Tag: emperor penguin

Five days after leaving home, finally we are there. The trip tom the white continent is by no means a quick or simple. From Amsterdam, the trip already lead to Buenos Aires for a quick visit to La Boca and the grave of Evita. The day after another flight to the former penal colony of Ushuaia, now a nice vibrant city. After doing some last-minute shopping, the time to board the boat is now approaching rapidly.

The port of Ushuaia is the departure point for most of the Antarctic voyages. First part takes you throught the Beagle Channel offers some nice views. Already at this point you will be able to see the first wildlife: Rockhopper penguins sometimes guide the boat to the open ocean.

About two-thirds of the way, from one minute to the next, you will feel like you are on Antarctica. Where the (relative) warm waters of the ocean around South America meet the cold waters of the Antarctica is known as the convergence. A point where the temperature drops by several degrees very quickly. From this moment on, the chances of seeing your first iceberg drastically increase, but will increase a lot more in the coming hours…

Nearly two and a half days after setting sail from Ushuaia, the moment I have been waiting for is getting really close now. We have been fortunate to have a smooth two days sailing across the Drake Passage, as the waters between Antarctica and Ushuaia have been called. This part of the ocean is notoriously rough and being able to sail across to Snow Hill Island in ‘just’ two and a half day is pretty good. With the ship being an icebreaker, means that there are no stabilizers. Most of the other ships do have them and that makes it counter-act the effect the waves have on the boat. It does mean that the icebreaker can be parked in the ice. And so it was done.

Parking the ship in the ice makes the back of the boat a perfect landing spot for the helicopters that are on board. To not waste any time for the next day, there is a mandatory briefing for the next couple of days. Apart from the safety features and procedures for boarding and leaving the helicopter. It may sound silly, but they also explain that you are to follow the little markers when walking from the helicopter to the penguins. This would later turn out to be really useful during a small snow storm with visibility of less then 5 meters…

That evening I did not sleep at all, and looking at the popularity of the library and bar, neither did many of my fellow-travellers. At 9AM it was time: Ready to board the Russian helicopter and visit the penguins for the first time. A 10 minute flight and 30 minutes of walking and there they were: Emperor penguins and many of their chicks.

For the next 5 days this was the plan. From early in the morning to as late as possible I spent with the birds, not using the possibility to be flown back to the ship for lunch.

On the last day the crew had a surprise in mind. Where we visited the colony but this last day we visited the edge of the sea ice. Here penguins jump out of the water to walk back to the colony and feed the chicks after a feeding trip. A perfect ending to five days of near perfect weather when watching penguins.

Next morning it is time to head back and everyone is hoping for another smooth crossing of the Drake Passage. Before we get there, we managed to convince the expedition leader to show us what an icebreaker is capable of. The ice, even when 2 or 3 meters thick, was no match for the ship. The most amazing end of our time on Antarctica came when we were allowed to get into the helicopter once more to fly over the sea ice and see the ship crash through the ice from the air.

The day after we have experienced ourselves where the Drake Passage got his reputation. The ship was rolling 45 degrees to each side. Apart from making walking around and getting some tea more difficult, it also means getting a meal a lot more ‘fun’. The rough seas also have an impact on the time to reach Ushuaia. Almost three days later we arrive in Ushuaia… Tired but extremely happy….

From here the trip back home starts tomorrow. Six hours to Buenos Aires and from there 12 hours back home to Holland.