We begin with a zodiac tour.
The sceneries around us are from another world
so we don’t mind too much to get wet when big waves hit the Zodiac.
This morning we are going to see the wreckage of the ship Governoren
The history of the Antarctic continent is filled with heroic stories and disasters.
Exploration of this inhospitable continent started in the 19th century when boats were made of wood and men were made of iron.
People like Nordenskjold, Gerlache and Shackleton made history with their tales of courage strength and ability to survive.
The “heroic era” culminated at the beginning of the 20th century with the race to the South Pole between Amundsen and Scott in 1911.
The Norwegian in the end won the race getting fame and glory back at home while the English explorer not only faced the disappointment to reach the pole few days later to find a Norwegian tent and flag but him and his men died of exhaustion on the way back.
It is not easy to navigate in these waters, even with a small zodiac.
Icebergs of all size and shape are constantly appearing around the corner and our driver is doing the best to avoid them while we are doing our best to capture them.
Our first encounter with animal life is with a kelpgull making a dive, probably to catch a krill, the small shrimp that pretty much represents the base of the diet of most animals in the Antarctic.
We come back to the Ushuaia after 2 exhilarating hours.
We don’t even have the time to get changed that the captain announces on the speakers that there is a humpback whale far in the distance at 10 o clock.
We all rush out from our cabins, some people half naked (probably from Scandinavia) or wearing flip flops, so that we can admire this 15 meters whale making few passages and diving showing off the tale......no jumps or splash this time I am afraid.
The program for the afternoon is to visit a colony of Gentoo penguins in our first landing on the continent at Puerto Neko and do a little bit of climbing to take some areal pictures of the bay.
It is too early to spot any chicks of penguins as the Gentoos have just begun to lay their eggs.
These penguins are seriously monogamist. They raise their chicks together, taking turns to go fishing walking in line in the snow using tracks called “the penguin highway”.
The highway can be easily recognised as it is bright orange, due to the excrements left behind by the penguins on strict krill diet.
We climb for 30 minutes, sometimes sinking in 80 cms of snow.
The wind is strong and blinding but for once we don’t feel too cold as the climbing keeps us warm and in the end we are rewarded with great views of the bay.
What a start! Back at the ship for dinner we are already looking forward to tomorrow.
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