Horseshoe Island & Blind Bay, Antarctica, 12/5/2022, National Geographic Endurance
Aboard the
National Geographic Endurance
Antarctica
Today we awoke on National Geographic Endurance to another beautiful day in Antarctica. Our morning operations consisted of a landing on Horseshoe Island, where some of our guests got to take an inside look at an old base. The other half of our guests enjoyed a scenic cruise around beautiful ice with numerous seals scattered about. In the afternoon, we repositioned north to Blind Bay in search of fast ice. We met with great success!
Nathan Kelley developed his love for nature as a kid at his family’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin. Family fishing trips, camping, hiking and a trip to his first National Park in the Everglades, all vigorously shaped his passion for the natural world. ...
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Even with the strong winds across the Antarctic Peninsula this morning, we managed to bring the ship into a small area of shelter in Graham Passage for Zodiac cruising, and then we returned to our comfortable ship as the winds continued. In the afternoon, the wind died down and a pod of killer whales was spotted. Conditions were perfect for photographing them against the beautiful mountain backdrop.
Merry Christmas from National Geographic Resolution . We started with an early morning of pushing through some ice in the Weddell Sea. There was a big crowd on the bridge watching the excellent navigation by Captain Martin and the bridge team. The highlight of the morning was getting ashore and walking on the fast ice. There is something so magical about setting foot on frozen ocean, and the sun was out, adding to the perfect morning. Another great moment was spotting a swimming emperor penguin. It was a quick sighting but made our Antarctic penguin count reach four! An incredible dinner was put together by the talented galley team and the evening ended with some Christmas carols around the piano on deck eight. It was a memorable Christmas onboard.
Merry Christmas from National Geographic Endurance which just arrived in Antarctica! It is not a bad Christmas morning when the first thing one does is step foot on the Antarctic Continent to be greeted by penguins! After a day of sailing, we arrived at the South Shetlands and made our very first landing at Barrientos Island. Already at the beach, we saw gentoos and chinstrap penguins, that seemed to be awaiting our arrival. It was only a short walk to the colonies and there we could see penguins laying on their eggs and even a few recently hatched chicks! After the great make-your-own-pasta-bar lunch, the next activity was a landing at Half Moon Island. There we chose between a long or shorter hike to get a Christmas Day leg stretch and see even more penguins. After a busy day of outings, it was time for the first recap of the journey and then finally Christmas dinner, where the Christmas buffet awaited guests with some of the best food there is. Today was definitely a Christmas Day to remember!
