Day 65 to 70 Antarctica

Day 65 Cape Horn

Today we had our first 'Scenic Cruising' as it was called in the cruise documents. We were supposed to pass Cape Horn in the morning, around 7:00. Our idea was to be outside about an hour before the scheduled time to have a good view and not miss anything. But we were really tired and didn't get out of bed. Even when we went outside around 7:00, all we saw was water. Later, around noon (we really wondered if we were too dumb to see Cape Horn), the captain made an announcement. You can only sail close to Cape Horn if you have a pilot from Chile on board. This pilot was supposed to come on board at 3:00 in the morning, but unfortunately that didn't happen... so no Cape Horn in sight.

Other than that, we spent the day like any other sea day, doing sports, swimming in the pool (but only the whirlpool, the regular pools were drained due to the journey through the Antarctic), and eating. We also played bingo because Freddy won the bingo tickets on Deal or No Deal. Unfortunately, we were not successful.

Day 66 Antarctica

Today it was time to start, the first day in Antarctica. A few days ago, we received a special plan for Antarctica, showing when we would pass certain points. For the first day, the plan included passing the largest iceberg in the world, A23a, around 10:00. So in the morning, we followed our almost routine on the ship. Then we went outside around 3:00. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very favorable on the first day. It was very windy and foggy, so the temperature quickly felt like minus 10 degrees Celsius. The huge iceberg was hiding in the fog, but we still managed to catch a glimpse when the fog cleared. We stayed outside the whole time to not miss anything. The dimensions were really gigantic. A23a broke off from Antarctica some time ago and is now heading to warmer waters, which means it is unfortunately melting.

Afterwards, we went to have an early dinner to warm up because the next highlight was Elephant Island at 6:00. We wanted to return to our spot outside, at the front of the sun deck, but that was not possible. The wind had increased and the front area was closed off to everyone. Despite this, we had great views of Elephant Island and the following islands from the middle of the ship. Something I didn't expect: the mainland of Antarctica is rocky and consists of black mountain landscapes. These landscapes are covered with snow and ice. 99.6% of Antarctica is covered by snow. The interior of Antarctica is an icy desert. This means it is dry like normal deserts because there is hardly any precipitation (in the form of snow or rain).

Completely frozen, we went to bed early after this first day.

Day 67 Antarctica

Today we had to get up early. The first highlight of the day was announced for 6:00 in the morning, Admiral Bay. Wrapped up warmly, we grabbed a small breakfast at the snack bar and then went outside. The wind had died down and the weather had cleared up. So we were able to take our place at the front of the sun deck. Of course, many others had the same idea. Most of the time, the others were very pleasant, but there were also lots of annoying people. We often stayed outside for hours to enjoy the landscape, while many only came out when an announcement was made about whales or penguins being spotted. So people were often 15 minutes late, and from the third day, the question of where the penguins were or if we had seen a whale already really annoyed us...

From the sun deck, we had beautiful views of the bay and spotted the first small icebergs. Due to the good weather, the ship was able to get very close to a huge glacier, simply amazingly beautiful! We also saw 2 research stations that were established in Antarctica. Sometimes penguins came right up to the boat and played in the waves, and we also saw our first whale on Day 2 in Antarctica. In the afternoon, we warmed up again with hot chocolate, played board games, and went outside from time to time.

Day 68 Antarctica

The third day in Antarctica was clearly the most eventful. We spent the whole day outside, interrupted by short tea breaks to warm up. We sailed through Charlotte Bay and Wilhelmina Bay and had great weather. The icebergs got bigger and bigger the further we went into Antarctica. The wildlife also enjoyed the weather. Penguins were darting around in the water, and we saw whales again and again. Most of them were simply sleeping, which is a good sign. They weren't bothered by the ship and us humans and simply relaxed. In total, we saw 49 (!) humpback whales on our journey. So impressive. The landscape was wonderfully impressive and beautiful. In the afternoon, we reached the famous research station Port Lockroy. The boat stayed there for a while in the evening, and we took advantage of the lack of wind (every bit of wind was cold at these temperatures, and we were glad when there was no wind) to spend the evening outside in the whirlpool and enjoy the scenery.

Day 69 Antarctica

On the last day of Antarctica, the boat passed Deception Island. Many penguins live on this island. From the boat, they were often only visible when they swam right next to it or with binoculars. So we were quite annoyed when someone asked again where the penguins were instead of staying outside for a few minutes and discovering them themselves. As a conclusion, we passed some truly impressive large icebergs in the best weather. Antarctica was simply impressive for us.

Day 70 Sea Day

Since we got up early the past few days and spent a lot of time outside, we used the day to sleep in. There was also the show format Deal or No Deal in the morning. The weather felt noticeably warmer again.

More exciting reports will follow :)