December 8th – The Antarctic Peninsula

After another bumpy night we reached the South Shetland Isalnds and the
inside passage fo the Antarctic Peninsula.  The mountains are stunning,
rising straight out of the water, some as high as 10,000 feet.  After some
serious thought and reviewing weather conditions the captain decided to take
us as far south as possible today and then begin working our way back up the
passage.

Mid-morning found us entering Lemaire Channel.  This narrow channel is
spectacular with high rock walls and loads of snow and icebergs.  Once
inside the passage the rough waters subsided completely, the sun came out,
and the start of a glorious day was at hand.  We spotted Leopard Seals on
the ice flows and the varying colors of blue in the ice and the glaciers
that surrounded us were amazing.

Our first landing was to a colony of Gento penguins.  We were all issued our
bright yellow Antarctic parkas, boots, and life jackets.  Once by one we
made our way down the gangway to the water’s edge where our zodiacs were
waiting.  Twelve at a time we were ferried to the shoreline line were we
disembarked.  Pengujins were everywhere, totally oblivious to us and simply
going about their life of feeding and then climbing up the slopes to their
awaiting mate who was patiently keeping their precious egg warm.  We started
a climb to the top of the mountain, not an easy task, passinjg colony after
colony of birds, all nesting on the warm rock outcroppings.  It took nearly
an hour to reach the top and the reward was worth the effort.  Hundreds of
birds, climbing up as high as us mind you, surrounded us.  We sat and took
photos and marveled at the spectical.

After several hours on shore we returned to the ship for lunch.  Our next
landing would be at 2:00PM.  We sailed back up the channel and into a quiet
bay.  There the expedition leaders once again surveyed the weather and
possible landing spots.  The decision was made to head north toward the
upper regions of the peninsula and to a bay full of whales, seals, and of
course more penguins.

Lunch was terrific and the conversation was full of recollections of what we
had seen that morning.  At around 2:30 PM we once again disembarked to a
beach and began our wandering through the myriad of penguin colonies.  After
several hundred photos we once again returned to the ship for dinner and
then a movie in Tom and Bobbies suite