With only three excursion days remaining, the weather finally improved. It’s about time.
Day Seven:
We have mostly blue skies. No fog, no rain, no snow. A decent amount of clouds, but who cares. It was just absolutely perfect weather with calm seas.
You could tell a difference immediately. The passengers, crew, and expedition guides all had an extra bit of pep. Everyone was happy and ready to get going on our excursions.
This is probably the single best day that Stephanie and I have ever spent outdoors.
Our morning excursion was a combined landing and zodiac cruise at Yalour Island. Those of us in groups A and B started with a landing at a colony of Adelie penguins. And this morning they were enjoying belly surfing in fresh snow. I took countless photographs of Adelies just gliding along. I could have watched the Adelies all day.
We were in the second group to go zodiac cruising, and what a cruise it was. We spent over an hour following several humpback whales surrounded by rafts of penguins. We knew it was a good zodiac cruise when we did not return to the ship until our guide was called several times over the radio to return.
Actually, that morning all zodiac drivers got the same message over the radio as we could plainly hear it (paraphrasing): “Attention – we need empty zodiacs immediately at the landing site. There is a long line of people waiting to return to the ship. Please head to the landing site.” As we heard this message we could look around and see all of the zodiacs out cruising in the bay. No one was in a hurry to go pick up the group C and D folks waiting at the landing site.
Mud room music of the day: Billy Joel; The Beatles; Genesis; Fleetwood Mac; and, Dolly Parton.
The afternoon was spent at Port Charcot on Booth Island, with anther combined landing / zodiac cruise excursion. Stephanie and I went zodiac cruising first. We saw so many whales and penguins that we damn near gave ourselves whiplash trying to see them all. Here is a typical whale tail video:
And more penguins:
As we pulled up to the landing site on the island, I was quite tempted to get off the zodiac, walk to the end of the line, and get back on board a different zodiac for another cruise with the C and D groups. I did not do it, but should have. The zodiac cruise that afternoon was that good.
On land we saw a King Penguin laying in the sun. King Penguins aren’t usually found this far south, so it was pretty remarkable to see one. It was a good landing site, but I found myself repeatedly longing to be out in a zodiac.
And I actually got to wear my sunglasses the entire day.
Tonight we again crossed through the Lemaire Channel heading back north. It was every bit as beautiful as we were led to believe a few days ago.
Day Eight:
Or, perfect weather day number two. Blue skies, fewer clouds. Calm waters.
Our morning excursion was a landing at Palaver Point. For the first time we began stripping down. Stephanie and I each wore only a t-shirt only under our parka and had on two pairs of pants instead of three.
We were a bit cool while riding in the zodiacs, but once on land we were much more comfortable.
Here we found our first colony of Chinstrap penguins along with numerous fur seals resting on the rocks.
The landing site was on a pretty steep hill and a sheet of ice had formed over the snow, so it was pretty treacherous. I think this was the first time I used hiking poles on land. Stephanie was one of several who wiped out while going downhill. Luckily no one was injured.
This afternoon we went zodiac cruising in Cierva Cove, mostly through surface ice. Crunching though surface ice in a zodiac was a new experience. For once I was actually thankful that some clouds rolled in so we did not get sunburned.
At dinner someone saw a whale outside and yelled out, just like on day four. Tonight, however, no one paid any attention.
The movie this evening was Ocean, a documentary narrated by David Attenborough. Stephanie and I intended to watch it, but after a couple of Coors Lights, literally forgot to do so. Instead we played cards with another couple.
Day Nine:
Perfect weather, day three. As with the others on board, we were practically giddy with our continued good luck.
In hindsight, we were extraordinarily fortunate to have three great weather days at the end of our trip. Had we started with three great weather days only to be followed by four lousy ones, it probably would have been disappointing.
Our morning began in Flanders Bay, when the wake-up call (daily around 7:30 AM) broadcast the fact that two humpback whales were sleeping next to the ship. By the time we went to breakfast, more sleeping humpback whales were spotted.
Zodiac cruising was the morning excursion. We were in the second group to go out. Those in the first group reported seeing a lot of humpback whales, many were sleeping, some were moving.
On our zodiac cruise, we saw zero sleeping whales. But we saw a whole lot of actively feeding humpback whales. Sometimes the whales were seen from afar. Other times they were almost within touching distance. Our zodiac literally went to a spot in the bay and just sat there for an entire hour. Rather than chasing after whales, there were so many that we could afford to sit and wait for the whales to come to us.
Our final afternoon excursion was a landing at Damoy Point, comprised of a colony of Gentoo penguins and relatively fresh, deep snow to trudge through. This was probably the least interesting landing site on the entire cruise, but the excellent weather made it worthwhile.
The final mud room music selection: Hank Williams; George Strait; Waylon Jennings; Willie Nelson; Dwight Yoakam; and, David Allan Coe.
This afternoon also featured an open house on the bridge level where we got to see navigation in action.
Tonight the ship started back across the Drake Passage. Rough seas were not expected, but we took a Bonine motion sickness pill just to be safe.
Day Ten:
We spent the day heading north across the Drake Passage to Ushuaia. The weather called for swells up to 10 feet (around 3 meters). For the Drake Passage, this is basically as calm as it gets. We did not bother taking another Bonine.
In the morning we went to two lectures: History of Early Antarctic Photography and the Race to the South Pole, both of which were fairly interesting. Our afternoon activity was a 20 minute walk through the kitchen galley led by the chef.
Mostly we spent the day stuffing our faces with deserts and beers.
Day Eleven:
We arrived dockside at 6:00 AM for disembarkation and another crappy Fly Bondi charter flight back to Buenos Aires. Our key cards were scanned out for the final time. In Buenos Aires it was time to say goodbye and temporarily split up from many new friends, though our paths continued to cross for the next month in Argentina.
Everyone we spoke to about our experience on this cruise agreed that it was worth every penny.
Garrett and Stephanie
If you have not already done so, read our other posts about our expedition cruise to Antarctica:
Antarctica (January, 2026, Part I, Atlas Ocean Voyages Cruise Overview). The World Navigator; our itinerary for the expedition cruise.
Antarctica (January, 2026, Part II, Cruise Days One to Three). Crossing the Drake Passage; gray day excursions.
Antarctica (February, 2026, Part III, Cruise Days Four to Six). Cold and overcast with occasional snow. It’s awesome.
For additional posts about our travels elsewhere in the world, check out our Travel Blog. It contains collected links to all of our travel posts.
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