Index
Day 1 - Flying
Day 2 - World Cup
Day 3 - Buenos Aires
Day 4 - Ushuaia
Day 5 - Drake Passage
Day 6 - Antarctic Circle
Day 7 - Antarctica
Day 8 - Antarctica
Day 9 - Antarctica
Day 10 - Antarctica
Day 11 - Antarctica
Day 12 - Drake Shake
Day 13 - Ushuaia
Day 14 - Return
Antarctica
Started the morning with an emperor penguin sighting on the ice. The captain even changed course for everyone to take pictures of the unexpected sighting of the nearly 4 feet and 90lb of penguin lazing on the ice.
Breakfast afterwards, then the zodiacs were deployed as the National Geographic Endurance was still in relatively calm waters east of Adelaide Island, south of the strait known as the Gullet. Freshly falling snow made for a perfect Christmas counterpart to the red Santa caps and other festive items the crew brought out. Chipstrap penguins, snow petrels, and seals occupied the icebergs, including some towering ones formed in a striking blue. After three mornings on the water, I was definitely grateful I had packed proper snow pants and ski googles for this morning.
Cruised through the longer Gunnel Channel instead of the shorter Gullet over lunch, then finally decided to wander over to the bridge. Saw some more humpback whales, and got to fully appreciate just how state-of-the-art the National Geographic Endurance is, from the sophisticated autopilot to the heated windscreens to how precise the system controls of the powerplant are.
Not to be outdone, orcas showed up not long after I left the bridge. Sizeable pod (12 or 14, I think?) including an adult male with a tall and triangular dorsal fin. They cruised in formation with the ship for a time as the excited passengers and staff looked on... then not to be shown up, 20 minutes later humpback whales decided to make an appearance. The humpback whales got so close you almost didn't need a zoom lens to appreciate them, and the water was clear enough you could see them several seconds before and after they submerged.
Somewhere in there was a presentation on the Earth's continents by Sergui, staff geologist, the continued stream of indifferent appetizers at cocktail hour, and of course, some proper meals. Lunch was supposed to be a thin-sliced ribeye roll with sausage, although mine seemed to be missing the sausage. Not bad but not great? Dinner had a few different items including turkey breast, I skipped and went for one of the regular menu items, supposedly a prime steak. It was not impressive, although it was at least properly cooked.