Antarctica

Antarctica Cruise – Petermann Island

As we were having breakfast, our ship was sailing through the picturesque Lemaire Channel, the views were incredible.

An announcement was made that we were approaching the narrowest part of the channel usually it was not possible to pass through when there was ice built up. We were lucky that the condition allowed us to sail through instead of turning around. I dressed warmly and went up to the top deck to capture the moment. I couldn’t even see there is an opening in front of us….

This iceberg has a mix of white and blue color:

Endless glaciers:

Can you spot the opening?

We were surrounded by amazing landscapes!

I couldn’t believe how calm the water became that there were reflections of the mountain ranges and islands!

The ship started to turn, I thought we were heading back due to the ice but instead it was because of the orca whales!!! An announcement was made that the orca whales were on our right side so our ship was turning towards that direction and many people came out to view. The orca whales were far out that even with zooming out at 200 mm plus the 1.5x extender, I still need to crop to see them:

Then, they were gone 🙁

A seal was spotted on top of the iceberg, can you see it? In front of the rocks:

The ship resumed course and continued sailing through the narrowest part of Lamaire Channel.

This mountain range looked like plates stacking on each other:

For lunch, I tried the chocolate milkshake, it was good but we still preferred the blueberry milkshake.

Restaurant Fredheim didn’t have the scallop sticks anymore, I guess they ran out of scallops. We tried the grilled salmon and it was descent.

The chicken sticks were too dry!

The chicken quesadilla was good at least.

The original landing was at Yalours Island but the ice was too thick so the captain changed the plan to Petermann Island which was right around the corner. When we got there, the sky cleared up and the sun was really strong!

Believe it or not, it was actually warm enough for me to be crazy enough to wear a dress for photos hahaha! Am I the first person wearing a dress in Antarctica? For sure, I was the only one at that time 😀

A red cabin with an Argentina flag on the island:

The penguins colonized the cabin! The cabin is an emergency shelter.

Are those two penguins going to jump? :O

The landing at Petermann Island was very easy compared to the Danco Island the day before. There was no hiking required, it was pretty flat. A lot more penguins here and they were a different species.

I heard from a crew that summer was late this season as the ground was still mostly covered with snow. It had a huge impact on the penguins because their timing to lay eggs was greatly reduced…they lay eggs on the ground but only a few places weren’t covered in snow. Some penguins risked laying eggs on the snow which was really abnormal 🙁 I guess the two on the right were laying eggs?

A blue sky and a red cabin were the perfect settings for postcard-perfect photos!

We walked to one end of the island, the furthest we could go; the crew marked the path for our safety. More penguins on this side of the island!

Photo of us 😀

This penguin was curios about the hiking poles LOL!

More penguins…were they laying eggs or sleeping…hummm?

The scenery was just incredible, no other places like this!

More photo of us trying to get penguins in our backdrop 😀

The three musketeers LOL!

Penguins really like to walk in groups 😀

Stretching its neck!

Does each group have its own territories?

We walked to the other end of the island and huge icebergs floated on this little cove. The tracks on the ground are called “penguin highways”, penguins like to walk on the same or similar route!

There were more penguins down there but we were not allowed to walk further out.

It was really warm that I took my hat off; I was sweating and I wasn’t even wearing that many layers. It was warmer there than at home for real!

Three musketeers again LOL!

More penguins joined the adventure of sliding down the hill. The one on the back is a different species, the crew said different species of penguins don’t interbreed.

It was really entertaining to watch each penguin finding its own way to slide down the slope.

Oops this one fell!

The reds really pop and look great on photos!

It was almost time so we headed back, bye-bye penguins!

After each landing, we need to get our boots washed at those washing stations.

And dip in this washing solution.

Next was our zodiac boat cruise to search for whales again. The other boat was so lucky that they got really close to the whale!

The whale came up on the horizon under the sun to give this warm tone almost liking look sunset.

Penguins were swimming by, they were really quick!

A look at where those zodiac boats and kayak equipment were stored in the ship.

When we got back to the ship, I went to the Explorer Lounge for photos of those comfortable sofas.

And chairs with views!

Petermann Island was really beautiful and we were lucky to have a blue sky and a bright sun. I like that no hiking is required to enjoy the scenery and many penguins. Dinner tonight was at Restaurant Aune; they were having a vegetarian buffet while Fredheim was closed for repairs. Thus, we had no choice. The vegetarian buffet was at least edible, I got full with curry sauce on rice. After dinner, we checked the lottery boards and yay we got picked for snowshoeing!

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