The best breakfast we had the entire journey was hands down Friday the 12th. We had buttermilk pancakes with cream and berries, unreal. Of course the buffet had hashbrowns, bacon, fried samosas, and fruit, too. Nick and I figured out we could also order hot chocolate with breakfast, which became a go-to. As we were enjoying our amazing breakfast Nick said something with his mouth full so I was annoyed. As it turns out he saw an orca, which nobody seemed too concerned about. What the heck? I guess everyone else sees them a lot but it was my first time so I ran from the table to get a better view outside on the deck. Wow it was beautiful! There were two of them swimming a small distance from the ship with mountains in the background. After watching them for a few minutes I went back inside to finish my breakfast.

As it turns out seeing orcas is a big deal because once I returned to my seat an announcement came on that we were going to be slowing down and opening up a viewing area on deck 5 in order to give people a better vantage point for watching the orcas. Goes to show how bad at orca spotting I am, there I was looking at 2 of them when there was a whole pod with 20+ members. The ship spent over 30 minutes moving slowly to watch the orca pod. The orcas got curious and started swimming directly alongside the ship and went back and forth underneath it. There were several babies, too, which were so cute. The orcas had several shades of grey rather than the distinct black and white colors like those in the northern hemisphere. It was one of the highlights for sure, we couldn’t believe how lucky we were. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. We later learned that we saw orca type B2.

Originally the plan for that morning was to head to Useful and Useless Islands, but the wind went from 5 knots to 30 knots so kayaking and zodiacs were cancelled. Instead, the ship deviated and made the 3 hour journey to Fournier Bay. While we cruised we got to attend a lecture all about penguins; there are so many different kinds. After the lecture we were all treated with amazing humpback whale sightings! I had never in my life seen whales before and now before lunch I had seen almost 50. The expedition leaders estimated over 16 humpback whales. They all had different tail patterns and were swimming close to the ship. Lunch was a bit delayed due to the whale excitement, but when we did eat it was fried fish and aioli, so good.

Once we made it to Fournier Bay our group got to go kayaking. The process to get in and out of the kayaks was longer than the activity itself. To get ready the ship lowered 2 kayaks at a time from their storage area down to the water, after they’ve already lowered the zodiac boats of course. After all 12 kayaks were in the water our group got called down. We each got a dry suit to put on overtop of our layers. Once in our zodiacs we cruised over to the area the guides wanted to start paddling in. There were penguins porpoising all around us and a few humpback whales having a feeding frenzy. We paddled for 1 hour and 15 minutes past icebergs and wildlife. Some icebergs were very blue and had penguins on them. Nick’s favorite was an iceberg with deep ridges and some penguins doing a little dance on top. It was like watching, Happy Feet. The weather wasn’t too cold but we did get a mild wind in the middle that made the paddling less smooth.

After our kayaking I decided to go for a run in the onboard gym. The treadmill faces the ocean and a humpback whale got incredibly close to the ship. While everyone else ran outside I didn’t want to stop my run. That resulted in a hilarious video where I attempted to film the whale coming super close but ended up just filming the dashboard of the treadmill instead. It was so close we could see the barnacles on it’s back. On the ship the expedition team was always changing plans and deciding things on the fly based on the weather. As luck would have it they announced that we would be doing a polar plunge right as I finished my run, perfect.

We were called to the zodiac boat by floor for the polar plunge experience. It was 5:30pm and the conditions in Fournier Bay were perfect. The water was still and a frisk 1°C. We each had a rope attached to us by our waist, just incase we tensed up in the water and needed to be pulled out. Having done a few polar plunges in the past I thought I was emotionally prepared for what was to come. As it turned out I was not. The water shocked my whole body and I think if I was in the water for 5 seconds more my whole body would’ve tensed up. Nick did a graceful dive in and thought that it was fine, show off. The other passengers enjoyed a warm cup of coffee with baileys after their jumps.

Dinner was excellent as usual. We tried the vegetable quiche with pickled onions (the best appetizer of the entire cruise), cauliflower soup, halibut with potatoes and asparagus, apple strudel, and chocolate ice cream with caramel and nuts. During dinner we continued to see whales from a distance in the water. Leaving the bay was gorgeous with views of calm seas, white mountains, icebergs, and tons of whales. We stood outside and took it all in after the meal. What an amazing day.

The next day we woke up cruising through the Newmaire Channel to get to Damoy Point. Not all meals were 5 stars and that breakfast was somewhat disappointing (in my opinion). It’s probably good I didn’t eat until I could explode for once. Our first activity was 1 hour of cruising around in a zodiac boat around Damoy Point. We saw penguins on the shore, penguins swimming like little torpedos in the clear water, icebergs, and one other cruise ship.

Next our zodiac dropped us off on land where we got to walk around the designated paths for 1.5 hours. Once we started doing our loop we saw gentoo penguin nests, a humpback whale getting nice and close to a zodiac out on the water, spectacular mountains all around, and icebergs galore. At the disembarkation zone was a hut used for people researching in the area and for resupplies for people journeying further south. It was neat to walk around inside where they still had bunk beds, a kitchen, and a visitors’ log. Damoy Hut also had some signs inside explaining more about the history. For lunch we had pork, rainbow trout, seaweed salad, noodles, and strawberry ice cream.

From 1:00 – 2:00pm we cruised through Peltier Channel, which was absolutely stunning. The water was so glossy and reflective. There were a few whales and I watched the scenery from a chair outside with a friend and a cup of hot cocoa. Then the views somehow got even more magical as we entered into Lemaire Channel. That was a narrow passage to get to our afternoon locations. There were reflections of mountains, icebergs, penguins, and whales. It’s hard to describe how magical it felt sailing through that area. We also saw a fin whale, which was new for us!

Finally we arrived to Petermann Island where my group got to do citizen science. Our zodiac zipped around to different locations for 1.5 hours. We dropped a sechi disk and measured the depth at which we could no longer see it. That approximates the amount of phytoplankton in the water. The next activity was cruising along the shoreline to take photos of snow algae and report that data using an app. In total there were over a dozen humpback whales all around us. We ended up whale watching for a large portion of our time and taking photos of the flukes (whale tails) for Happy Whale.

Along the shore and swimming in the water we could see gentoo and adelli penguins, glassy water surface, and icebergs. Dinner was salmon, fried brie with jam, carrot and ginger soup, and lava cake. As we ate, around 10 whales were spotted near the ship. It got to the point where people would react less and less to seeing them, they were just everywhere! After dinner we relaxed on deck 5 hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the whales. After none of them appeared we went back to our room where we suddenly saw 4 large whales all fluking right outside our porthole window. What timing, of course it’s when we left the deck!

The day started with some eggs florentine, samosas, and hashbrowns. It didn’t take long to arrive at our first destination of Danco Island. Our group got to snowshoe there, which was perfect. The snow was deep and soft and the loop led up a big hill to get 360 degree views of the harbor and icebergs all around. I felt bad for those without snowshoes, it must have been a difficult walk. We spent 2.5 hours on the island and I could’ve stayed there much longer. To start we had to walk together as a group in a single file line, going up the hill in switchbacks. The hill was pretty easy but Nick and I both had to de-layer as the sun made it quite warm. When a friend of ours from LA saw me in just my T-shirt they couldn’t believe their eyes.

Once we made it to the top of the hill the views were incredible. After taking in the 360 views we began slowly making our way down the hill a different direction. We stopped so many times as there was a penguin ‘highway’ where penguins were going down from their nests to the ocean or returning to the nests from a successful fishing trip. They were so cute and orderly. It was funny watching them pass each other. The island had some penguin skeletons and broken eggs eaten by skuas. The water was so clear that on the way back to the ship we saw some shrimp, too.

Lunch was cod with soya sauce, sechuan style beef, turkey, vegetables, and eclairs with coffee and chocolate. For a few hours Nick and I spent some time on decks 5 and 7 enjoying the views. It was no surprise that we saw a few humpback whales. After my 3rd hot chocolate of the day I took some time to be productive inside and did some laundry that we hung up on the porthole windows.

Neko Harbour was our afternoon activity stop. We started with an hour long landing. The exciting part about that landing was that we were officially stepping foot on the continent and not just an island. We saw 4 weddell seals, and 1 had a big bird nearby eating stuff off of its tail. Another seal was lying nearby all the penguins who didn’t seem to care too much about him. There were several deep penguin highways where we could not see their whole bodies when they were in them. There were a few nests and one even had two eggs. There was a glacier in the background of the top nests with deep blue cracks. It was beautiful.

After our landing it was time to cruise around in the zodiac for an hour. We cruised by the glaciers, listened to a piece of ice, and saw two humpback whales. One whale was doing some pretty weird stuff. It swam sideways, switched sides a lot, and was showing us its flippers. For dinner we had beef tartar, pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, sea bream with tropical salad, lemon meringue pie, chocolate cake, and vanilla ice cream. We were absolutely stuffed after that.

Rongé Island was our final stop after dinner for the most exciting activity yet, camping! Our zodiacs dropped off all 100 campers on the island where we got a little tour of the area. It took around 1 hour to transfer everyone with their equipment. The expedition staff had marked off where we could go with little flags. The campsite was called Kerr Point campsite. There was a large area where we could pick where to set up in and along the far edge the staff had dug three holes for some outdoor toilets. Two for the women and one for the men. Some campers opted to go higher up the hill to have a view of the bay and others choose as close to the water’s edge as possible.

Nick and I chose the corner farthest away from the biggest gathering of people and right by the water. To set up we had to stomp out a flat area for our tarps to go underneath our sleeping mats. Then we blew up our small sleeping mats to put on top. Finally a sleeping bag on top of that and then everything (except for the underneath tarp) got put inside a waterproof bag layer. I didn’t like that very much as it really restricted my movement, I think it needed to be slightly larger. It did keep us all waterproof, though. We watched a sleeping weddell seal, penguins curiously exploring our area, and a seal swimming through the water.

We saw gentoo penguins and adelli penguins. The colors were pink and gorgeous. The ship even left the bay for the evening so we could have views without it. We went to sleep at 11:30pm and it was only a few degrees C in the minus. I woke up a few times to air out my very warm sleeping bag and enjoy the views around me. It was so bright outside that my stomach thought it was breakfast time. We listened to the sounds of small avalanches all night and the occasional whale. I’m surprised nobody thought my stomach grumbling was a whale.

Wake up was at 4:30am for all the campers out on the island. I slept right through it so Nick had to wake me up. Apparently the alarm was one of the expedition leaders playing the harmonica as we were not allowed to have alarm clocks. We packed up all of our gear and got in line to get on one of the first zodiac boats back to the ship. It was a very foggy morning with thick fog all along the center of the mountains. At 5:30am we got on our boat and hung up all of our camping gear to dry on deck 7 where the staff had set up several ropes. There was apparently a mini breakfast on deck 5, but whoever was in charge of telling people that missed the first dozen campers as we had no idea. After a warm shower I had the best nap of my life. Nick was slower hanging up his sleeping bag and tarp and managed to hear about the breakfast.

I reluctantly woke up for the official ship breakfast time. I was thankful that I did, because after breakfast we spent 2.5 hours out on the decks watching some of the most spectacular penguins and whales. At first we sailed past a large iceberg with so many little penguins on it. Then the two expedition leaders on deck both got so unbelievably excited. We saw a group of about 7 Arnoux’s Beaked whales (I’m embarrassed to say how many times I asked the leader to repeat herself as the name was unfamiliar to me). There were a few babies and several adults. Apparently they are not common to see and people were very excited. To be honest they were a bit far from the boat for me to able to tell them apart from the other whales. They can be under the water for a very long time since they eat squid, which can be pretty deep. They surfaced twice with a 1 hour interval in between. There was so much whale action that the ship stopped the engines and we just drifted along.

In addition to the new whales we also saw over 15 humpbacks. There were many mothers with their calves and a few sleeping whales too. The young calves were super playful: showing their flippers, fluking, and even breaching several times! It was amazing to see all the flukes in front of the glaciers and to watch the sleeping humpbacks just float along the surface. A highlight of the trip for me was when one humpback swam right to the boat so shallow that we could see its entire body and flippers from above. Its body had so many of those distinct humpback bumps. I didn’t get a good photo of it but I did get one of my favorite whale videos. I kept trying to go back inside to warm up but every time I went to leave another amazing thing would happen. A huge piece of ice fell off of an iceberg and resulted in big waves traveling towards the ship before I finally made my way back inside.

It was a good day to be a Swede onboard at lunch. The ship served all you could eat crayfish alongside other buffet options like pasta. As someone who can peal and eat crayfish easily I enjoyed two plates of them as my appetizer. It seemed like most people didn’t take any as they were not familiar with how to eat them. I happily demonstrated for our table how to do it so that they could give it a try. They were delicious and tiny. Nick enjoyed some pineapple and the daily ice cream.

Cuverville Island was our afternoon excursion area where we did both a cruise and a landing. Our cruise was just over 1 hour long and we enjoyed views of glaciers, fog, mountains, penguins, and a weddell seal all along the shoreline. We searched for leopard seals on the flat ice chunks unsuccessfully. For our 1 hour landing we saw several gentoo penguin nests, 1 lonely adelli penguin, and glaciers. There was a steep uphill area we went up to to get views of the island. There was a skua who was happily eating many penguin eggs. We saw one get an egg from a nest and saw several broken eggs along the areas we could walk.

We had a special dinner that evening on deck 5, a BBQ. There was roast beef, ribs, chicken, sausages, salads, and more. There was also a large dessert table with a big pineapple cake topped with meringue, brownies, sponge cake, brandy mousse, and dulce de leche ice cream. I opted for the ice cream with some salt on top. Dinner was followed by live music from Randy, the ship musician. He played the piano and the guitar while singing. The music and lyrics were off beat, but it was still very entertaining. Apparently Randy played live music every night in the deck 5 lounge, but we were always in bed so we missed it most of the time.

Another day, another fantastic breakfast. On day 8 we had toasted bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, and red onion. I got my own bacon, hot chocolate, and orange juice, too. My gums had at that point fully recovered from their mystery inflammation so I was happy to enjoy my first cup of juice onboard. Our first excursions were at Mikkelsen Harbour. First we did a 1 hour landing followed by a 50 minute zodiac cruise. The landing was a big loop with additional out and back dead ends to get closer to some nesting gentoo penguins. Many of the nests were on large rocky areas with glacier ice in the background. There was also an abandoned hut that several penguins happily hung out by, and several whale bones.

There was lots of poop at that location, the smell was definitely the strongest of all of our stops. It was about 1 week too early to see the baby penguins. We were told once the babies hatch the islands just get absolutely unbearable with the smell due to so many more penguins pooping. There was an elephant seal playing in the water near the penguins, throwing seaweed, rolling around, and scratching itself. We stood still at one of the nesting areas and watched penguins steal stones from each other’s nests to present to their own partners. One penguin, a true gentleman, wasn’t stealing anybody else’s stones, but collecting his own from farther way and happily woddling them over to his partner on their nest. They did that the entire time we were on the island, or at least every time we were close enough to see them.

At that point in our Antarctica adventure I truly felt like nothing could get any better. How could it possibly? Everywhere was uniquely beautiful and we had the luck of such great animal encounters. Well, I learned to never underestimate what’s to come because our zodiac cruise was something I never thought we’d see in real life. We got to watch 2 humpback whales eating using a unique strategy. They went below the surface and started blowing bubbles in a small circle area. That acts as a net trapping krill all together in the middle. The whale then goes straight up the center with its mouth open and breaches the water sideways. The other zodiac boat got to see a whale go straight up out of the water perfectly vertical.

For lunch that day we had braised oxtail, mashed potatoes, vegetables, deviled eggs, and strawberry ice cream. It was about 0°C and many people started to get excited as it started snowing. It was a bit chilly out on deck with low dark grey fog around us. Everyone who went camping went up to deck 7 to help pack up the sleeping bags and tarps into their bags. It was pretty efficient working together on it. Outside we saw 2 orcas from far away swimming behind the boat, so cool!

Our last excursion was at a location called Cierva Cove where we went zodiac cruising for almost 2 hours. One of the couples on the ship took out their own zodiac and got married out there! So cool. We saw a minke whale, another new type for us. We saw several humpback whales (no surprise there), chinstrap penguins, and an Argentinian manned base. There was a small boat wreck on an island full of flying birds that was scenic as well. The cove had many icebergs that we looked at and penguins swimming around everywhere. We also saw some jump back onto the rock island from the water, not very gracefully.

We learned that two other zodiacs saw a leopard seal on a piece of ice. I was disappointed about that since they are not super common to see and we missed the other sighting a few days before as well. One of the passengers shared the photos with us, though, which was very nice. Our zodiac boat did do one cool thing at the end that we hadn’t done previously. We found a nice piece of clear ice and took that back to the ship to use for our drinks. That was our last activity off of the ship in Antarctica, what a way to end!

Back on the ship we had toasted goodbye to Antarctica. Dinner was pickled radish, bread, perch with white wine sauce, and hazelnut ice cream. After dinner we had a real treat, the crew talent show. It was pretty long with many acts that included singing, dancing, and ‘magic’. The magic show was my personal favorite where the two performers used a bed sheet to hide how they made glasses of beer ‘disappear’ and a volunteer from the audience’s bra, too. After their show it was a big dance party with everybody on the floor. The doctor ran out during a Micheal Jackson song took his shoes off and did the moon walk followed by the splits. Of course once Nick left the room I did the worm, as is tradition. That evening we began our journey back to the Drake Passage. We had such an incredible time.