The final morning on board … making our way back through the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia – where it all started around 1.5 weeks back.
Here we de-boarded and – after some short time in Ushuaia (enough for a farewell lunch) made it to the airport to fly out and back to Buenos Aires.
This gallery contains 9 photos.
We left Antarctica, heading back to Ushuaia – and through the Drake Passage once more (just the other direction). Conditions turned out better than on the way down; the program was similar with plenty of lectures – though many just … Continue reading
As the mountaineers were quiet unlucky with the weather for the trip so far, we were invited to join for cross-country skiing.
I never had been on skis before – so here I was – on Livingston Island (at 62° 36′ S, 60° 30′ W) putting on skis the first time ever.
During the trip the conditions changed and we ended up in the middle of a snowstorm, with the visibility dropping to around three to five meters – a near-white-out.
This gallery contains 8 photos.
We were considerably further North when we woke up this morning. Shortly later the captained maneuvered the ship ‘into’ Deception Island (at 62° 58.6′ S, 60° 39′ W), basically a volcano’s caldera, flooded by seawater through a small (but navigable) … Continue reading
We were heading North again, once we were all back on board. The South Shetland Islands were on the plan for the following day.
This gallery contains 9 photos.
From Port Lockroy we made the short distance to Damoy Point (at 64° 49′ S, 63° 32′ W) for our last proper penguin encounter. We again left the ship by zodiacs to get onshore for a walk in the snow.
From Jougla Point we were zodiac’ed over to Port Lockroy. Port Lockroy was established in February 1944 as part of the British secret mission operation Tabarin. The base was used for ionospheric research during the 1950s and closed in 1962. Restoration took place in 1996 and the base now turned into a tourist spot, showing tourists how Antarctic research looked like in the early days. The base staff today is still involved in environmental monitoring programs.
This gallery contains 8 photos.
In the late morning we arrived in the waters around Port Lockroy (at 64° 49′ S, 63° 30′ W), a former British Antarctic Research Station, now serving as Antarctic Heritage site with a small museum, gift shop and (most important) … Continue reading
After making it back to the ship from camping and breakfast, we made our way through the Neumayer Channel – heading for Port Lockroy … with mountains and glaciers in abundance on the way.
This gallery contains 10 photos.
Camping in Antarctica may sound like an odd idea, nevertheless 30 of us booked that option, which gave us a night onshore. We were sleeping straight on the floor without tents. Proper equipment (sleeping bags, inner and outer liner) was … Continue reading