Petersontravels

The cruise from the Falkland Islands to Antarctica was thankfully uneventful.  Crossing the Drake Passage was a huge concern, particularly for Kim, as she gets seasick just watching ships on TV!  The weather immediately dropped from cold to very cold.  The first sign we were getting close were these icebergs visible from our suite when we first woke up.

We sailed between Nelson and Robert Island and turned southwest into Bransfield Strait, named after British naval officer Edward Bransfield, who charted parts of this region in 1820.  This dramatic shot is Greenwich Island.  I loved the contrast of these barren rocks in front of the icy shoreline.  Unfortunately our first day in Antarctica was overcast.

More of Greenwich Island as we were headed toward little Half Moon Island.

I loved this snowy mountain that looks like a ski jump!

This is the rocky right edge of Half Moon Island.

Half Moon Island hosts the first of many research stations we would see during our time here.  This one is the Argentinian Camara Base, which is manned from November to March.

Half Moon Island is popular with cruise ships as it hosts a large number of Chinstrap Penguins.  A bunch of them are in the below photo, but far enough away that even my phones 10x optical zoom couldn’t get close enough.  We did see people walking among the penguins on this island, who came from a nearby expedition ship.  Unfortunately our cruise does not have any land-based activities in Antarctica, which just means we’ll have to come back at some point!

More Chinstrap Penguins in this photo.  If you click on the photo it will enlarge, but even then it’s hard to adequately make them out.  The colors you see here are from lichens that thrive on the exposed rock.

We departed Half Moon Island, back into the Bransfield Strait and headed southwest again.  This photo is of Livingston Island.  This island holds historical significance as it was the first land discovered south of 60 degrees latitude, discovered  by British navigator William Smith in 1819, marking a key moment in Antarctic exploration.  Why isn’t it named Smith Island??  Dude got robbed!

We had to get a photo of us braving the cold out on deck alongside Smith…err… Livingston Island.

Livingston Island is quite large, so it took awhile to transit to our destination, Deception Island. There were sunset colors already showing up in the clouds, and sunset is hours away.

This spot on Livingston makes me wonder…how can tons and tons of ice hang on that nearly vertical cliff like that??

One last shot of Livingston.  I loved how the sun was finally coming out to create this unique cloud formation!

We then reached our last goal of the day, Deception Island.  This island is an active volcano, where the caldera of the volcano collapsed and was opened to the ocean.  We cruised along the south side of the island towards that opening.  Along the way we approached this spot that literally has thousands of penguins!!  They are everywhere in this photo!

Another shot of the huge penguin colony, along with some actual green vegetation!

We passed these three rocks just before the entrance to the caldera.  The one on the right looks like it’s ready to fall like a domino.

The opening into the caldera is just to the right of Kenton.  Unfortunately our ship is too large to enter.

This is the opening into the caldera, known as Neptune’s Bellow.  It is described as the safest harbor in Antarctica.  Vessels like expedition ships and private yachts are small enough to enter.

A zoomed in look into the caldera.  Note the lighthouse on the bluff on the right.

The dramatic colors in the rocks on the left of the entrance are indicative of the volcanic nature of the island.

Some King Penguins seemed attracted to the colors.  Yeah, I need to get a telephoto attachment for my phone.

This rock dominated the view as we sailed away.

The sun was finally making a full appearance as the day ended.

Last photo of our first day in Antarctica.

Coming up, we have the best weather possible as we cruise the Gerlache Strait and into the gorgeous Paradise Bay!

 

 

Our ship made the long transit from Buenos Aires to the Falkland Islands in three days.  We had fairly calm seas on the way down, and people were still frying their fat bodies by the pool for the first two days.  I will never understand the desire to lay in the sun like that.

Speaking of the sun, here is the incredible sunset from the night before we arrived in the Falklands.  This is not touched up at all.  I swear!

I often do  slightly enhance photos here and there to deal with stubborn shadows, bring out a little color or add a touch of dynamic range, but these couldn’t be improved upon if I tried!  This shot looks like a sunset on Venus!

We pulled into Blanco Bay and anchored about a 20 minute tender ride from the little town of Stanley.  We saw these interesting fishing vessels on the way into the bay.  These vessels are Squid Jiggers, which use bright lights and automated jigging lines to catch squid or similar species.  All the vessels here are based out of Taiwan, so they are a LONG ways from home.

The Falkland Island setting is one of beautiful barren and mostly untouched landscapes.

Our tour was booked through Adventure Falklands, who was excellent to work with and very responsive to every inquiry.  We jumped into our 4-wheel drive Land Rover with our expert driver David and headed towards Volunteer Point, a 2 hour drive away.  The drive offered plenty of shots of the beautiful  island.

Once in awhile you can see little signs of civilization along the roadway.

You could see the road ahead quite clearly, as there really aren’t any trees on the islands.

Little bays spread into the island quite a distance from the open sea.

After an hour of driving on pavement then dirt roads, we reached Johnson’s Harbour, where after a brief bathroom stop you enter private property.

A group shot before we headed off-road for the final 12 miles of the drive.  Yes, it takes an hour to drive 12 miles!

Just getting there is an adventure!  The drive is slow and requires you to hang onto something to keep from flying around, even with a seat belt!  By the time we got to Volunteer Point I felt like I had done a workout with Jack LaLanne!

Upon arriving our driver pointed out where the various penguins are and we started walking.  First up, maybe 100 yards away, was a group of Gentoo Penguins, also known as “Jackass Penguins” due to their distinctive braying call.  This little guy in front was very inquisitive, and kept getting close before scurrying back.  There is no zoom on this photo, the penguins here are that close to you, and you can see he had his eye on me!

Here is his close-up opportunity!

While admiring the Gentoo flock we saw these three and sometimes four chasing each other, which was a pretty funny sight!

We then walked maybe 100 yards to another spot where the King Penguins were congregating en masse!  It was amazing….all of these penguins standing just a few feet away!

I posted a bunch of videos to my YouTube channel, so I’ll try to limit how many I post here.

I was so close to this King Penguin we could use this as a mug shot!

This cluster of King Penguins was so amazing it needs another video!

There were several young King Penguins in the crowd, very distinctive in their woolly brown down.  They look so different than their parents that 19th century naturalists originally believed they were a different species.

This one is a year old and going through his own version of molting.  Looks like a stuffed toy after our dog chewed on it for an hour.

We had to get a shot of us with the Kings….just to show how close you can get!

As we started to walk towards the beach area this little group of Kings came waddling up towards us.

This trio conspiring away from the massive group must be some non-conformists.  Note the sheep in the background.  They walk amongst each other as if they belong together.

These Bar-headed Geese were mixing in among all the penguins.  Every type of bird here seemed used to close proximity with people.

Before walking onto the beach we crossed a section of land filled with underground burrows.  These are for the Magellanic Penguins.  Here is a mother and child adjacent to their burrow.  It looks like they are posing!

Here is a video of the mother and child.  So cute!

This group of Kings was about a year old, and just getting ready to enter the water.  They seemed a tad shy, as they kept moving back and forth with the waves.  That’s Kim in the background.

Another shot of the same group of Kings.

Selfie time!

They got very close to the water!

Then ran away like 5 year olds at the beach!

One last video of these youthful Kings on the beach.

We loaded back up into the Land Rover and headed back towards Stanley.  Interestingly enough it was low tide, so our caravan decided to drive back along the shoreline.  No photos of that unfortunately.

I did take a photo of an interesting geological feature on the Falklands called a “stone run” (also called a “stone river”).  These rivers of stone were created by erosion caused by the constant freezing and thawing during the last Ice Age.  It looked like a perfect setting to break an ankle.  These phone cameras are amazing, as I took this photo while our driver was moving at least 40 MPH.

On the side of the road, at the foot of Mount Kent, is this wreckage of an Argentinian Chinook helicopter from the 1982 Falkland War.  This helicopter was destroyed while it was on the ground during a surprise attack by two RAF Harrier jets.

This photo shows the helicopter rotor.  This site is declared part of the Falklands battlefield heritage which state that all historical remnants from the war should not be touched or removed.

One more shot of the beautiful Falklands countryside.  Again, photo taken out the window at about 50 MPH.  I’m shocked it turned out as nice as it did!

Our driver dropped us off a few blocks from the tender dock at the “1982 Liberation Memorial”, a monument to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Falklands War.

Immediately adjacent to the memorial is this statue of Margaret Thatcher.  Interesting to note that the street directly behind the statue is Thatcher Drive.  If not for her leadership it’s quite likely the Falkland’s would likely be speaking Spanish today.  In chatting with our driver, who actually fought in the Falkland’s War, the entire population here was very much against the Argentinian aggression.

The Christ Church Cathedral is likely the most photographed sight in Stanley.  This is the southern most Christian Cathedral in the world.  It was built from local stone and brick between 1890 and 1892.

Directly adjacent to the church is the Whalebone Arch, made from the jawbones of two blue whales.  This was erected in 1933 to commemorate 100 years of British rule in the Falklands.

Before heading back to the ship we stopped at Falkland Beerworks for a pint!  This is the worlds most remote British brewery.  Loved this place so much that I bought two t-shirts and a logo glass.  This is a must stop in Stanley!

Adjacent to the tender dock is the obligatory British Phone Booth, just to make sure you don’t forget you are in the UK!

As our ship set sail I took a couple of photos.  First was this gorgeous beach called Gypsy Cove, which is home to a large Magellanic Penguin breeding ground (hard to see, but there are penguins on the right side of the beach).

I took this photo as I thought this lighthouse looks strange.  I had no idea the beach in the bottom part of the photo was covered in penguins until I looked more closely.

The Falkland Islands are a fascinating spot that definitely deserve a visit!  Next up we head south across the Drake Passage, headed to Antarctica.