Our morning began with bright sunshine and calm seas. As National Geographic Orion continued sailing towards the South Shetland Islands, many smiling faces were observed making their way to a scrumptious breakfast. Today is our first day to set foot on land.
We all attended a mandatory Antarctic briefing given by our expedition leader, Peter Carey. We learned about safely using the Zodiacs that will transport us to our landings. Peter also explained “Biosecurity Decontamination”, stressing the importance of cleaning our gear so as to not bring in anything that could contaminate this wild and amazing place.
We then had a briefing on a brand new activity that will be taking place tomorrow. We will have an opportunity to cross country ski on the fast ice! Interested individuals were sized for the proper ski boots.
After lunch we made our first landing in Antarctic waters. We landed on Barrientos Island. It is hard to describe the first impressions we had as we were surrounded by gorgeous, rocky snowcapped peaks. And the numerous chinstrap penguins and Gentoo penguins were fascinating to watch and stole our hearts. We watched them sitting on their rocky nests and their sneaky behavior as one would go snatch a rock from another’s nest and take it to their own nest. We observed these birds raising their heads high as they made their unmistakable calls seemingly in unison.
We hiked up a hill with a view of the ocean and slowly made our way down to the shore, being careful to avoid the “penguin highway”. In addition to several more penguin rookeries, we observed two juvenile southern elephant seals basking in the sun looking peaceful and oblivious to us snapping their pictures. Farther down the beach we spotted a lone Weddell seal surrounded by Gentoo penguins. Oh, and I forgot to mention the smell of all these animals. Very distinctive indeed. What an unforgettable afternoon!
Our evening was grand too. We were treated to cocktails in the lounge and introduced to the ship’s officers, then we attended the “Captain’s Dinner”.
