Neko Harbour and Wilhemina Bay
From sea to summit and from summit to sea – an apt theme for our last day on the Antarctic continent. At 8:30 this morning the zodiacs began to depart for an unmanned Argentine refuge at Neko Harbour. The landing area was surrounded by glaciers. We were lucky to see one of the glaciers calve a number of times. The roaring sound of these small glacial calves made everyone turn and quietly watch with awe at the power of ice.
As the first zodiac of the day passed, a Weddell seal lazing on a piece of ice slid slowly into the sea. Once on land, we were greeted by a colony of gentoo penguins. The gentoos were busy carrying rocks to their nests and socializing and, as usual, did not seem to mind our visiting them at all. The staff marked off trails for safe exploration, some of which were near the landing site and were most suitable for watching and photographing the gentoos. One trail was a serpentine climb of approximately five-hundred feet to a summit, which offered a panoramic view of the bay, the glaciers, the gentoo colony, the National Geographic Endeavour and the landing site below. At the summit, many photographs were taken and quiet conversations could be heard as each person tried to describe the beauty of what they were witnessing. One of our brave explorers, Annie Gustafson, was so taken by our environment that she began to do cartwheels upon our high perch.
Then, those at the summit turned their attention to other brave souls who began to slide down the steep, icy hill. One at a time, each explorer would sit and start sliding down the hill, picking up speed until disappearing over a steep slope, finally arriving at the bottom to a hero’s welcome.
Once we departed the Antarctic continent for the last time, there were low murmurs from the explorers on their final zodiac ride back to the National Geographic Endeavour. We were filled with wonder at all we have seen on this trip, but we also expressed bittersweet feelings about ending our amazing journey. Snowflakes began to fall slowly just as we reached the ship, which captured our mood and dusted the extraordinary setting we were leaving.
We began to sail back through the scenic Wilhemina Bay. Just when we thought our magnificent day could not get better – a pod of killer whales put on a show for explorers of the NG Endeavour. The pod had both adult and young whales. After a spectacular show off both starboard and port, our Expedition Leader, Tim Soper, wisely urged us forward to keep from stressing these beautiful creatures, given that they had young. We continued on to the Gerlache Strait before heading out into the Drake Passage. This last day on the Antarctic continent felt a bit like a spectacular finale, yet, we still have two days of sailing ahead of us, which means there are more adventures to come.
From sea to summit and from summit to sea – an apt theme for our last day on the Antarctic continent. At 8:30 this morning the zodiacs began to depart for an unmanned Argentine refuge at Neko Harbour. The landing area was surrounded by glaciers. We were lucky to see one of the glaciers calve a number of times. The roaring sound of these small glacial calves made everyone turn and quietly watch with awe at the power of ice.
As the first zodiac of the day passed, a Weddell seal lazing on a piece of ice slid slowly into the sea. Once on land, we were greeted by a colony of gentoo penguins. The gentoos were busy carrying rocks to their nests and socializing and, as usual, did not seem to mind our visiting them at all. The staff marked off trails for safe exploration, some of which were near the landing site and were most suitable for watching and photographing the gentoos. One trail was a serpentine climb of approximately five-hundred feet to a summit, which offered a panoramic view of the bay, the glaciers, the gentoo colony, the National Geographic Endeavour and the landing site below. At the summit, many photographs were taken and quiet conversations could be heard as each person tried to describe the beauty of what they were witnessing. One of our brave explorers, Annie Gustafson, was so taken by our environment that she began to do cartwheels upon our high perch.
Then, those at the summit turned their attention to other brave souls who began to slide down the steep, icy hill. One at a time, each explorer would sit and start sliding down the hill, picking up speed until disappearing over a steep slope, finally arriving at the bottom to a hero’s welcome.
Once we departed the Antarctic continent for the last time, there were low murmurs from the explorers on their final zodiac ride back to the National Geographic Endeavour. We were filled with wonder at all we have seen on this trip, but we also expressed bittersweet feelings about ending our amazing journey. Snowflakes began to fall slowly just as we reached the ship, which captured our mood and dusted the extraordinary setting we were leaving.
We began to sail back through the scenic Wilhemina Bay. Just when we thought our magnificent day could not get better – a pod of killer whales put on a show for explorers of the NG Endeavour. The pod had both adult and young whales. After a spectacular show off both starboard and port, our Expedition Leader, Tim Soper, wisely urged us forward to keep from stressing these beautiful creatures, given that they had young. We continued on to the Gerlache Strait before heading out into the Drake Passage. This last day on the Antarctic continent felt a bit like a spectacular finale, yet, we still have two days of sailing ahead of us, which means there are more adventures to come.
