It was after dinner and once again we were feeling mighty wide. Ice cream twice a day plus irresistible main courses can do that to one. The thought was that maybe a bit of shivering thermogenesis might help keep the extra pounds from accumulating so we collected outside on the bow to watch our seven mile transit of the Lemaire Channel. The next thought was that maybe we had all better think thin and do the same for the ship. From our viewpoint there was no passage.
Gradually, overlapping mountain sides parted to reveal the way. But perspective is confused in this land. We were certain that outstretched arms would reach from one side's rocky face to the other's fractured glacial ice. In truth, it would have been a mile long hop from iceberg to iceberg that cobbled the way from Booth Island to the Antarctic Peninsula's western shore. Skillfully the Captain piloted us past full sized bergs and bergy bits. Leopard seals turned their reptilian-looking profiles to see us go. As the vista ahead exploded into full view, the sun tossed a golden carpet across the water.
