Our day on National Geographic Explorer began with a spectacular transit of the narrow Lemaire Channel before breakfast. We were lucky to experience calm conditions and blue skies for one of the highlights of any journey to the Antarctic Peninsula. The sun stayed out for the duration of our day of exploration, such that sunscreen rather than warm outerwear was the most important part of getting ready for outdoor activities.
On a Zodiac cruise of Port Charcot, we encountered an iceberg graveyard full of bergs of all sizes, hues, and shapes. It was a superb location for photography. In the afternoon, there was a chance to stretch our legs with a hike on snow to a high point on Petermann Island, from which we could look across to Shackleton Peak and watch gentoo penguins coming and going from a colony.
