Antarctic Adventure #12 - Danco Island & Neko Harbor -Tuesday, 24 December 2019
Good Morning Everyone - This morning we woke after a calm night cruising into the Errera Channel. We got to watch as we approached our first planned landing site - Danco Island. We had to bypass the Southern Shetland Islands due to bad weather (yea!!!), but our captain navigated us into some sheltered channels & we were able to take our first walks on land. AWESOME! Very still day - no wind at all which is very unusual and about 35°. We were up at 6:15am for breakfast at 7:15am. The first group left at 8am. They rotated the groups & we were first off last night, so we slipped to the bottom for the morning departure. So we had about an hour to watch from the deck.
We then got into our gear which always included, parka, gloves, thermal underwear, & the life vest. All of that was kept in our cabin. We would meet with our group in the main lounge & check each other that everything was done correctly. Then we lined up to depart one by one, flipping our little id discs as we stepped out of the lounge to have the staff put on our boots. Then still single file, we climbed down the stairs & loaded into our zodiac.
As we cruised over to the wet landing position on the beach, Dani gave us some info about the area. James shared a lovely embroidered sign that a relative had made him. He had an extra & he gave it away. Very sweet.
This would be our first Zodiac wet landing, that means that the zodiac gets as close as possible to the shore, then we have to pull up on the rim of the zodiac, slip our legs up & over & slide off into the water - sometimes about 10", but never over the lovely boots that they gave us! The rocks were rather slippery, but there were always staff there to help us steady ourselves. Two of the Expedition leaders came over first & stamped out the path through the snowfield. They planted a flag for photo memories of our first Antarctic Landing!! There were 2 trails, one along the shore just a very short distance & then 2 overlooks up the hillside. The snow was extremely deep and as more folks tramped it down, it was sometimes slippery, but pretty easily managed.
We were stopping at our first Gentoo Penguin colony. They are very noisy & active. Saw a few penguins on nests.
We continued on up the hillside & lots of them were traveling up & down on their own little highways. They didn't pay much attention to us as they went about their business. The short video just gives you an idea.
The views from higher up were great. Everything felt rather black & white & then you'd see an incredibly deep vibrant blue. That was cool!
Found a cracked egg. Assume it was dropped by a predator bird? I'll bet there are quite a lot of bird thieves!
We enjoyed our first freedom to wander & explore off the boat. We were all excited & wanting to play! Kerry was wishing she could fly!! We weren't allowed to continue any higher.
Then back down (a bit tricky as the snow was mushy & very very deep) to the beach where we found the first group taking the Polar Plunge!!!! An Egyptian crew member, Sami was in the water for his 30th endeavor! Wow! Very impressive. We figured if he could do it 30 times, we could surely survive one!!
Then it was our turn & we experienced the Polar Plunge!!!! George abstained due to his continuing cold, but Marlyn, Michele & I ran into the water holding hands & dunked together. It was not quite a traumatic as I had feared, & we ran back on shore to waiting towels & got redressed quickly. As Claudia (the head activity manager) had said, the blood rushes to your skin & makes you immediately feel warmer, so didn't even experience chattering teeth! George has a whole video! When we watched it later, we realized that a couple of penguins were swimming behind us. They were visible leaping out of the water! It was great fun & very happy to have had the experience! Rich & Georgiane abstained too. They both took a few pictures for us.
We headed back to the ship almost immediately to shower & run to lunch! It is always a buffet. The huge spread is almost embarrassing in it's enormity! And we converge on it like flies on s**?t!!! Presentation is always perfection!
As soon as most of us had finished eating, they opened up the kitchen for tours. How our staff can always look so cheerful when dealing with the masses is amazing to me. They have tons of work to care for us & have to even give up more of their time to show us their work environment. The kitchen was obviously a well run machine & they happily gave us a complete show & tell.
That took us into the afternoon and we had another landing. This time in Neko Harbor which was actually on the Continent! Yippee! And we round danced together!
We were in the first zodiac of guests that landed (a staff group always goes first to set up the walking path & check for safety), so the beach was clear of people. Mostly just Gentoo penguins & this large Weddell seal. They had the 7th Continent sign for us to hold.
It was a lovely walk up the side of the cliff with friendly penguins all around us. We had to cross one of their "highways," a 2" deep rut in the snow! We climbed up to the first landing to see the Gentoo Penguin colony, then continued on.
5 of our group of 6 made it up to the top Lookout (500') and we were even all together at the top by ourselves for a few minutes! Georgianne stayed behind to watch out for our jackets, George & Rich shed them as it was in the high 30's & felt very very warm! I took mine off up at the top.
George got some beautiful pictures showing some of the blue shining through the deep crevices in the ice field. Pictures don't do it justice. Hard to explain how gorgeous it really was. I tried some too - it was hard to even quit snapping pictures.
When the others started arriving, we made our way back down. Then we danced on the beach! Once again I sang I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas & George cued basic cha cha figures! Same as we had done on Cape Horn on a previous Christmas!! We've now danced on all 7 Continents! Yippee!!! The only audience was a Brown Skua who was nesting up above the Gentoo colony.
We delayed on land as long as we were allowed, enjoying the "warmth" and the scenery. George & I got our 7th Continent picture together!
We even got to tour the harbor a bit before heading back to the ship. Again, we were all snapping pictures - such a beautiful day!!
Back on board there was an open bar with dancing & gift giving (generic gifts from passengers - most were donated to the crew, but my refrigerator magnet came home with me!!!) & general party atmosphere! George didn't require too much encouragement to wear his Christmas ribbons!
They tried to calm us down a bit with our daily briefing. Tomorrow we'll again get two adventures - cruising the Lemaire Channel & one landing at the famous Palmer Station!!
Christmas dinner was amazing!!! They do a good job with presentation as I mentioned before! Our ship's staff sometime all congregate to make a plan for tomorrow.
After dinner we made a quick stop at the cabin and caught Dima, our excellent cabin attendant delivering laundry. Our casual clothes have never looked so good! Cleaned & pressed! Wow! With a smile no less!
They gathered us back to the lounge to sing Christmas carols & distribute more gifts! It was Christmas Eve! Our Elves scurried around & in between & handed out gifts - OAT signature tree ornaments (most of us re-gifted them back to the ship before disembarking!! - wonder how many time that had been done??).
Before retiring for the evening, we relaxed a little more to music from Saul & watched a sweet young newly wed could dance. It was a beautiful evening & the scenery was fabulous all evening.
Back to our cabin to find another gift (Advent Calendar with chocolates? - another disembarkation re-gift!!) and an adorable towel lobster!!! Great work Dima! Finally to bed about 11:30 pm & the sun was still up!
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