L’Austral: A Journey in the Southern Ocean

[gatoratlarge]

SafariTalk has been great for my soul, but hell on my wallet!  

It's a community, and I'm so grateful to have found this eclectic, global crew of safari nuts many of whom I've now met in person and even traveled alongside.  @Sangeeta is one such person, owner of Chalo Africa, she's always dreaming up safari itineraries and convincing me to come along.  After a visit to Baffin Island last year, we got the bug to get some folks together and hit the other pole, Antarctica.

Touching foot on the 7th continent would not necessarily have been on the bucket list for me but for the amazing wildlife and wilderness it promised.  In my mind, I had targeted making this journey before I hit a milestone birthday (which is still two years off, mind you ) and through trip reports on ST and other sources I was convinced that if at all possible South Georgia should be included in the itinerary to maximize the wildlife experience, so that in itself helped to winnow down the options and there are many!

Honestly, I don't know if you can go wrong...I expect you can but we chose Ponant, a French cruise line to make this journey.  We considered Quark---they had an itinerary that was called Penguin Safari that was really appealing but Ponant promised stops in the Falkland Islands and the Orkney Islands in addition to South Georgia and the Antarctica Peninsula and it was the same number of nights so we were swayed in that direction.  Quark had some cool extras like a helicopter flight but our group, which ultimately numbered eight, was very happy with the choice.

There were about 155 or so passengers plus an almost equal number of crew.  The naturalists on board were accomplished and excellent presenters.  There were two photographers than were aboard, Sue Flood who had spent more than a decade with the BBC filming parts of the Planet Earth series as well as The Blue Planet, (and diving with belugas and leopard seals), and Cindy Miller Hopkins, a US based professional photographer noted for the only known photo (taken in the South Sandwich Islands) with FIVE penguin species in the same frame!  They were accessible, friendly, fun and always willing to share their knowledge---my kinda people!

I admit I wondered if we'd made the right choice in terms of the timing of the Antarctic season (really some of the first voyages) in the beginning days of our trip...we learned that the bird flu or Avian Influenza had reached the Falklands as well as South Georgia (so far not effecting the penguins but sadly and interestingly effecting elephant seals and skuas and perhaps other bird species...so the protocols were super stringent and I was proud to see how meticulous the crew took the biosecurity measures---it wasn't easy.  We were not allowed to kneel down or sit, or put our backpacks down, photography was sometimes difficult.  But we managed with aplomb.

 

The seas were another matter.  It was supposed to take two days to reach South Georgia from the Falklands but the stormy seas added an entire day to our voyage...I have been known to get sea sick but the patch took the edge off (it actually came off in my first shower) but sea bands and a couple bonine kept me from becoming ill.  Even some of the crew were green during those three days.  But overall folks survived it just fine.

Expedition cruises lay out a rough outline of where they hope to go, but weather and other factors (like bird flu) can effect what you actually do...we were quite uneasy particularly when we reached South Georgia and certain famous spots were closed off.  When you choose your trip with one particular destination in mind and you're being told some of those locations are not possible to visit...well it can be a hard pill to swallow.  But our trust in the captain and the naturalist team grew throughout the trip and we know they were trying their absolute best to give us the best experience possible.

The captain was actually a fill in---the captain we were supposed to have was injured in a glider incident so Etienne Garcia who usually captains the ice breaker the Charcot was our leader.  He was absolutely fantastic.  The ship had an open bridge policy so what a treat to visit the bridge and have the captain explain  the intricate details of the vessel.  He saw himself as an ice captain and as a result we took a relatively spontaneous adventure into the Weddell Sea once we reached Antarctica which allowed for a previously (at least for Ponant) unrealized triumph!  We were able to reach Snow Hill Island and observe emperor penguins on the surrounding ice floes!  We did not land on the island and trek the 15k to the rookery but the emperor penguin sightings were the EIGHTH penguin species of our trip!  We were able to see every possible species of penguin of that part of the Southern Ocean.  (There are 18 species worldwide -- I've been able to see a few other species: the fairy penguin, the Galapagos penguin and the jackass penguin so my personal total is 11.)

Hopefully some of my travel mates will join in their observations and their stunning photos but I'll get us started at least.

The eight penguin species we observed have to start with the Emperor!

Snow Hill Island is the northernmost colony of emperors in the Weddell Sea

 

The most impressive in number were the king penguins of Fortuna Bay, South Georgia and their fluffy chicks!

 

The chicks were fluffy and cute from a distance but a bit scary in the face as they harassed mom and dad for food!

 

 

The fur seals were drawing their territorial lines so you had to be wary — they’re aggressive and spoiling for a fight (mostly with each other 😁)

 

I found the gentoos to be the most comical and fun to watch with their rock stealing, courting, beak stabbing but there was plenty of competition!  Penguins have loads of charisma and charm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Adelies waddling about were also comical 😆

 

 

not to mention the Rockhoppers 

 

 

and the Macaroni’s (stuck a feather in its cap and called it Macaroni — all these years and I finally know what that means! 😆)

 

and of course the chinstraps!

 

So after some heavy seas, a missed day, bird flu scares, some missed landings, our cruise proved the old adage:  What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts…what a journey it had been!

 

Hopefully our group TR effort will go more day to day, but I hope this is an adequate start…

 

Here’s a view from the bridge camera 😳😁:

and a more in depth look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by gatoratlarge

[wilddog]

Oh my @gatoratlargewhat an adventure you and your companions have been on! 

 

It sounds as though you traveled with very interesting people as well as seeing all the wondeful wildlife.

 

This report is giving me great vicarious pleasure and excitement about a place I will sadly not get too.

 

Thank you for sharing it and I too hope your travel companions will chip in.

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by wilddog

[michael-ibk]

A wonderful start Joe, what a trip. Those South Georgia views alone - breathtaking!

[Atravelynn]

The rough and rocky seas are just a distant memory now.  All worth it for the penguins.  Good choice of ship and itinerary. We have a group report to look forward to it seems. Great photos of 8 penguin species.

[AKR1]

The videos bring to live the area and animals, but for me it was all about those seas and the landscapes. Thank you for posting this. 

[AKR1]

Today’s FT has an extraordinary article about another Ponant voyage from Ushuaia to Lyttleton, NZ , a month long trip that is the equivalent of two transatlantic voyages with Antarctica rarely out of sight. 
Unfortunately behind a paywall but if Joe has interest I can DM it to him. 😃

[gatoratlarge]

Well they say they were going to chime in (my travel mates) but I'm too impatient and will forge ahead and they are of course welcome to add, interject whenever they get around to it. 

 

First, I forgot to post a photo of the eighth species of penguin we saw, the Magellanic Penguin.  Y’all didn’t proof my work 😁 We saw them in the Falklands and also on little rock islands in the Beagle Channel on our way from and to Ushuaia.  They're found along the eastern coastline of Argentina as well, like at Peninsula Valdes.

interesting how different the nesting habits of each penguin species. These guys were burrowers…

Sharing space with sheep — more sheep than people in the Falklands…

The Ponant cruise actually started in Buenos Aires where we stayed a night and then took a charter flight to Ushuaia.  Some walked around town, we took a visit to Tierra del Fuego National Park.  It was pretty and we saw some birdlife but it was really just something to do before boarding the boat and setting sail for the Falklands...we left Ushuaia around 6 or 7P sailing east in the Beagle Channel.

Seven out of our crew of eight…

Bird life on Tierra Del Fuego

Ushuaia 

on the dock

Leaving Ushuaia 

Bon Voyage-y!

We had a day at sea before we reached our first landing in the Falklands at Grave Cove, then a second landing for the day at Saunders Island.  The first landing the water was a beautiful azure blue --- you'd almost think you were in the Caribbean.  Dolphins both dusky and pealle's were spotted. 
 

Gentoo colony

 

Fun watching them go out to sea to go fishing or watching their black missile-like shape burst onto shore 😁

 

 

 

Bio security was intense 👍🏻

The second landing at Saunders Island we scaled a hill to a cliff site to see a large colony of rockhopper penguins and black browed gulls.  Closer to the beaches were the gentoos and there were even king penguins on the sand.  Sheep grazed on the green hills and Magellanic penguins sat outside their burrows.

 

Welcoming committee—a well fed gentoo

 

 

The cliff where the black browed gulls were to the left, the rockhopper penguins to the right

The rockhopper colony

 

moi ( it was a French cruise line after all)

These guys have the eyebrows of a crazy old man 😂

 

There was a wire fence around the rockhoppers I assume from keeping sheep from messing things up

 

 

 

As you can tell I couldn’t get enough of em 😆

An oystercatcher

And a striated Cara Cara 

 

This was the black browed albatross colony — looked like they were wearing makeup. A beautiful bird!

courtship behavior 

 

And our first glimpse of king penguins down on the beach

A couple Magellanic about to go out for a feed

Baby king penguin and an adult 

The beach from the top of the cliff

classic king pose

The shop on Saunders Island did have some wares to sell

 

Back to the ship after a great day

[gatoratlarge]

11 minutes ago, AKR1 said:

Today’s FT has an extraordinary article about another Ponant voyage from Ushuaia to Lyttleton, NZ , a month long trip that is the equivalent of two transatlantic voyages with Antarctica rarely out of sight. 
Unfortunately behind a paywall but if Joe has interest I can DM it to him. 😃

I bet that’s aboard their icebreaker the Charcot — it’s a bit of a wallet breaker too but I’d sure love to go sometime 😁👍🏻

[gatoratlarge]

Our group’s sightings list:

 

Birds:

Wandering albatross
Sooty albatross
Black browed albatross
Cape petrel
Giant petrel
Southern fulmars
Austral thrush
Upland goose
King cormorant
Imperial shag
Turkey vulture
Long tailed meadow lark
Striated cara cara
Ruddy headed goose
Antarctic oystercatcher
Austral storm petrel
South Georgia pintail
Kelp gull
Sheathbill
South Georgia pipit
Light mantled sooty albatross
Bronze skua
Gentoo penguin
Rockhopper penguin
King penguin
Macaroni penguin
Magellenic penguin
Antarctic tern
South American tern
Snow petrel
Chinstrap penguin
Adelie penguin
EMPEROR PENGUIN

 

Cetaceans:

Fin whale
Humpback whales
Peale’s dolphin

dusky dolphins
Pilot whales

Orcas (crew spotted them, we did not😆)

 

Pinnipeds:

Antarctic fur seal
Southern elephant seal
South American sea lion (Tierra del Fuego)
Weddel seal

Crabeater seal
Leopard seal (poor view but crew confirmed)

 

Landings/zodiacs:
Grave Cove (Falklands)
Saunders Island (Falklands)
Grytviken (South Georgia)
Fortuna Bay (South Georgia)
Hercules Bay (South Georgia)
Ocean Harbor (South Georgia)
Gibbon Bay (South Orkney Islands)
Brown Bluff (Antarctic Peninsula)
Ice floe landing & kayaking in Weddell Sea (Snow Hill)
Half Moon Island (South Shetland Islands)
Telefon Bay, Deception Island (part of S Shetland chain) 

[Atravelynn]

Every gator at large shot has a great big smile!

[gatoratlarge]

I was beginning to think we were snake bitten when in the briefings aboard the ship they began to tell us that avian influenza/bird flu had reached South Georgia and that the authorities were closing off areas and introducing strict visitation rules and restrictions. 
 

Admittedly, I don't know much about bird flu but they believed that the skuas had introduced it to the island as they traverse long distances across the Southern Ocean.  So far, it had not effected the penguin colonies but they had seen signs of its effects on the elephant seals...all very unfortunate and scary considering the importance of the island to bird and pinniped populations in the southern hemisphere.

 

it is the greatest concentration of bird life on the planet with more than 100 million seabirds!

 

We were told that we might be one of the last vessels to visit this season if the situation became worse.  Where we were permitted to land, were were not allowed to sit, or put any backpacks down, or kneel.  And our clothing and equipment were given incredible scrutiny looking for the tiniest seeds or outside materials.  If the authorities find that a ship or company has been lax, they may be prohibited from visiting and fined heavily.  I was happy Ponant was as diligent and meticulous---their team really cared about not adversely effecting the environment in any way.

 

We lost a day already due to the stormy sea conditions and since a visit to South Georgia was one of the main reasons for choosing this trip, things were a bit tense.  St Andrews Bay was closed off to visitors but Salisbury Plains was still open.  The crew decided on Fortuna Bay and candidly there was a mixed reaction (some had their hearts set on Salisbury and lobbied the crew) but after our visit I think folks were very happy as it is an epic sight with tens of thousands of king penguins and their chicks!  The scenery is just  beyond spectacular and the weather was stunning that day.  Not being able to visit some of the standard crowd pleasers opened up other options like Hercules Bay and Ocean Harbor (Gold Harbor was also closed off due to bird flu) and the sights in those places were mystical, total magic...so as we said before, what you lose in the roundabouts you make up in the swings...

 

Some Fortuna Bay shots (trying not to repeat earlier posted pics):

 

Inquisitive king penguin

Surveying the colony

 

Waddling back from sea to the colony

 

 

 

 

Before going anywhere you must check in at Grytviken. The seat of government and as far as I know, the only settlement. It’s the sight of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grave where the captain gave a moving toast and also the sight of the decommissioned whaling station. A rusting relic of a bygone era. 175,000 whales were slaughtered here and populations still have not fully recovered. There’s a tiny post office and a small but nice museum. There’s also a replica of the small dingy that Shackleton sailed 800 miles to reach South Georgia from Antarctica and return to save his crew.There are also fur seals camping out to keep their territory and elephant seals too. 

 

 

 

A whaling vessel

 

Shackleton’s grave

Wandering albatross with a wingspan of more than 10’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a few from Hercules Bay:

 

 

Not all smiles 😆 trying to focus in a bobbing zodiac wasn’t always a picnic 

[Kitsafari]

fabulous landscape sceneries, awesome first shot in the latest post of the inquisitive king penguin flanked by two other penguins and towered by a vertical rock. you all gained with the loss - king penguins are so delightful! Shawn gave the best context as to how enormous the albatross is! 

[Atravelynn]

Finally a pensive, serious picture of you!  Focusing on a moving boat can also induce sea sickness, which wipes away the smile.  Very concerning about the avian flu.  You were lucky to be able to land at South Georgia.  How disappointing if you could not.  Hope the avian species are not seriously affected.  You continued to have nice sun for your photos.

[gatoratlarge]

A few more solo shots of South Georgia:

These chicks were both cute fuzzies and also a bit terrifying in the face especially when aggressively begging to be fed by an adult!

these kings all tucked neatly in a row:

a South Georgia Pintail I believe 

 

Plenty of fur seals getting ready for mating season battling it out with other males for prime real estate along the beaches. It was actually a strange sight seeing them almost evenly spaced along the beach waiting for the females to arrive 😆

 

 

 

 

 

some elephant seals napping and kings

A youngster

 

More waddling kings

 

 

Few more of the beautiful coastline of Hercules Bay:

 

 

and our last stop in South Georgia was Ocean Harbor — a place of elephant seals and plenty of fur seals:

 

 

Edited January 5 by gatoratlarge

[gatoratlarge]

After departing South Georgia we had a couple days at sea to reach the Antarctic peninsula with a stop at the South Orkneys which are considered a part of Antarctica. But on the voyage SSW we passed another interesting sight. The captain woke us up around 4:40AM to go out on deck in the fog to view D-28. It was so foggy we had to get much closer than I imagine the captain wished to see it. 
 

D-28 is the 9th largest iceberg ever recorded. It broke off the Amery Ice Shelf in September 2019, and has been floating around ever since.  It represents 300 billion tons of ice(!!!) it’s 630 square miles, the size or greater London, or Los Angeles or Houston or Duval County, FL or five times the size of Malta 😆 it’s more than 600’ thick or the height of a 60 story building from top to bottom!  60km long, 30km wide. Here’s a foggy view of it:

 

 

[bartleby]

Wonderful narration and fantastic photos/videos.

 

You mention Baffin island in your first post. Would love to hear more about your trip there if you are planning on publishing a report. 

[gatoratlarge]

@bartlebythanks for your comment---I wasn't sure if anyone was still with me so I was about to abandon ship 

 

Interesting you ask about Baffin Island -- several SafariTalkers went and we chose an outfitter, Baffin Safari---I think a trip report never materialized because folks must have  subscribed to "if you can't say something nice"...it just was a bad experience with the outfitter and sadly, I could not recommend using him.  I won't go into all the details but suffice to say what was advertised on the website was not the experience provided by almost any measure.

 

The weather wasn't ideal but we did not take full advantage of the ice floe edge experience even when the weather was cooperating (we were there for a full week) which was the purpose of the trip: to see narwhals and polar bears along the ice floe edge.  We did have a beautiful camp site setting and saw some arctic foxes and seals but got the distinct impression that most of the polar bears had been hunted out by the Inuits in the area.  Our spot along the ice floe one of the (two!) times we were allowed to visit was within view of some Inuit hunters---I can only imagine spotting narwhals (which we did not) only to have them harpooned and dragged up onto the ice within our sight!!! If I were to do it again, I'd use Black Feather or Arctic Kingdom.  I do think their camps were much closer to the floe edge and they saw narwhals even if not incredible views.  I think you have to be very lucky to get good views of narwhals (like when they are trapped and waiting for the pack ice to open up)...the wind blowing the ice has a lot to do with how close you can be to the edge.

 

Happy to share more if you are interested.  PM me for more.

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

30 minutes ago, gatoratlarge said:

I wasn't sure if anyone was still with me so I was about to abandon ship

 

Please don't Joe, I'm absolutely with you all the way and enthralled with this report. I need to go to Antarctica yesterday!

[janzin]

46 minutes ago, gatoratlarge said:

thanks for your comment---I wasn't sure if anyone was still with me so I was about to abandon ship 

We are here, just waiting for the next installment!

 

[gatoratlarge]

2 hours ago, janzin said:

3 hours ago, gatoratlarge said:

thanks for your comment---I wasn't sure if anyone was still with me so I was about to abandon ship 

We are here, just waiting for the next installment!

 

😂😂😂 good deal. I only have a couple more installments—kept waiting for my cohorts to chime in but alas they’ve left me out here typing solo! 😂

[gatoratlarge]

I just looked at a map the ship provided of our exact voyage and am surprised how close we still were to South Georgia when we spotted D28---no wonder there were so many icebergs floating around---they had broken off this massive iceberg.  So many bergs around S GA was apparently unusual. I thought we were somewhere in the middle between South Georgia and the South Orkneys but interesting to see our exact location.

So the next two days were at sea and after our baptism by fire between the Falklands and South Georgia, the seas never really seemed particularly rough after that.  We had gained our sea legs and the weather had improved.  Expedition ships and cruises are a little different and not having been on either kind but a time or two, stops are apparently subject to change and are really suggestions.  On the initial itinerary on the Ponant website the South Orkneys were mentioned as a stop (that and a stop in the Falklands) differentiated the trip from a similar itinerary on Quark.  But the crew didn't seem to be overly aware of this and in fact but for the lobbying by @SangeetaI’m not 100% sure we wouldn't have done anything other than wave as we passed by!

 

In the rough seas between the Falklands and South Georgia the crew had spotted orcas and pilot whales — I whiffed entirely on the orcas and believe a caught a glimpse of the pilot whales but am I sure?  Not really…but in this stretch we came across some humpbacks and a fin whale making their way south to the rich feeding grounds of Antarctica:

not great pics but…

 

We did do a zodiac cruise in Gibbon Bay on the east coast of Coronation Island in the South Orkneys.  The Orkneys are considered a part of Antarctica so we had transitioned from sub-Antarctica to Antarctica itself.  The islands are 90% glaciated and certainly looked like we had arrived in Antarctica.

It was where we encountered our first couple of Adelies and a large chinstrap colony.  We also had our best views of Weddell seals and the scouting crew had spotted a leopard seal patrolling the shoreline hoping to pick off a penguin entering the sea or exiting. 
Adelie on the rocks

The chinstraps

 

 

A Weddell seal and belly flopping chinstrap 

 

 

 

 

We did spot a seal bobbing along the rocks as a leopard seal would but whether it was a leopard seal or another Weddell, we'll never know.  I'm going to say it was a leopard based on behavior and where it was patrolling...and in-so-far as they had spotted one before we boarded the zodiacs as they scouted the location. 

 

I tried posting some photos of how high on the cliffs the chinstraps seemed to favor but they wouldn’t upload. This video shows them as little dots—quite remarkable that such a clumsy appearing, flightless bird hop their way to such heights. The guides told us it was because these ridges are the areas clearest of snow and best for laying their eggs. 

I thought these pics were interesting as it’s a heat map from my iPhone. Shows where the gps pegs where you take photos. The ones on the South American continent are from a previous trip to Patagonia but you can see the route of our ship very clearly. 
 

 

Next up, our unplanned foray into the Weddell Sea…

Edited January 8 by gatoratlarge

[Kitsafari]

20 hours ago, gatoratlarge said:

@bartlebythanks for your comment---I wasn't sure if anyone was still with me so I was about to abandon ship 

 

 

 

 

I thought you were referring to when you were on the cruise!! i only got it after reading michael's comment. 

I;'ve been waiting on you.....

 

20 hours ago, gatoratlarge said:

Interesting you ask about Baffin Island -- several SafariTalkers went and we chose an outfitter, Baffin Safari---I think a trip report never materialized because folks must have  subscribed to "if you can't say something nice"...it just was a bad experience with the outfitter and sadly, I could not recommend using him.  I won't go into all the details but suffice to say what was advertised on the website was not the experience provided by almost any measure.

 

The weather wasn't ideal but we did not take full advantage of the ice floe edge experience even when the weather was cooperating (we were there for a full week) which was the purpose of the trip: to see narwhals and polar bears along the ice floe edge.  We did have a beautiful camp site setting and saw some arctic foxes and seals but got the distinct impression that most of the polar bears had been hunted out by the Inuits in the area.  Our spot along the ice floe one of the (two!) times we were allowed to visit was within view of some Inuit hunters---I can only imagine spotting narwhals (which we did not) only to have them harpooned and dragged up onto the ice within our sight!!! If I were to do it again, I'd use Black Feather or Arctic Kingdom.  I do think their camps were much closer to the floe edge and they saw narwhals even if not incredible views.  I think you have to be very lucky to get good views of narwhals (like when they are trapped and waiting for the pack ice to open up)...the wind blowing the ice has a lot to do with how close you can be to the edge.

 

 

 

Bad memories. already erased. 

 

That is one ginormous iceberg - almost an entire city adrift. sounds like a movie coming on. 

I didn't understand the part about 

"On the initial itinerary on the Ponant website the South Orkneys were mentioned as a stop (that and a stop in the Falklands) differentiated the trip from a similar itinerary on Quark.  But the crew didn't seem to be overly aware of this and in fact but for the lobbying by @SangeetaI’m not 100% sure we wouldn't have done anything other than wave as we passed by!"

 

did the ship not want to stop at south orkney (but why?) but sangeeta used her most powerful persuasive powers to order them to do so?  

Edited January 8 by Kitsafari

[gatoratlarge]

1 hour ago, Kitsafari said:

1 hour ago, Kitsafari said:

 

I didn't understand the part about 

"On the initial itinerary on the Ponant website the South Orkneys were mentioned as a stop (that and a stop in the Falklands) differentiated the trip from a similar itinerary on Quark.  But the crew didn't seem to be overly aware of this and in fact but for the lobbying by @SangeetaI’m not 100% sure we wouldn't have done anything other than wave as we passed by!"

 

did the ship not want to stop at south orkney (but why?) but sangeeta used her most powerful persuasive powers to order them to do so?  

 

@kitsafari that’s pretty much correct — our captain (who we were delighted to have) was filling in for the one we we were supposed to have (as he was injured in a glider accident) and even some of the guides seemed to not be aware that the itinerary made a point of mentioning the Orkneys as a stop. I don’t know if it was a possibility we would just make visual contact but sail past but when there seemed to be a bit of uncertainty, @Sangeetastepped in and made sure they knew our expectations 😁

[gatoratlarge]

It'd be nice to just sit back and let whatever come what may, but that's not really human nature  at least that's not mine. 😁 So the next silly worry was whether we would actually touch foot on the Antarctic continent or did perhaps the cruise line consider all the islands that fleck the coastline of the  peninsula  "Antarctica"?  I mean they'd be right.  They ARE considered as such but silly as it might seem, it's an awful long way to go to not set foot on the actual White Continent itself.  In my own defense, I never even considered that we wouldn't, but one nervous nelly in our party was concerned about it and although I didn't show it, I became a bit nervous about it myself!  

 

But my worries were all alleviated at the daily briefing where the head guide announced we'd be setting foot on Antarctica at Brown Bluff the following day.  But then the slide picture they showed was of these brown cliffs snow-less and quite frankly underwhelming 😆 not looking particularly like how I imagined Antarctica to be! 😆😬 Sheesh!  You just can't please this guy!  😂

 

But when we awakened and saw these beautiful bluffs, they were encased by glaciers and covered in snow---it was one of the advantages to being on one of the earliest cruises of the summer season. 
 

For me, it was my seventh continent, something I never really dreamed.  And it was spectacularly beautiful!

 

you can see the Brown Bluffs best in the video. Some of my pics don’t upload for some reason 😩

Once ashore we were greeted by a very busy gentoo penguin colony, probably my favorite penguin species for sheer entertainment. A parade of penguins entering and exiting the sea. Adelies made their way to a colony further up the cliff. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ponant’s team of naturalists were most excellent and always around to explain what exactly it was we were seeing.

Steppin’ out!

 

Well fed!

Don’t mind us!  Mating gentoos:

 

 

 

Here’s an Adelie

 

 

The Adelies favored the high ground behind the gentoos or perhaps they just got beat to the lower ground. 

A snowy sheathbill — pretty in color but with an unfortunate face. They scavenge and even eat penguin poo, thus sometimes called the sh!tbill. 😁

 

 

 

 

 

Volcanic formations all around:

 

Next, the biggest surprise of the trip!

Edited January 9 by gatoratlarge

[Kitsafari]

beautiful. 

Love the silence and massiveness of the bluffs in the video.