both species were in the midst of hatching season, with the chinstraps a little farther along. The chinstraps are a little crazy. They just go go go. The gentoos, a little more laid back. They seem to be taking their time a bit more.



Ben with a gentoo

I took so many photos, eggs, chicks, adults, it was amazing. And I couldn't help but keep thinking, I'm on Antarctica!


 I really enjoyed watching the nest making process. As the ladies would keep the egg or the chicks, the guy would go about his business bringing rocks back to the nest. He would then very carefully place the rock on the nest. Then the lady penguin would take the rock and put it where it was actually supposed to go. These guys have it figured out, bring ladies pretty rocks and they will like you.

But when it comes down to it, I could just sit watching the penguins for hours. They are just too funny and seem to have such personalities. And of course, the chicks. Love them! Looking forward to the rest of the trip!