Our landing was not until 10am this morning, so there was plenty of time for coffee and breakfast Dressing for Antarctica takes some practice. Not to mention gathering all your stuff. You have on at least two layers of clothing, a balaclava, hat, sock liners, socks, glove liners and finally gloves. Then comes this huge parka that they give you along with you pfd, which ways a ton. Some people carried backpacks and poles. I left the pack and the poles for both of our landings today. I wore the camera around my neck in a dray back for protection from the elements. It did snow occasionally. Fortunately for all of us there was absolutely no winds and the temperature was 32 degrees in the morning and in the afternoon about 24 degrees. Quiet mild. It does get a bit chilly riding on the zodiac.
was a short flat hike with lots of Gentoo penguins, elephant seals and one lonely Weddle seal. We stayed out for about an hour and it was back to the ship. When you get back, you have to sanitize you boots, leave them on a shelf and make sure that you brought down a pair of shoes to go back to the room. It is quite a process.
Ate lunch with Kate, Genie and Donna. Kate had to get ready for her kayak adventure. I tried to get some rest while I had the cabin all to myself. The afternoon landing was happening right in front of our balcony so I was able to grab some shots of the red penguins. My trip out was 5:30. I wanted to make sure I got on the first zodiac out so I would be back a little earlier for the trivia contest. It turned out to be a good strategy. When I got to Half Moon Island, there weren't many people there. There is about an half mile hike over some very rocky, a bit snowy, and muddy terrain. But when you get to the top of the ridge, you meet Kevin. Kevin is the lonely Macaroni Penguin who has infiltrated this colony of Chinstraps. He has been here for about 14 years or maybe more. Must have lost his way somewhere and just landed here. He is usually found sleeping, but today I stood there and watched as he decided he would get up and look around. He is quite something.
The surrounding beauty is nothing you can describe. I hiked back and got back on a zodiac going my way. Time to shower. I checked in at the dining room, put in my order and ran upstairs to play trivia. Didn't do as good today as yesterday. Kate and I had some new faces at our table this evening. A couple from Utah and another couple from Singapore and our old friends from San Diego More lively conversation.I bowed out early and am now going to try to get some sleep.
Next time... Cuverville Island/Neko Harbour
CLICK HERE: TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM
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