Sunday 17 February 2013

Ice at breakfast, sun at lunch, shopping in the afternoon and camping during the night!



Our plan A for the morning has been the Ukrainian Vernadsky Station, but the wind forced our expedition leader Karin into plan B. And we can say only, Plan B – ice cruising in the Lemaire Channel - worked out wonderful. Dressed up warmly in special floating suits all passengers had the possibility for a 30 minute ice cruise. The ice looks so different if you can watch it directly from the water level.  Dark blue ice was covered with clear white fresh fallen snow. The Polar Circle boat driver made their way through the very dense ice to show us the wildlife, like sea birds, Crab eater seals and Leopard seals. This cruise will be unforgettable for all passengers.








During lunchtime the sun found its way through the deep hanging clouds. Even patches of blue sky could be seen. But in the afternoon we had snow again. But that hasn’t been too bad as we were visiting Port Lockroy. Port Lockroy is the former British “BASE A” that was set up during the operation Tabarin in 1941. Today it is a museum, shop and post office managed by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. Everybody used the opportunity to send postcards to family or friends and to buy some nice souvenirs.




After dinner the last event of the day started for those guests they signed up for camping in Antarctica. With the help of the expedition team the tents were built up very fast at the beach on Danco Island. The sound of melting ice, whales, seals and penguins have been the Antarctic Music during this very special night.