Antarctic travelogue

Neko harbour and Paradise bay

Day 6

• Position: Andvord bay
• Hour: 6:00am
• Latitude: 64°42’S
• Longitude: 62°55’W
• Distance: 801Nm
• Air temperature: 1°C
• Water temperature: 1°C

During the night our icebreaker professor Multanovskiy set sail sooner than expected, around 2.30am as a huge iceberg was dangerously drifting towards the ship. We reached the gorgeous Neko harbour bay around 8.30 where we were about to set foot on the Antarctic continent for the first time ever. Indeed, so far we only explored islands of the peninsula. We spent time gazing jumping penguins and listening to glacier rumbles eagerly waiting for the boat to be anchored.

The scenery was breathtaking. The ocean is like a mirror reflecting the surrounding high summits embedded in clouds creating a mystic atmosphere.
Although I was wearing my full kayak gear, I symbolically spent a few minutes on the ground with my team to immortalize our first steps on the 7th continent, the coldest and more hostile. Then we jumped in our kayaks to explore this lovely bay. I spot a lot of penguins on the shore and many of them jump in freezing water to go and catch food. As I start to paddle I am delighted to see so many icebergs, all sizes being represented, making the navigation much more interesting than in flat water. At the bottom of the bay we spot two humpback whales at the sound of their air blows. It took us another 45 minutes to paddle there but it was worth it! We spent almost an hour watching them. The two whales didn't seem bothered by our presence, they even gratified us with close passings, approximatively 4 meter from the kayaks!

Then we started to head back to the ship. All of a sudden a Minke whale appeared and escorted us for a few minutes. It was unbelievable. The whale kept on surfacing in front of every kayaks of the group so everybody can enjoy the show!
Today's lunch was a bit unusual given the location of the ship: the good weather conditions were indeed suitable for a barbecue on the icebreaker while sailing to Paradise bay

As we could imagine, the landscape at Paradise bay is enchanting. While most of the passengers went for a zodiac ride, we got onboard our kayaks to explore this place: we spotted several bird species living in the steep cliffs as well as Weddell seals and sealions. As we were paddling towards an argentinian scientific base two humpback whales came close to say hi: one of them waved at us with its pectoral fin. I find it amazing to paddle with whales almost everytime we are at sea.

The aim was not to visit the base but to climb up the cliff top which bottom we explored while kayaking. From up there the view of the quiet bay dotted with icebergs is breathtaking.

After diner 30 of us volunteered for a sleep out on the Antarctic continent.It was obviously a unique and fantastic experience, all the more than when we woke up we were surrounded by four Weddell seals who came here to rest! The expedition team gave us a full sleeping gear prior to go camping so that the exeprience could be lead in optimum conditions.

As we were about to sleep, confortably laid down in our sleeping bags, silence was only broken by whale air blows and glacier rumbles. All was set for a fantastic night!

[Continuation] Orne harbour and Wilhelmina bay