Monday January 7: Last Day in Antarctica: Beach Weather !!

Today is the end of our expedition, except for the long passage back to Ushuaia. We still have 2 more outings before we depart Antarctica. One is here at Niko Harbor. As I look through my cabin porthole, all I can see is glaciers on land, and icebergs and slush in the water. Amazing!

Later today, I'll add a new entry to my list of "the stupidest things I have ever done." Just before lunch, I'll be pushing aside some of those iceberg bits to take a swim in the Southern Ocean. What am I thinking??!!



8am landing at Niko Harbor, snow climb to 200m or so. From the pinnacle, we got a panoramic view of Antwart (sp?) Bay. God this place is gorgeous!

After lunch, I put on "the Patch," to prepare for our crossing of the Southern Ocean. It worked like a charm on my way down here. I hope it will do the trick again.

Just before lunch today, I joined the "polar penguin club" by swimming in the Southern Ocean, right about at the Antarctic Circle. It was rather ridiculous, I know, but you'd be amazed at what you can do if you put your mind to it.

The first 30 seconds are painful, as you can see from the facial expressions in the photos in this blog post. After that, you go numb, so it doesn't hurt anymore. The adrenaline just keeps on pumping though, so you are at high alert. After about 6 minutes you lose muscle control and drown. None of us stayed off the ship for more than 4 minutes or so.

I took the opportunity to test out my snorkle gear, and even to do a little sunbathing on top of an iceberg. Amazing weather, had to take advantage of it!

After lunch, we crossed the Gerlache Straight, and headed to the Milkier Islands for our final Zodiac cruise.

Angela's hospitality staff served dinner at 5:30pm, to allow time for digestion before reaching the rough seas of the open Southern Ocean. At 6pm, we began our return to Ushuaia.

Written that night: "It is now 9pm, and we're in the midst of the Drake Passage. The ship is rolling enough that you have to keep a hand on a rail at all times. We've been on the ship for 8 nights, but have had nothing but great weather. So most of us are stumbling clumsily through the ship's hallways. It'll take a while to get used to wave action again."

Sure enough, most of us had a few bruises before we reached the calm of the Beagle Channel. But we never had swells greater than 4 or 5 meters, whereas 20 meter swells are possible here. According to the staff, we had one of the easiest passages ever, and some of the best weather. Nice! January appears to be a very good time to visit Antarctica.