When you wake and it is calm, instead of rough seas like yesterday, you feel like you’re Scrooge and you woke up and have not missed Christmas after all—a second chance at life. Having gone through the Drake Passage, some of us having a better experience than others, a new day is upon us, bringing with it anticipation and excitement at the thought of having our first landing in Antarctica. Although the landing is still a few hours away all of us are excited about the potential of seeing our first penguins on shore.
There are however a few formalities to be finished before we can think about landing ashore. This morning we watched a mandatory video briefing about being a visitor to this magical place. The video covered all of the rules and regulations concerning the viewing of wildlife, the visitation to historic sites, and how important it is not to be the transport mechanism of introduce seeds and other things to the pristine habitat of Antarctica. Afterwards we all got decontaminated. This was nothing like high powered hoses slamming us against the walls as high pressure water blasted us a crossed the room, instead it was a gentle scrubbing of our boots and vacuuming of our packs to insure nothing unwanted came ashore with us.
When it came time to head to shore no one needed to make the announcement twice. We would go to shore in two distinct groups and all were ready and waiting for the first chance to see penguins up close. The first group would head to the beach first and they, the intrepid travelers that they were, would begin a three mile hike that would have them walk to the top of a small hill and then continue to the area where the second group of guests would be waiting. The second group, not quite up to the three mile excursion would head straight to the penguin colonies to see what nature had instore for us. Nature did not disappoint us. At the landing site, a young elephant seal lay resting on the beach, and was well adorned with a watch group of both chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. It was hard to leave the beach but it was just a short distance to our first colony of chinstrap penguins. We watched as one of the little birds plucked a small stone from the nest of another, setting off a communal cry of outrage from the other neighboring birds. Some of the penguins stretched their wings and while standing, gave us wonderful views of their prize below their bodies, an egg or two waiting for that magical moment when a new penguin would first escape its calcium prison.
We wandered the hillside of the Island watching penguins at their nests, or enjoying them as they would comically walk to and from the ocean. At the end of the trail, a group of Weddell seals basked in snow, seemingly oblivious to the wind whirling around their bodies. By the end of the land visit, our first excursion ashore was most definitely a success. We returned to the ship where hot showers, and the captain’s welcome dinner would await us. Now we are ready for the adventures ahead of us, the first course of our expedition has been served.
