Day 9/31: Tuesday, February 4, 2020: Danco Island, Antarctica

Our first day in Antarctica. We are in Group 8 to go ashore and were told our debarkation time was 11:15 am. We were asked to arrive about 10 minutes early. The zodiac ride to the shore was to last 10 minutes and we would have one hour on shore, but could come back at anytime as there are no facilities on shore, only the Gentoo penguin colony.

From the ship, we could see the barren beach on Danco Island. The mainland of the Antarctic continent is all the mountains behind the island.

Each of the zodiacs can carry up to sixteen guests plus the driver.

We arrived at the disembarkation point on Deck 3 at 11:00 am, as instructed, in our antarctic gear. We then stood around for the next 45 minutes before we finally were loaded upon our zodiac. The weather was almost perfect and the expedition members noted they had never seen it so nice. The temperature was around 40F, with essentially no wind and smooth seas.

Most of the penguin colony resides up on the high ground of the island. The penguin chicks had bee  hatched earlier in the year and were now being tended to by the adults who took turns walking down to the ocean to go fishing, bringing food back for the chicks.

I walked up to the high ground to get a view of the ship and the rookery.

In the middle of the picture below, a nest of pebbles with a parent and chick can be seen,

Maria decided not to climb up to the high ground.

Due to the late start in getting us ashore, we were not given the full hour on the beach, but it was enough.

A expedition ship passed us.

Back on board and leaving the site as another ship is coming in.

Goodbye to Danco Island.

Day 8/30: Monday, February 3, 2020: At Sea

Today marks my 30th day on board the Whisper and the 8th day of Segment 2. It has gone very fast indeed. Tomorrow we arrive at the Antarctica Peninsula. We will not dock because there are no docks. We will not anchor either, but will just drift. Today we had a mandatory safety orientation and a mandatory bio-inspection. 

Since we did not stop at the Falkland's, we will have an extra day in the region. There is a potential that we might be able to set foot on the mainland itself and not just one of the associated islands. The weather forecasts look good so far.

Day 7/29: Sunday, February 2, 2020: At Sea

Day 6/28: Saturday, February 1, 2020: At Sea

The day started as being the sea day between Puerto Madryn, Argentina and Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. We snorkeled with the sea lions in Puerto Madryn and we are scheduled to travel to Buff Cove on the Falklands. Thats's how the day started.

I slept in and did not get up until around 8:00 am. Maria and I had breakfast at the La Travazza. Afterward, I attended a geographical lecture followed by a presentation the history of the discovery and exploration of Antarctica. Did you know the first expedition to officially sight the Antarctic continent itself was Belgium?

At the end of the history presentation, an announcement came over the PA alerting everyone that the Expedition leader, Stepfen, and the ship Captain, would be making an announcement in the Show Lounge, where the lecture had just concluded. So I hung around as the Lounge quickly filled.

It took quite awhile for them to get to the point, but the bottom line is that we will not be stopping in the Falkland Islands due to high winds. The ship cannot dock but we would need to tender to shore and they are predicting 35-40 knot winds. The Captain said there were two alternatives. First we could enter the harbor and see Port Stanley before saying "goodbye" and sailing on. Second option is to bypass the island completely and head south to Antarctica. This would add a day at sea and they said it would add another day in Antarctica at a port we had not expected to visit. I'm not sure how that works out, both adding a sea day AND adding an extra day in Antarctica, but I guess we will find out.

We had dinner in the Hot Rock cafe at the pool. Maria seemed to enjoy it.