Just after midnight the National Geographic Orion was continuing its steady cruise through a massive field of very large tabular icebergs in Antarctic Sound just off the western tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Our sturdy expedition ship had been traversing through this extensive array of ice for over two hours, as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, flooding the scene with beautiful light. The scene was almost surreal, with golden light illuminating the ice, and spectacular pastels in the sky behind!
Finally, our trusty ship rounded one of these very large icebergs and finally reached what had been anticipated for several hours, the monster berg that the Captain had been telling us about. This incredibly large tabular was about six miles, or eleven kilometers, long – one of the largest that any of us had seen in our travels to the “Frozen Continent!” There was a lot of amazement, celebrating, and a little partying going on as we pushed onward in the very early morning! A truly spectacular evening for our last day in Antarctica!
By the next morning, as the National Geographic Orion slowly came to life, we were already in the Drake Passage, heading back toward Ushuaia and the end of our exciting adventure. We were blessed with calm seas as we inched north through this sometimes unsettled part of the Southern Ocean. We still had some sea birds following the ship, even though the wind was very calm!
As the day wore on there were a number of continuing presentations by the staff and National Geographic photographer, which entertained and informed us as we sailed north. Soon it was time for another fabulous dinner, maybe another cocktail, and a peaceful night’s sleep, dreaming about all those wonderful experiences in Antarctica!
